Mr. T, recently wrote asking:

“…I would like to know how an American
went about becoming a Buddhist Monk.”


Dear Mr. T,

With every word we utter,
with every question we ask,
in one of two destinations,
our awareness is guided.

When guided into Story,
whether past-remembered, present-analyzed or future-fantasized,
our awareness gets bogged
in Sam-sa-ra’s sorrow, pain, fear, aggression, pride, control and folly.

But, when awareness is allowed to unfurl,
in the limitless expanse of the present moment,
the love, devotion, peace, insight, happiness and bliss of our Buddha-nature
is deeply drunk, no less explored.

No, Mr. T;
no matter how politely you ask me,
I will NOT go into story
for it is but a quagmire of a trap,

deceitfully distracting us
from the cutting edge of the present moment.

No matter how politely or earnestly
a child pleads with me
to give him liquid plumber to drink,
I shall NOT give it to him.

Likewise, now matter how you may try
to persuade, coax or manipulate me,
I will NOT give you
the poison of story.

Mr. T, the allure of my past,
pales in contrast
with the importance
of your now!

Tread you Theravada, Mahayana or Mantrayana:
the highway of now
is the one path trod
by every great Buddhist saint.

There are two ways to approach this path, my friend:
by Contriving a concentration upon now,
or by Spontaneously relaxing into the present moment.

To the uninitiated, the difference in technique
could seem to be the width of a hair,
but the results could be as separate
as Heaven and Earth.

Om Mani Padme Hum,
Lama Jigme Gyatso: Rime Manipa Tantrika