Finding Nepal in Orange County

 

As if walking under a canopy of silence, I stepped barefoot into an Irvine sports studio and surveyed the extent of the mirrored room, bathed plentifully in the crisp afternoon light. At the front of the studio were four elderly Buddhist monks, shrouded in burgundy and mustard-yellow robes and sitting cross-legged on the black padded floor. They bowed their heads toward one another and conversed in hushed tones as more and more students, faculty and gym staff members flooded into the room like a current slowly moving toward high tide. The monks carried voices as delicate as crystal, as deep as the low hum of cellos, and the high-ceilinged studio of 56 participants transformed into an intimate hut in the mountains of the Himalayas.

 

It was Wednesday, May 28th in the middle of a recreation center at the University of California Irvine that I found a holy piece of Nepal through the ancient tradition of Tonglen meditation. This hour-long session was one part lecture, one part meditation session, where participants were invited to ask questions and discuss the purpose of meditation in one’s life.

Tonglen meditation is at the heart of Tibetan Buddhism, where the meditator must visualize taking onto oneself the hardships and sufferings of others while inhaling, and exhaling positivity and happiness to all living creatures. The exchange was described by the monks as inhaling the "black smoke" of suffering and exhaling the "pure light," or white smoke, of positivity toward the rest of the world.

 

"Start [the meditation] from oneself, over days, weeks months and years; then move on to other people -- people you hold dear, those you love...and disperse all self-cherishing attributes you have,” fluttered the voice of the youngest monk as he translated the words of an older, stout man who spoke quietly in the Nepali language.  The point of this practice is to give one’s personal sufferings and hardships a full but temporary presence in the mind so that its negativity may easily disperse from the body completely through breathing practices. This exercise reverses the natural logic one may have of avoiding negative feelings, and yet it has offered an effective way to liberate oneself from the prison of selfishness and hardship for centuries. Tonglen meditation also strongly opposes “self-cherishing” attitudes such as narcissism, selfishness, pride and entitlement.

 

After the monks spoke about the simple process of meditative breathing and the exchange of negative and positive thoughts, they went on to speak briefly of their opinions of the tragic shooting at UCSB just one week before, noting that “self-cherishing attitudes can master the mind…and destroy human peace. We must remember that other people are precious too.”

One of the most powerful things shared by the four monks was their brief perception of our corner of the world.

 

“Here, you have highways, schools, center for peace, and a beautiful gym…remember that these things were all created for other people,” they went on to say that in the same manner that these objects are created for the benefit of others, our own selves should be used for the benefit of others too. The practice of breathing in the hardships of others while spreading good intention toward the world is one way of doing so.