Buddhism for Busy People by David Michie

Author:David Michie
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Shambhala
Published: 2017-05-16T00:00:00+00:00

…in the memory of those who have left it, flashing back on to the mind so vividly that the nostrils seem to sense the sweet smell of a vlei after the rains or the tingling of red dust from untarred roads, the ear to catch the melancholy hoot of a rain-bird or the strangely moving rhythmic chant from the throats of distant Africans.

Deeply as I wished to return, however, I had to think with my head, not my heart; I could see no long-term future for a white professional in southern Africa.

In seeking a better quality of life, with sunshine, space, and a less frenetic lifestyle, we eventually decided on Perth, Western Australia. It was Janmarie’s hometown and soon became my own. Perched on the edge of the Indian Ocean, it is one of the most isolated cities in the world, which is perhaps why it provides such a wonderful quality of life, including endless white sand beaches, a Mediterranean climate, and a modern city center noticeably free of grime, graffiti, or any other form of rubbish. A few hours south are the vineyards of Margaret River, and further on still the mountain forests and rugged coastline of Denmark and Albany. Once settled, I began work on Conflict of Interest.

One of the first things that became apparent, after a period in transition, was how much time we suddenly had. Instead of traveling forty-five minutes to an hour each way to work, or to see clients, commute time was now more like ten minutes. Free of the stresses of life in a big city, suddenly we had whole evenings to ourselves. Had I not received any teachings on leisure and fortune I would still have felt lucky; it was as if the lid had been taken off the pressure-cooker I had been living in since moving to London, and now we had time to breathe. But after Rinpoche’s teachings I was even more mindful of the extreme rarity of my good fortune. Making some inquiries about Tibetan Buddhist classes in Perth, I decided I could do worse than visit the organization closest to where I lived—the Tibetan Buddhist Society (TBS).

I had continued my morning meditating since London, but missing was a sense of direction. My concentration was improving, slowly, but where was all this heading? Little did I know that in making my way to TBS I couldn’t have chosen a better place to move things forward to the next stage.

There was real vibrancy in TBS’s Mount Lawley gompa when I made my first visit. I can vividly remember thinking how very different this was from Glebe Street—the thangkas and statues were much the same, but the energy in the room was altogether more upbeat. Was this Aussie exuberance in action, I wondered? Or was it a lifestyle thing? You would certainly never have seen shorts and T-shirts in Glebe Street—most of the year it would have been far too cold.

The true cause of the buzz, as I soon discovered, was the teacher, Les Sheehy.

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