I started the new year at our 19th annual winter Dzogchen Center meditation retreat, which we’ve been holding for the last ten or more years on the snowy banks of the mighty Hudson at the Garrison Institute in New York, right across from Bear Mountain and West Point. I love going there every winter and watching the river flow by, while praying, meditating, chanting, and walking through the lovely woods. My students and I spend the week dancing the life of awakefulness into being through practices including meditative mindfulness training, centering, presencing, Tibetan energy yoga, self-inquiry, skygazing, melodious chanting, and compassionate lovingkindness cultivation. What a great way to start each year anew, refreshed and reinvigorated with the breath of spiritual practice in beloved community.
At the heart of every experience and every moment is the timeless and infinite,as the sages throughout the ages sing out in a single chorus. What keeps us, keeps me, from experiencing and singing it out right now? Nothing.
Emaho!“Everything must be meditated,” as the Dragon Master says.Why just vegetate,Sleep, eat, and procreateWhen much bigger doin’s are actually unfoldin’?Don’t just try to calm the mind into some kinda comfort zoneOr try thought-stoppingWhile indulging in inner schmoozing.I’m a tantric warrior, not a worrierEverything is nothing, in the end;That’s really sumptin’, ain’t it?If you find yourself drivin’,Make sure you’re in the car.Once upon a time I was no more.Though it lasted not, one must actAs if it were true.
Lama Surya Das
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