Thu, 14 Aug 2008
Waiting for the Lama
Lama Gursam is coming back to Baltimore the last week in September and he will give a weekend seminar on Mahamudra. Mahamudra is always a popular subject, though when presented on an introductory level, is pretty much just a seminar on shamatha practice. It looks like Lama Gursam has been talking about mahamudra during many of his visits. Here is an excerpt from a talk he gave to the Bucks County sangha:
Lama had a beautiful coral mala (string of 108 prayer beads). He demonstrated how entanglements of the mind happen by coiling it about his hand. His hand represented a clear mind, and he wrapped the mala saying "Oh, I love this mala it is mine" and again "It has a nice red color". This obscured his hand. He said that attachment is like that. He said that meditation is the awareness that the mind is attaching, and this frees and clarifies. In fact he said, one experience of 'uncoiling' the mind by 'seeing' this attachment can really help our meditation to take root.
Lance sent around a flyer with the group photo from Lama Gursam's last visit. I remember how hot that August weekend was, probably the hottest of the year. It was about one year after the start of the group and our practice hadn't yet settled. This year our practice is smoother and more stable. I wonder if he will notice the difference. Last time I spoke with him, he advised me to read Takpo Tashi Namgyal's "Clarifying the Natural State" — in Tibetan! He had an unrealistically high opinion of my Tibetan abilities, I think. I can puzzle out some of the words, but can't really string them together.
