Beloved Students:

It is in the beauty of this time of your year that I again greet you with lovingkindness. May you take hope and courage from the season at hand, and may you each find yourself "regreening" along your spiritual path

Green is the color of the Karma Buddha family which has a special significance in the springtime, the time of work. As some of you may know, springtime is also the time (seasonally speaking) of the liver, and I can tell you, hardly anyone has an unstressed liver this year. Likely this is due to the warring activity complicating the ease and well being of the planet. Your bodies take in the stress, and try to process it as if it arises from a condition within yourself. You might notice yourself at times feeling unduly fatigued, irritable, frustrated, even somewhat on the complaining side. This would be a good time to fortify your livers, perhaps by taking some tinctures. You might use tinctures of burdock, yellowdock, and red clover. You could also eat beets, spinach, parsley and drink dandelion tea (preferably made from the root).

When you eat, drink or take these items, be intentional. That is, be fully present as you take them, and send love and blessings to your liver as you swallow them. Know that you are doing something nice for your body, and do it in such a way as to take these items on behalf of all whose livers are stressed and they have no idea of what is happening. Dedicate your actions to all those whose livers are malfunctioning, or barely functioning; to those with liver diseases; to those awaiting liver transplants; to all the physicians who treat livers; etc. In this manner, you bring a level of service, even ordination, to your activities. Know that as you address the livers of others, you are actually working with a manifestation of your own liver. Try to see beyond the idea that you are separate from these "others."

In this way, you create actions in your life that move you beyond the obscuration of separateness. Whether or not you have managed to actually see through the illusion of separation, you are creating activities that affirm the process of your seeing through. Indeed, this is the way you eventually get to the seeing through point.

You may have noticed in your tonglin (which translates as "giving and taking") practice, that part of what you are learning is that you are not really separate from any other. Who or What is it Who or What sits and breathes in the darkness of another? Who or What receives the white or clear light of your exhale of blessing? As you begin to see through, you find that you both are and are not the one who breathes in the darkness. You both are and are not the one who receives the blessing as well. Just as there really is no "other" there also really is no you.

If wisdom is what you are seeking, then you will have to pierce the illusory veils of conventional reality. Likely, it will be the recognition of paradoxical juxtapositions that breaks your trance state and allows you to see beyond the obvious. The wisdom you seek lies in the emptiness, or spaciousness, of all phenomena even your notion of self. It is not enough to simply think you understand this. Rather, you must move toward the direct experience of emptiness. This is truly what wisdom is.

As you have likely guessed, our topic for June is Wisdom. I hope each of you will set aside 10 to 15 minutes on a daily basis to consider carefully just what it is you are seeking. You begin by considering the conventional notion of wisdom. Perhaps you consider first the wise application of your knowledge. Then you look for situations in which you can apply wisdom in you daily life Sometimes, you will notice, it arises when you speak out. Other times it arises when you refrain from speaking. Know that it can never arise if you ignorantly persist in speaking without thinking of the ramifications of your words. This is true also of unheeded thoughts and actions. At this point in your consideration, you are probably discovering that conventional wisdom has something to do with mindfulness.

Try to bring the words wise (also ‘unwise') and wisdom into your everyday speech. Make a conscious effort to use these words often. So doing will help you stay mindful of your speech. Notice how quickly these words move into your thoughts, as well. Then, see how often your actions demonstrate wisdom. When such happens celebrate your own goodness, and keep exploring conventional wisdom. This should take you to even deeper expressions of wisdom that go beyond the conventional understanding of the word. Try not to be attached to any of the insights you make, and be flexible enough to consider redefining your notion of wisdom. Be awake and mindful along the way, and you will make new and important discoveries about yourself. Watch how your mind may try to project old ideas or refuse to accept new ones. But most of all, enjoy the journey.

Please join me in listening to Wisdom and Ignorance, A Study. This is a lecture I presented in Denver last month. It is my goal in this talk to lead you to a deeper understanding of wisdom, which draws you beyond the realm of conventional understanding. While I will not give you the definition of Wisdom that we explore in the lecture here (you will have to listen to the tape for that), I will ask that you place your conscious, cognitive, sometimes argumentative mind to rest. It is often the busy mind syndrome that keeps one from deeper discoveries of anything. Relax into the idea that maybe nothing is as your mind sees it!

Please continue sitting (or start, for those of you who are still putting it off) for 30 minutes per day. We will continue the practice of tonglin, with a few changes to the original script. Begin by sitting quietly with your eyes open, gazing at the floor some two to three feet in front of you. Follow your breath for 10 full breath cycles. If you lose track of the count, simply start over. Put your attention on your out-breath. When you complete this cycle of breaths, close your eyes, recognize yourself to be in the presence of your Spiritual Teacher. Ask His/Her aid in this meditation.

See yourself sitting before your Teacher. As a show of respect, see your Teacher seated higher than you. Think of some quality of the Teacher's that you would like to manifest more fully in your own life. Bow before your Teacher as sign of respect to the Teacher and the quality you are cherishing. Be aware of your Teacher's love streaming to you, and feel deep appreciation for this gift. Now see yourself offering to your Teacher, perhaps some flowers you have cut, or some fruit you picked especially for Him/Her. As your Teacher receives your offering, again be aware of a loving smile coming to you from this Precious One.

As you sit before your Teacher, ask His/Her aid in reviewing your life for the past 24 to 48 hours. Think of the most negative moment, and notice whether it was due to your thoughts, your words or your actions. Try to cultivate some genuine remorse for this, and then make a promise to your Teacher that you will not do this again for the next 24 hours. Next, think of a moment of kindness that you generated in this same period. As this memory arises, try to feel joy at your own goodness. Then, promise yourself that in the next 24 hours you will look for more opportunities to create goodness and kindness in your life.

Now, invite the Teacher to bring before you the face or name of someone who is suffering. You need not know the particular way in which this individual is suffering. When the person's name/face arises, see a dark, tarry/oily substance in his/her aura. Recognize this thick darkness as his/her suffering. Again, there is no need to know specifically how this one suffers; just accept that he/she suffers, and has been brought to you for relief. Breathe in the dark substance and drop it down into the transforming fire of the heart. As the heart fire transforms it into white or clear light, return the light for the darkness on your exhalation as a blessing. Spend three to five minutes for this focus.

Next, see before you an image of your family and perhaps your close friends. See the tarry or oily substance around them. Do the same process of breathing it in, dropping it down into your heart center for transformation and returning it as a blessing of white or clear light. Begin to think of yourself as an agent of transformation for you family and loved ones. Allow three to five minutes for this.

Next, see before you your community. See the dark substance interwoven in this larger collective auric field. As a service of divine love for your community breathe in the thick, dark, substance that represents both collective and individual suffering. Try to breathe it in with virtually every pore in your body. When the heart fire has transformed it as with the previous segments, return it as white or clear light, creating a healing, cleansing influence in this collective aura. Allow three to five minutes for this.

Now, do the same visualization with your country. Breathing in the profound levels of suffering that arise from so large a field, let the fire in your heart transform that darkness into white or clear light. As you return that light, feel thankful for the opportunity to serve so many people by your meditation.

In your final segment, do the same visualization for the entre world. Again, let yourself feel gratitude for the opportunity to serve the planet in this way.

When complete, open your eyes half way and for the remaining time of your meditation, gaze upon an image of your spiritual Teacher. Let your eyes fully take in the Teacher, recognizing that His/Her image stands for the qualities you wish to manifest in your own life. With each breath, draw those qualities into yourself, receiving them as a gift from you Teacher. Appreciate your Teacher's example, as well as your own opportunity to serve Earth by meditating thus. When your time is complete, let yourself arise with royal dignity, both feeling and knowing yourself to be purified by the work you have just accomplished. Take from your mediation the recognition that you are a transformative being, who consciously activates transformation in, and for, all beings.

Walk in love, and endeavor to bring more joy more love, more wisdom to the transformation of both your own life and the lives of others, particularly your enemies.

Djwhal Khul