Magical Moments: BuddhaFest in DC

There was a magical moment at BuddhaFest in DC this past weekend. Actually there were plenty but one stands out in particular, for me personally. I was chatting with Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara before she was about to give a talk, trying to figure out where to put a voice recorder so that we could post the audio to tricycle.com.

“Do you want me to press record right before I start?” Roshi asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “We can edit it so that all that we use is the teaching.”

That exchange was it, my magical moment. Nothing special about it. That’s why it meant so much to me. I thought, How lucky am I, that I get to work so closely with so many wonderful teachers? How amazing is it that I get to be at BuddhaFest as a part of my job?

Most of the time I forget to remember the gifts in my life. I get caught up with the stuff that annoys me: wishing that I spent more time outdoors, wishing that I made more money, wishing that there were more hours in the day. But when I take a moment to notice the blessings—like the not-so-special, magical exchange with Roshi at BuddhaFest—all that stuff fades into the ether. In these moments it’s clear what matters most.

BuddhaFest was wonderful: good movies, inspiring talks, and charming company. I left DC excited that we were able to share many of the movies that they screened there with the Tricycle Community. This week we’re showing For the Benefit of All Beings and next week it’s Crazy Wisdom, a documentary about the life and times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Community members can catch all the movies from the Tricycle BuddhaFest Online Film Festival through July 4. If you’re not a member yet, you can sign up here.

We’re also posting some of the teachings from BuddhaFest this week. You can listen to Tara Brach talk about love, for example.

Make sure to let us know what you think of the films because we’re going to have to start thinking about what kinds of films to feature at next year’s festival…