SOON AFTER I began tuning into the teachings of the Buddha, it seemed as if the dharma was showering upon me from all directions. I would have been foolish not to investigate further. Although I was carrying an undercurrent of sadness and confusion from early childhood trauma, I always had an innate sense that life held something more profound — something I had yet to learn about.

A pivotal moment in my life happened when my husband, son, and I were visiting family for the holidays on Vancouver Island, BC. We were staying in a home office, which also served as a library, where my brother-in-law, a scholar and devoted student of H.H. Tai Situ Rinpoche, kept his vast collection of dharma books and sat for daily meditation practice.

During the evenings of our weeklong stay, I found myself drawn to his dharma library, randomly pulling books from the shelves and opening them to any page. One evening, I was reading a sutra passage that was expounding on the one thousand buddhas who would be appearing in this fortunate era, in which Buddha Shakyamuni was named as the fourth. The Maitreya Buddha was foretold to be the fifth Buddha who would be born millions of years in the future. The sutra spoke about the recurring appearance of enlightened beings who would guide humanity and free them from suffering throughout time.

Over one thousand buddhas in this fortunate era, how could this be known? I wondered if this was a prophecy or whether there was something more to it — some deeper dynamic of human evolution and consciousness of which I knew nothing about. I was shocked but somehow sensed this sutra to be true, and for a moment, my mind stopped. Beneath the many unanswered questions that were spinning around in my head, there was a deep silence that felt like a call to the path and an invitation to further explore the Buddhadharma.

Shortly after returning home to Oregon, I began reading and studying the teachings of Tai Situ Rinpoche. I was encouraged to attend the live teachings of Mingyur Rinpoche, who at that time was teaching on behalf of Tai Situ Rinpoche at his Palpung Center in Vancouver, BC.

It was at the Palpung Vancouver Center where I first met Mingyur Rinpoche in 2006. Rinpoche was offering empowerments, teachings, and meditation instructions to large gatherings of monastics and lay students while residing there for several months. My husband, Lyle, and I had the good fortune to take refuge with Mingyur Rinpoche and were able to travel back and forth from Oregon to Canada to attend empowerments and teachings.

Endowed with a vast reservoir of knowledge and gifted at instructing new and advanced meditators on the nuts and bolts of meditation, as well as a great sense of humor, Mingyur Rinpoche has inspired hundreds of thousands of people to study and practice the dharma. I’m in awe of how quickly Rinpoche’s teachings flourished and took form as the Tergar Community and unfolded into the Joy of Living and Path of Liberation levels.

Perhaps one of the most influential gems of wisdom that has brought joy to my life is Mingyur Rinpoche’s transmission of the Buddhist teaching on “This Precious Life.” Reflecting on how fortunate we are to have met up with the dharma, our teachers, and have the causes and conditions that allow us to live a meaningful life with joy and service to others has cultivated a wellspring of appreciation. To study and practice the dharma as part of a community that lovingly supports each other on the path is beyond what we could ever hope for. In this day and age, it feels like it would be impossible to travel the path of awakening alone.

With more study and practice to fulfill in this lifetime than I could ever hope to complete, I still feel like I’m only scratching the surface. But for me, that’s the gift of the dharma; it’s an infinite ocean of profound wisdom, purpose, and inspiration. It’s like a never-ending love affair that’s always present and available to open my heart and remind me of the bounty I live in, especially when the turbulent winds of a fixated mind distract me.

Although I’ve had my share of challenges in this lifetime, I am indebted to the obstacles that have brought me to the dharma and to the feet of my teachers who have illuminated the path. And now, in my senior years, I’m blessed with the opportunity to apply the dharma teachings to prepare for an end of life immersed in the luminosity of gratitude for this precious life. I have received more than I could ever hope to give back.

In the words of Mingyur Rinpoche, written in An Aspiration for the World, “May we all awaken together.”

September 2025