Exploring Inner Space

That's the topic for today's section in the Sadhana (retreat program), but I'm going to veer off a bit and then circle back.

At the long life ceremony for His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (at the conclusion of the Kalachakra 2012 in Bodhgaya ) Westerners got a rare glimpse of a secretive aspect of Tibetan Buddhism. The Oracles (in trance!) can be seen in the sixth photo (of the previous link.) There are now THREE Oracles that HHDL consults during auspicious events such as the Kalachakra event. Until about a year ago, I don't think anyone in the general public had seen any of these Oracles in trance, and only serious scholars and advanced practitioners probably knew of them (please comment and correct me if I'm wrong on this.) HHDL decided to allow a documentary, which I will link to later, to be filmed in 2010. I think his decision might have been tied to the ongoing controversy over the Shugden spirit (a former Oracle that you might say has haunted HHDL.) That is also addressed in the documentary.

I have to say my mind was blown when I saw the Oracles appearing right there on Ustream last night. I didn't think that ceremony would be streamed to the general public. We must stop and realize that only with the advent of the internet are we privileged to even see the Dalai Lama on a screen in our home, much less conducting an advanced tantric rite. Not so many years ago seekers and Buddhists had to travel to India and literally climb the Himalayan mountains for a brief audience with him. Then HHDL began to travel and I felt so honored to see and hear him give a public talk here in Albuquerque in 1991. I watched all the live video sessions of the summer Kalachakra in Washington DC and marveled at the opportunity. But, to "broadcast" the previously never-before-seen Oracles "in trance" was a true spectacle! I thought the Nechung State Oracle was much older. (You can see how young he is in the clip below, out of trance.)

Given that HHDL allowed this documentary to be filmed and it was released in 2010, you too can marvel (or maybe recoil in horror) at this clip from "The Oracle - Reflections on Self."

If that's not exploring inner space, I don't know what is! Once again, this is nothing like the post I envisioned. I have written over 100 pages in various journals since the retreat began. I'll cull through it all and hopefully post more insights soon.