Turiya: Awakening to Unreasonable Joy
Turiya: In Trikaya Buddhism, we recognize that samsara is nirvana, and nirvana is samsara. That is, Enlightenment is everywhere, and in everything, it is everything. Many people separate their spiritual practice from their regular life. They meditate, and then their practice is done, and they go on with their life. There’s a disconnect between sadhana (spiritual practice) and earning a living or playing with friends. They miss that the World at large, or Life, is our greatest teacher. As Buddhists, we embrace the opportunity to learn at every moment. We consciously want to be shown our attachments because then we can let go of them.
OMTimes: How can one develop a practice to become resilient and fearless living in such a convoluted world?
Turiya: The most powerful practice is gratitude. As a mindfulness practice, we can train our minds to return to a state of gratitude throughout the day. When we encounter the horrific things of the World, we see what it can teach us about ourselves. We feel gratitude for the opportunity to learn about our attachments and develop compassion.
It’s also helpful to understand how precious our human life is. There are countless worlds, and not all of them offer the opportunity to Awaken. Here, as humans, we have access to the teachings, and we have the chance to practice. If we take time to really contemplate this, a deep sense of humility grows. We can use even the fear we feel as motivation to practice. And when we get knocked down, realizing how fortunate we give us the energy to get back up.
OMTimes: In the pursuit of self-knowledge and self-realization, people sometimes shed layers of the old ‘self.’ After your Personal experiences and Initiations in the pursuit of a spiritual path, did you ever feel the need to reinvent yourself?
Turiya: A big part of the practice of Trikaya Buddhism is recognizing the self is not solid. Our “self” shifts with every interaction in minor ways. Think about who you are with your parents or kids, and then who you are at work or at a doctor’s appointment – there’s a different self at play in each of these situations. When we have a spiritual experience, whether spontaneously during Meditation or by going to a place of power intentionally, the self changes in more profound ways. The fears and attachments that shaped us fall away, and suddenly we view ourselves and the World in a whole new way.
In my experience, I haven’t felt the need to reinvent myself, yet I have certainly been reinvented many many times! We go through this process, allowing these various selves to transform until there’s no one left. So now I’m back at the beginning, learning how to operate as no one in this world that demands you to be someone.
OMTimes: Do you hold a Mystical / Cultural Vision for our World? What would you like to see manifested in our collective reality now?
Turiya: Back in 1998, when I opened Dharma Center in San Diego, very few people knew what Meditation was. When I invited people to sit with us, they would assume we taught hatha yoga. When I would say, “No, it’s Buddhist meditation; we sit,” they would get a funny look on their face. Twenty-something years later, Meditation is no longer a weird thing. People are actively seeking instruction because they know it can help make their lives better. So the World I wish to see manifested is already starting to happen.
We each live in our own private worlds; the one I live in is filled with abundance, beauty, and joy. The universe supports me in everything I do, even when things do not go as planned. I would like more people to know the Unreasonable Joy that exists within them. I’d like to invite them into my World and make it possible for them to bring a bit of magic back into theirs.
Let’s talk about your bookshelves:
OMTimes: Tell us a book that you are currently reading.
Turiya: I assigned Wholehearted by Koshin Paley Ellison to my students, so I’m re-reading it now. I love how he teaches from a grounded, real-world place by sharing his experiences.
OMTimes: Do you have a book that changed your life? If so, how and which one?
Turiya: There are so many; it’s hard to pick one! I would have to say Tales of Power by Carlos Castaneda. A friend gave me that book when I was 18, and as soon as I finished it, I knew I wanted to meet a teacher like don Juan. Fortunately, I did!
OMTimes: A Book you wish you had written.
Turiya: Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach – the imagery is beautiful. It packs so much transformation in such a concise format…it’s truly inspirational.
OMTimes: A Book that made you cry.
Turiya: The first time I read the Gospel of Ramakrishna – the short 1947 edition – I cried tears of ecstasy when I met Ramakrishna through those pages. Many years later, I cried tears of sorrow when I read Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith. Her poems captured the horror and devastation of Hurricane Katrina with such fierceness it made me feel as if I was witnessing the storm in an intensely visceral way.
OMTimes: A Book that made you laugh.
Turiya: Most people don’t laugh when reading spiritual books, but The Holy Teachings of Vimalakirti had me cracking up. There’s a section where the Bodhisattvas are making excuses to Buddha about why they don’t want to go visit Vimalakirti on his sickbed. Each Bodhisattva is famous for its specific teaching. They each had a story about how Vimalakirti managed to teach them about their special skill in front of a crowd and make them feel like they knew nothing. I laughed because that’s what we do, right? We want to be free and excel, but we don’t want to be corrected by anyone, especially publicly. Hence, we make excuses not to see the one person who could help us move beyond where we are.
The really funny part is when Manjushri agrees to go, everyone decides to go with him because they know powerful and profound teaching will take place. Again, it’s very human to want to be on the sidelines watching, without having to go through the pain of having our own misunderstandings picked apart.
OMTimes: A Book you never finished.
Turiya: The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan is still sitting on my shelf after 20 years. The writing prompts are wonderful, and I wanted to finish the homework before going to the next chapter. That experience is why I put a note in the introduction of Unreasonable Joy to encourage people not to get stuck on the Practice Pointers. I felt like I needed to give them permission to skip over the exercises if they want to!
OMTimes: A Book that you usually gift people, and why?
Turiya: At Dharma Center, we give away a handful of books by my teacher, but the one we keep running out of is Surfing the Himalayas by Frederick Lenz. It’s this fun adventure about a guy who goes snowboarding in Nepal and runs into a Buddhist monk. Rama (Frederick Lenz) was able to pack in so many high-level teachings into this simple story. It encompasses much of the Path, but he does it in such a way that it’s easy to miss because you think you’re reading about snowboarding.
Connect with Turiya at the Dharma Center of Trikaya Buddhism in San Diego https://dharmacenter.com
