Singing Is Believing Message from Lama Surya Das

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Singing Is Believing Message from Lama Surya Das
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I saw the terrific Selma film yesterday, so
reminiscent of many of us marching in the streets
of Washington, DC and NYC in the mid-late
Sixties, being tear-gassed and arrested-- and
beaten occasionally too. Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. is much on my mind, following a season of
shooting black youngsters in the streets of our
country as well as the United Front of Charlie
around the world. May we not merely sit around
and fiddle while Rome burns! Oh, that I might
protect all the children beneath my maroon lama
robe, help guardian and mentor them, and lift
them up together in the light of sanity,
tolerance, harmony and even oneness!
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After returning from leading our week-long annual
winter Dzogchen Center silent meditation retreat
on the banks of the Hudson in Garrison, NY- a
great way to start the New Year, every year- I
reflected on how noble silence, sublime solitude
and interiority seem to be in such short supply
these days, in our post-modern Twitter Era. We
all need to unhook, however briefly, and take a
breath of natural energy and awakefulness before
losing ourselves in the cacophony. Many moments
of mindfulness, including sacred music and
chants, and morning Tibetan energy yoga sessions
too, along with the gift of noble silence, take
place on retreat. Come and see, as Buddha himself
said. Make some moments of mindfulness, inner
clarity and harmony amidst your life. Singing is
believing!   With love, Lama Surya Das