Music Box
I was taking part in a Dzogchen retreat and my mind was lost in outer space. I couldn’t understand anything Rinpoche said and, on top of it all, we went to his room to receive some instructions. And, oh my, those instructions were really sophisticated. Lama Sherab was translating, but even then I couldn’t understand what he meant. I was really worried. First, I couldn’t understand his English so well, and then, when the translation into Portuguese began, I couldn’t understand that either!
While we were there, he took a small music box shaped as a gramophone, it was really tiny. And every time he stopped giving teachings and the translation began, he would pick up the music box and wind it. Then he put it to his ear and listened to the music.
At first, I thought that was weird. Then I started to realize he was offering an alternative version to those among us who did not understand the instructions very well. At every break, while the translation into Portuguese was being made, he would wind up the music box and listen to it again and again.
He wasn’t only enjoying the sounds, he was meditating with them. He was showing us the practical version of all those over-sophisticated teachings. I started to relax and realized he was actually giving us an alternative, so that we could understand the teachings in a non-verbal way. That was exactly what I needed at that moment.
Throughout the teaching, he did that same movement during many breaks: he would stop talking, wind up the box and meditate. I think I relaxed in the process because I realized there was something I could understand within all the complicated teachings.
When I left the practice, I was certain that I had understood everything that was essential to be conveyed. Once again, I bowed before him. I saw how extraordinary he was, beyond our understanding. I’m sure that was the teaching that has marked me the most in this life, as a most beautiful manifestation of compassion giving us an opportunity for understanding, even if our minds are in no shape to do anything else.
[as told by Nenung]