Weekend before last, I had a remarkable experience that I've been meaning to write down before the details fade in my mind. I hardly understand all that happened, but perhaps I'll come to understand more later:

8 Limbs Yoga, the studio where I regularly practice yoga, hosted a visit from Dungse Rigdzin Dorje Rinpoche, a high lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, accompanied by a small group of monks and nuns, all accomplished in leading an ancient Tibetan healing ceremony called the Chod. They came to Seattle as part of a tour of US cities to offer the ceremony as a way of raising money for a medical clinic they are building near their home in India, Zangdokpalri Monastery.

I had no experience with the Chod, but I'm always curious about such things. Besides, a Tibetan Buddhist friend strongly recommended it, and the event flier included an endorsement by Sharon Salzberg, a beloved teacher in my Buddhist tradition. And I could benefit both myself and others at the same time! At first, I felt that I should sign up immediately. But then again, googling revealed that the young Rinpoche had only very recently succeeded the elder Rinpoche who had long been considered a great master of the Chod. And so I found myself wondering: would the younger Rinpoche be as good as his elder at leading the ceremony? Would I get my money's worth? Looking back now, I marvel at how readily I dropped into "shopping mind." But fortunately, I did sign up for the Chod.

From the point of view of a recipient of the Chod, everything's very simple. You just spend two afternoons rolled up in a blanket on the floor of the studio while the monks and nuns perform the ceremony, using chanting and a variety of musical instruments. I passed a very peaceful Saturday afternoon in my blanket, barely awake, as the first snows of winter fell outside the studio window. That night, I slept a sound 10 hours, feeling as though some sort of deep level healing had begun, and that my system was rebooting itself. Sunday afternoon passed peacefully as well, as the ceremony was completed.

Afterwards, we were invited to share a "small feast" with the monks and nuns--fruit, nuts, and other simple foods that we had brought in at the request of the monk coordinating the event, and that had been blessed by the Rinpoche. And then came an invitation to meet the Rinpoche in person. I had read about the etiquette involved: how one offers a kata--a white silk scarf--to such an honored person. And katas, along with other simple souvenirs, had been for sale in the back of the studio, so I had one.

We all held back bashfully, hoping someone else would go up first, but no one did. In the end I was the first to go up, scarf held out before me, feeling awkward and hoping that I wasn't committing any serious gaffes. The Rinpoche took the scarf from my hands, draped it around my neck and shoulders, and tied a protection cord around my wrist. I offered a Namaste salutation, and he offered a gentle half-smile in return. I returned to my blanket so that the next person could come up. We had not exchanged words.

Back on my blanket, I could feel a light energy playing across my body, and then I suddenly felt myself caught in a powerful flow of compassionate love. I don't know what it was, and had no sense of its source, but the words that come to me now are names like sacredness, Buddhanature, and Holy Spirit. In those moments, I also had an insight--very much as though I was being offered a teaching--that, although I work diligently to become a more compassionate and loving person, I had never been willing to direct that love and compassion towards myself. But the strong flow of love directed at me in those moments overwhelmed the defenses I had not realized I kept around my own heart.

The moment passed, the feeling faded. When I left the studio to walk downtown to my bus stop, the tall buildings around me, the traffic, the Christmas lights, all looked insubstantial, like ghosts or shadows. Back home, I pulled off the kata, to hold it in my hands. I marveled at how it felt--and still feels--full of healing energy.