I had the great pleasure of attending a talk by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo at Ghe Pel Ling in Milan a few weeks ago. Tenzin Palmo is a British nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Her twelve years in retreat in a Himalayan cave are the subject of a captivating book by Vickie MacKenzie. Tenzin Palmo describes those years as the happiest of her life.
In Milan, Tenzin Palmo spoke about the six perfections. A story she told about generosity has stuck with me and I wanted to share it with you. Excuse me if I get some details wrong.
A young Rinpoche (a boy who had been recognized as the incarnation of an enlightened master) was receiving visitors. The visitors gave him a beautiful box of chocolates, which he accepted with glee. The Rinpoche’s father, naturally, urged the boy to open the chocolates and share them with his guests.
As any young boy would do, Rinpoche clutched the chocolate box to his breast, shouting, “No, they’re mine!”
His father kindly (and wisely) responded, “Yes, they ARE yours. That’s exactly why you can share them.”
The boy reflected on his father’s words. Slowly, a smile dawned on his face and he opened his chocolates, offering what was his (and so he could) to all present.
You lucky dog seeing Tenzin Palmo right in Milan! What an inspiration. I’ll have to remember the story, it’s a good one.
What a beautiful story. We always forget that we always have everything we need and that generosity just makes what we already have so much better!
Thank You!!
Thanks, Louise and Chris.
Chris, I love these lines I found in your recent blog post about perfectionism: “Mess is not a four letter word… well it is but…. oh never mind…
To be creative you have to be willing to make a mess. And to sometimes make a very BIG mess.”
So true! And being willing to make that mess allows us to be generous with our creativity as well.