Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel - The Power of an Open Question: The Buddhas Path to Freedom

A bold, playful, and invigorating book about the Buddhas most important and subtle teachings.

Pema Chdrn, author of Taking the Leap

The reader will harvest the fruit of Elizabeths mature humility.

Dzongsar Khyentse, author of What Makes You Not a Buddhist

Elizabeth Namgyel has written a totally accessible book, one which shows tremendous depth of understanding.

Diana J. Mukpo, author of Dragon Thunder

Personal and insightful. Mattis-Namgyel writes with the clarity and grace one hopes for from such a dedicated student of Buddhist tradition.

Library Journal

Mattis-Namgyel understands her Western readers. She reaches out gently to them, with compassion born of twenty-five years of Buddhist practice. She knows the questions that readers need answered. She anticipates the challenges that will arise for them as they attempt to drastically change their mindsets. Reading this book is a beautiful experience on the journey in search of enlightenment.

New Age Retailer

Mattis-Namgyels book guides us on a provocative, playful, and spiritually-enriching journey of contemplation.

The Messenger

An edifying examination of openness.

Spirituality & Practice

ABOUT THE BOOK

How do we find a resting place in a world that is complex and always changing? How do we practice spirituality beyond the limits of blind acceptance and doubt? Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel proposes that when we ask challenging questions like these, we access our deepest intelligence and most powerful insights. When we ask a question, she suggests, our mind is engaged yet open. The process of inquiry protects us from our tendency to reach static conclusions. Instead, we can respond to uncertainty and change with inquisitiveness and a sense of wonder. Her book guides us on a provocative, playful, and spiritually enriching journey of contemplation that could last a lifetime.

ELIZABETH MATTIS-NAMGYEL is the wife of Tibetan Buddhist master Dzigar Kongtrl and the editor of two of his books (Its Up to You and Light Comes Through). She has studied and practiced in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for twenty-five years under his guidance and completed years of solitary retreat. As a Buddhist teacher, she leads weekend retreats throughout the United States and Europe.

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The Power of an Open Question

The Buddhas Path to Freedom

Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel

Foreword by Dzigar Kongtrl

SHAMBHALA

Boston & London

2010

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Horticultural Hall

300 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02115

www.shambhala.com

2010 by Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mattis-Namgyel, Elizabeth.

The power of an open question: the Buddhas path to freedom / Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel; foreword by Dzigar Kongtrl.1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

eISBN 978-0-8348-2279-5

ISBN 978-1-59030-799-1

1. Religious lifeBuddhism. 2. UncertaintyReligious aspectsBuddhism. I. Title.

BQ5405.M39 2010

294.3444DC22

2010021104

In the spirit of the Mahayana Buddhadharma, I dedicate this book to all living beings. May the hearts and minds of all beings rest at ease. And may they abide in the confidence of the Middle Way of being.

Foreword

Elizabeth and I met in Nepal. We were very young, deeply in love, and learning about life, as well as learning how to integrate the Buddhadharma into our lives. I was in the privileged position of knowing more about the Buddhist teachings, having had exposure to the study and practice of Dharma with many great masters of our time. I was able to share that with Elizabeth, and she became my first Dharma student.

Over the many years of our life together, which included coming to the West, raising our son, and starting Mangala Shri Bhuti, our Dharma community, we made an effort to be true to ourselves in the vision of the Dharma, amid a worldly life. In keeping with these principles, Elizabeth was able to do an immense amount of study of the classical texts of Indian and Tibetan philosophy. While in school, she would rise at four oclock every morning in order to have a full session of practice before the family awoke. Later, when we moved to Crestone, Colorado, she began seven years of intensive practice, at her retreat cabin in the mountains near the family home. Throughout this time, she continued to contribute to our community by serving as an example and guiding students in retreat. Her dedication to study and practice has paved the way for many others to move forward on their paths.

In recent years Ive encouraged Elizabeth to step up and become a teacher of our lineage, and for whomever seeks her guidance. I suggested that it would be wonderful if she were to write a book, because Buddhism in the West needs to be established by Western teachers who are able to fully embody the wisdom of the lineage and the teachings. Elizabeth has put her heart and soul into bringing the teachings to life in her own experience, and I feel now is the right and auspicious time for Elizabeth to step forward as a teacher. Im so glad that she is traveling around to teach and that this book has come to be.

Her book captures all that she has learned about the Buddhadharma, without watering down the meaning. She makes clear how relevant the teachings are to ones own transformation, and Im confident that others will be able to easily relate this to their own experience. Ive read The Power of an Open Question thoroughly, and I highly value its essence and the meaningful effect I can foresee it having on others.

DZIGAR KONGTRL RINPOCHE

August 26, 2009

Acknowledgments

I received my first introduction to the teachings on emptiness from my teacher and husband, Dzigar Kongtrl Rinpoche. I was young then. I dont think I understood exactly what he was getting at. But he didnt let up. Over the years, Rinpoche has continued to teach me with patience, tenderness, urgency, and a lot of fierceness, too. I think he did so simply out of his love for these teachings and out of his kindness, because he knows the transformative effect they can have on others. Now I love them, too. The teachings on emptiness, also known as the Mother of Transcendent Wisdom or the Middle Way, have always been closest to my heart. They have changed the way I look at life. I spend much of my day grappling with them, pondering them, and delighting in them. How can I ever repay my teachers kindness?

When Rinpoche asked me to write this book, Sasha Meyerowitz got on board. The profundity of these teachings pulled him in as well, and he has spent hours with me musing about emptiness and how to express it. What could be more enjoyable than discussing the Buddhadharma with a Dharma friend?

There are many others to thank. So many readers jumped in and came to my aid, all of them seduced by the teachings of the Mother of Emptiness, Prajnaparamita herself. Among them are my beloved son, Jampal Norbu, a friend and support to me since the day he was born. Many thanks to my Dharma companions Gretchen Kahre-Holland, Chris Holland, Mark Kram, Erica Hennigan, and Larry Shainberg for their valuable and thoughtful suggestions. And thank you to Greg Seton for enthusiastically sending me transliterations and translations of words in the midst of his heavy workload.