I went to the first Young Adult Dharma Council (YADC) meeting. It's a monthly group for people in the Bay area, ages 20-35, from all traditions of Buddhism. Here's the deal, most Buddhist groups only have a small percentage of people in this age range...for whatever reason there tends to be people in their 40s, 50s, 60s. So now I'm the "representative" from Anam Thubten Rinpoche's sangha. This means I can help to plan this group, etc... We will meet just one Saturday a month, so it's not a huge commitment, but still fun! Today Rinpoche came as a guest speaker, along with James Baraz, who founded Spirit Rock Meditation Center just north of here. The YADC meeting was at a great Unitarian church and only a 10 minute bike ride away and about 50 people showed up from ALL over the Bay area!
After the meeting I went home, hung out with Ngawang (roomie) and his girlfriend, Soma, and then jumped back on my bike for the "Saturday Night Sangha." It was about a 15-20 minute ride (there are "Bike Boulevards" throughout Berkeley, safer to ride on than the regular roads...although you still share with cars for the most part) and it was also really great. There were about 10 people and we did 2 different practices. First we just sat (silent meditation) for 40 minutes, then we partnered up and did "dyads," which I'd never done before. It's a practice (I'm pretty sure from therapy) where one person asks the same question over and over and the other person answers straight from the heart. There were 2 questions, we did separate sessions for each. The questions were, "What is it that blocks you from seeing clearly?" and "What is it like when you see clearly?" It was an interesting experience and I really liked the people there. I'm really trying to meet like-minded people here and be involved in the Dharma community. There are SO many meditation groups in the Bay area, I look forward to exploring. :)
I'm also very excited because my new friend, Kersten, whom I studied Tibetan with ALL day the other day, is going to come to my classes with Rinpoche, too. It will be so helpful to have someone to study with outside of class, plus, I really like her. Also, today Rinpoche said that another Tibetan in the area named, Pema, wants to tutor me weekly! Yay! This is seriously amazing!
I got my books for my teaching credential classes in the mail yesterday. I already started reading one book, "Dibs In Search of Self." It's for my Child Psych class- I'm excited for that class. My other books are about teaching for my "Intro to Teaching" class, which also sounds interesting.
Now- off to read! Tomorrow I'm going to take the bus to Rinpoches temple (about 45 min). I'm trying to conquer the public transit system here. I think I'll devote my afternoon to studying. I've become quite a bookworm, although not reclusive, I really enjoy social interaction, too. It's really about being present in whatever it is that I'm doing and rejoicing in those moments...even the crappy ones.
In Rinpoche's book, just rereleased on Snow Lion, called "No Self, No Problem," he wrote this:
"We don't have to be in any special place to practice true spiritual discipline. We don't have to be in a temple or place of meditation. Life is filled with opportunities to learn and grow. A friend of mine died of cancer. He had an expression that he used when he was going through difficulties. He always used to say, 'This is AFOG, another f-ing opportunity to grow.' This was his holy incantation, a little unconventional, but it worked for him. I remember him dancing and singing the last few months of his life. He told me he had no fear. I sat with him while he was dying and he was totally peaceful. Looking at him was like looking at the face of a sleeping child. There was the same innocence and purity."
xoxox
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