Tibetan holy man visits Rehoboth
The Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist Beach Center recently hosted a series of empowerment workshops led by their spiritual director, His Holiness Grudrag Tulku Rinpoche.
The Rinpoche is a community teacher who came to offer the Medicine Buddha, a diety-based religious practice with mantras directed at healing the body and mind, beach center founder Deanna Neri said.
Now a Hacienda, Calif.-based Tibetan Buddhist high master llama, the spiritual leader was exiled from Tibet as a 5-year-old after he was recognized as heir to the Padmasambhava.
Padmasambhava was called the second Buddha by Tibetans after he built a Buddhist temple there, expanding the religion and resulting in his own exile.
During the week of Aug. 20, nearly a dozen participants attended the workshops, held by the Buddhist meditation center, which practices silent meditation in the parish hall at All Saints Episcopal Church Sunday afternoons.
The meditation center's five-day series of workshops included teachings by the Rinpoche Tulku in the practice of Medicine Buddha, with sessions of empowerment, mandala offerings, a consecration to the ocean and Tibetan yogas of the body, speech and mind.
"This is very counter-culture to our Western society, so it is very rare," Neri said, "but it is a practice that can help liberate the mind and suffering swiftly."
This was the Rinpoche's third trip to the Buddhist beach center in Rehoboth.
During the final session of workshops, which featured the practice of Tibetan Yogas, their spiritual leader offered a yoga class for six in the parish hall that included breathing techniques, opening exercises, forward and backbends and even a balancing series.
"You can open your heart and everything; all the love and kindness you can send to all the beings," the Rinpoche said in a backbend with his arms outstretched. "Visualize all of the centered beings."
Neri said she has more workshops planned for the Rehoboth Beach meditation center throughout the coming months.
For more information, look for the Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist Beach Center on Facebook; go to meetup.com/TibetanVajrayanaBuddhistBeachCenter or call 302-212-9913.
