Eddie Kwon, Thoughts on Level 6 UHBE, Seattle

May 2011

Eddie Kwon Seattle

I was fortunate enough to find UHBE about 4 years ago. We are all blessed for having Thay and Co here in our lifetime to teach us of the dharma of Dasira Narada. Each of us goes through our own challenges as we move up in level. Part of it is a result of the debts we must pay and part of it comes from possessing knowledge beyond our full understanding. But I have found that it is a challenge well worth while. I know that if I was truly at the level designated by our classes, I would have the ability to gain much of this knowledge on my own, but I’m not there yet. Thay and Co realize how little time we have so they are helping us on the path home. They are helping us keep our momentum, helping us with a method, helping us see what is real and what is not, helping us hear the truth…but it is our own responsibility to truly accept, and truly live in understanding. Otherwise, it is only knowledge we possess.

Every class has been special in their own way. They each came with different experiences, both during class and after class in my daily life. I could talk about how my life has changed, how my perspective has changed, or the challenges I’ve had and have overcome, but each of us will experience our own versions of these things on our own time. I wanted to share with you a feeling I had that was unique to level 6. I couldn’t realize it while going through each of the levels, I felt it but it wasn’t clear, it has become clear now. It is difficult to put into words, but it is similar to something I know all of you have experienced. Everyone has had a time when a melody was stuck in their head. It’s very vague, a familiar tune without lyrics, just the melody. It gets stuck in your head and all you wish is to hear the song. Sometimes it’s even bothersome but no matter how hard you try, you can’t remember it. When you finally hear the song, it’s almost a relief and your mind is put to rest.

When I first started out, hearing the dharma and listening to the lectures felt like that faint melody stuck in my head. I couldn’t remember the song, but it was familiar in my mind. That was the spiritual seed planted in my soul. As I moved up and learned more, it was like parts of the song became more and more clear, I began to hear the familiar song, and I felt relief. It was like Thay and Co helped me revive the song in my mind in the same way as helping me find where my spiritual growth ended at my last life. After level six, the song is clear in my mind…I finally feel like I know where I left off in my last life and it is time to grow beyond that, to move forward. That is what I felt and realized going through level 6.

If there is a song that we like, we want to hear it over and over, we want to memorize it, sing it, and share it with others. The song in my soul is that of the truth, and I know the song well enough now that I wish to share with others and live by example, hoping to maybe get that melody stuck in the soul of others, so that one day they too might want to find the song.