Dharma Field Trip: Creating Enlightened Society

I was honored to attend a talk on “Creating Enlightened Society” by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche with the Dharma team. My first impression as I was welcomed into the incredible Grace Cathedral was that I was coming into a sacred place full beauty and openness. I wondered what it would be like to be in the presence of one of Tibet’s highest and most respected incarnate lamas – the holder of the royal lineage to the ancient kingdom of Shambhala, a borderless community of meditation practitioners committed to realizing a higher consciousness through wisdom and compassion.

When Sakyong Rinpoche walked in with his contagious smile and stories of his newborn daughter, I was moved by a sense of shared humanity. He shared a stunningly simple message of how to create an enlightened society: with kindness, generosity, and courage. The take-away was that each person needs to respect themselves in order to be kind to others. The way you feel when you wake up in the morning impacts all future interactions. Sakyong Rinphoche recommended that we all take a moment in the morning to evaluate our emotions and recognize how we are being in the world. Every human being can reach inside to see their inherent goodness, warmth and intelligence – and then use that insight to create an enlightened society.