Daniel's Blog

To My Dear Friends and Sponsors:

My name is Daniel Garcia.  I was born in the United States in El Paso, Texas.  I am a 3rd generation American citizen that was born into a Mexican American family and was raised with a Christian belief system.  My father’s name is Raul Garcia Jr. and my mother’s name is Dolores Chavez, both of them are 51 years of age and are still very healthy and living in El Paso.  I also have one older brother named Raul Garcia III.  He is 32 years old and has a son named Osiris, whom both live in El Paso.   

I am currently 26 years old and I believe the youngest person that is going into the 3 year retreat.  I have been studying at Diamond Mountain for about 4 years now, and Tibetan Buddhism for over 10 years. 

I was never a very strict Christian, so I was given the space as a young child to question things freely and around the age of 16, I became curious about the other religions of the world and started to read about Buddhism.  I was immediately attracted to the idea of being able to become an enlightened being in one lifetime.  I remember the first time I read about this, it was in a book called, “The Eight Steps to Enlightenment: Awakening the Buddha Within” by Lama Surya Das.  I decided immediately that getting enlightened in one lifetime was the only thing I wanted to do with my life and I resolved that I would do it.  I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I felt like I had finally found the purpose for my life. 

At that point, I was only 16 years old and still hadn’t even met a qualified teacher.  I was also dealing with the life that I was expected to live according to my parents and the society I was raised into, but somehow, I couldn’t accept the idea of just living a life of going to college, getting married, raising a family, working to pay the bills, and then just getting old and dying.  I felt in my heart that there must be something more meaningful for me to do with my life; a higher way of being able to help others.  So, when I discovered the teachings of Buddhism, something very deep inside of me awakened and I began to slowly see the possibilities that were available if I could somehow master this path. 

I was fortunate enough to find a small Tibetan Buddhist meditation center in El Paso and so I began to attend classes regularly.  It was through this group that I began to meet qualified teachers and to receive the teachings of the Gelukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, the lineage of Je Tsongkapa, the Dalai Lama’s, and the lineage of my soon to be heart teacher, Geshe Michael Roach. 

It was in 2004 that I began studying the ACI courses in El Paso. Shortly after that I met Geshe Michael for the first time in 2005 at a teaching given by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama in Tucson, Arizona.   Very soon after that I traveled to Diamond Mountain to study with him and Lama Christie McNally.  I knew immediately that I had found my heart teachers.

At that time I was studying for my bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Texas at El Paso.  I made the decision to put my formal scholastic education on hold to pursue the chance to study at the feet of my teachers and spend more time in deeper service to them.  The Lama’s had just begun the second of six years of the advanced training courses at Diamond Mountain and had promised to only teach it only once.  I felt I would regret missing the chance to receive these courses directly from them and that the highest thing I could do with my life was to remain close to them.  It took a bit of convincing my parents that I was making a wise choice and actually in the final decision I had to leave without their blessings, because it was so hard for them to understand. 

Eventually though they did come to see how much I can help others with these teachings and more recently they have began to support my decision to give my life completely to my Buddhist studies. I believe it is due to my refusing to give up, continuing to teach courses, and proving through my actions that there is something to be gained through this kind of service and study.  The results are now starting to become clearer to all my friends and family.  Also, I hope one day to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk and have asked my teacher repeatedly, but he says I should wait a few more years. 

It has been through my years of personal study with Geshe Michael and Lama Christie that I have come to understand that the only way to truly help others is to see directly the ultimate truths of these teachings, which can only happen in a deep state of meditation.  It is for this reason that I am preparing to do the 3 year retreat. 

The main practice for my retreat will be to master my mind with the use of a spiritual partner.  My partner’s name is Christine Sperber.  Together we are working very hard to prepare ourselves to go into retreat.  It’s not any easy task to be with another person in retreat.  It takes a lot of love for one another, respecting the other person’s space, offering them constant peace of mind, and always believing that they are the Angel.  For me, it’s the most incredibly rewarding practice, but can also be sometimes very difficult.   It is our wish to master serving and honoring one another in retreat, and then to take this practice all over the world and teach people how to grow towards enlightenment alongside their own partner.  Many texts say that working with a partner is the fastest way to reach Enlightenment, in one lifetime. 

At Diamond Mountain we have been studying very deeply the ancient meditation and yoga texts of both India and Tibet and have been trained as well as any Tibetan monk, maybe better.  We have gone deeply into the philosophy and technical explanations of exactly what to do in deep retreat, how to do it, and also all the things we shouldn’t do.  Moreover, we have the teachings of 5 experienced retreat masters that have already completed their own 3 year retreat.  They have spent countless hours guiding us as we have undertaken our own short retreats in preparation for the ‘Great Retreat’.

As a group, the students at Diamond Mountain going into retreat are probably the highest trained retreat yogis in the West.  We have dedicated our entire lives to learning from and serving our teachers in spreading these teachings all over the world.  As a result of constant service and also finding time to do our own month long retreats, as often as possible, it has been a challenge to maintain a normal job.  So now, for all these reasons, we feel comfortable to reach out to you and ask for sponsorship for going into the ‘Great Retreat’ at Diamond Mountain University. 

I think we can all work together towards the goal of building the retreat valley at Diamond Mountain.  I have been fortunate enough to have the time to be close to the Lamas and to be able to be constantly studying in an effort to pass the lineage on to future generations.  However, we all have a role to play and even if you don’t have the time to do a Great Retreat, maybe you have the financial resources that would allow you to contribute to the building of the 3 year retreat valley.  The Buddha said that the person who sponsors a monk doing retreat gains just as much merit through their generosity as the person themselves who is doing the retreat. 

Also, since the time of Lord Buddha, more serious practitioners have always relied on the community at large for their material support in exchange for the teachings.  It is exactly this model that we are following at DMU.  All classes are free of charge and everyone is welcome to attend classes.  Also, all the cabins that are being built for the Great Retreat do not belong to any individuals and after the retreat will be available for many years to anyone who would like to do retreat, including you who are reading this letter.

I think once you see Geshe Michael and Lama Christie teaching, as well as all the students close to them, you will be able to see that something special is happening in our world.  The karma of being a part of this retreat in any way will carry us all into our Buddha paradises.  

We really need your help to pay for our food and living expenses. Please consider helping us to achieve the goal of completing the retreat.  Any small or large donation would be used as efficiently as possible.  We are building homes with recycled materials, planting gardens, using composting toilets, and all cabins will be completely off the grid.  However, we can never do it without you.  Please help us to reach our highest goals by sponsoring one of our three year retreatants.

Thank you for taking the time to read this proposal.  I hope we can see you at Diamond Mountain soon.  For any additional information please email me at garciad1111@gmail .com, I would love to get to know you personally.

Sincerely,  Daniel Garcia