The ceremony came to a close, before the Abbot joined the lay people for his Dhamma talk, a chance for lay people to receive teaching. The Abbot had a wonderful way of laughing at his own jokes (and rambling) which was touching, and refreshing, considering that he was talking about Tibetan Sky Burials and the transitory nature of all human life.
Interestingly his approach to Buddhism was similar to my own, through the intellect and reason. Coming from a non religious family, like myself, he admitted to being still suspicious of religion. I confess to similar feelings. I remember when I attended Quaker Meeting's regularly, it was hard to accept the Christo-centric approach to worship, even if no one would ever tell you to believe in Christianity or God.
Returning to the subject of the Abbot's talk, he detailed the legend of Buddha's first experiences that lead him to 'go forth' on the path, the prince encountering the realities of sickness, the end of youth, the reality of death and Buddha's encounter with the medicate, the third way. Success and failure are transitory, what else is there? What is within myself that is secure, what can I rely on that will bring me the deepest happiness and contentment. These were the question raised and answered by the Abbot, and I came away feeling as though I had, again, deepened my understanding just a tiny bit more. Meditation, according to the Abbot, enables you to deepen your internal world, to over come worry or just perceive the reality of this very moment. A space away from the trend mill of everyday life, a space within yourself, that can even enable others to have space, attracted to the peace of your internal space. Irrespective of the fact you have not set out to attract them.
Between the ceremony and the Dhamma talk, I met with Julie again. We caught up on the conversation we had last time. Julie commented when she asked me about the possibility of a job, and I said no, that I must be enjoying being unemployed, all with all the time to write articles. This made me think. When I commented that I had 'figured out the bowing thing', Julie told me that there was no need to bow to the Buddha statue, 'the beauty of Buddhism is that you take what you perceive to work and leave what you don't perceive to work. Even the monks and nuns don't have to bow', in roughly Julie's words. I am glad she told me this, I felt a little liberated. She asked me whether I had planned to stay with the Monks and Nuns, and I replied I had been thinking about it. We left each other wishing each other well, as before. I left as the lay people and the Monastics were enjoying informal time together before taking tea with the Monk and the evenings guided meditation. I left that wonderful festival, looking forward to my hoped for return.
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