Essence Teachings Begin

Here in India we are heading into our third day of Geshe Michael and Lama Christie's teaching on The Essence of Eloquence, and I must say, these classes are remarkable. Each class consists of the review of the Mind-Only School's system (played by Lama Christie) and line-by-line coverage of this thrid section of the text (taught by Geshe Michael). It is so cool! I've never seen the two Lamas teach like this and I dig it. Geshe Michael's portion is a very monastic and precise approach the way Geshe Thubten Rinchen would present the material and it feels like the way Geshe-la has always wanted to teach.

The teachings are being recorded and will be available for download in three weeks. I will make sure to post at this blog when that happens.

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Reporting from India

That's right we're in India, McLoed Ganj to be precise. Most people in the Diamond Mountain group have arrived during the past week and a few more are still on the way. It's like a dream seeing all these great DMers in the home of Tibetan Buddhism.

Today began His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teachings. The book being covered is Master Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, chapter 9. It's quite a scene. There are people from all over the world, some veteran Buddhists, some brand new. I would estimate about 3000 people in total.

On the 27th begins Geshe Michael and Christie McNally's teaching on The Essence of Eloquence. Maybe I'll finally figure out what the Mind-Only School means by "existing by definition."

I'll be sure to post more updates as the party continues.

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Diamond Mountain Taiwan! India Updates.

Strange title, I know, but it may be true. We've just received a letter from the group on the Asia tour and there's a lot going on. In the digital postcard we get news about:

• the success of the tour in both Taiwan and Hong Kong
• news of a possible DM Taiwan, wow.
• changes in both location and dates of the India teachings
• fundraising news
• and much more

Go and read it. It's an exciting time to be a Diamond Mountaineer.

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