The Day I Met The Lama

     By the time I finished the MBSR classes, I had learned many ways to meditate and relax my body and I was trying my best to practice these methods as I was dealing with a very stressful life.  One major situation involved handling my mother's estate after her husband died and my role was to divide her estate in half between my brother and I and his two sons, who had been estranged for years and were filled with animosity. In a nutshell, I had to be kind and generous to people who did not like me and did not speak to me, and I was in distress about it.
     It is interesting to see how lives and situations intertwine.  I found myself going to my second workshop at the Woodstock School of Art and meeting HongNian Zhang for the first time to take learn his instruction.  I also met his wife Lois Woolley, too, since she stopped by to visit.  My plan was to go to the Buddhist Monastery to find peace and answers.  While inside the beautiful sanctuary, I didn't know what to do, I thought about lighting a candle and praying about my mother and her husband.  Then this woman came by and asked if she could help me.  We ended up sitting on the floor for one hour and she taught me so much about the Buddhist principles that would help me understand my situation.  She then told me about the visiting Lama Dudjom Dorjee, who was there that weekend lecturing about death.  She said I could talk to him privately, but gave me instructions what I needed to do.  I needed to get a white cloth from the gift shop, and when in the lecture, I had to sit on the floor and make sure my feet did not face him, (this is really bad!) 
     The next day after class, I quickly returned to the Monastery, bought the cloth and went to the sanctuary.  It was filled with people sitting on the floor, on their knees, or legs crossed.  I quietly entered the room and sat down on my knees. I listened to his teaching, then there were questions and answers.  At the end, everyone had the chance to see him and they all lined up, holding their cloths across their outstreched arms, and when it was their turn, he placed the cloth over their shoulders.  At the end, the woman found me and said that she had told him I needed to speak with him briefly.  I went to his room outside the sanctuary, my heart was pounding, held out my cloth, he put it over my shoulders.  He was a very kind man, I felt at ease telling him my story.  This what he said to me, when it comes to money, I need to say to myself: "What I have is good for me, what I don't have is good for me", and then give the money away with joy.  I took his advice and heard his voice echo in my mind as I bravely wrote that check and mailed it.  I have still heard his voice in other situations, like when I was unemployed for one year, living on a fixed income, "what I have is good for me, what I don't have is good for me", and realize I have enough.  This was an important day in my life, the amount of wisdom I acquired with this brief meeting with the Lama is huge, and I am ever grateful.  What does this have to do with art?  Everything, one needs to have peace of mind so that creativity is not blocked.