[ Terre de Sacha ] [ Sacha Dham ]

Sacha Mandala

means, ‘Centered in Truth and also means the Elaboration of Truth'.

Sacha Mandala Ashram, a vanishing concept.

The Structure of Sacha Mandala,
the Danish ashram was never officially an ashram, so in a way it has been an unrealized concept from the beginning. Danish law demands certain criteria for an ashram that Sacha Mandala was not capable of fulfilling. So as we unravel the tale of what Sacha Mandala was intended to be and what it has come to be, there is no real legal difference, it has always been (kind of ) a meditation center. One thing for sure, is that we've never been able to ‘really' define Sacha Mandala.

The history
of any place is complex and subject to the view of everyone who was involved in the making of that history. In histories you'll find a common strand of experience that everyone agrees upon. Then you'll find entangled accounts caused by opinion and narrow views. Then too, every history has a gem and in each facet is a story, in each story, endless possibilities. This is just the fact of relating and experiencing any common element and wrapping it up, packaging it in the past and stamping it as ‘history'.

Sacha Mandala shifted in this past year from being a facility dedicated to Sacha sanga, Sacha lineage, awakening to "Truth"and headed by Nukunu to now, a facility open for spiritual events. Well, everything in the world changes, the wheel turns and that's natural. Therefore it would be natural for Sacha Mandala to change or to transform or to become something other than the original concept. That is exactly what has occurred.

In the beginning Nukunu was delighted to begin this project, which would serve the Danish people. Overtime it became a burden to him and therefore he wanted to resign.

 

Visiting with people in Denmark, I discovered that everyone agreed that Sacha Mandala had to take a new direction but not everyone agreed on what that direction should be. There was a good deal of confusion about that, and also a generous dose of frustration. I myself felt that since it was a project that was to serve the Danish people by virtue of Nukunu's teachings, Nukunu himself could decide the fate of Sacha Mandala. That's exactly what he did. He decided to leave in and be free of the burden that he felt.

Here I would like to state my observations of the offering called Sacha Mandala as we knew it and what the central teaching has been.

Each one should examine for themselves how the dynamic of this place has offered a true opportunity to embody the teachings of totality and heartful awakening.

When one is truly selfless, all things pass by and through with out weight or struggle. When we think only of ourselves and what we want and what we're not getting, then we are laden with a very weighty struggle, indeed. That is so for spiritual teachers, disciples, students and everyone else in the world as well. This is one of the most fundamental and important teachings in life. Let things go as they go their way, let things come that are approaching without grasping, without self-importance. Then you are free, profoundly free in the flux of change and can clearly deal with what life has put before you without pointing in someone else's direction. This freedom also moves one into another's experience and brings forth open understanding.

Not everyone is meant to care for an organization and what is contained within that organization.

This is one of the beauties of life, different people go different ways, and yet in the end they find themselves floating in the same boat upon the same boundless ocean. Where division is asserted, there is the mistake. Spiritual people must awaken to spiritual principles. This goes for teachers as well as those they are serving.

The most important thing about any experience that is commonly shared by many and has come to an end, is that everyone must look inside themselves to see what they have learned, what they have gained from the experience. If you cannot carry away what you have gained, then in fact you have truly benefited.

This goes for teachers as well as those they are serving.

To be with the Master means to learn what it is to master every situation with skill, an open heart and an open mind. That is called ‘awakening.' And when one is truly selfless in all of this, that is called enlightening. Selflessness is indeed enlightening.

Teachers must be even more self-examining than their students, if that is not so, then the student is actually the true teacher.

Within the Sacha sangha there are many teachers. The more selfless those teachers are the more they are capable of offering themselves fully to all of those who are influenced by them. I have no disciples who are not enlightened, all are enlightened; this they must come to realize. One can not say it is so without realization, the realized do not say it is so. Many in our sangha are teachers in different respects, there are yoga teachers, there are meditation teachers, there are art teachers, therapists, healers. There are musicians and artists, dancers and there are those who give satsangh, there are school teachers, mothers and fathers, there are writers and editors, there are doctors nurses and those who guide people in many, many ways.
I think of them all as Dharma Teachers who are them-selves maturing. Enlightenment is better stated as enlightening. I have never certified anyone as enlightened. That is a certificate that is worthless. In the old Chán writings it is said "only the enlightened know not what enlightenment is" and that is so very true. The more selfless one is, the greater is one's understanding. As long as there's a physical form and the senses are held within, there is a constant ripening, a maturing of spirit, of character, regardless if one is teaching others formally or not. All teach all. Some are destined to be teachers, some are not, some are excellent and some are not very good at it at all; and still what is to be is to be. The great old Master's would only admit to such a sentiment, never claiming great heights even upon reaching the summit. After all, the moon is above the summit and the stars are above the moon, this is an endless reaching, not higher but deeply within. It seems that these principles were often discarded, or too often not considered in the center of Sacha Mandala. Therefore it is better for everyone to go their way and to have learned something wonderfully marvelous, something enbrightening and valuable. In truth, nothing has been lost and everything has been gained.

Let us examine some principles.
The one who blames should himself look in the mirror with great honesty, look within and find out why. Whoever blames should take this instruction to heart, be it a teacher or a disciple or student.

We who love the Sacha lineage can never forget our Masters, for they are the illumination in our heart. Those Great Beings who have introduced us to the guru called life, in life, as life, must never be disregarded and tossed away like we toss away an old rag. Those Great Beings are the ones who have challenged us to find our strength when we feel weakness, to find our heart when we feel separation and to find truth within ourselves. Nisargadatta once said, when a student is not developing and makes no progress along his spiritual way, if he is to blame anyone, he can only blame himself. This is of utmost importance, I have found it absolutely true in my own life. Whatever challenges my Master has given to me, it has always been up to me to unearth the jewel. There's no separation between the Master within and the apparent Master without, they are one in the same. So he or she who does not honor the Master within and lineage that has come before us, that one who disregards the food of spiritual nourishment and encouragement can be considered as immature and green. The light of the Masters in this world whoever they may be, whatever time they may have been or shall be, that light alone will ripen and mature the heart and understanding of the one who disregards. That disregard is itself immaturity and egoity.

Sacha Mandala has been a crown of light for everyone involved. I have called it the stone house of Milarepa. Milarepa was to build, tear down and replace again and again until he understood fully what it truly meant to build, tear down and replace. The impermanence of life, the command of the guru, the surrender of the disciple and the brilliance of enlightened awareness between them, within them, defining them, refining them and dissolving them altogether was Mila's treasure. This was the stone house of Milarepa, this was the way to his humility and perfection. Sacha Mandala was a very small model with the same precious gem embedded in the foundation. What great understanding can we extract from that experience called the ‘elaboration of truth, the center of truth (Sacha Mandala')?

Now it is past. Farewell to a possibility that perhaps has died before it's time. Or will it be reborn?