After the puja Philip Glass rode with me to the Detroit Metro airport because we were on the same flight back to NYC and we even live on the same street! He entertained me the whole time with great stories of how he used to take yoga lessons with Swami Satchidananda but then he found himself stranded in Delhi with no guru since Swami had gone to the US at the invitation of his benefactor, Peter Max. So Phil headed north and ended up meeting Domo Geshe Rimpoche, the lama who was also the teacher of the seeker in the great book, The Way of the White Cloud. (I love that book sooo much — check it out if you haven’t read it.)
Anyway, Domo Geshe Rimpoche gave Philip refuge and he became his long time student until he passed away, after which Philip began studying with Gelek Rimpoche, who was friends with Domo Geshe Rimpoche. Did you follow that? Anyway, Phil was also telling me about the amazing Theos Bernard, an american yoga teacher who cured his tuberculosis through yoga and then ended up traveling and living in the Himalayas. I love these stories and was just completely happy hearing them.
Then we got to the gate of our plane and Phil just went on to the plane. I had to wait for my row and I noticed that there were about 8 TSA security people surrounding our gate. Then they started frisking people before they went on and I freaked out. I got so scared and when I asked the TSA guy what was going on they said, Oh, just routine procedure. But I fly all the time and that is not routine procedure. So my mind went wild!
Even though I did get on the plane I thought, oh my gosh, someone has a bomb. I could not control my mind very well. I did pranayama which always calms me but after we took off — and nothing bad happened at all — I asked for a glass of red wine. I was desperate and succumbed to self-medicating. It was $7 and I gave the flight attendant a $20 and she said she would bring me change later. Well, that worked and I started to chill out. I closed my eyes and rested.
A little while later, the flight attendant came back with my change. But first she said, “Are you Cyndi Lee” I said, hesitantly, yes, wondering…hmmm…but then she said, “Oh, I am so happy to meet you. I practice yoga and I love your articles and books!” Well, that was so sweet and of course, really made me feel good. My mind totally shifted away from all that stupid panic thing and we had such a lovely chat. Her name is Ann and she takes class a lot from OM yoga teacher trained Megan Walsh. How great is that!
Here she is! Isn't that cute and cool? An flight attendant in anjali mudra! The other flight attendant also does yoga.
Anyway, Ann totally pampered me and offered to let me go up into first class and gave me more wine. After we finished our conversation, she went back to work and the lady next to me, who was holding her grandbaby on her lap, told me that she also does yoga. She does it at the hospital where she is in treatment for her third recurrence of liver cancer. Then she started to cry a little bit. It was so sad because she has cancer but she wants to be alive for her little grandbabies. So we hugged and my heart was broken.
Then I looked out the window and saw this beautiful sunset. I thought, yes, it is true. Our minds are like the sky. So vast. Like an ocean of movement and sometimes a cloud cover. I felt spacious and tender.
Then the flight was over and Ann came back and gave me a present — a bottle of nice red wine to take home. I was so touched by her kindness and generosity and her excitement for yoga. What a day! I laughed at myself for how my mind was like a roller coaster and then I fell into bed at 10:30 and slept like a log.
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[/caption]Seeing these teachers and hearing about Gelek Rimpoche’s life was especially poignant to me since the night before I had watched a film called Unmistaken Child. It is a documentary about how a tulku was found for a great lama that has passed away. It is a beautiful film — check it out.
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