SageTree

Hello Friends,

Just posting a notice that I'll be out of town this weekend on a retreat on a lake a few hours south of here, at a Tibetan Buddhist Sangha.

The speaker is Dr. Jeffery Hopkins, who was the Dalai Lama's speech and book translator for many years. The last retreat I was on with him he was a good teacher and brought to light in words some thoughts I've had and hadn't had yet. And I find it's good when old info can be organized while adding new food for thought. I appreciated my time with him very much.

Now this year he's back. A little later in the year, which will be nice for flies and mosquitoes, which means I can actually sit outside instead of having to walk to swing... yes last year I 'invented' swing meditation Dang flies! Got more lessons to learn than I can handle from 1000000 insect teachers at once


This years book:
'How to see yourself as you really are.'
Last years book:
'How to Expand Love: Widening the Circle of Loving Relationships'

So anyways, that is where I'll be.


Hope you all have a really good weekend, and I look forward to talking with you all again really soon.

In loving kindness,
SageTree

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Dandaweedman

Thanks for the heads up. I hope you have an en-light-ening weekend.

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Captain Cannabis

have a good one.

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fuck the monkeys

SmokeaJoint

Sounds awesome Sage, have a great time!

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The Rev

That does sound awesome. Wish I was coming along.



The Rev

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Grieves

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aft3rsh0kk

...kinda gay grieves

but its ok.

have fun sage, wish i wasnt working this weekend and was able to get out of town

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I wish you would, meet that WOOD, in the hood

Grieves

sage is a guy you wanna get kinda gay for...

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hijabihippie

Or in my case, Sage is a guy you want to get kind of straight for...

Have a wonderful weekend, SageTree.

SageTree

That is a very honourable compliment Grieves. Spanks a lot!

Double H!!! !!!!

I had an awesome weekend! Doing a little catching up here and maybe will come back with some updates.

Thanks you all!!!

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The Rev

Is that really LEMMY!?

That's a damn shame.



The Rev

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hijabihippie

Translation, please, Rev?

The Rev

Lemmy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia





The Rev

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Mikey

oh please let us know
were dying to hear how your weekend went

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RIP Gov

SageTree

Well it was nice to see a group of people I knew and had lot of good talks with them. Spoken Lake was beautiful as usual as was the drive through the Caribou/Chilcotin region.

It's hard to pin down how Dr. Hopkins taught and talked about dependent origination in a few sentences, but I like an example he used about what it's like when you 'see' it.

And that example was, "It's like the feeling when you get, the first time you realize a prejudice you have was the most foolish thing you ever thought."

As a person who was raised with some less than favourable opinions of others, this really resonated with me, because I can remember well my time in Iowa in the city and how much my eyes were opened when I met people who were one of the multitude of stereotypes I'd been taught or accepted. And how that felt when in a second my mind went "WTF have you been thinking this for?"

The funny moment was at around 1130pm I came walking out of my room with out a shirt. Which is a little bold on retreat, but I KNEW everyone was up stairs, so I popped open the door with a surprised Dr. Hopkins standing in the kitchen with a handful of cookies, cakes and sweets. We both looked at each other like we should not be doing what we were doing or something, so we hesitated, and then looked at each other again, shrugged and went about what we were doing. Midnight snacks and bathroom breaks

I really wish I could relay the concepts spoken about better, but that might take a little time to distill and might show up as a SageRant in Spiritual Smoke before long. Nailing down the essence of realization that the "I" isn't separate or one with the mind/body complex is like capturing an ether or phantom. And it's a 'thing' that I need to work with myself to get a deeper understanding. The coarse knowledge is fathomable, the subtle ways in which that arises.... ...... even the Dalai Lama posits 'Room for growth' even for him' but maybe he's being a little humbled there.

There is a teacher from the group they are part of in Toronto, so I already have a Tibetan Buddhist 'family' should I swing that way in TO.


SageTree

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SmokeaJoint

Man Sage that sounds pretty awesome. Seriously, I wish church would be like that. Make it conducive to staying awake at least.

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AMERICA: LAND OF THE FREE!
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SageTree

I don't know if I'd cal it church specifically , although places of worship can go by many synonyms.

I'll note this was a Tibetan Buddhist retreat centre. Although I don't consider my own practice Tibetan, it's influenced over all by the Mahayana philosophy, of which Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism is an extension of.

Not to be confused with Anglican Mass which I've been attending recently. That's definitely a church.

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HTAM

He must of lost a bet, man.

hijabihippie

The "D'oh!" moment...

I10HaulR

I'm SOOOO in need of that moment...LOL!