June 12, 2005
DEDICATED TO SPOONER SMITH: 1991-2005
OF POPPIES AND ATTACHMENT: THE TEACHINGS OF SOGYAL RINPOCHE
I dedicate my efforts to produce this morning's DL to Most Noble WF Online Student Luke Smith of Haku Clan,
who wrote to me this morning:
"It is with the deepest sadness that I write today to let you know that
Spooner passed away this morning. He was a month shy of his 14th birthday.
The backyard here in Anchorage, and indeed my life, is a lot emptier without
him.
Peace to you all,
Luke"
May All Beings Know The Happiness and Love that Luke and Spooner shared and cultivated.
OM MANI PADME HUNG
coach ilg
***
This morning's meditation ended with a session at the foot of my backyard buddha...a poppy bloomed as i sat...
feeling the teachings of Sogyal Rinpoche:
"Buddha recognized that ignorance of our true nature is the root of all the torment of samsara, and the root of ignorance itself is the mind�s habitual tendency to distraction.
To end the mind�s distraction would be to end samsara itself; the key to this, he realized, is to bring the mind home to its true nature, through the practice of meditation. As you continue to practice meditation, you may have all kinds of experiences, both good and bad. You might experience states of bliss, clarity, or absence of thoughts. In one way these are very good experiences, and signs of progress in meditation.
For when you experience bliss, it�s a sign that desire has temporarily dissolved. 
When you experience real clarity, it�s a sign that aggression has temporarily ceased.
When you experience a state of absence of thought, it�s a sign that your ignorance has temporarily died. 
By themselves they are good experiences, but if you get attached to them, they become obstacles.
Experiences are not realization in themselves; but if we remain free of attachment to them, they become what they really are�that is, materials for realization."
May Your Practices Today Be As Strong and Magnificent As The Sacred Peak
Beneath which i bow to you...
coach ilg