{"id":91,"date":"2022-04-24T16:12:22","date_gmt":"2022-04-24T20:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/insight-western-mass-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-05-09T20:13:21","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T00:13:21","slug":"shelburnefallsshambhalacenter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/shelburnefallsshambhalacenter\/","title":{"rendered":"Dzogchen Center (2nd part)"},"content":{"rendered":"<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-91-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/Dzogchen-Center-Podcast-by-Aisling-and-Radha.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/Dzogchen-Center-Podcast-by-Aisling-and-Radha.mp3\">https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/Dzogchen-Center-Podcast-by-Aisling-and-Radha.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><b>From Philosophy to Practice: A Conversation with Lynn Newdome from the Dzogchen Community Center on how to Find Peace<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">By Radha Consiglio and Aisling Kelly<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-206 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/IMG_6696-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"329\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/IMG_6696-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/IMG_6696-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/IMG_6696-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 329px) 100vw, 329px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dzogchen Center in Conway, MA. Shrine Room.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can philosophy become an embodied experience? We <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1rem\">find ourselves driving on a sunny Massachusetts day in search of the Dzogchen Community located in Conway, eager to get some insight on this very question. We arrive early for our meeting with Lynn Newdome, who has been practicing Buddha Dharma for almost fifty years now, and are quietly welcomed into a richly colorful room full of space to move,\u00a0 where a group of practitioners (including Lynn)\u00a0 participate in a <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vajra <\/span>dance class.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For about twenty minutes, the<span style=\"font-size: 1rem\">\u00a0<\/span>ensemble learns mel<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">odic chants and swift movements atop a colorful circle on the floor by continued repetition. Later, Lynn explains tha<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">t the Mandala\u2019s <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">dif<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ferent colors (blue, green, red, yellow, and white) can represent various Buddhism ideals, such as humility, vitality,\u00a0 openness, and strength.\u00a0 With every step, the dancer<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1rem\">s pay their respect to the Earth, as well as one another, in order to move together. The execution of sound and movement in harmony, according to Lynn, is important for aligning the mind, body, and voice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-207 aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 1rem\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/IMG_6694-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"324\" height=\"243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/IMG_6694-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/IMG_6694-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/IMG_6694-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 324px) 100vw, 324px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mandala in the Dzogchen Community Shrine Room<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>After wrapping up, Lynn takes us on a tour around the shrine room and the rest of the center. The bright colors of the walls and floors give the center a light and playful atmosphere. Where the shrine is located, Lynn shows us a picture of the center\u2019s late teacher, Ch\u00f6gyal Namkhai Norbu, whose death eight years ago has left the center struggling to continue furthering the practice, in accordance with traditional Dzogchen lineage.\u00a0The Mah\u0101y\u0101na tradition that came from India to Tibet comprises two principal schools of thought.\u00a0The Yog\u0101c\u0101ra perspective (mind-only-view), centers the mind in its perspective, focusing on subjective experience. Madhyamaka (\u201cthe middle way\u201d), on the other hand, focuses on objectivity, emphasizing emptiness of mind. In an effort to understand a little more about Dzogchen theory, we ask Lynn if she can give us some insight on how her practice incorporates these views.\u00a0We sat down in the Tsegyalgar Center&#8217;s library to talk about the Center, its practice, and how that practice is grounded in these Indian and\u00a0 Buddhist philosophical schools.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-208 aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 1rem\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/IMG_6693-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"230\" height=\"307\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/IMG_6693-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/IMG_6693-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 230px) 100vw, 230px\" \/><i style=\"font-size: 1rem\"><i>Dzogc<\/i>hen Community Center Library<\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The interview begins with Lynn telling us about the origins of her practice. Being raised in a conservative Christian household in Ohio, Lynn was never exposed to any spiritual traditions outside her own. This changed, however, when she attended college. Lynn describes a feeling<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of groundlessness she felt as a college student, which led her to search for spiritual practices that would help her find a sense of home<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">:<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1rem\">\u201cI <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1rem\">started being interested in something more than\u2026 this cycle of always having to achieve, and rest, and doing it again and again\u201d.\u00a0 Although Lynn came to the path hoping to find an escape from life\u2019s suffering, she soon discovered that the path is less glamorous than one would hope: \u201cMy first impulse was all \u2018cool, spiritual traditions like sufey dancing, astral travel&#8230;I thought I was getting into something really esoteric\u2026\u201d While she initially hoped for mystical effects of meditation, Lynn discovered that\u00a0 Buddha Dharma is a process of evolution that calls us to face the very things we seek to escape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i style=\"font-size: 1rem\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-213 aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;font-style: normal;text-align: start\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/images.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"257\" height=\"196\" \/><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Image of Garab Dorje pointing at the viewer, symbolizing Dzogchen\u2019s\u00a0 traditional \u201cdirect introduction\u201d to the practice between master and student (encouraging accountability)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In our class, we\u2019ve focused on two main \u201cschools of thought\u201d within Buddhist philosophy. The Yog\u0101c\u0101ra perspective (mind-only-view), centers the mind in its perspective, focusing on subjective experience. Madhyamaka (\u201cthe middle way\u201d), on the other hand, focuses on objectivity, emphasizing emptiness of mind. In an effort to understand a little more about Dzogchen theory, we ask Lynn if she can give us some insight on how her practice incorporates these views.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Due to the traditional \u201cdirect introduction\u201d methodology of how the Dzogchen tradition is passed down, Lynn explains that her center has faced increasing challenges over the past eight years, due to the passing of their meditation master. Lynn explains how the absence of this teacher has delayed \u201cthe third turning of the wheel\u201d, which involves\u00a0 gaining insight into the nature of mind through direct teaching.\u00a0 Without this guidance, the center feels lost. Lynn\u2019s description of the impact of her teacher\u2019s passing has allowed us to reflect on the inhibitory and exclusive aspect of the traditional male monastic lineage, calling into question how Buddhist philosophy and practice might look different if women held a more prominent role in its formation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Knowing that we are here for academic purposes, Lynn encourages us to tighten the grip on the scrupulous \u201cviews\u201d we\u2019ve been hearing about in class. According to her, the formation of each school is simply a result of practitioners throughout time deepening their experiential knowledge and holding onto certain \u201cviews\u201d about said experiences. Lynn, however, is resistant to this fixation on concepts such as egolessness and emptiness- she wonders if sometimes people can be so fixated on conceptual emptiness that they mistake it to mean void,\u00a0 forgetting that the emptiness of objects is more centered around dependent origination and the connectivity between all things, as opposed to nothingness. Again. she reminds us, the teachings are about more than just concepts- they\u2019re about opening up to these experiences first-hand. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-214 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/781\/2022\/04\/download.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"184\" height=\"273\" \/>Tibetan Wheel Of life: Lynn points to much of Buddhist symbolism as representing mental states.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nonetheless, Lynn expresses gratitude for the direction that studying philosophy has given her, describing how a lot of the symbolism has aided her self discovery: \u201cI learned that the symbolism wasn\u2019t pointing at anything other than my own mind\u201d.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In our interpretation of her current philosophy, it seems that Lynn is pointing to a fuller perception of emptiness through her Dzochen practice- one that can go \u201cbeyond emptiness\u201d and acknowledge that the universe is \u201cfull of energy\u201d. When asked about the emptiness of mind, Lynn describes the mind as open- anything we learn, we can always go past \u2013 even emptiness. There is a certain expansiveness to her philosophy of mind that we really admire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is not an easy journey, Lynn reminds us; facing our inner demons can be challenging and painful. In response to our theoretical questions, she smiles: \u201cYou are never going to think yourself into Enlightenment. It is said, even the tongue of the Buddha couldn\u2019t explain this.\u201d As Lynn describes the evolution of her practice, she explains that Buddha Dharma (as she prefers to call it) is more experimental than conceptual. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Learning to sit <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">with one\u2019s range of experience over time<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is what allows for a deeper exploration of the mind<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. As we practice meditation, we learn to observe the way we react to various <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">phenomena in our lives, and be in tune with the emotions they trigger, rather than be governed by them. Thus, while it is clear that philosophy has the ability to open one\u2019s mind to a fuller version of human experience, it is only through this practice of self-discovery and evolution that mere concepts such as selflessness, emptiness, and interdependence can become embodied experiences.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Philosophy to Practice: A Conversation with Lynn Newdome from the Dzogchen Community Center on how to Find Peace By Radha Consiglio and Aisling Kelly Dzogchen Center in Conway, MA. Shrine Room. Can philosophy become an embodied experience? We find ourselves driving on a sunny Massachusetts day in search of the Dzogchen Community located in&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/shelburnefallsshambhalacenter\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Dzogchen Center (2nd part)<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\" aria-hidden=\"true\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5191,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-episodes","category-dzogchen-center-2nd-part"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":266,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions\/266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/phi252-sp22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}