All Smiles

Fridays are good days for most people. For me today it was especially so. It was a productive day of thesis writing, Pāli studies, and an amazing time at a talk by the Tibetan tulku Anam Thubten Rinpoche. Tomorrow and Sunday will be spent in non-residential retreat with him, which I’m very grateful for and very much looking forward to – see here for a report on one person’s experience of retreat with Anam Thubten.

Starting the day right with thesis studies (notes from my advisor’s book) and a handsome cat.

Relocating to the yard as the sun brought the temperature up to about 40°F.

And an evening with Anam Thubten Rinpoche. It’s hard to describe just how the night went without such specious terms as ‘enlightening’ or ‘magical’. He spoke slowly, but at times in such fluent English that you’d never guess he spent much of his life in Tibet.

And his jokes — Such joy.

Concluding with the mantra of the Heart Sutra:

Om Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha

And lastly the jewel in our midst, Lama David Curtis.

It made me think afterward about how blessed I am to have this opportunity for direct contact with such amazing teachers. In the audience, about 130 people, there were also many of the area’s great teachers, artists, and scholars, all together for this one auspicious occasion.

My friend and fellow Pāli student decided not to go – suggesting that with all of the great teachings he can get online, perhaps it wasn’t worth his donation and time to go this particular event. I sympathize, I love getting great talks from the net, but it’s hard to describe just how much deeper a real life talk can go. I laugh, but Anam Thubten himself noted tonight that supposedly 70% of communication is non-verbal, right? So in an online dharma talk you get mabye 30% of the wisdom. And as I said to my friend, you HAVE to be present when you’re there (basically), as you can’t listen and do the laundry or surf the web at the same time.

To me it’s a matter more and more of priorities. Are my priorities to have a manicured apartment seven days a week, or to meditate and/or contemplate the Dharma? I could list a dozen, or more, things I give up or avoid in order to spend time studying / practicing. But I could also list a dozen or more things that I should or could give up to spend even more time. I mentioned to one of Lama David’s friends that I’d love to have him come teach at my apartment on Sundays – as we already host Sanghas now on Monday (Vipassana) and Thursday (Campus) nights – and she said, “Isn’t hosting two Sanghas enough?” Of course for me the trouble of hosting is an afterthought – the teachings of Lama David are so wonderful, as is the sangha around him, that I can think of only good coming from having them at my place each week.

What do you think? In this new era of bed-stand and audio download Dharma, what is the relative value of actually seeing a teacher vs the cost in time and resources? Why don’t you start your own Sangha at your place? Or if you have, how has it worked out?