Why the late nights, Rinpoche?

It was 8am that morning and I really just couldn't tahan anymore. I loved it but I was tired as FUCK.

We were talking about David and making him stay up late. So I asked Rinpoche, yah, by the way, why do we have to stay up so late?

I thought it would make sense to ask, considering Rinpoche himself was exhausted.

He said that for some people, he makes them stay up because he wants them to work (especially for the people who like evade work and responsibility, and when you resist the Lama persists, til you break down that barrier).

I was thinking, but I do my work what, why am I here?... Or maybe I don't???

I asked, Sometimes your mind is willing but your body just isn't. So how?!?!

And he explained that, as with all things, it all goes back to the mind. That when he was with his Lama, Gangchen Rinpoche, they slept only one or two hours a night, and it went on for weeks like that. Nobody fell sick then, even though they all had to just keep on going.

They say that if you do get sick, it would then be for a good reason - that you have gotten sick not just from partying or whatever, but from doing work to benefit others. Then sickness becomes a form of purification of karma. Then there are the few extraordinary ones, like BK, and Gangchen Rinpoche's assistant Cosy, who don't ever get ill, tired or grumpy.

But I wonder if maybe sometimes your body just wants to have a break!

Why Dharma?

I've just moved into a house with two friends from my Dharma centre and already there is drama - of both the Dharma and samsara kind! It got me thinking about what it really means to be working and living so closely within a Dharma world - what practice is all about, the ins and outs, the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of working in Dharma and being a student in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. So here's this blog to journal that journey.

Its title means exactly that... late nights with a Rinpoche. Often, very late! But those are always intimate sessions, where it's just Rinpoche and about 5 or 6 of his students, sitting in his dining room eating supper.

It feels like hell but as you struggle to keep our eyes open at 4 in the morning and your Rinpoche is "forcing" you awake with a Dharma teaching, you are pushed to your fullest potential, you learn and ultimately, you begin to transform towards something more positive.... which is what Dharma is all about.

You don't think it's possible at the time, and you really just wish Rinpoche would stop talking and go to bed so you can too, but within the lateness and sleepiness is a preciousness that I wouldn't ever exchange for pillow time.