AZAA

MEDITATION DEVELOPER AND LOGICTIC MANAGER

I am happy to share my story with you and listen to yours during our journeys. I am a native of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of the country. As a child I was raised with my older sister and younger brother in a very religious family, practicing Buddhism. My father used to tell us many beautiful stories about the Bodhisattvas, and my mother often took me to the nearest monastery. I used to go to the monastery to worship Buddhas and watch monks chanting the sutras. Very quickly I was fascinated by their beautiful appearance and their dedication, and I then decided to become a lama.

From the age of 13, I became a monk and spent five years studying Buddhism at the Gandantegchinlen, the center of Mongolian Buddhism. During that time, I worked on various projects to study and renovate the old monasteries of the eastern provinces of Mongolia. At that time, I learned about a lot of monasteries sites, ancient local oral and written stories, and how and where the locations of those places were chosen, and those topics were the most fascinating to me. It made me feel eager to study even more. The history particularly. That is why I went to South India to the district of Mysuru, Karnataka State, to stay 3 years at the Seraje University of Buddhist Philosophy where the Buddha's teachings first spread. There I studied the Tibetan Gelukpa monastic traditions, and then went to Bodhgaya temple complex and place of pilgrimage in Patna, north-Est India, the enlightened place of the Buddha for about a year. I worshiped in the temples of many countries and saw the life and thousands of years of history, culture, and customs of Mongolia.

From there, I started to really develop this interest in traveling and exploring beautiful places and lands of nomadism. That is why I then returned to Mongolia to study its history and travel. As I was still studying, I had the chance to visit the Old Monasteries and received teachings around the history of the places and the rituals practiced there. For 3 years I had the chance to participate in the biggest religious Mongolian festival, the Danshig Naadam, and performed dances named Tsahar Tsam. During the festival, a large number of foreign tourists come to see the Tsam, and this special event has been hosted by the Gandategchinlen monastery to introduce it to the public.

In 2018, I joined the Misheeh Mongolian Travel Club, which allowed me to travel a lot, learn to love Mongolia and its nature, and how to interact with nature. I realized at that point that travel is my life. I can now be able to learn more about local history, listening to local folklore and legends, and sharing stories with many people. I also like to climb rocks and walk in the mountains.

Since 2019, I integrated the team of Gobi Mountain Lake as the operation manager and meditation teacher during the meditation tours, much more than a job: a title that really fits my philosophy, allowing me to discover even more of this world within Mongolia but also through the experience and background of the travelers I have the privilege to serve.