Tuesday, September 19, 2006

This past week......


What an amazing week spent with the Dalai Lama! I had signed up for this many months back knowing that it would be the perfect birthday gift to myself.

I had first "awared" the Dalai Lama when I was very young and have always felt an affinity to the people of Tibet and the neighboring regions. He was in Portland in May, 2001 and the crowds to see him were tremendous.

Our gathering this past week was an intense teaching on Arya Nagarjuna's "Commentary On the Awakening Mind". His teachings are known for becoming the foundation of a school of Buddhist thought known as the the Madhyamaka or Middle Way School. Nagarjuna also taught methods for developing compassion and bodhicitta.

We spent our mornings and afternoons reading the texts, listening to His Holiness' teachings of these ancient texts. When I first read the schedule I thought, goodness, that's only 4 hours per day of study........ after the first day, I was so glad it was only 2-3 hours at a time!! I have come to love these teachings and to only slightly understand the profound dimensions involved with Buddhist thoughts.

I also realize how much more I have to learn!!!

His Holiness will be back in California in April for more teaching and I will plan to attend/learn as much as I can from him directly. He is not only the spiritual leader of the Tibetian Buddhism, he is a scholar and scientiest!

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Grannie & Me


Sometime you just have to be there to get what the big joke was.

We laughed ourselves silly - my mask became a great way to scare all of the kids and to play a joke on my cousin Dave at his Senior Homecoming Dinner.