Taking Control of our Existence
By Jakob Leschly
What is the vision behind doing a Dharma Gar?
In general, Buddhism asserts causality – our suffering and happiness depend on our actions; and the value of our actions are contingent on the attitudes behind them. In Buddhism these actions and attitudes are seen as conditions that we can work with and change – this is very the purpose of the Buddhist path. Throughout his teaching the Buddha empowered individuals to take control of their existence and ultimately to free themselves. Dharma Gar provides the context for applying these teachings and taking control..
What does one do in a Dharma Gar?
One commits two hours every day to the practice of meditation. One meditates based on trusting the basic goodness and workability of our existence. It is a pro-active measure based on the realisation that vision without practical integration is merely a passing thought. To penetrate the inertia of our dullness we need the presence and wakefulness of meditation. Actually sitting down and meditating establishes a mental space of calm where sanity can emerge, a gap where our habitual patterns can give way to insight.
What is the purpose of a Dharma Gar?
Everyone recognises and cherishes wisdom, peace and compassion. Yet sometimes it seems that no one actually believes these can be translated into reality. Buddhist meditation challenges such a sense of poverty. Basic goodness is inherent to all sentient life and the objective of the Buddhist path is to actually manifest it. The Buddha taught so that we can claim this natural inheritance, and by doing so, consequently help to dispel the gloom and suffering of the world.
With the emergence and subsequent spread of Tibetan Buddhism far beyond its original Himalayan homelands, teachers such as Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse have worked tirelessly to promote the Buddha’s vision of basic goodness, guiding students to find peace and happiness. Over the last thirty years Rinpoche has engaged with modern audiences, sometimes teaching philosophy, sometimes being a traditional Buddhist master, sometimes being a contemporary film-maker, and sometime teaching meditation.
Dharma Gar provides the opportunity for creating a gap, a crack in the brittle shell of delusion that keeps us in the sad and painful half-life of delusion, samsara. It is a space in which individuals can become familiar with the Buddha’s vision and its application. The goal of the Dharma Gar is ultimately to be of service to the greater community. Discarding the cocoon of their comfort zone, practitioners might ultimately become inspiration for others. In the past, Buddhist practitioners and masters have brought inspiration and trust in basic goodness to the larger communities, and given meaning and value to human existence. This could also happen in the modern world.
Dharma Gar, Europe Sept 2011 Photo Anja Quathamer
Dharma Gar – do yourself and others a favour and practice more
According to Arne Schelling – Somewhere over Europe 2011
What to do, if you have the longing to deepen your practice, when you wish to go off the radar of the worldly life?
The Tibetans came up with the model of a three years retreat: leave job and loved ones behind, retreat within the boundaries of the retreat compound, have little to no contact to the outside world, and do many hours of practise each day. An extraordinary method to break through our habits, hang ups and inhibitions and ideally come out a little wiser. However according to Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche there are two problems with this method. Firstly, when going into a long retreat, you cut off the worldly life, and secondly when leaving the retreat you cut back on your intensive practice. There may be that no real integration of practise and worldly life has happened. Wow you might not even know how to use the new iphones.
So, what to do? Rinpoche has tailored a perfect way, of unifying these two lives, the introduction to the West of Dharma Gar. Dharma Gar or Dharma Camp, refers to the nomadic lifestyle of the wandering yogis, who gather for a while for a great Dharma event, and then disperse in all different directions. The curriculum of Dharma Gar is based on the traditional three years retreat, but the contents of these three years of practice is stretched to ten years of two hours meditation per day. By this we can still function in our worldly life, keeping up our responsibilities, and at the same time have a daily two hour practise on our cushion oasis. Easier said than done, since, if you are like me, you have way too many worldly commitments and distractions. But worth trying. A solid amount of cushion-on-time to have a little bit more Dharma than drama during our cushion-off-time. It is amazing how these two hours of practice make the events of the remaining 22 hours fall into place. Even from an economical point of view, these two hours of meditation make the 22 hours of post-meditation are much better, and even more efficient.. Another benefit of practicing more I have found is that you are of less annoyance to others.
Even though I am not at all a fan of advertisement, I just want to say that if you have the feeling that your life is precious and impermanent, if you have seen the uselessness and endlessness of our worldly pursuits and if you have trust in the Dharma and the Guru, do yourself and others a favour and consider joining a Dharma Gar.
