Late for the Dali Lama

We were geared up for a mind-altering experience with the Dalai Lama, but officials gave us only partial access to the teachings because we were late for the opening session.

Thousands of devotees converge on McLeod Ganj, part of the township of Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama gives a limited number of free public lectures each year.
Those of us who did manage to file into the Main Temple were disappointed. We got as far as a leafy courtyard opposite a modest gated building, the Dalai Lama's residence.

An elderly bespectacled man with yellow and scarlet robes shuffled by, surrounded by minders. The Dalai Lama smiled at us before moving upstairs where he gave his lecture.

Too bad none of us spoke Tibetan. The radio frequency for English translation did not work.

So we sat there for an hour watching the Dalai Lama speak, sipping milky tea, smiling and laughing without understanding a word he was saying to an otherwise enraptured audience.

This Life & Essences

Gazing at all the people on the second floor of Nordstroms from the 3rd flow through the escalator, one gets a sense of all the interconnections between all of us walking the planet today. One then thinks about the family members and friends, and business collaborations.

Yudhishtara calls it the relationships of "essence". Let's talk about this in Satsang.

Stress is Time Related

It is just an observation but does it seem that stress is always time related? That is what I have been finding the past few weeks. Let's discuss it in Satsang.

Trust Yourself

Thoughts are coming at you all day long.
Coincidence is occuring all day long and you observe it.
You think it - it is occuring.
Awareness of it all is around you.
Trust Yourself.

See you in Satsang.

Milarepa & Satsang

There is a new movie coming out - "Milarepa" is a sort of "Batman Begins" version of the early life of renowned Tibetan saint Jetsun Milarepa (1052-1135). A follow-up film, which is due out in 2009, will cover the magical deeds and great powers of the legendary yogi and poet, who achieved enlightenment in midlife and blended Buddhism with sorcery according to the story.

For now, let us know that , "Milarepa" concerns the religious figure's hardscrabble origins, when he was a young man named Mila Thopaga (Jamyang Lodro). In this visually spectacular film shot near Tibet's border with India, "Milarepa" focuses on the misfortunes of Thopaga's family after the death of his wealthy father.

Let us discuss this further in Satsang.

Religious Travel for Enlightenment

Globus travel incorporated in conjunction with globusfaith.com has completed the first ever study of International religious travelers and has concluded that for many, traveling abroad is a spiritual experience, visiting magnificent cathedrals, ancient temples and other historic religious sites which can have a profound effect on anyone that encounters them. Increasingly, though, Americans are planning international vacations specifically designed to explore their religion and deepen their faith in God and spirit. While many experts agree this is one of the fastest growing vacation trends, until now the travel industry had no way to quantify these religious spiritual sojourners pilgrims.

Globus travel incorporated in conjunction with globusfaith.com has completed the first ever study of International religious travelers and has concluded most notably that the Globus Religious Travel Study revealed that one-third of all international travelers, 15.7 million U.S. adults, are likely to take a religious vacation in the future. Globus travel incorporated in conjunction with globusfaith.com has completed the first ever study of International religious travelers and has concluded that one in 10 international pleasure travelers have already been abroad on a faith-based vacation or approximately 4.5 million people.
Come take your next trip to Satsang.

The Power to Act - Part 3

Chosun.com, the Korean website has written an article that focuses on the power or non-power that the current Korean president has in the ability to take action; it further wrote that the German sociologist Ulrich Beck has said the era is gone when a government, once in power, could do anything by crooking a finger, and it is an illusion to think that political power can control everything. Nothing moves by presidential power alone any more.

Chosun.com, the Korean website has written that a saying has it that the next mirror to look at your face is never far away. This article was written not with the incumbent president uppermost in mind, but with the candidates who dream of presidential power, and the public who expects too much of the president.

These are the types of questions we tackle in Satsang.