No. 0607
A physical bent to spiritual quest
BY TANIA PADGETT
STAFF WRITER November 6, 2005
What do most runners do before a big marathon? Rest, rest and then rest some more. Not so for Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.
The 42-year-old Buddhist lama rose at 6 o'clock yesterday morning, donned a majestic robe of maroon and gold and proceeded to teach what would become an all-day workshop on meditation to about 250 students.
At 4 p.m., he set out with friends to run a three- to four-mile stretch in Central Park. Mipham hoped to get to sleep by 9 p.m., but realized that might not happen.
He was planning to report to Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, at the foot of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, by 8 a.m. today to run the ING New York City Marathon.
"I am here to teach," Mipham said. "People, well, may have some questions" about meditation.
Mipham, of Red Feather Lakes, Colo., is the head of Shambhala International, an organization of Buddhist meditation centers around the world, and is running to raise money to rebuild Tibetan cultural and spiritual centers.
So far, he has raised $200,000. Earlier this year, he raised $100,000 for a similar cause when he ran the Boston Marathon, which he finished in a respectable 3 hours, 24 minutes.
The son of Vidyadhara Ch"gyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who helped bring Buddhism to the West, Mipham is the author of several books on meditation, including his most recently published "Ruling Your World."
Mipham, who took up running three years ago, knows that today's 26.2-mile race, which winds through all five boroughs and crosses five bridges, is expected to be more challenging than recent New York City marathons. Temperatures reaching into the 70s and gusty winds are expected, he says, and those conditions tire runners quickly.
Nevertheless, he expects his years-long meditative practice to help him overcome such conditions, as it has in the past.
During the Toronto Marathon two years ago, Mipham developed a painful blister on the ball of his foot, which erupted and coated his foot in blood. Still, he completed that run in 3:23:55. He hopes to complete today's marathon in about that time.
Meditation, said the lama, teaches the practitioner to relax the mind and quell negative thoughts.
"There's nothing you can do about the future," Mipham said. "Be present; be mindful."
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-nyrace064501481nov06,0,445043.story?coll=nyc-topheadlines-manhattan&track=rss
A physical bent to spiritual quest
BY TANIA PADGETT
STAFF WRITER November 6, 2005
What do most runners do before a big marathon? Rest, rest and then rest some more. Not so for Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.
The 42-year-old Buddhist lama rose at 6 o'clock yesterday morning, donned a majestic robe of maroon and gold and proceeded to teach what would become an all-day workshop on meditation to about 250 students.
At 4 p.m., he set out with friends to run a three- to four-mile stretch in Central Park. Mipham hoped to get to sleep by 9 p.m., but realized that might not happen.
He was planning to report to Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, at the foot of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, by 8 a.m. today to run the ING New York City Marathon.
"I am here to teach," Mipham said. "People, well, may have some questions" about meditation.
Mipham, of Red Feather Lakes, Colo., is the head of Shambhala International, an organization of Buddhist meditation centers around the world, and is running to raise money to rebuild Tibetan cultural and spiritual centers.
So far, he has raised $200,000. Earlier this year, he raised $100,000 for a similar cause when he ran the Boston Marathon, which he finished in a respectable 3 hours, 24 minutes.
The son of Vidyadhara Ch"gyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who helped bring Buddhism to the West, Mipham is the author of several books on meditation, including his most recently published "Ruling Your World."
Mipham, who took up running three years ago, knows that today's 26.2-mile race, which winds through all five boroughs and crosses five bridges, is expected to be more challenging than recent New York City marathons. Temperatures reaching into the 70s and gusty winds are expected, he says, and those conditions tire runners quickly.
Nevertheless, he expects his years-long meditative practice to help him overcome such conditions, as it has in the past.
During the Toronto Marathon two years ago, Mipham developed a painful blister on the ball of his foot, which erupted and coated his foot in blood. Still, he completed that run in 3:23:55. He hopes to complete today's marathon in about that time.
Meditation, said the lama, teaches the practitioner to relax the mind and quell negative thoughts.
"There's nothing you can do about the future," Mipham said. "Be present; be mindful."
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-nyrace064501481nov06,0,445043.story?coll=nyc-topheadlines-manhattan&track=rss
posted by www.truyenthong.org at 11:47 SA
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