Jigme Phuntsok

I lived about twelve years of my life at meditation
centers, fulfilling various rolls. Inevitably, some of
the living masters of Tibetan Buddhism would visit
from time to time. One of these was Jigme Phuntsok,
a vajra master from eastern Tibet. He was
said to be enlightened. I wanted to check him out for
myself, but there was no real avenue to accomplish this.
I thought I would go to his talks and simply keep my eyes
on him…every second….and see what happened.

The first couple of days, he noticed I was staring at him…
maybe twice each day. The third day, he noticed two times…
then, a third. The fourth time, he stared at me for a
moment…then he looked up. I looked up to see what he
was looking at. When my gaze came down, and I looked
at him, he was staring right at me. My mind went blank…
in fact, I wasn’t in the room anymore. The experience
lasted probably no more than a few seconds at most.
When I came back, he was looking at me, and I broke
the gaze. I knew something unusual had occurred, and
I knew the instructions were to not make
a big deal about any experience. I acted as if nothing
had happened.

The next day, there was a group audience with Jigme
Phuntsok at his residence, for the staff. I was sitting
there on the green lawn with my daughter. Jigme
Phuntsok was on a front porch with his entourage.
People would ask him questions, and he would answer,
through translators as usual. While translation was
happening, Jigme Phuntsok turned to one of his Khenpos,
(teachers) and talked into his ear, pointing me out. As
he kept talking, the Khenpo, who was now looking at me,
had a smile that got bigger and bigger. After Jigme
Phuntsok stopped talking to the Khenpo, the Khenpo
was still looking and smiling at me. I shrugged my
shoulders, and he almost giggled.

Was Jigme Phuntsok enlightened?
Well, you never met him.