Lady of the Lamps
The ani (nun) in charge of the butter lamps at Milarepa's Cave in Yolmo, Nepal, a tiny cliff-hanging retreat centre for Buddhist practitioners, pours more ghee (liquefied and clarified butter) into the candle holders. It's a very small cave and we were the only two in it at the time. So, the lamps burned and I sat. The lamps burned out and she came in and replenished them. I wasn't wearing a watch and had turned my phone off, so had no idea how long I was in there. But I watched a lot of lamps burn on and out. And I loved the ani's quiet diligence in doing the refilling. Suddenly all the entertainment in the world seemed superfluous.
Everything in Buddhism is pointed toward illumination. Where there is darkness in the mind, let there be light. The light is actually already there, self-existing, but when we don't realize it, there seems to be darkness. And so we stumble around and suffer and cause others to suffer. Given the proper teachings, however, we can switch on the light in our own room, which is a contribution to switching on all the light in the universe.
You can take it upon yourself. You can fill the lamps yourself. You can light up the universe.
3 May 2019
Texas Jim
Yolmo, Nepal
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