On the middle path to self-contentment – Amrith Bdr Subba

 

 

Exactly one year after attending the 3-day spiritual retreat in Paro, I am once again taking a short break from the worldly affairs to explore myself and the world around me in the surreal wilderness of Chubjakha valley in Paro. In the hassles and bustles of busy city life, it gives me an immense sense of relief to break away from the madding crowd for a moment around this time every year to embark on a spiritual journey which is being supervised and guided directly by His Eminence Garab Rinpoche. This year, I am once again blest to get the opportunity to be part of thousands of devotees to attend the retreat from 9-12 November 2017.

Although it is difficult to become full-time Dharma practitioners due to social and family obligations, sometimes I feel it’s important to strike a balance between spiritual needs and worldly pleasures in order to re-define the meaning of our existence in this world and discover our own inner self. This is what the philosophy of Gross National Happiness is all about. It is generally said that one has to have all five senses intact to be able to practice Dharma, but as a visually impaired practitioner, I don’t think this is absolutely true for everybody. There are five of us who are visually impaired but we are doing just fine with our practice so far under the close supervision and guidance of our Root Lama. Ever since we received the first blessing from our Lama, we have been trying our best to practice everything we have been taught and so far, we are doing well in our pursuit for spiritual happiness. We may not be able to go to the mountains and caves to meditate but we can have the entire universe in our heart and practice what we have been taught.

Today, we have received almost all the basic teachings from our Root Lama and we are practicing them every day. It gives me a great joy and peace to be part of this unique experience. In fact, we are on our way towards receiving the higher levels of teachings. As a Threma practitioner, I have gained insights into many aspects of human life and it has helped me explore and understand myself better.

Over the next four days, I will be once again away from the world, completely cut off from the family and friends to delve into my own inner self and re-discover the spiritual values that define my existence in this world. I am very excited to be part of this special journey into the spiritual world through the series of profound teachings and meditations. Like last year, I look forward to another unique experience during this retreat. May all the sentient beings be liberated from the world of suffering by what I practice.

(The writer blogs at amrithdiary.wordpress.com)