I knew this and I didn't know this. I knew that my kids got a little squirrelly when I started to quote the good Lama. I felt that. When I think about it, they have experienced a bunch of my friends over many years pretty much go off the deep end with various gurus or fake gurus and certainly weird paths that have led folks down very strange trips. And even some pretty conventional paths that had a fanatical following.
For instance, the vegans we once hung out with who wouldn't use "products". As a consequence , many smelled frightfully awful, had dirty hair, BO, bad breath and so on. The failing was not the concept of veganism, but the fact that they didn't find natural vegetarian ways to get clean. It was pretty intense for a while. Then there were the Anthroposophists who dressed up like they stepped out of Little House on the Prairie or Germany before WW1. Not quite looking like Mormons, but not too far off either.
Then there were the Breathetarians and lately the Raw Food fanatics. Sometimes hard to integrate into life as we know it. They also remember friends who disappeared to various ashrams and came back really skinny and extremely spaced out, or worse, never came back. Lots of stuff out there to lose yourself or find yourself in.
So, when I became a Buddhist, that was not so far out. They knew about the Middle Path, they knew that many, many Buddhists lived normal lives and worked in whatever society they lived in. But, when I started talking all the time about Lama Marut, their antennae went up. What now? Is she going to follow this guy to the ends of the earth? Is she going to lose her capacity to think for herself and her life experience and kill us with endless "Lama Marut says" lessons?
I do get the concern. Yet, the other day when asked straight out what Marut means to me, I think my truth satisfied the question. He is the teacher of Buddhism who talks my language. (He also speaks Sanskrit and Tibetan.) When he explains a principle of the path, I get it. I have listened and revered many Buddhist teachers, most especially the Dalai Lama. With some, I have felt their energy, power, focus, holiness, but don't really understand them.
Marut is American. He was a professor at Columbia and UC somewhere before he got lamaized. He is very clear. He is funny. He doesn't soft-petal the work, but his teaching seems to me to be teaching Buddhism, not how to become a Tibetan (not happening in this lifetime), not temple rituals, not how to be a medieval monk, but the basic steps to living a righteous life. And did I mention that he is funny? And did I mention that he needs to go on a music, movie, TV retreat because his media references are getting out dated? And did I mention that he surfs and drives a Harley? Good references in my book.
That's my deal with the good Lama. I am filled with gratitude when I see him or hear him or get a tweet from him. I try to be a better person. I think he would be as horrified as my kids would be if I started kissing his feet. In fact, recently he took off his robes because he thought too many of his students were putting the form of traditional Buddhism before the intrinsic reality of the teaching. I don't mean he took them off in class, I mean he exchanged them for ordinary clothes. He also did this because we are all Buddha.
Namaste.
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