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Sitting in the temple the day before the teachings begin. I have come to claim a spot to sit for the duration of the three days. I have come to take pictures since I won\u2019t be able to later.<\/p>\nby Lisa Tully<\/p>\n
Sitting in the temple the day before the teachings begin. I have come to claim a spot to sit for the duration of the three days. I have come to take pictures since I won\u2019t be able to later.<\/p>\n
I have come to find where the bathrooms are!<\/p>\n
What I unexpectedly find is a sense of contentment and calm just being there.<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s the energy coming from the sacred space itself. I find I\u2019m in a meditative state just sitting on the bench that I\u2019ve found. It\u2019s off to the right of the main teaching hall.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve claimed a piece of it with my name on a scrap piece of paper and some tape offered to me by a kind stranger.<\/p>\n It feels good here.<\/strong><\/p>\n There are a lot of logistical things that need to happen to attend a teaching (getting yourself to Dharamsala, registering at the security office, reading up on the etiquette, learning what can and can\u2019t go through security), but none of that matters once you arrive.<\/p>\n Because \u201carrive\u201d is exactly what you do.<\/p>\n You arrive to the present moment. You arrive to an open heart and mind. You arrive to a state of centeredness that you seem to share with the thousands of other people in the room.<\/p>\n There is no where I\u2019d rather be.<\/strong><\/p>\n I arrive early and the people watching is deeply moving. Many do their prostrations and recite the common mantra of \u201cOm Mani Padme Hum\u201d while doing kora around the inner temple.<\/p>\n There is a shift in the crowd as His Holiness begins to make his way through the hall and into the main temple.<\/p>\n Everyone stands, everyone is silent, and everyone gets happier.<\/p>\n He comes around the corner into view. My first glimpse of him he is reaching out to take someone\u2019s hand in greeting.<\/p>\n Tears instantly well up in my eyes. I have no thoughts.<\/strong><\/p>\n I take notes during the teaching. Even though the text is a basic one, some parts feel like advanced Buddhist philosophy to me.<\/p>\n But there is so much patience in his teaching. So much humility as well. At one point he talks about how previous Dalai Lama\u2019s were known to have prophetic visions but that he himself had never had any.<\/p>\n He then jokes:<\/p>\n \u201cI like to say that maybe I don\u2019t have visions like the others, but I\u2019m the most famous Dalai Lama!\u201d<\/p>\n And as he laughs his joy spreads through the crowd like a ripple in a pond for his laughter is so infectious.<\/p>\n Each day as the teaching ends I sit and talk with one of the monks sitting near me. At first I try to process with him, clarify points from the teaching.<\/p>\n He stops me saying:<\/p>\n \u201cLet what comes, come. Don\u2019t force it. You will take away what you were meant to take away.\u201d<\/p>\n After that reminder, we just sit on our bench each day, silently watching everyone file downstairs for lunch. No words are needed beyond \u201cGood-bye\u201d and \u201cSee you in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n Our joint meditation is the perfect end to a profound experience.<\/p>\n Would like to experience this magic yourself? Join us on our next spiritual trip to Dharamsala, India. We will make sure you have a wonderful, safe and profound time in India with the Dalai Lama and his community. Click here for information<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photos sourced on Pinterest from Xaron White<\/a>, Wendie Berry <\/a>and Sema64<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Lisa Tully Sitting in the temple the day before the teachings begin. I have come to claim a spot to sit for the duration of the three days. I have come to take pictures since I won\u2019t be able to later. I have come to find where the bathrooms are! What I unexpectedly find […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[137,276,251,67,277],"class_list":{"0":"post-402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-spiritual-travel","7":"tag-buddhist-meditation-retreat","8":"tag-dalai-lama-tour","9":"tag-dharamsala-tour","10":"tag-lisa-tully","11":"tag-spiritual-india-tour","12":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.spiritualquestadventures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/c80165f177471a75471bc51b52e52c18-199x300.jpg\")
It just happens. The first morning I arrive with my radio for the translation and my bowl and mug for the butter tea and lunch of rice and dal. I\u2019m flooded with a sense of happiness.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.spiritualquestadventures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/74c08a9f624133859737242f204f1717-190x300.jpg\")
I feel only gratitude and happiness. I remember what a friend once told me: just to see him is to be blessed. I make eye contact with the monk standing beside me. He sees my tears and simply nods as if to say, \u201cYes, I know.\u201d<\/p>\n