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Tilopa’s Song to Naropa, Part 3
Some years ago, while I was in seminary, I began sitting with a group led by Roshi Ruben Habito. There was a weekly practice, and several other more intensive practices. “Day of Zen” was an all day Saturday event. And “sesshin,” was a week long silent intensive training. These practices were offered in the Zen…
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Tilopa’s Song to Naropa, part 2
Quite a few years ago, my teacher, Greg, wrote to me: “Even a happy person is not free.” This sentence has resonated a long time, echoing in the background of my thoughts. Even a happy person is not free. We were talking about awareness and consciousness and being a person. I finally realized that Greg…
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First Rhapsody
Published in Litmus, a poetry journal from the Texas A&M English Department, spring 1988.For my brother, Tom. First Rhapsody Back in a mainstreamStanding in the Southwood Theater parking lotWe watched the line curve around the building. . . no room for us this time,But it didn’t matter.We stood and laughed to the night skyBright from…
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Letters from my Teacher
First Letter. First Letter. In 1993, I was living in Tucson, Arizona. I was a student at the University of Arizona, and I had just started sitting with a Buddhist meditation group. It was a group in the lineage of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche: the Karma Kagyu. I became interested in Tibetan Buddhism because of an…
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On What Matters
The poet, Ryokan, (1758-1831) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk who lived most of his life as a hermit. In simple, hand written calligraphy, he produced many poems, among them, the following: I watch people in the worldThrow away their lives lusting after thingsNever able to satisfy their desires,Falling into deeper despairAnd torturing themselves.Even if…
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We are each alone, and yet, not alone.
Essentially, we are each alone. Even if you are with a group of friends, laughing and talking, even if you are sitting at the dinner table with your entire family, even if you are lying in bed with your lover, you are, at the same time, alone. You are alone because no one else has your…
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Commentary on Tilopa’s Song to Naropa, part 1.
This is part 1 in a series of commentaries I am writing on the text, “Tilopa’s Song to Naropa,” or, as it is sometimes called, “Tilopa’s Song of the Mahamudra.” 1. “Mahamudra, the royal way, is freefrom every word and sacred symbol.“ The word, “mahamudra:” The word “mahamudra” is a Sanskrit term. It combines two…
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Milarepa’s Fortress
My teacher, Khenchen Konchok Gyaltsen, once gave a short talk on Milarepa that was very powerful. It went something like this: Khenchen said, “The only way to be free from the fear of death is to practice the Dharma. We all know we will die someday. But we don’t know when. We think we are…
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Tilopa’s Song to Naropa
original text, translated by Lex Hixon The Text: Song of the Mahamudra (Tilopa’s Song to Naropa) by Tilopa English version by Lex Hixon Mahamudra, the royal way, is freefrom every word and sacred symbol.For you alone, beloved Naropa,this wonderful song springs forth from Tilopaas spontaneous friendship that never ends. The completely open natureof all dimensions and…
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Experiencing Emptiness
The discussion and the idea of emptiness in Buddhist philosophy attracts many intellectual and highly intelligent people. For these people, understanding emptiness becomes an abstract problem in logic and reasoning, the solution of which is an ego-oriented goal to obtain. The fact that emptiness is a difficult concept to grasp makes the goal all the…
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Sent to the Crow’s Nest
Sitting in meditation, all distractions are removed. This can be disturbing because suddenly, there is no way to avoid experiencing your own thoughts. People sometimes get interested in meditation because they want to develop more peace and calm in their lives. But meditation can be a shock to the system. Yes, developing more peace and…
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The Extraordinary Ordinary
The rain is pouring down,Like all the souls you send here.Coming to this earth,To find healing.–Snatum Kaur, “Ong Namo,” 2011. This April morning, it’s pouring rain here in Camden, Maine. I am upstairs in my little office overlooking the street. Rain drums on the roof. A few cars slosh by, splashing puddles. I’m learning how…
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The Heart of Devotion
Speaking from the heart. I am always listening to how people express themselves. It doesn’t really matter to me, how accurate, how exact, how perfect, an expression is. But, what matters, what touches me, what moves my heart, is a person’s sincerity. How sincere, how authentic, how innocent, the expression is. How honest and pure,…
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Grateful to my teachers.
I learned meditation from teachers. And my teachers, in turn, learned it from their teachers. In the practice of sitting meditation, learning and doing go together. Learning, doing, and then, teaching others: these are three things that combine in a life oriented toward meditation. My teachers learned how to practice meditation. They received instruction from…
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On what is real.
Blog. March 31, 2022. A blog entry is like a journal entry because it is stream of consciousness writing. It is “in the moment” writing. And yet, it is not like a journal entry because I know that it is going to be read by others. I suppose some bloggers use their blog for self-disclosure;…
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Ed Gabrielsen 