Gratitude to My Wisdom Lamas
It is said that the ability to meet with great spiritual beings is based on the combination of good karma and aspiration prayers made in previous lives. We who have not only encountered the great lamas of Tibet, but been personally guided by them for decades, should remember this. And we should continue to pray from the bottom of our hearts.
In my case, several amazing Tibetan lamas turned my life around over the course of the past twenty-four years. The great master of the Great Perfection, the late Tsedrup Tharchin Rinpoche, has been my guiding light in the Vajrayana tradition since 1997. Wherever I go, I merely need to recall his beaming smile and I am restored.
Second, a mahasiddha from Tibet (who I will call Terton Dorje Ngak Rabsel to avoid the intrusive gaze of communist monitors of the internet) guided me for ten years in the practices of The Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse (Longchen Nyingthig) tradition.
I have also studied the practice of the inner tantras of the Nyingma tradition for fifteen years with the amazing master Lama Pema Dorje Rinpoche of California, Taiwan and Nepal. Rinpoche has intentionally maintained a low profile throughout his life, living as a role model for those who practice intensively at home and in intermittent longer retreats while maintaining relationships and family responsibilities. He has avoided creating big Dharma centers or making himself wealthy or famous. Because his qualities shine forth like the sun, he is now sought after by lamas and centers to teach their students the innermost heart practices of the Dudjom Tersar tradition in particular, and the Nyingma tradition in general.
I am deeply grateful for the endless patience my spiritual guides have shown in teaching me. They have taught when they are tired or hungry or sick. They have taught when the Twin Towers fell and when they were experiencing tragedy and loss in their own lives. In short, their sky-like minds have remained unsullied no matter what kind of situation they have encountered, yet they are present and compassionate to confused people like me. Talk about inspiring!
The Next Phase
Recently, Lama Pema Dorje Rinpoche has bestowed upon me the teaching title Lopon (Acharya in Sanskrit) in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This occasion marks my transition from being casually approved as a meditation coach, to being an official Dharma teacher; non-monastic Buddhist clergy.
Let me be clear here: I am neither a scholar nor the kind of teacher who gives empowerments or serves as a guru. So, what can this fifty-eight-year-old American woman do to be of benefit?
I don’t know yet. But, I have observed that the Tibetan Buddhist shrine rooms in the U.S. are mostly full of lovable gray-haired white people. It’s wonderful that the spiritual explorations of the youth of the 1970’s and 80’s in North America and Europe enabled thousands of people to connect with the various schools of Buddhism. Yet, there are certainly many other kinds of people who have accumulated the good karma and intention to encounter the Dharma. My hope is that, together, can help remove the roadblocks to those people finding authentic Tibetan Buddhist teachers and practices that they aspired to. Let’s pool our prayers, skills, and connections to help make that happen. I’ve given the name Mayum Mountain Resources (Mayum means venerable mother) to these endeavors. This refers to the feminine principle, which symbolizes both the wisdom of the space free of concepts and the qualities of beneficial communication and helpful activity. We need all of that, right?
Whether you are Black, Latino, Asian, white, rich, poor, healthy, ill, young, old, straight, LGBTQI, male or female, you are warmly invited to come to classes or practices with us. The only requirement is the intention to be kind to others, and interest in Buddhist meditation.
Welcome! Come as you are.
My focus will be on communicating practice-oriented Buddhism in easy-to-understand English. My challenge is to bring the life-altering power of the meditation practices of the Nyingma tradition alive for everyday people. To encourage folks to connect with genuine wisdom lamas. To spark the desire to practice—not only in the meditation centers—but at home. To nudge people to bring the sacred outlook presented by the great lamas of the past and present into their experience.
Together, let us unfurl the field of our loving-kindness and compassion ever more widely, to encompass all beings—human and non-human, seen and unseen—throughout the universe.
