My Afternoon with a Tibetan Rinpoche

My husband met a Tibetan Rinpoche in the Seattle Public Library. They are friends. Today, the day after Thanksgiving, he drove 30 minutes to Woodinville to pick him up. In the meantime, I went to the supermarket to buy pears, oranges and fragrant lillies. My husband set up the Buddha in front of the fireplace with the soji screen behind. He also placed three bowls in front of the Buddha where I put the oranges, pears, apples and a small rice dish containing almonds. I cut the stems of the lillies and placed them in a large mason jar half-full of water. I set the flowers on a nearby table. The sun coming through the window was so bright. I couldn't believe it was so sunny. It seemed that I had woken up for the past week to a thick layer of gray clouds which would turn in to rain by afternoon. This morning, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I couldn't help but feel it was because the Rinpoche would be our guest today. I lit a stick of Tibetan incense the Rinpoche had given my husband and waved it all around the house. I was quickly transported to Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. I clearly remember walking into that temple and that exact smell. Dozens of monks, some as young as 10 and as old as 80, sat together on a platform chanting in the temple where candles seemed to be the only light. The children of Tibet were so shiny. Some of them had nothing, but when they smiled I could clearly see they had everything..everything that is important.

The Rinpoche travels throughout Asia and America and gives talks and leads ceremonies. When people donate money to him, he gives it to an orphanage in Tibet which houses 63 children and now has a school. As Seong Yoon and I walked through the woods with him today, he seemed so filled with delight when he talked about that. The Rinpoche will be giving a talk in our house on December 6th. The topic is happiness and compassion. We decided it would be good to invite him into our home to chant. We felt it would help clear the air and provide a good environment for his talk. Here's a video of that beautiful time:

I couldn't video tape for very long because the energy in the room was so strong. My entire body started to feel very light. I felt a sweet energy, like a soft wind, travel through my body. I felt light, uplifted, happy, peaceful, and grateful. I was sitting in this room with two monks. While my husband is no longer a monk, I can't help but feel he is more a monk than ever before. He seems to draw people to him wherever he goes. I'm not surprised that the Rinpoche and my husband are friends. They possess the same light and gentleness.


After the Rinpoche chanted for 30 minutes, we went out for Korean food. It was fun! During lunch, my husband decided to take the Rinpoche on his favorite walk through Llandover woods near our house. We talked about many subjects. The Rinpoche told us of how he had to hike for a month and 9 days through the Himalayas between Tibet and Nepal to escape the Chinese who had taken over Tibet. He could only hike at night when it was dark so he wouldn't be seen. When he arrived in Nepal, he started a new life. His energy is so joyful, like the laughing Buddha in my garden, I was not surprised to find that he is sought after for his teachings and chantings in Tibet, Hong Kong, Malaysia and now North America.

I asked him, "How do we know what we have to do in this life?" He was very quiet for a long time. We walked and I could hear a bird and I smelled the pine trees which had been touched by an earlier rain and were now spreading their fragrance into the air around us. I looked down and watched our feet step in unison...a Korean, a Tibetan, An American...I couldn't feel these distinctions. I felt we were just there, like the trees and birds, and there was nothing else to do or know. I think the Rinpoche did finally answer the question, but I found the answer in his silence.

New Blog: Writers Rising

I'm very excited to share with you the first chapter of the organization Writers Rising. We started out as three co-workers with a passion for writing. For the past 6 months we've been meeting every other week. These meetings have been so inspirational and are part of why I keep writing my book. We don't just meet and read our writing to each other. We encourage each other, we share information, we make plans of action on where we are going to submit our writing, we collaborate, we do collages, we eat, we laugh and we have a very good time!

This group is not just about writing. It's about empowering each other. When we leave at the end of the meeting we all feel so much energy and inspiration. I was so inspired I decided to create this blog so that other people who are interested in creating  Writers Rising chapters in their community can do the same. It is best if these groups are small. We find that having three people in a group is perfect. It's just enough people to give constructive feedback without feeling our time is too divided with too many things to read.

Another reason why I created this blog is so that other people who have formed Writers Rising groups can contribute to the blog: http://www.writersrising.blogspot.com/. This blog will be for Writers Rising members to share their writing, book samples, short stories, etc. The idea is for each chapter to meet in their community, but to have support for the larger group of Writers Rising members. If you are interested in forming a Writers Rising group, please let me know and I'll send information on what we do. Once you form a Writers Rising group and start having regular meetings, I will add you as contributors to this blog so that we can share our writing here and support each other.

In our last meeting, we decided to do a collage. We didn't have a theme for this collage, but since we did it in the writing group it seemed to depict where we were with our writing and our intentions. This was a stream of consciousness activity where we were using the right side of our brains. In the past, I have done similar collages and put them aside only to discover them later and find that many things I had collaged had actually come true in my life. There was a lot of energy built up while we were in this process. Here are some pictures of our collage activity:

I have to admit that I previewed my stack of magazines before my friends arrived at my house and thought there was nothing interesting for us to create from these. Later when the process started, pictures and images literally jumped out the pages. It was a very interesting process. Here's my collage:

After I completed my collage, I tried not to read too much into it. I hung it in my office and left it alone. I do believe there was something to this and I feel inspiration when I see it. I'm looking forward to sharing more Writers Rising events and happenings with you and we may have some of our groups writing displayed soon. Stay tuned for more...it's only going to get better!!

Check the blog out, become a follower, leave a comment and strart your Writers Rising group today!!

 http://www.writersrising.blogspot.com

My Journey to Tibet: Milarepa's Cave

According to a blessing Milarepa, The Great Yogi of Tibet, uttered towards the end of his life, anyone who but hears the name Milarepa even once attracts an instant blessing and will not take rebirth in a lower state of existence during seven consecutive lifetimes. This was prophesied by Saints and Buddhas of the past even before his lifetime.


"If you do not acquire contentment in yourselves,
Heaped-up accumulations will only enrich others.

If you do not obtain the light of Inner Peace,
Mere external ease and pleasure will be a source of pain.

If you do not suppress the Demon of Ambition,
Desire for fame will lead to ruin and lawsuits."

~Milarepa




Milarepa is one of the most widely known Tibetan Saints. In a superhuman effort, he rose above the miseries of his younger life and with the help of his Guru, Marpa the Translator, took to a solitary life of meditation until he had achieved the pinnacle of the enlightened state, never to be born again into the Samsara (whirlpool of life and death) of worldly existence. Out of compassion for humanity, he undertook the most rigid asceticism to reach the Buddhic state of enlightenment and to pass his accomplishments on to the rest of humanity. His spiritual lineage was passed along to his chief disciples, Gambopa and Rechung. It was Rechung who recorded in detail the incidents of Milarepa's life for posterity. The narrative of his life has thus been passed down through almost a millennium of time and has become an integral part of Tibetan culture.

Information and picture comes from the website: http://www.cosmicharmony.com/

I had the opportunity to visit Milarepa's Cave 13 years ago. I was 26 years old. I didn't realize, until now, what a strong effect that had on me. Since then, I had the opportunity to see His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama when he came to Seattle in April 2008. I was lucky. I received free tickets to see him at Qwest Stadium and also at Benaroya Hall at the University of Washington along with many other spiritual leaders, such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The Program was called Seeds of Compassion and the mission was: To nuture kindness and compassion in the world starting with children and all who touch their lives. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama said, "Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." I also feel tremedously blessed that a Tibetan Rinpoche, by the name of Sonam Rinpoche, who is recognized by the Dalai Lama, will give a talk on happiness and compassion in my living room (see previous blog post). What GREAT fortune!

I feel all this good fortune must have started when I began a long journey to Tibet. It was September 1996. At that time, it was very expensive to take a guided tour of Tibet. The Chinese government did not want tourists. Since we were backpacking through Asia (My husband and I, a Canadian friend and an American couple) and had alot of time, we decided to try to enter Tibet on foot from Nepal. This was no easy feat. We were traveling during the rainy season and there were landslides everywhere. It took us 8 days overland to arrive in Lhasa from Kathmandu.

We started out by taking a very LONG bus ride from Kathmandu, Nepal to Barabise, Nepal. The ride was bumpy, the road was bad and as I recall the bus didn't even have seats in the back. When we arrived in Barabise, near the border of Tibet and Nepal, it seemed they hadn't seen a tourist in years. All the guest houses were closed and it felt like a ghost town. Finally, we got someone to let us in. I don't think anyone had slept in that place for years!! The owner had to swat cobwebs off the doors and walls as we entered. We sat down in a dining room and the owner handed us a menu, but later let us know that they didn't have anything on the menu, but they had some cokes and beers, so our group had to settle for that. Luckily we had a can of tuna fish in our backpack and a bag of crackers. The rooms were quite scary..I'm sure there were mice and the blankets were musty and hadn't been washed in years. When we hit the blankets, a pile of dust rose in a cloud above the bed. But hey!, we were young and we were backpackers, so we'd take whatever was offered.

The next day, we hitch hiked as far as we could. Often times a driver would have to stop and let us out so that we could walk over landslides. After we traversed a landslide, we'd see if we could get another car. Finally, we had to make the last two hours of the trip to the Tibet/Nepal border on foot.


When we got to the border, all we had were Chinese Visas stamped in our passport. The Chinese border patrol were allowing some people to pass, but some had to go back on foot into Nepal. We were lucky, they let us pass on foot into Tibet. Once we got into Tibet. We had to arrange transportation. We stayed a night along the Tibet/Nepal border and had some nice Chinese food, changed money and tried to arrange for a vehicle to take us into Tibet. This was not easy. The only transportation at that time was by landcruiser and they didn't come by very often. We managed to hitch a ride with some Tibetan filmakers who were first on their way to Lhasa and then to holy Mt. Kailash to do a film. What luck that was! Since they knew the area well, they had planned to stop at Milarepa's cave. This cave was definitely off the beaten track, but I was so excited. I just read Milarepa's story in Nepal and had the book in hand. I couldn't believe I was on the way to his cave where he meditated and became enlightened!

The road from the border to Shigatse, the first town we stayed in, was frightening. It was a
tiny, dirt road carved out of the side of a cliff that was only big enough for the landcruiser itself.



If the car went one inch to the right, we'd be over the cliff. I couldn't look down, I felt nauseated. Two of us had to take turns riding in the back of the landcruiser. The ride was bumpy in the back and not enjoyable. We started our journey into Tibet in the afternoon. By night, we were still on the road. Suddenly the headlights failed on the landcruiser and we were driving on a dangerous road without lights!!! "Oh, god," I thought, "This is it!!" My American friend had an idea to stick our headlamps out the window on each side of the car to illuminate the road so our Tibetan driver could see. This is how we made it to the town of Shigatse, which was full of temples and golden rooftops.


After a night in Shigatse, we were on the road to Milarepa's cave, a detour on the way to Lhasa. The cave was located in the Yarlung Valley near Tsetang. Transportation to these parts is very rare, so it's very unusual for the locals to see many people, let alone foreigners. When we arrived,
young Tibetan children and young monks ran to our car. They started jumping up and down as if they hadn't seen a visitor in years.

They grabbed our hands with their dirty hands and guided us down to Milarepa's cave. They were cheerful and happy. All they had in their hands to eat was a piece of a potato which they offered to us. We refused and offered them whatever we had.

The village was barren. Tibet's altitude is so high, not much grows. It's land is full of nomads, monks, sheep and yak herders. People don't usually stay in one place unless they live near a somewhat thriving city, like Lhasa or Shigatse. Closer to the big cities, the presence of the Chinese were everywhere. When we crossed over checkpoints, we tried to shrink down in our seats and keep to ourselves.

The young monks took our hands and guided down a set several flights of stone stairs. The land around was quite barren.

At the bottom of the stairs, the monks escorted us into a dark doorway. Inside Mialrepa's cave, candles and incense were lit everywhere. The cave seemed to vibrate as if Milarepa were still there. I felt a deep peacefulness and happiness in that place. I wanted to stay for longer, but our driver needed to continue his journey to Lhasa. When we arrived in Lhasa in 1996, it was bittersweet. So many monks had died at the hands of the Chinese and had to escape to Dharmasala in India. We visited the Potala, the Dalai Lama's orginal house. We saw monks, but there was a sadness there.

Jokhang Temple in Lhasa had a big impact on me. When we entered the temple, dozens of monks, young and old, were sitting in meditation position chanting. The smell of incense was everywhere and an unbelievable number of candles were lit. Jokhang Temple took on a vibration of it's own with all the chanting and prostrations that were going on in and around it. The vibration seemed to stretch out over the hills of Tibet for miles and miles and miles. The gold roof of Jokhang Temple, which reflected the sun, will remain etched in my mind forever.

The Things That Go on in My Living Room

Do not take lightly small good deeds, believing they can hardly help; For drops of water, one by one, in time can fill a giant ocean. -Buddha

My living room has become a meeting place for good things. It's hard to believe, given the size of the place, but it's true.


On December 6th, a Tibetan Rinpoche, who is recognized by the Dalai Lama, will come to my living room to give a talk on happiness and compassion. Here's some information about the Rinpoche: http://www.maha-guru.org/

How did this come about, you ask?...
Well, on Fridays, I usually spend time with my husband, but he informed me today that he planned to hang out with the Tibetan Rinpoche he met in the Seattle Public Library a little over a year ago.

They were both reading books in the same section of the library. That's no surprise to me because I'm sure they have similar interests. The Rinpoche knew right away that my husband used to be a monk. Later, they decided to go on a walk around Greenlake and then to Starbucks for a hot cocoa. The Rinpoche even gave my husband a name-'yoga bliss'.

Today, my husband disappeared for hours and came back beaming. In his hand he held a very colorful and large tanka from Tibet of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisatvva of Compassion. It was given to him by the Rinpoche. As soon as he returned home from his afternoon with the Rinpoche, he hung it on our wall.

























My husband and the Rinpoche went to a Chinese resaurant for lunch and spoke for many hours about how to help people develop happiness and compassion in daily life. The Rinpoche usually resides in Asia, so it's difficult for him to connect with many people here in the states. My husband asked him to give a lecture in our living room to his yoga students and anyone else who is interested. The Rinpoche agreed to give a talk in our living room in early December on the subject of compassion and happiness. So, we have a plan to have him come stay in our house for a few days.

Our house is a small two-bedroom bungalow in North Seattle.


When I tell people about all the events we've had here, they seem surprised. But somehow, it always works!

The day before halloween, we hosted a halloween party in our living room. Over 30 people attended and we had a live jazz band. This is the third time we've had live music.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my husband teaches yoga classes in our living room. Anywhere from 8-10 people usually join. His classes are popular, so some people call ahead and reserve a space.

Every other Monday, my writing group comes to my house. This Monday we are doing an art collage. I'm excited about that.

We had to move some of our furniture into the garage because of all the happenings taking place, but it's worth it. The energy in my living room is so great thanks to all the people who have shared their writing and art, danced, practiced yoga, and meditated here. Every drop counts and when we all come together, that's alot of drops!

(All the pictures in this post are from my house and garden in Seattle. We still have Dahlias blooming and it's November!)

New Contributor on Woman's World Magazine and a recent guest post on The Lotus Sutra Chronicles

Hello All!...just wanted to let you all know that I'm a new Woman's World Magazine contributor. You can find the link to this site on the side bar. I was also asked to be a guest blogger on The Lotus Sutra Chronicles (link also on side bar) by a blogger who lives in Korea and writes about her observations living there. Having lived in Korea, it's been such a pleasure reading her blog. The piece I wrote is entitled Thank You Korea. I also posted this piece on Woman's World Magazine. You can check it out on the Lotus Sutra Chronicles here:

http://thelotussutrachronicles.blogspot.com/2009/11/thank-you-korea-guest-blogger-
kathy.html

I believe this blogger is doing a series of guest bloggers on the topic of gratitude. Great idea, isn't it? Thanks everyone for reading and for all your wonderful comments...I am very grateful for that! And thanks Marilyn for asking me to be a guest blogger!!!!

Forty and Feelin' Sporty

(Album is courtesy of the band Drew's Famous)


When I was 13, my sister and I gave my dad a t-shirt that said, "Over 40 and Feelin' Sporty". He never wore that shirt, but threatened to give it to me when I turned 40. Now I'm 40, I'm sure I'll receive a t-shirt in the mail soon.... 40 sounds like a big number to me, but I'm so excited about my 40s.

I spent my 20s wandering the globe in search of who I was. I met my husband, the former monk, when I was 26 and he was 23. We traveled to India, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet together that same year and did our first 10 day vipassana meditation course together. I spent 8 years in Korea and two years in Japan..I did alot of meditation during that time, but still didn't know where I was headed. I got married at 33 and things started to change a bit. My husband and I opened two yoga schools in Korea and started to share our training and experience with others.

Now, I am 40 and living with my husband in Seattle, Washington. He teaches yoga and I teach English..we haven't changed much from an outside perspective, but I feel very CLEAR about things now. I spent my 20s in a fog....in my 30s, I was waiting for the fog to clear and spent alot of my time in long periods of silence. I joined 3 30-day silent meditation courses and one 45-day silent course. It was a time of introspection, I feel. I am still doing my meditation and yoga practice, but I feel an opening now that I can't explain. It is time to share and open up to all those around me.

In 2004, while sitting a 30-day silent course in Massachusetts...the title for my book appeared. The entire book with all it's pages flipped opened in front of me. This is different than thinking about something. It appeared and disappeared. It came and went, like all thoughts, emotions and feelings. I didn't hold on to it, but it kept reappearing after that. It was so strong, that I started listening to the messages I was receiving to write this book. I started trusting my intuition more and more. Now, I see that my intuition is guiding me.

I have let go. I feel like an empty vessel in which things flow through. I still get hung up sometimes with life's drama, but I see the bigger picture. There's no turning back now, I can only go forward.

I am excited about my 40s..I feel strong, healthy, lucky to have such wonderful friends and family, grateful for my job and wonderful co-workers, happy to have a husband who is my BRIGHT light, grateful for this blog and all the people I have met here. I feel alot of gratitude these days...I want to share this gratitude with others and hope that everyone can feel like this! I think we all empower each other. When we are happy, healthy, loving, and friendly-others start to live and feel that way, too. Every moment is important. Every moment is like a grain of sand that adds up the desert of your life....how do you want that desert to look? Do you look at the bright side, or do you tend to see the dark clouds around the corner? Are you excited about now? Do you feel excited about the future? As soon as I get that T-shirt "Over 40 and Feelin' Sporty" in the mail, I think I'll put it on...because I'm feeling just that!

Peace on Earth-A Question for YOU!

I am an English as a Second Language teacher in Washington State. In my class, I have students from around the world. They come from different countries, religions, customs, traditions, and backgrounds. I feel so lucky to spend time with the world in my class. Somehow, when we come together each day, we are able to see beyond our differences. Our differences make us unique, but I have found, in my class, that we are more alike than you think. All of us strive to meet our basic human needs of food, water, shelter, safety, etc. Beyond that, most people feel love, peace, happiness, and care for the planet and the things on it are important. This morning I realized that 31 countries have visited my blog. Here they are in order of the number of visitors from each country:

USA, India, Australia, Canada, South Korea, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Austria, Turkey, Israel, Brazil, Italy, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Latvia, Estonia, Mongolia, Kiribati, Taiwan, Philippines, Kenya, Thailand, France, South Africa, Egypt, and Singapore.

Peace, in my mind, means living in harmony with each other and with this earth we live on. By achieving peace, we may have to go beyond boundaries of race, religion, politics, countries, etc.

How are YOU, as a citizen of this world, helping to achieve peace on earth?

This may seem like a very BIG question, but the answer may be quite simple. It may be as simple as how you choose to live on a daily basis.

I'd like to share some of your answers in a blog post. So please leave a comment at the end of this post. Don't be afraid to leave a comment. Your comment may be helpful to many people.