International Kadampa Summer Festival - Day 4 The sun was again shining today. In between sessions, the festival goers are taking full advantage of the good weather, sitting in small clusters on the lawns, hanging out in the outdoor cafes, enjoying the shade of the wooded paths, or walking along the beach. The Festival gives us the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and to make new ones. You sit across from someone at the dinner table, and after quick introductions (I’m from Mexico! Brazil, South Africa, Germany … wherever!) it doesn’t take long till you find yourself in deep and heartfelt conversation about some aspect of the teachings or how to apply dharma to our lives. As Gen-la Kunsang stressed, we need to rely on our Sangha friends”. The Festival gives us the opportunity to experience this reliance in action. We’re not just making friends, we’re making spiritual friends, heart connections to last a lifetime. Some of these friendships (with people from all over the world) will be maintained via Facebook, or Skype, or some will simply wait to be resumed when you meet up again at a future Kadampa festival and immediately feel that spark of recognition. And after the Festival, when we are on our own meditating at home, we will feel the power of these connections nourishing our practice, encouraging us through the knowledge that we are not meditating alone, but with our global sangha, sharing that most intimate of experiences with spiritual friends all over the world. Booking is still open - kadampafestivals.org/summer #KadampaSummer2014
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 21:42:36 +0000