Just being in his presence, we as students experienced the peace and compassion that he is. He spoke softly yet
with an elegant authority that melted his words into your mind. My objective in learning from this great world teacher was not only to absorb the insight he imparted but to learn what he seeks
and from where he draws his immense wisdom. "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they seek," a quote by Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, guided my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The Dalai Lama's extensive discourse on the path to enlightenment, while offering meaningful spiritual advice,
down-to-earth personal reflections, and rich scriptural commentary, also provided us a foundation and framework to live more mindful, harmonious, peaceful, and compassion-filled lives. The knowledge
and vision he shared with us was from text that was more than a thousand years old. We learned the great wisdoms and how to strengthen our connection with the sacred through effective practices that
are necessary to be transformed. To actively
seek harmony—going beyond what we know intellectually to "walking the talk"—is one challenge, for most of us, on the path, because we need to transform what we know from mere ideas into vibrant, working parts of our daily lives. Learning how to
embody more fully the things which we already know is difficult. As author, lecturer, and spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson would say, if knowing
is only above the neck, we have more work to do. While as a student of the Dalai Lama, we were often reminded of the old Zen story about the monk who finally achieved enlightenment
after years and years of meditation. Someone asked him how he felt in his new enlightened state, and he said, "The same as I felt before." Even immersed in the wisdom of the ages, he was still
the same monk living the same monk's life in the same monk's body. He likely had achieved a new level of understanding, but he was still himself. As the saying goes, "Before enlightenment, chop
wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." Nowhere is it written that we will no longer get tired or bored or angry about chopping wood and carrying water, but once we've
moved to a new level of spiritual understanding, the experience of fatigue, boredom, or anger associated with chopping and carrying will hold a different quality.
As we close in on the holidays at hand, to begin to cognitively and actively seek harmony with everyone and with everything in our day to day environment is a great way to honor ourselves
and those around us as we journey this path. We must train mindfully to cultivate correct attitudes and we must practice with clarity, humility, and a sense of personal responsibility for our own
progress; then, the voyage toward achieving omniscience is not overwhelmingly complex. Our minds, our bodies, and our souls know how we must think and behave and when we begin to follow through with
right action in all that we believe, do, and say, we will achieve harmonious union with spirit. What a wonderful gift to give yourself and those whose lives you touch this holiday season!
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