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After encountering a small contingent of Tibetan Karma Kargu monks in my trading post in the Yukon I gave up the regular life style and perused the study and practice of meditation. I was fortunate to meet those whom had attained to very advanced levels and were good instructors in the art and discipline of meditation both in so called Western mystery schools and the principal schools of Buddhism.

I don't teach or preach but, from time to time, particularly because of the 'wandering' life style which was the case for many years the question would comes up "What is that you do when go away and sit there for hours, or days contemplating your navel?" Not once did my answer satisfy me nor evoke the correct associations etc in the questioner. How do you reduce the description and instructions to the Mahamudra to something a Westerner can understand? "Awareness of Awareness" that's about as succinct as one can get but is always followed by the question, "What do you mean by awareness?" And, from that point my answer would be cluttered with Pali, Sanskrit or psychological terminology and I would invariably see the eyes of the questioner cloud over and know they were starting to feel sorry they had asked!

So, I have been aware for many years as to how much of a barrier the nomenclature of religion and spiritual disciplines is to communicating the essence of the practice which makes clear to the practitioner of meditation that they are not the never ending 'voice' in their 'head' and enable to find that which is Eternal within them. And, the few times I managed to avoid the specialized nomenclature and keep what I thought was simple the soon became obvious that anything I was saying was just being forced into rut of the questioners presumptions, assumptions about meditation coloured by their religious, spiritual and social backgrounds. So, that which should be simple and enjoyable just becomes so much tough sledding that the ending of the conversation for me is, as often as not, the best part of the conversation.

So, John, I sincerely and unreservedly congratulate you for having found the way to communicate clearly, simply, free of all the specialized nomenclature of the spiritual disciplines and communicate the essence of the practice which heals the madness and resulting misery. Well, done sir!

Shalom,

S.C.