MINDSPACE

ANAM THUBTEN RINPOCHE TO SPEAK IN FAYETTEVILLE

WHAT:  Dharma Talk

WHEN:  Monday, April 21, 7:00 P.M.

WHERE:  St. Paul's Episcoal Church, 224 N. East St., Fayetteville  AR  72701 (442-7373).  For directions, click here.

Fayetteville residents have an extraordinary opportunity to hear one of the most talented and perceptive teachers currently active in the United States today. 

Anam Thubten Rinpoche was born in Tibet and entered into Buddhist training in the Nyingma tradition at young age.  Among his teachers, he had a special affinity toward a very inspiring Dharma teacher named Lama Tsurlo, who became his main mentor.  Lama Tsurlo's kindness and wisdom gave him the firm base to advance in his dharma practice, and still serves as a source of inspiration in his ever-unfolding love of true Dharma, as well as his work as a teacher.  Anam Thubten was recognized as the reincarnation of Anam Lama, when he was quite young.

Rinpoche will give a general dharma talk on the nature and availability of spiritual truth.  More specific descriptions of his teachings often narrow the scope of his message--you simply have to hear him to appreciate the full dimensions of his capacious mind, his generosity, and his compassion. 

Simply put--this is a talk that is not to be missed.  All are welcome, and a $10 donation for adults and $5 for students are suggested to help defray the costs of travel.  No one, of course, will be turned away.

It is traditional inTibetan culture for students, after the teaching, to line up for a blessing from the teacher.  This is entirely optional, of course.  But if you would like a personal blessing from Rinpoche, it is easy to do.  You simple bow, and present him with a kata, or white scarf, draped over your hands, which he will take, bless, and place around your neck.  If you have a kata you may bring it.  If not, we will have several for you to share with others.  It is also traditional that you present the teacher with your donation in a white envelope at this time.  We will have white envelopes available for you to use as well.

We look forward to seeing you on Monday, 21 February, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 7:00 p.m.

SPECIAL NOTE:  RINPOCHE WILL ALSO BE LEADING A RETREAT IN LITTLE ROCK, APRIL 18-20.  CONTACT KAREN WISDOM FOR MORE INFORMATION (501-681-2895).

MONTHLY-OR-SO RECOMMENDATION: ROBERT THURMAN'S "INFINITE LIFE"

A while ago, I added the Monthly-Or-So Recommendation to this blog site, and it's time to post another selection, since it's been or month or so since I recommended What Makes You Not a Buddhist.  This time, I'm recommending Infinite Life, by Robert Thurman which, if you didn't know better, and saw only the rather garish orange-fading-to-lilac cover, you might think had been written by a televangelist. 

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.  Robert Thurman is one of the pioneers of Tibetan Buddhism in America.  A co-founder and President of Tibet House in New York City, he was also the first Westerner to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and has enjoyed a close relationship with the Dalai Lama for the last four decades.  He ultimately decided to return his robes, and one of the bits of evidence of that return appears in the picture to the left with her arm around her father.  Recently retired, he taught for years at Columbia where he held an endowed chair in Indo-Tibetan Studies.

Infinite Life, which originally appeared in 2004, is a quirky book in some ways, but it is quirky in attractive Thurmanesque ways.  Thurman has been called everything from the Wild Man to the Robin Williams of Tibetan Buddhism, but these characterizations should never distract us from his extraordinarily assimilative intelligence.  His prose is always free of jargon and technical language, and he has done wonderful work in presenting the Dharma in clear American terms.  In Infinite Life, he asks us to imagine our lives, literally, as beginningless and endless . . . . an idea that is, of course, central to Buddhist philosophy, but one that remains for most of us . . . an idea.

This is what Thurman sets out to correct in this book, and by taking us through the preliminary arguments for the existence of our once and future lives, he then takes us through the meditational exercises that will transform the idea into a living practice.  The book is, as Thurman says, "a regular book with a message . . . but in another sense . . . a workbook."

And so it is--both a book and a workbook, and I found both applications extremely useful.  Perhaps you will too.  (You can order the book through the link to the right, and the our site will eventually be given a gift certificate that we will use to stock Geshe la's library, a library that we hope will someday find an accessible and permanent home.)

NOVEL ABOUT TIBET AND OTHER THINGS

For those of you in the Fayetteville area:  last week Geshe la and I met with How Kuff, a long-time resident of Red Star, Arkansas, and now a novelist.  In 1999, How and his wife toured Tibet on a bicycle, and now he has written a novel that takes place in Tibet, Changing History.  How will read from his book on Saturday, January 19, 7:00 p.m. at Nightbird Books.  How has an exciting story to tell, and I hope that some of you will be able to attend this reading.

Some of you in the meditation group might remember that Geshe la passed out a brief summary of the Six Perfections before we left for the break.  I had planned to write something on them earlier, but my reading on Gandhi intervened.  I'll try to post something on the Perfections in the future, and I'll let you know when I'm done.

NEW BOOKS ARE IN, MONKS ARE COMING!

For those of you who live in the Fayetteville area, Geshe la and Rinzin la are due to return on Saturday, January 5, after a long bus ride from Alabama, and as of now are planning to hold meditation on Sunday, January 6.  Same time, same place as usual.  We have also received copies of the next book we will be reading, The Meaning of Life by the Dalai Lama, and we will have these available for purchase on Sunday.  Price TBA.

I hope that your break has been restful.  The New Year certainly looks promising.  Several new projects on the board, and of course the Non-Violence class as well.  I hope to see many of you on Sunday.