Carrie Link

BACK TO BUSINESS

A few people asked me how I could go from talking about my time with the Dalai Lama, to Top 10 Grade School Come-Backs. Well, the answer is quite simple, I'm a NUT! My mind zips and zags a million times a day, never resting too long at any one place. The Buddhists call this "Monkey Mind". I prefer to call mine, "Gorilla Mind" because, like with all things, I believe my situation is worse/bigger/better/more interesting at least. Well, the old me, that is. To say that I have been profoundly changed by my limited time with ol' HH (His Holiness) is an understatement, and nobody has EVER accused me of having the gift of understatement!

The friend with whom I shared the whole experience and I have been talking about it a lot ever since. As the days progress, so does our processing and deeper integration of the experience. I think merely by being in his presence, you can't help but be changed. You'd have to be a rock not to feel that man's "ju-ju", no matter where you were in the gigantic auditorium. I'd be willing to bet the good vibes wafted several miles in all directions.

My friend had to miss a few minutes of one of his teachings, when she returned, she said, "What'd I miss? Did you get enlightened?" We've had a couple of chats about that since then, too. I hear it is possible to be enlightened, "just like that." I don't know, I think my "Everything is on a continuum" theory might also apply here. If you look just at the word, "enlightenment", what do you see? Light! Full of the light. It seems to me that some humans come to this life already more full of life than others. I wonder what a shock to the system it would be for someone with very little light to achieve enlightenment, "just like that." Could they even take it? Would the light be so blinding and burning they couldn't stand it?

Being a born and raised Oregonian, it takes very little sunlight to have me reaching for my sunglasses (although I'm switching to a maroon visor as soon as I can get my hands on one). Would the same be true for enlightenment? Wikipedia defines it this way: Bodhi (Pali and Sanskrit. Lit. awakening. Trans. enlightenment) is a title given in Buddhism to the specific awakening experience attained by the Indian spiritual teacher Gautama Buddha and his disciples. It is sometimes described as complete and perfect sanity, or awareness of the true nature of the universe. After attainment, it is believed one is freed from the cycle of Samsāra; birth, suffering, death and rebirth.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_(Buddhism)

I'll continue to muse/brag/offend/incite and I hope, inspire, as I continue to work through what it is I saw and heard, and what it is I now want to BE.