Tree Prose

Maggie is going to pull my hair out…at least that’s what she told the guy sitting next to us at the internet cafe this morning. This is the first time we have ever spent this much time together, just us. She keeps saying, “God I want to call your sister and tell her I have compassion for her”…Maggie is an only child and very use to getting her way:) I am not an only child but just don’t usually do what others want me to do and usually only do what I want to do…Doesn’t make planning for four months of traveling very easy.

In my house when anything is uncertain, they use my name as an adjective to refer to the uncertainty of it…for instance if it looks like it is going to rain, but no one is quite sure, they say, “oh this is a tiff rain”…

It has to do with being at the crossroads that I mentioned in the last blog. The good news is that in my time at Agama, I learned a very useful trick called consecration. In simple terms, you learn what it feels like to experience the connection between your intuitive, higher mind and your heart. Then you can ask a question and more often than not, receive a felt experience, which carries with it an answer. Essentially tapping into the idea that our subconscious holds all of the knowledge/wisdom of the universe.

When we first start practicing this, we try it with simple things. Like consecrating the fruits of actions to the ‘divine’ or the fruits of a meal…when the felt sensation of consecration becomes familiar, you can start to ask questions.

A few days ago it came to my attention that the Dalai Lama is coming to town to celebrate his birthday on the 6th of July and to offer one week of teachings. Maggie and I planned on leaving McLeod on the 22nd of June. She is traveling around Europe and I was going to tuck away in Viareggio, Italy. But with this opportunity to learn from the Dalai Lama, I started brainstorming what it was I really wanted to do. At one point I decided to sit down and meditate and then consecrate to understand what my deepest heart was really wanting. The answer was immediately to stay.

Somehow, even though I knew this is what my heart really wanted, part of me wanted to chuck the possibilities of the experience, and go have fun with Maggie. So for several days I went back and forth. Unfortunately, every time I changed my mind I told Maggie. One moment she was overjoyed we’d be traveling together…and the next, disappointed.

This morning I went on a walk to Tushita Monastery where the westerners interested in Tibetan Buddhism go to study. Several years ago I started looking in to this monastery because of a link with another program I was interested in. Anyway, a beautiful walk through the woods led me to the reception office. I inquired about the Introduction to Buddhism course that begins on the 26th of June and goes through the 5th of July. The program is in silence, but includes teachings on all sorts of Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy, tradition, etc. and 2 days of meditation…room and board too. I decided to sign up.

Then I had to go tell Mags. That’s when she made the comment about pulling out my hair! (it would be kharmic from the time I pulled a chunk out of my sis’) but peace prevails. I think she is just happy that I made a freakin’ decision and even more so that I am following my heart.

To Friendship!

love,
tiff

P.S. While my love for learning the Dharma is deep, my love for Italy is oceanic! I changed my ticket and will meet Maggie in Rome on the 14 of July. Of course one can’t forgo the fun altogether!

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 9:25 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.