Fri, 25 Aug 2006
Ordination
The Dalai Lama held an ordination ceremony today for Mongolian monks. Konchog Norbu writes about it and the Associated Press has an article . The AP calls it a "secret initiation ceremony." There's nothing secret about it, it's just closed to lay persons, as all monastic ceremonies are.
Not much time tonight, as I was debugging Lola. Here's a quote from Khenpo Karthar's talk called "The Heart of Mindfulness."
Sometimes a person may experience obstacles in meditation. Actually, they cannot strictly be called obstacles. Whether what happens is an obstacle or a stepping stone depends upon the meditator. There is not any event that under all circumstances is an obstacle. During yur life, a test situation may arise because of your meditation. If you lack understanding and meditative insight, this test could become an obstacle. However, if you have enough insight and understanding, the test could heighten your realization to a great extent. As an outcome of meditative experience, whatever appearances may arise can be transformed into the realization of the nature of all things as insubstantial, uncompounded, and only existing interdependently. If a person understands and relates in this way, then whatever drama appears in meditation could be tremendously uplifting.
