“I am neither of the East nor of the West. No boundaries exist within my breast.” - Rumi

Lucy Lidell wrote this eulogy a few days after Nicholas died in February 2021

Beloved Nicholas

It’s hard to take in that you’ve gone to higher realms, you who always seemed larger than life, a force of nature. With your extraordinary chi, you seemed invincible. As long as I knew you I would constantly wonder where you came from, this all-American giant of a man who spent half his life roaming the mountainous lands of the Far East. It was like someone had dropped you into this world from other realms, with your brilliant mind, your farsighted eagle eyes, and your colossal heart forces.

And then in your last weeks, it came to me - you were from elsewhere, maybe even from the future.

When we met in late 2016, I had been incapacitated by chronic pain for over 6 months and had suffered from M.E. for more than 30 years. My life was impoverished and very constrained. Within 2 sessions of healing, my pain was on the move and I was able to walk in to town and begin practising Qi Gong again. A few sessions on, with your unique combination of numerology, acupressure and Tibetan Tantric Healing,  you released me from the paradigm of illness I’d carried for so long, the frame of ideas and beliefs that were the scaffolding of my illness. It seemed nothing less than a miracle. You had reached deep into my soul, clearing the way for me to follow my life path, free of encumbrances.

I always planned to write your biography, fascinated by the anomalies and paradoxes of who you were - and endlessly captivated by the stories you told from your life. How come you not only brought down the fire and the blazing light from the goddess but were more than happy to sit and watch a movie or follow the latest baseball game of the Pitt and Pirates ? How could such a rationalist as you take on the mantle of something as unquantifiable as healing and surrender to a peripatetic life on the road?

A very talented sportsman in your youth, your dreams of being a baseball star ended suddenly when you broke your back and started suffering from epilepsy as a teenager. You knew then how it was to suffer and have all your dreams and ambitions swept away. Always very politically aware and active in your youth, your path deepened after the life-changing initiation as a healer you received like a thunderbolt in your late 30s. Suddenly you were catapulted into the mysterious world of the East, into experiences of cosmic Kundalini forces that defied belief. Everything you thought you knew was called into question.

I have such admiration and respect that you followed your heart and the guidance of your soul star. You lived like a monk, travelling from place to place, unattached to material things, living solely on donations. You forged a unique understanding of life, integrating the gifts from the gods with your profound studies of Western and Eastern wisdom and were able to use them for the benefit of all. Like Kuan Yin you heard the cries of the world.

Among the many stories you shared of your life was of your time in Dharamsala, India in the late 1980s. Some Tibetan friends of yours who had a small cafe were worried that business was slack and they might go under. Ever practical, you started cooking Italian dishes, teaching the recipes to the owners and soon word got around that pizza, lasagne and spaghetti were available and queues started forming outside the cafe. Today Nick’s Italian Kitchen is still hugely popular among both Westerners and locals.

Another one was of the guidance you received from a friend in India to go to Sarnath (Buddha’s birthplace) on a particular day in January 2018. Somewhat mystified but keeping faith with the guidance you went as advised and just before you were due to leave, sitting on a bench in the park, an old Tibetan sat down beside you and handed you a package. Inside was a book of the Bodhisattva vows.

From the depths of my soul I give thanks that you came into my life and took me into my future.

You showed me that wealth was subjective and had nothing to do with material things. Whenever you visited I would always feel rich.

You showed me by example what fearlessness and non-attachment looked like - the concepts took on meaning beyond the abstract.

You taught me that the most important task in life was to stay true to my life path, to follow my destiny

You taught me the order of the universe.

I bow to you

Lucy Lidell

Om tara tuttare ture soha

Narrow the Difference

a poem by Hafiz slightly altered to celebrate Lama Nicholas

When he plays his lute,

When he speaks from his heart

The invisible ones call a conference,

And the angels travel far knowing

A rare entertainment will soon take place.

When he plays his drum, the notes become so real

The winged ones throw saddles upon them;

An outrageous holy rodeo begins.

No one has ever sat with him

And not left for the better.

No one can read his words out loud

In a tender, loving voice

And not narrow the difference, 

Not narrow the gap.

Between them and God.

He has many younger brothers and sisters

Scattered upon this earth.

There are always friends of God in this world.

Find one and offer service.

For their glance is generous and cannot help

But forever give.

When he plays his lute,

Notes ascend into the air and form

Infinite blue crystals

That will move on the wind’s breath for hundreds of years

As sacred debris, as the divine dust

Rising as a gift from his

Singing bones.