In the minds of Westerners, Buddhism is "secular spirituality", a "science of the spirit", in short: something perfectly rational. A few years ago, I began reading books on meditation, before wanting to go further. I approached a Tibetan Buddhist centre. This was an international network headed by Sogyal Rinpoche - Rinpoche is a title given to many lamas and means "very precious jewel" -, a Tibetan Buddhist master supported by the Dalai Lama.
He is the author of the best-selling "Tibetan Book of Living and Dying". What I discovered at this centre was the opposite of what we Westerners think of Buddhism, as practiced for the purposes of personal development. The Asian masters propose rituals that are very complex and also in Tibetan. They summon deities and demand absolute devotion to the master.
I realized that I was being confronted with a culture shock that could give rise to misunderstandings and disillusionment. I continued to attend the Buddhist lessons, but in order to investigate. I worked on it for seven years. For the first two years, I enrolled as a "student" - that's how they refer to disciples - at the centre in Levallois, to attend courses in meditation, spiritual retreats and public lectures.
After my field work, I began a series of interviews with people much more advanced than I was along the intended path, and who shared their experiences with me. Plus I had to learn about Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan culture, but also about the Western religions that had made it possible to reclaim Buddhism and raise it to the rank of a "secular religion". My first meditation sessions were faithful to the idea that I had had of them.
The students sit cross-legged, with straight backs, and concentrate their minds on a point. Except that, quickly, we were pushed onto a different level. We were recommended to meditate in front of an image of the master, Sogyal Rinpoche, or even in front of a video of him.
