dharma seeds

My dear friend and teacher Lama Lhanang recently came to visit for a few days. I am blessed to have taken in many important teachings just by virtue of the lama's presence here, both from his energy and his example. As if those weren't enough, he gave a personal teaching in our home, on the subject of relationships, a topic on which he had given a weekend retreat in Ottawa in October. There were five attendees; not a bad turnout in fact.

I think we all took something substantial away from the teaching. I, for one, took mostly this: Three things should take the foreground in any relationship, be it parent/child, teacher/student, work relationships, partners or friends, and three things should be avoided. Communication, trust and appreciation are to be emphasized, while jealousy, complaining and arguing are to be avoided. In the course of his stay Lama Lhanang also advised partners to do yoga together, and meditation, and that sort of thing. We will likely do more playing soccer together, since yoga and meditation don't suit my partner's fancy...

We had a wonderful few days while the lama was here. Life just seems easy in his presence; all of these spontaneous manifestations appear as dharmakaya. Partly, he was very helpful, with the kids and with chores like dinner and dishes (which he should not have been doing), as well as spiritually with his many teachings. But mostly, he just gives off that kind of vibe. I was so moved by his visit, I can't even begin to tell you how happy it made me to welcome him to this country for the first time.

He told me he came to plant dharma seeds. He left me an instruction to teach meditation myself and to see through the nurturing of the seeds. I intend to carry out this instruction, but I need to begin slowly, because it is going to take a whole lot of confidence-building, some language perfection, a little bit of financial investment, and some marketing. Still, this is an incredibly exciting prospect. Here is one good reason, articulated by Jon Kabat-Zinn in Healing Emotions (p. 114) to nurture these seeds I've been given:

We are driven by the mind, by thought, by expectations, by fear, by wanting to get somewhere else. If you always want to be some place else, then you are never actually where you are, and therefore not fully alive. Nor are you capable of dealing with the pressures and difficulties that arise if your mind is inattentive and is half not here. In stressful or threatening situations, your reactions will be highly conditioned and automatic. The deeper levels of intelligence and wisdom that come from clear and full seeing will not be available to you because of this foggy cloud in the mind.

How better to help humanity than to teach meditation, the way to those deeper levels?