Houseboat on the Ganges & A Room in Kathmandu: Letters from India & Nepal, 1966-1972 by Marilyn Stablein

Author:Marilyn Stablein
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-63405-972-5
Publisher: Chin Music Press
Published: 2019-06-25T00:00:00+00:00

Sonada

West Bengal

May 17, 1970

I rent a room in Sonada near my teacher Kalu Rinpoche’s gompa. I stay here a few nights a week. Yesterday we celebrated a ceremony that marked the beginning of a new three-year, three-month, three-day retreat for thirteen lamas who will practice intense meditation in sealed rooms. Their living conditions are very austere. The monks never leave the retreat. They sit most of the day in wooden boxes built according to the specific measurement of each monk as he sits, legs crossed, in the posture of meditation.

Historically the isolated training provided essential meditative experience for many lamas. Recently after so many Tibetan refugees fled their homeland, the strict practice had been discontinued. Only a few higher lamas like Kalu Rinpoche are capable of instructing the monks.

Lama Kalu is very considerate of his western students who fit into a specific category in the spiritual organization of the monastic community.

It was prophesized that Tibet would be invaded, and it was, by the Chinese. Another prophecy claims the dharma will spread to the west where it will flourish.

Buddha dharma is without form in the purest essence. It’s a way of living, of daily practice, and a way of guiding thoughts. The biggest change is internal. To live in a foreign land, the Buddha said, enables one to gain spiritual experience far from friends, family, and material possessions. These conditions are good for meditation. I agree.

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