I was introduced to Lama John Makransky and the Natural Wisdom and Compassion meditations in 2001, when I began attending week-long retreats sponsored by the Dzogchen Center. In 2004, I was one of twelve people who participated in the first one-hundred-day retreat held at Dzogchen Center’s Osel Ling in Austin, Texas. It was an incredibly challenging experience for me, as well as for my peers. I learned a variety of meditation practices and I found that when things got difficult, the practice I relied upon was the NWC practice. When I spoke with Lama John soon after about the profundity of my experience with the NWC meditations, he suggested that I share it with others in my community.

So in 2006, I began leading a weekly NWC group in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The group is held inside the Bodhi Stupa on Airport Road. The atmosphere is casual and friendly. Everyone is encouraged to sit in a comfortable position, either on a cushion or chair. Comfort and ease, while remaining wakeful and alert is emphasized. We start with a reading from Lama John’s book Awakening through Love. Then we do some chanting and set our intention. This is followed by the NWC meditation. It involves bringing to mind our spiritual heroes and other people who have been kind to us, and receiving their wish for our deepest well-being. Through communing with them in this way, we are eased into the natural awareness/wisdom aspect of the practice. After some time we further extend this wish to others. We do a little more chanting and radiate the wish of love to all beings. We end with dedicating our practice to the enlightenment of all. After the meditation, we have some time for questions and discussion. In the group, we all learn together from sharing our experiences with each other, which creates a sense of “we are all in this together.” If this group sounds right for you, please come and join us. And feel free to contact me with any questions you might have.

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