Ra Samye Afternoon

If I ever feel restless here, or doubtful, or at a loose end, it's usually the afternoon. This is the afternoon break. I'm just down from the temple, but today I feel good about everything. I could be a wee bit tired, but normal for here.

The Big Indian did the Makhala prayers on his own this afternoon. Don't know why. This included chanting, gong banging and cymbal crashing. Quite the boy! I had my eyes closed for most of it.

I'm always saying there's more bliss now than ever before. But this afternoon has been a wee bit special. When the Big Indian left, I just closed my eyes in a half lotus and that was that. Ra bliss! Sometimes it's like great globules of stuff, but this was more like opening bliss. Bliss that kind of opens up. I'm still occasionally trying to focus on the navel centre, but there seems little point.

The lama's big brother smiled at me as he came passed my table at lunch. I've taken two empowerments from him. He's my guru in some kind of way. He might be everyone's guru around here in some kind of a way. They say they have the skillful means, these Kagyus. I certainly hope so. I haven't got to the bit in Gopi's book where it starts to go pear shaped, but almost dying and nearly going mad is probably better avoided.

Gopi's dead interesting on kundalini of course. He thinks some mad people have had arousals. Clairvoyant nutters. He also says kundalini has some anaesthetic qualities, mentioning a nutter going through the streets with a hot container on his shoulder which was burning him. This is also interesting from the Shaolin perspective. I mentioned earlier about martial artists talking about raising something to their heads which enabled them to batter themselves with iron bars, etc. Also, Gopi mentions these boys becoming possessed with a goddess and sticking spikes through their cheeks, etc. We've seen that on the telly now. Says they don't bleed and no scars are left. It's great that there's no explanation for any of this. Of course, the goddess stuff did remind me of deity yoga and, especially, the stuff I read about the Nechung Oracle. Zapped as if by lightning, he becomes a wrathful deity. I love all this stuff!

Well, that's the half hour nearly up. I think I'll go a walk up the river and meditate there on the bench. I'm really having a special time here. This is a great break!