DAVID GERMANO, 2026

David Germano knew what he wanted to study after about a minute with a Longchenpa translation on his first day of Tibetan classes in Wisconsin. He tells of translating the Treasury of Words and Meanings and living in a log cabin in Kham with Khenpo Chodrak, whose answers rarely matched his questions but changed him anyway. He also talks about traveling to Larung Valley, then far smaller than today, to study with Jigme Phuntsok. What moved him most about Phuntsok was that after the Cultural Revolution he traveled across Tibet helping communities relearn what their mountains were called and how to make offerings to them. Years later, a farmer singing in a meadow gave him what he calls pure vision. For those far from Tibet, he suggests finding a community and building from where you live.