PORT TOWNSEND — A teacher of Buddhism who has lived and taught in Port Townsend for 11 years will teach two more classes this weekend before moving to Miami on Dec. 23.
“Port Townsend provides an experience for people who are seeking happiness,” said Robert Lapham, who is also known as Drimed Dorje.
“It is unique because everyone here is galvanized with the idea that they can create a place that is better than it is,” Lapham said.
“But Buddha taught that if you want to be fully awake, then you don’t take the easiest path, and Miami is full of people who are escaping dictators and other bad situations.”
Lapham will present the talk “In the Footsteps of the Buddha” from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today in the Raymond Carver Room of the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Rosewind Common House on Umatilla Street near San Juan Avenue in Port Townsend.
Admission is a suggested donation of $20, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds, Lapham said.
Positive vs. negative
Lapham said Buddhism is perceived as a religion but actually is a concept that centers around positive and negative thinking.
“Anyone’s suffering is caused by their negative thoughts and the negative thoughts of others,” he said.
“Happiness is the result of positive thoughts by yourself and the people around you.”
Lapham said there exist five negative forces: anger, pride, greed, jealousy and ignorance.
These forces are respectively balanced by understanding, compassion, faith, love and wisdom.
“If I say something hateful and harmful, it gets a reaction. We do have an effect on each other,” he said.
“When you see someone get hurt, you can’t help but cringe and feel what they are feeling.”
While teaching in the North Olympic Peninsula, Lapham has developed an international reach for his teachings with the establishment one year ago of an online magazine.
The site, www.dzogchenconnect.org, posts articles such as “The Accumulation of Merit and Wisdom” and “Where Science and Buddhism Meet.”
Lapham said the website is now read in more than 25 countries and has received more than 39,000 hits during peak months.
While the Internet can help spread Buddhism or any positive force, it also can be part of the problem, Lapham said.
“There is a lot of learning on the Internet, but it also attracts people who are suffering and starving for some kind of happiness,” he said.
“People are always projecting what they want to believe,”
Online desires
Such desires attract people to dating sites, where participants project who they want to be and not who they actually are.
Another example of this is the popular email scam that promises riches without effort, which Lapham said is something people want to believe is possible.
While Lapham several hundred times before has presented versions of the material to be featured this weekend, the process demonstrates how teachers can still learn.
“Each time I hear Buddha’s teachings, awareness awakens more,” he said.
“Each time I study or teach these sacred texts, this ageless wisdom increases the power of my own positive thinking.”
For more information, phone 360-390-8367 or email dzogchen.society.108@gmail.com.
________
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
