Читать книгу The Buddha Book: Buddhas, blessings, prayers, and rituals to grant you love, wisdom, and healing - Lillian Too - Страница 13

Lama Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche took my heart as soon as I laid eyes upon him. In Bodhgaya – where the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, attained the perfect state of enlightenment – I began my tentative steps on the path to enlightenment.

Rinpoche had communicated his holy wish for me to come to Bodhgaya to advise on the feng shui of a giant Maitreya Buddha statue, whose construction was being planned. I was not confident that I could single-handedly accept such a responsibility, but a request from such a high lama could not be ignored. So I flew to India, even though I had never previously met or heard of Lama Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche. His approach to me came in a letter faxed from America, and my response was a purely instinctive one.

It did not take me long to realize my great good fortune in having met Rinpoche under such wonderful circumstances. Shortly after the Bodhgaya meeting, Rinpoche came to Malaysia to give a series of teachings and to conduct a one-week spiritual retreat in the mountains just outside Kuala Lumpur. In those few days I took the most intensive course imaginable in Mahayana Buddhism. It was a mind-blowing experience. I discovered what a perfectly qualified lama I had inadvertently met. I saw at first hand his awesome qualities of humility, compassion, and wisdom. There is an aura of purity around Rinpoche that words cannot describe.

I followed the Buddhist tradition and took “refuge” with Rinpoche. This is the process of officially becoming his student and taking him as my lama, thereby entering into a guru-disciple relationship. He let me participate in the Great Chenrezig initiation, a Buddhist ritual that opened further new worlds to me. In the months and years that have followed, Rinpoche has introduced me to a stunning pantheon of buddhas – each personifying some aspect or dimension of the enlightened mind.

In time I would learn the secret teachings of Buddha, engage in the practice of sadhanas (meditative visualizations), make offerings, prostrations, and circumambulations, recite the magical mantras, learn the visualizations, and, most importantly of all, learn the bodhisattva way of life, which would put me on the quick path to enlightenment. I was to come to understand the bodhisattva vows and the mind-training that would make my bodhichitta heart arise. All of these terms seemed strange then, but over time I was to develop an easy familiarity with them … just as you will, as you meet the buddhas in this book.

If you have read this far, let me take you with me on my journey of bliss into the boundless. Let me introduce you to some of the buddhas of this fortunate age – the tathagatas, the fully enlightened ones, the foe-destroyers, the conquerors – all in their compassionate aspect. Look closely at the images so that you, too, may attune your mind to meeting the buddhas at an inner level, taking them into your heart and mind as you seek the awakening of ultimate happiness.