Damber Gurung learned how to be a better human being in the company of the dead. When the Bhutanese man was 16, he spent a winter in a cemetery deep in a jungle near the Khudunabari refugee camp in eastern Nepal. Along with 17 other boys and young men, Gurung underwent intensive Buddhist meditation training with a monk. The youths' parents couldn't afford to send their offspring to a monastery for lengthier training, but they hoped they would return from the retreat ready to lead the community in preserving its cultural and religious traditions. "It was real tough. It was scary at night," said Gurung. "[But] it changed my life." Far from any distractions, he led an ascetic life for three months. He spent up to 20 hours a day reading Buddhist holy books and meditating. He ate just a fistful of rice and vegetables once a day. During this period of seclusion, the monk in charge taught Gurung the principles of Buddhism: Believe in love, be kind to fellow human beings, don't fight and protect lives. Now living in Burlington, Gurung continues to live by those tenets. While he has never resided in a monastery, and he has a family and a full-time job, members of his community still call him "lama," or monk. "It's a big role," said Gurung, 39. Back in Nepal, he could count on his fellow monks to share responsibilities. Here, he said, his workload has "doubled," since he's one of just two spiritual leaders who serve the Buddhist Bhutanese population in the greater Burlington area. When he's not busy performing Buddhist rituals in his red and saffron robe, Gurung wears the blue uniform of Green Mountain Transit. In May 2014, when he took a job driving a bus, he became the first member of the Bhutanese community to work for the transportation company. Gurung is one of more than 1,900 Bhutanese refugees who have resettled in the Green Mountain State since 2008. Known as Lhotshampas, or "people of the south," they are ethnic Nepalis who spent nearly two decades in refugee camps in Nepal after Bhutan's King Jigme Singye Wangchuck stripped them of their citizenship in the early 1990s. Most Lhotshampas are Hindus, but some, like Gurung, practice Buddhism. Gurung has been a monk for 23 years. When he returned from his teenage retreat, he was a "lama" qualified to lead Buddhist…
Damber Gurung learned how to be a better human being in the company of the dead. When the Bhutanese man was 16, he spent a winter in a cemetery deep in a jungle near the Khudunabari refugee camp in eastern Nepal. Along with 17 other boys and young men, Gurung underwent intensive Buddhist meditation training with a monk. The youths' parents couldn't afford to send their offspring to a monastery for lengthier training, but they hoped they would return from the retreat ready to lead the community in preserving its cultural and religious traditions. "It was real tough. It was scary at night," said Gurung. "[But] it changed my life." Far from any distractions, he led an ascetic life for three months. He spent up to 20 hours a day reading Buddhist holy books and meditating. He ate just a fistful of rice and vegetables once a day. During this period of seclusion, the monk in charge taught Gurung the principles of Buddhism: Believe in love, be kind to fellow human beings, don't fight and protect lives. Now living in Burlington, Gurung continues to live by those tenets. While he has never resided in a monastery, and he has a family and a full-time job, members of his community still call him "lama," or monk. "It's a big role," said Gurung, 39. Back in Nepal, he could count on his fellow monks to share responsibilities. Here, he said, his workload has "doubled," since he's one of just two spiritual leaders who serve the Buddhist Bhutanese population in the greater Burlington area. When he's not busy performing Buddhist rituals in his red and saffron robe, Gurung wears the blue uniform of Green Mountain Transit. In May 2014, when he took a job driving a bus, he became the first member of the Bhutanese community to work for the transportation company. Gurung is one of more than 1,900 Bhutanese refugees who have resettled in the Green Mountain State since 2008. Known as Lhotshampas, or "people of the south," they are ethnic Nepalis who spent nearly two decades in refugee camps in Nepal after Bhutan's King Jigme Singye Wangchuck stripped them of their citizenship in the early 1990s. Most Lhotshampas are Hindus, but some, like Gurung, practice Buddhism. Gurung has been a monk for 23 years. When he returned from his teenage retreat, he was a "lama" qualified to lead Buddhist…