Sacred West

Well, the retreat is over. As with all retreats, you only know afterwards how it was, as you see the ways you seem to have changed. I feel changed, very much.

Anam Thubten Rinpoche is a maverick: despite his robes he discourages much ceremony, and goes straight to the teachings of Lord Buddha. He is relentless. He doesn’t stop expounding the teachings, gently hammering home the key point of the Dharma, which is to drop attachment.

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Anam Thubten Rinpoche is coming to Austin in eight days from now, and this to me is a very big deal, even on a path made up of no big deals. He’ll be here for the retreat weekend of July 28th and 29th, plus the Friday evening on the 27th.

If you’ve never experienced Anam Thubten Rinpoche, well, maybe you should. You can’t help but love the man, his spirit is so warm, and he’s so positive. His particular thing is wakefulness, he wants us to wake up now. He makes it seem possible.

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Anam Thubten Rinpoche is coming to Austin this month to hold a weekend retreat, on the weekend of July 28-29. This will occur at Clear Spring Studio – 605 Copeland St., Austin, Texas 78704. The weekend costs $125, and the talk on Friday evening, July 27th, is by donation.

If you’ve never experienced Anam Thubten Rinpoche you should at least come for the talk on Friday, and if your experience is like mine and others you’ll take away an enduring gift of power. Anam Thubten Rinpoche is a gift giver, and his focus is on awakening now.

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For a long time I’ve been asking myself, if all the teachings talk in terms of resting in natural mind, why is it so wearying to meditate? Where does the resting part come into the picture?

I had a bit of an answer recently during a Sunday morning sit at Shambhala. After working really hard for three hours and making some headway, as it were, I perceived that my ordinary self was struggling to catch up to the tastes of liberation experienced, and was very tired.

So it’s really perhaps just as simple as one has always perceived since starting to meditate: it’s not the being in the moment that takes energy, it’s having to start over again an instant later. It’s the firing up of the motor again. It’s the sadness at seeing ourselves cover the moment over with glue. The stickiness of our grasping. Seeing this again and again.

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