Lama to speak in Halifax

Wandering through the market in Marrakech, Morocco, long after the sun has set, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche says taking reality as real will drive you mad. Speaking over a crackling line to his cellphone, the Buddhist lama, filmmaker and author describes our ordinary lives as a “big sleep” — we get scared by what we dream up.
“Reality is not what we think it is,” he explains as vendors loudly hawk snakes, carpets, oils and shoe polish. “We have to tran­scend it.”

Our problem is that we imagine what we see is real and perma­nent, he says. In fact, it is just a temporary illusion. There’s noth­ing to get stressed about; wait a minute (or a lifetime) and it will pass.

“When you dream you are fall­ing off a cliff, you are scared,” Rinpoche says. “But when you realize you are dreaming — and you don’t necessarily wake up — you can stop being scared.” Read Article

By Jon Tattrie