I returned on Sunday, flying out of Reno in light snow. Snow had just hit the Tahoe area where our Rigpa retreat was. As rumors flew in hushed voices of the impending "big storm", we filed into the shrine room for our final teaching of the retreat by Sogyal Rinpoche. We had several empowerments and a blessing to receive before we hit the ground running. As usual, the last day's session was a test of devotion and patience. Rinpoche held us to our seats as we received gem upon gem of
Dharma, overfilling us for the day and days ahead. After a couple of hours, with our minds thoroughly expanded and our hearts brimming, we flowed out of the shrine room and into an increasingly snowy day. The temperature had dropped a lot within a few hours and snow was piling up on the cars outside. It looked like a lovely and lively day to drive back to San Francisco or head back down or up the coast, as many were intending. I found out later that quite a few people were stopped by the snow and spent a night or two in hotels in Truckee, as the storm turned into a blizzard.
The setting was Squaw Valley, South Lake Tahoe. It was a wonderful place for retreat, fully four-star. We were able to fully focus on the teachings and practice since all the accommodations and food were arranged seamlessly by the resort staff and our Rigpa national crew. Rigpa has a once-yearly, ten-day North American retreat on the West coast once a year after Thanksgiving. Quite the time to leave town if you work in retail!
But it sets the mind to more important priorities.
As some friends and I drove East towards Reno, prayers and mantras filling our minds and thoughts of our everyday lives looming ahead of us, we passed pile-up after pile-up on the road going West. I didn't count the fender benders, but it seemed that you had as much chance of being in one as not. The odds were high. I was sorry for those people, but grateful for easier passage in the resort van.
In the airport the ticket clerk forgot to give me my boarding pass. Interesting. I did get it after some extra walking. The flight was fine, a tad bumpy for my taste, but we got home. Above the clouds the oranges and deep blues of the sunset met our eyes, reminding us of the metaphor that we all have the sky-like Buddha nature, but that it is obscured by the clouds of thoughts and negative emotions. Once you soar above the clouds, everything is clear.
I got home and spent the next day fixing a busted computer, installing a new modem, looking for a new rest home for my aging, ailing mother, and paying bill upon bill that arrived unexpectedly. Luckily they were followed by unforeseen checks. The dog had learned new craziness while I was gone, biting the children (the dog has no front teeth with which to do damage), barking, forgetting its basic training.
Wow! What a mess. The things that were easy and good abounded too. The kids were in fine shape and my husband, the calm workhorse that he is, had taken my absence in stride.
Through all of this the blessings and teachings of the retreat have been remembered and malas have flown out the door to their owners.
It's always interesting to experience a holiday rush in sales. This year particularly, because it's been a lot of hard work building Heart of Compassion Malas in an economy where people were very careful with their money. Luckily, my business has found a home and customers who I am very grateful for and love to serve. I am busy making, planning, and shipping malas every moment when I'm not sleeping, practicing, fixing computers and searching for new residences for my mother. No extra time for movies right now, but that will come. And when it does I'll post a movie review of the best movie I see each week! A girl's got to have some long-term goals, right?
So that's the story. What I wish for you all, as you rush back through wind, rain, snow, or sun to your cars, is that your cars run smoothly. May your lattes or teas remain hot enough for you but not so hot they burn your tongues. May you have warm clothes and warmer people around you. May you maintain your easy-going states of mind through the holidays, all the way through and past New Year's. And may your spiritual traditions nourish you, as mine does me. May you find a little time to practice mindfulness and compassion each day.
Lots of love,
Laura
