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tomorrow ends our first study period. looks like the format of this retreat is roughly a period of intense meditation practice, then study, then practice again, then study. so this transition marks the midpoint and start of the next practice period. tomorrow morning we have a translated talk with khenpo gawang, a tibetan monastic professor here visiting from india, and then in the afternoon one last class. then sunday is mostly a break day, before starting another meditation period on monday.
it’s beyond beautiful here, every time i look out the window i am shocked. i guess if i lived here, it would become ordinary. that seems to be a common way the mind works. we’re shocked by something new, or beautiful, but then slowly we develop conceptualizations about it and familiarity and just turn it into ordinariness.
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i’m still officially in silence but i was checking to make sure no urgent email came through, so i thought i would say hi. hi!
it’s so beautiful here and we’ve had three electrical storms so far. i really miss those, we just don’t have them very often in california. one was like fireworks, with a few of us standing around outside the dining tent just watching the lightening for half an hour. the temperature varies from chilly at night to damn hot. i’m getting a farmer’s tan from walking around.
my retreat has about 120 participants and 20 staff and teachers. we’re mostly sitting in meditation in one large white tent with a wood floor. when it’s hot midday the walls of the tent are dropped and you look out to rolling hills of grass and pines. occasionally a hummingbird flies in and buzzes around inside of the tent.
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hi all. i’m getting situated at my meditation retreat, and nearly adjusted to the 8000 foot altitude now. tomorrow begins a few days of silence and intense practice. hope you’re all having a great week.
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in five days the house will be packed, moved into storage, and i’ll be just arriving in colorado for my next long meditation retreat. this retreat is officially my first vajrayana retreat, but really one learns the vajrayana all along in this tradition.
here’s a quote from His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche for you about the vajrayana:
when we gain confidence in the view of the intrinsic nature without distraction or confusion, the arising of a deluded thought is like a thief entering an empty house. the house has nothing to lose and the thief has nothing to gain. whether the thief comes into the house or not, there is neither benefit nor harm. in the same way, thoughts will arise like reflections; but the moment they occur, the view of the intrinsic nature is right there. since the view of the intrinsic nature is stronger than the thought, the thought will automatically be groundless and rootless.
the intrinsic nature is emptiness; any conceptual elaboration upon experience is empty of true, separate existence. this awareness can be pointed out to you by a competent teacher, or you can find it through practice. but it’s up to you to stabilize it and develop confidence in it. then deluded thoughts like anger, jealousy, fear, addiction will self liberate like thieves finding nothing to steal.
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since i’m an expert on neither, i will ponder openly with my naive understandings; forgive me. sir isaac newton’s secret comments on alchemy, recently rediscovered, has me wondering to what degree the ideas of alchemy had spiritual intent similar to pre-common era indian philosophers who pondered the nature of reality for primarily spiritual purpose.
i’ve often heard that alchemists were in search of transforming lead into gold, but after a few hundred years you’d think they would give up right? unless perhaps this was really a spiritual metaphor?
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steven posts a wonderful comparison of computer file system design and a fundamental existential question of intrinsic meaning. cudos!
sitting monkey is place where