Tibet in Arizona -- Happy Birthday Dalai Lama

"Generosity Brings Forth Fortune. Perfect Self Restraint Creates No Enemies" From the wall of the Garchen Institute stupa.

Last night I was getting restless, feeling that I am in between assignments, waiting for further instructions from the Great Spirit. Daisy and I had worked together for the second time and done a very powerful healing/rebirthing for a local man and I had since been working on my book and feeling called to get away from the healing centre and out into nature. I pulled 3 cards from a deck of self care cards at the center and they had read - Nature, Help and Wait. How appropriate. I asked Daisy for help...the name of a good place to go and sit with nature. She suggested several. The third one was the Garchen Tibetan Buddhist Institute which was about a half hour drive from the healing centre. This one resonated with me as I had just pulled out my travelling altar and placed it on the desk beside my laptop. As well as the kanji for compassion given to me by my Sensei I have a picture of the Dalai
Lama and several other sacred items.

The Tibetan Buddhist Institute seemed like a great place to visit -- though I am not Buddhist I am familiar with and have great respect for their teachings and spent several days receiving the teachings directly from the Dalai Lama himself when he was in Toronto. As one who travels with Spirit, I travel with my own altar with all the things that are sacred to me and at the same time I respect all spirits and all spiritual traditions. I always ask permission of the spirits of the land wherever i go before entering any sacred space and I honour the deities of the people with whom I am travelling or in whose lands or territories I find myself.

Yes, when I woke up I was sure that greeting the Tibetan Buddhist Deities residing in this part of Arizona seemed like an appropriate thing to do today. I took highway 89 into Chino valley, past the Safeway to the next road, Perkinsville Road and then turned right.

Starting off with the typical suburban scenery, several Arizona style houses in close proximity, Perkinsville Road soon gave way to open countryside -- the road was fenced on either side and several herds of cows roamed the dry pasture land. I passed a gravel quarry, then several small farms or ranches. The road switched from a paved road to a gravel/dirt road. I kept going. It was almost 10 am. The sun was already quite hot. Unlike most of the other days since i had been here when the sky was completely clear, today there were many clouds.

I thought back to my high school geography classes tyring to remember the names of these particular clouds, but they escaped me. I studies the clouds as i drove slowly along the dirt road. There were several different kinds of clouds some round and white floating very high in the sky and others whispy, hanging in the sky behind the hills in the distance, changing the blue skyline to a hazy gray. The hills look very dry. The brown dirt is covered with patches of sparse green brown grass and short round green bushes. I see many short seemingly stunted fir trees. I keep driving slowly observing the scenery and slow even more when I spot a young cow sitting in the middle of the road. Luckily I am gong so slow that it has time to get up on what seem at first like wobbly knee and then run off gracefully into the field beside the road. I pass a faded sign that says welcome and wonder if that is the institute but keep going.

The next entrance way on the right sports a sign that says The Garchen Institute. I have arrived. I notice some very faded prayer flags on a tree. I drive in along the natural gravel nd dirt road and pass more prayer flags.. green, red, white, blue and yellow, streaming in the wind. The road is very windy and this is the middle of the desert. The ground is parched. I drive by a house and wonder if it is the institute, there is no sign. I keep going. I see a sign saying Keep Right. I follow the sign up the hill to where the road widens into a parking area with several fir trees with tattered prayer flags and a stone facade witha small green tile roof that says Garchen Institute. There is a metal pole behind it with a gold orb on top and a line ao prayer flags area attached to the pole. I know I am in the right place..

I park the car beside the 2 other cars in the parking lot which both have window shades to protect from eh already brutal rays of the sun. The stone facade has information about the institute, pictures of 4 lamas and announcements about the retreats that have just passed and retreats to come. The crickets are singing and in the background I hear the crows calling to each other. I stand in the parking lot for a moment and admire the beautiful view of the nearby beige hills covered with stubbly green desert vegetation and the distant red cliffs reminiscent of the red rock country of Sedona.

I turn to walk up the hill. a sign by the path says Natural Wildlife Area. Please Watch Carefully for Snakes. I keep my eyes peeled on the ground noticing several short gnarled sticks that resemble snakes, but no snakes [I would be warned later about the 6 foot rattler that was spotted int eh parking lot but luckily it wasn't there when I passed by!]. My first stop wa st the stupa, a beautiful octagonal white building with red trim around the windows and doors, a green roof with red trim and 4 sets of eyes painted on the steeple like structure above the roof -- presumably each set of eyes is watching one of the four directions.

I take my shoes off before I enter the shrine. It is decorated with blue red and gold wall hangings around the outer walls with statues of various buddhas and teachings painted on the walls. There are numerous sacred objects in the shrine along with a sand mandala. I stop to examine each item as my feet sink into the plush burgundy carpeting with the gold trim. The silence in the shrine and in the whole area is tangible. The energy is amazing.

Next I visit the temple, which is a much large space with long red rectangular floral carpets on the floor. Again I take off my shoe and hat to enter. There are piles of meditation cushions and an altar with a picture of the Dalai Lama and with numerous statues of Tibetan Deities. The walls are all decorated with colourful banners. There is an oriental woman sitting down at the front of the temple space with a laptop computer sitting on a short stool. She is documenting something. I sit down on one of the mats to do my meditation. Half an hour later when I come out of my meditation I notice another woman has entered the temple and is sitting crosslegged on a meditation cushion praying. There is complete silence inside the temple.

After I leave I bump into Trish who coordinates the work of the Institute and who asks me if I want a tour or if i would like to wonder around. I chose the latter option and spend the nest 3 hours exploring the grounds and hanging out with the rattle snakes, who luckily kept out of sight. As I am leaving I go to the washrooms in the office area and notice a sign which says that In honour of His Holiness the Dalai Lama' 72nd Birthday there will be a ceremony in his honour on July 6th at 9 am. I realize that is why the Great Spirit has directed me here to this little piece of Tibet in Arizona today, to honour His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his 72nd birthday, by visiting the temple and connecting with the teachings and the energies.

staywell and travel with Spirit in Beauty and Truth, Spirit Traveller.

Lessons Learned: 1) There are no co-coincidences, 2) Nature is a beautiful teacher and a great healer, 3) Always listen to your inner guides. If you have done your homework and know how to listen, they will not lead you astray.