During our Nepal pilgrimage, we are very fortunate to have the rare opportunity to meet up with our Holy Guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche despite his busy schedule. Our Holy Guru has kindly meet up with the group from LDC for lunch at Hyatt @ Kathmandu. I have met him a few times while he visited LDC.
Hyatt is the only 5 star hotel that is located very close by to Boudanath Stupa.
Getting ready to welcome Holy Guru arrival.
LDC Group welcoming Holy Guru.
Holy Guru making food offering prayers.
Our LDC Centre Director, Lilian Too.
The LDC group with Holy Guru and Sangha.
Sangha.
Below are the pictures taken by my camera. The rest I got it from Geshe-la.
Our Holy Guru presented to each of us a mala.
Holy Guru spend some time chatting and took some pictures with us.
A group photo.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and LDC resident teacher, Geshe-la tenzin Zopa.
The experience is rare and you are so lucky to have that experience.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to ask: What's a mala?
ReplyDeleteWow Uncle Sam, Lilian Too is with u all together! :)
ReplyDeleteThere is a tag for you.
Jo-N: What is a Meditation Mala?
ReplyDeleteA mala is a string of 108 beads with one bead as the summit bead called a 'sumeru'.
It is a tool used to keep your mind on the meditation practice. Malas are generally made from different materials such as tulsi (basil) wood, sandal wood, rudraksh seeds or crystal. Each type of material has certain properties which subtly affect the subconscious mind of the practitioner.
Why use the Mala?
Meditation can be quite a tricky practice because the mind is like a naughty child. By its very nature, the mind tends to wander off during the meditation practice. If ones energy is low at the time of meditation, falling asleep can result. If the energy is too high, fantasy and distraction become the barriers. At such times, the mala provides the much needed anchor.
The mala beads are moved in rhythm with the breath and the mantra, so that both-sleep as well as excessive mental distraction-are prevented by this action upon the beads.
Check out this link for more info:http://www.healthandyoga.com/html/product/malabeads.html
Tak Feng & Li Li: Lilian Too is our Centre Director. She was there during our Pilgrimage. :)
ReplyDeleteThis must be a great experience. :)
ReplyDeleteYour red polo shirt very matching ;)
ReplyDeleteSam, do you focus more on meditation or chanting?
So far I have not have the opportunity to learn to meditate yet. Until I have the opportunity to learn from my guru, I'll focus on chanting alone.
suhching: Yes, it is a great experience on a Pilgrimage trip and what more meet up with my Holy Guru.:)
ReplyDeletehcfoo: Haha, you very observant. I intentionally pick this polo T-shirt.
I focus more on chanting in the beginning and now too. I am attending the guided meditation class on saturday pm and also the Mind Training (Lojong) on Sunday.:)