I had one main Tibetan meditation teacher for seven years. He went back to Tibet to build a school. Well, then there was a big earthquake in (Chinese) Tibet. I say Chinese Tibet because politically there is really no Tibet although culturally it exists.

Anyway I was listening to BBC radio late one night and they were reporting on a terrible earthquake in a remote place in Tibet. They said the name of the village and I realized in was near this village where my teacher had built his school.


The BBC reporter said, "There are so many dead they have to be buried in mass graves. Many villagers are beside themselves with grief and are screaming and falling to the ground. The main people digging the graves are monks from a nearby school."


The reporter than said, "Here, maybe we can speak to their leader who we understand speaks English."

When they began to interview the head monk I realized it was my teacher! Of course I started to cry because even from around the world my teacher was still giving me lessons on compassion.

Mindfulness is a way to...wow...just to be where we are... fully!

There was my teacher digging graves and burying the dead. He was just living his mindfulness fully in the moment. It was very strange to hear his voice on BBC radio. Despite the crisis he sounded as calm as always.