Numinous Nonsense

Oct 10th – Evening
Just finished listening to a talk given by Khandro Rinpoche, which I’ll tell you more about later. First, our trip to the Great Stupa! Following lunch Emily & I trekked up to the Great Stupa, which houses remains from Chogyam Trungpa. Pictures are posted here. It was a gorgeous monument, but more than its physical beauty, was the great sense of ease I felt while there.

After chillin at the Stupa for a bit we headed up a little path to the Amaterasu Omi Kami Shinto Shrine. The shinto shrine was a good deal smaller and less elaborate, but was beautiful nonetheless. Realizing we had a half-hour before Khandro’s talk we said, “peace out” to the enshrined shinto gods, and busted back down the mountain.

This was the closing talk for an 8-day retreat that many people @ the center had attended… Khandro had a very interesting presence. I’m always suprised by the non-sexuality that radiates from most Buddhist nuns (and monks). After answering a few questions she taught straight from a Mahayana text on the proper prelimenaries and practices of the bodhisattva practioner. The section she covered during the talk was mainly on the six paramitas. She read the text first in Tibetan and then translated in English. Being my first encounter with a Tibetan teacher I found it to be pretty enjoyable. She seemed to genuinely care about her students diligence of practice, and of their awakening.

See Part 1…