Sun, 18 Mar 2012  The Question I Never Asked  Way back in 1980,
during the 16th Karmapa's last visit to America, he came to
Washington DC, which was a big deal. And during that visit
Trungpa Rinpoche also came to Washington, which made it a doubly
big deal. During that visit I was part of a group interview with
Trungpa Rinpoche. I wanted to ask a question about the relation
between Nagarjuna's philosophy and the practice of meditation,
but never got the chance. Trungpa ended the interview early so
he could meet with a Sufi master. I wondered about my question
for a long time. Here's my attempt to answer it for myself.  If
I were to explain what Buddhism is all about in a few words, I
would say that our nature is perfecly free and pure, but we
don't experience that freedom and purity because it is hidden
from us. Buddhism is the practice that removes the obscurations
that hide our nature.  So what hides our nature? How is it
possible that we don't see our mind as it is? What could stand
between us and our mind