Olà!
Photo by Michelle Magrini
In the fall of 2019 I was graciously invited to Ibiraquera, SC, Brazil, to teach at the Paz & Mente (Peace and Mind) Institute, a Brazilian interdisciplinary postgraduate program dedicated to Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies. This program draws a diverse group of peace educators from all over Brazil, and includes psychiatrists, social workers, judges, and lawyers.
Paz and Mente was founded in 2015 by Cerys Tramontini, and is supported by Alan Wallace, the Buddhist scholar, scientist, and author; the Santa Barbara Institute for Conscious Studies, in California; and shares a partnership with the UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.
I met Cerys several years ago at a Mind and Lifeconference in Garrison, New York. Upon meeting, we felt we had known each other for lifetimes. Cerys and I immediately recognized our connection: we both share a fierce passion for the dharma, and in particular, for the Buddhist teachings of Interdependence, often referred to as the “Nalanda" teachings. It was for this reason that she asked me to come to Brazil. At that moment I had no doubt that I was going to make the trip.
In October Tatjana Krizmanic and I flew into Florianopolis, Brazil to engage the tremendous openness and warmth of the Brazilian people. A few days after arriving in Ibirquera, we held a large public teaching entitled: Burning With Love in a World We Can’t Fix. Participants from six sanghas attended. It was lively, and we all experienced how the topic of Bodhicitta (Awakening the Heart) transcends the boundaries of culture, time, or even spiritual lineage.
Afterwards, we made a meaningful outing to Florianopolis, to the center of the late Chagdud Rinpoche, who was an important teacher to my mother and family as I was growing up. To reconnect with this sangha, and to meet his Brazilain community—so dedicated and gracious—was deeply meaningful for all of us.
Next, I began the teachings at Paz and Mente in Ibiraquera. It was a great luxury to have an entire week to talk to this group of curious, intelligent, open-minded public servants about the nature of dependent arising and to engage in contemplative practice. They were not shy to probe the depths of the material. There was a respectful fierceness about their questions, which I reveled in. They asked questions such as “What are the dangers that can accompany diagnosing a mental illness, and what is the difference between stigmatizing someone or finding a way to see beyond a static view of them?”
“Is there a healthy way of looking at suffering?”
“What does it mean to try to ‘fix’ the world? Is trying to fix a healthy response to suffering?”
“What is the self?"
“How do we honor our cultural and personal identity without clinging to a fixed sense of self?”
Because these students work in the field of service, their questions really came alive for all of us, and they chewed on these ideas with a lot of energy! I can’t express how much I enjoyed my time with these people and how they inspired me.
Near the end of our time together, Tatjana taught an “art class”…but it was art with a view—art as a practice. The combination of the teaching topic—interdependence—combined with her deep ability to communicate what it means to bring insight to creativity, profoundly enhanced our time together as a group. Students spent the day painting with water colors, sketching, and marveling at the products of their own and others’ creative endeavors. At the end of the retreat, the meditation room was filled with beautiful sketches and paintings.
Our last evening in Brazil we had a special visit from the wife of the late Chagdud Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, a truly great practitioner and luminous presence. I had not seen her for over 30 years or so, and she truly inspired all of us. Khadro had sent her personal translator, Leila Francischelli, to translate for my entire time there, and she was not only proficient and clear as a translator, but a complete gem. We were all deeply touched by Khadro-la’s generosity and wisdom.
It was a precious opportunity to visit this particular community in this specific area of Brazil. Many of our beloved sangha members, from Bahia, were able to join us. We are grateful for our connection to Cerys and her amazing husband, Flavius and hope to return to Brazil in November of 2020.
Learn more about the Paz & Mente Institute
