Yes you heard that correctly, the Dalai Lama is NOT visiting cville, but…his assistant of many years is! The Jefferson Tibetan Society is sponsoring a day with the Venerable Doboom Tulku Rinpoche. All of this happens tonight:
5:30-7 PM: Manjushri Empowerment Ceremony to sharpen our wisdom and intellect so we can progress spiritually. ($30pp)
7-8 PM: Break
8-9 PM: Concluding Talk; Discussion; Questions & Answers ($20pp—must have attended 5:30 session to attend this meeting)
Anyone care to join and let us know what kind of a person he is?
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Tagged as: buddha, dalai lama, darma initiative, Doboom Tulku Rinpoche, Religion
DoBOOM!
I recommend sweet!
why does it cost $50 to be spiritually empowered?
@3 Some people pay far more than that for spiritual empowerment (ie: LU alumni).
I usually spend a little more on a friday night than $50 when I go out.
@4 uh oh, you made a joke in reference to another thread. Craig might not get it.
…and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald… striking. So, I’m on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga… gunga, gunga-galunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he’s gonna stiff me. And I say, “Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.” And he says, “Oh, uh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.”
/So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.
I’m with Thor. I’ll save my $50 and use it to get “spiritually empowered” throughout the week.
You better bring exact change if you’re going. Change, after all, comes from within.
What do South American Camelids read at breakfast every morning?……………….. The Dalai Llama
/beat that for a shite DL joke.
sweet here is thinking of attending…it has been a long time since my last Manjushri empowerment…those of you who might know me know I could use a little mental health tune-up, what with the inability to remember most anyone’s name these days.
in days of yore sweet (we’ll keep him in the 3rd person) has attended many of these “thingies”, as we insiders like to call them. out in boulder where rents are even worse than here, the charge for a little spiritual fine-tuning and cosmic injection of pure light was usually a little higher, so the $30 to me seems very reasonable. even in india and nepal, where no charge was asked, the donations were usually more than that.
Doboom Rinpoche is not of the same lineage that I studied and practiced in, but my teacher knows Doboom Rinpoche from old refugee days and of course, as with most of the overly friendly, sagely lamas, recommends meeting him, with bells on, of course.
bring your katas (silk scarves) and smiles, see you there.
I’m glad to recommend the right person. Have a good time out there sweet.
/See you @ SS manana… or something like that.
Is this what happens when you had high hopes for the Dali Lama and they lower Daboom?
Oh man, I’ve been thinking for months that this Dalai Lama was coming to the Ville. I was waaaaay off.
Last person to call ME a Rinpoche got a quick sock in the mouth I tellyawhat hey howaya try the veal.
@ 15 - Quick Sock?
Are we getting feedback on the experience sweet?
hi five
I was going to give a more in-depth break down at SS tonight to the gang assembled, if they want to know, but I suppose a few words here to the peeps and lurkers is not a bad thing. Let’s see…
This was the first time I had ever been to the Unity Church. Both the Jefferson Tibetan Society people and the Unity Church pastors were very kind and energetic. As was typical with a Tibetan event, the start ran late about 30 mins (in which time I heard that 29 News had covered the event again that afternoon). There was a good turnout for the time of day, about 60 people at 530pm.
Doboom Rinpoche speaks very good English, which is not always the case. He was very kind and gentle, waiting patiently as we all filed in. There is a special little purification ritual that is always done at the outset of empowerments, which they did as we entered the main sanctuary. Seeing this I was surprised as it meant the empowerment was going to be the real deal.
After some introductions, the organizer from the JTS was ready to get the ritual started, but Rinpoche (Rinpoche means “jewel” or “precious one”, many lamas have that title added, like Parlie and esquire) asked that we not start the ritual and started to give an ad hoc dharma talk. For those not accustomed to Tibetan-styled teaching, it might have been confusing. One, the talk did not really follow any strict formula (they never do), but kind of jumped around a bunch of related topics concerning the path of Buddhism. He also gave words in Sanskrit and Tibetan, which is always nice to know, but I wonder how many in the audience knew what he was referring to. It came to a point where he said something to the effect of “OK. I am running away from what is to be done. Let us start the ritual.”
This was interesting, as I had thought from the beginning that it was odd to be having an empowerment offered to such a wide array of people, mostly I would suspect non-buddhist. Most empowerments are ritual gateways to practicing a new part of the path, and specifically for the tantric practitioner. It has always been my experience that there are empowerments that can be received as blessings, for general benefit (like when the Dalai Lama does the Kalachakra rites and over 100,000 people attend). But RInpoche did not really instruct the crowd to take the ritual in the context of a blessing, and I wondered if that was why he was sort of stalling with his dharma talk, trying to figure out the best way to give an empowerment to all sorts of different levels of spiritual seekers, Buddhist and non-Buddhist. He has probably done it before and I am only betraying my own ignorance here, but this is what I felt.
And yet, despite the nervous feelings I had about the manner in which things were unfolding, as is the case with many Tibetan talks/rituals, I personally felt a very, how to say…open, powerful energy in the room. Perhaps because I have done this kind of thing before. Very often, without any real reason why, ie. not because he has said something profound or such, but just by being there, you get this spidey sense, and the further the ritual went on, often in Tibetan without much understanding by most of us I would guess…the hairs on my neck stood up and I found myself sitting up straighter in my chair. I don’t know what others felt, but that was my reaction.
He led us through a very traditional empowerment, receiving blessings from the meditational deity (Manjushri, Embodiment of Wisdom). This involves lots of visualization, and some mantras, very Vegas in its application (light rays shooting everywhere, briliant colors, etc). I was wondering how the folks who had never been exposed to this side of TIbetan buddhism were faring. Again, I was surprised that this was promoted as a come one, come all event. In my past days in Buddhist circles there would have been more screening, or at least some counseling beforehand on what was going to take place, giving the people the option to know a little more. I was sitting next to the parents of a friend, and I don’t think they knew at all what they were getting themselves into.
Then, it was over. He joked that we were only 30 mins past our schedule, very good for Tibetans. He told a funny story about the Dalai Lama showing Chairman Mao how to make a flower offering to the Buddha (you toss a flower and petals up in the air towards the shrine). Mao just took the flowers and tossed them aside on the ground.
Then we got up and left. There were some questions and answers, but I did not stay for that.
I am very glad I went, as I felt again that old school Tibetan world by seeing and hearing the teachings of Doboom Rinpoche. My own confused thoughts about how others were experiencing the event are just that, confused. Whatever people take away from it, I hope it is something positive. It was for me.
/OK. So you got a book review, sue me. Guess I had more to say than I thought (and no work to do yet this morning). See ya all at SS tonight.
Before I read all of that, I just want to say in your first sentence you say “a few words”, but you ended up writing a novella.
Great breakdown Sweet!
nicely done, Sweet! I can’t wait to see your empowered ass at South St tonight.
@18. Awesome job sweet. Looking forward to getting the whole story tonight.
@21. Don’t believe you’re leaving us already… the fun is just beginning!!! See you @ SS.