Sunday, May 06, 2007

My weekend with the Lamas





More lama dancing, including, one night, lama line dancing! I also snapped a shot of this bee fly which seemed very attracted to me as I was watching the festivities.

I took refuge again, this time with Lama Norlha Rinpoche. My dharma name is Dondrup Gawa, which means Joyfully Accomplishing Aims. That's a good name I think!

5 comments:

beckett said...

Questions: you took refuge again? That means you became a student of a teacher?

And you have a (new?) name. Does that subsume or run parallel to your previous buddhist name? (I assume when you gained that name, it was from taking refuge as well?) Maybe I'll see if I can find anything on wikipedia...

Congrats regardless.

vacuous said...

Hi Beckett,

it is apparently common practice to take refuge again with a teacher you feel a connection to. Since Lama Norlha is the lama with whom I am currently studying, this seemed appropriate. A friend asked him whether we should take refuge again with him, and he said it was optional but that it would be fine.

As for whether my new name subsumes my old name, I think, in a sense, that it does. I am committed to practicing under Lama Norlha, so that should be my principal dharma name, but the other name is also good. (If you think about it, I was baptized twice, so taking refuge twice is consistent with that pattern.

beckett said...

Do Episcopals get different names, too, at baptism> I know Catholics select a name for their first communion...

Just asking on the off chance that you might have four sets of names... That would be cool.

vacuous said...

I don't know. What kind of names do Catholics get?

Glynis said...

Looks like an interestingly pleasureable weekend!

And I like your updates, by the way.

:)