From 7:15 - 8:00pm every day from 19th August to 10th September 2025. The class will be online and is to prepare us for the coming term in Tantra. Our tradition, our lineage is a gnostic path. This essentially means it is a path of realisation. A path of direct experience. A practice lineage not a theory lineage. For those entering this path and lineage it is a way of life. Two elements need to be balanced. One, we need to be able to practice alone, digesting the dharma in our own time and developing a practice that is personally suited to us. Two, we need to be able to apply our realisations into our daily communal life. To be part of a community that lives and supports a way of life presented by awakened beings. We are fortunate indeed that we are able to connect online and be a living sangha. Please make a commitment to attend daily for as much as you can. The aim of the lamrim, the internal realities, is to make a conscious change in our way of living and seeing things. To really put the dharma into practice. To be conscious. If we lived together physically as a spiritual community there would be daily communal practice. This was beautifully requested to have a practice group. The vision is for it to turn into a practical exploration of a daily Vajrayogini sadhana. May God shine the light of awareness in our hearts so we live by the Way. In love, wisdom and spiritual power may we embody Grace. To join please email: contact@harmonyoftheway.co.uk

A note from Lama Noah Samarkand -

Tomorrow aug 19th we begin a daily exploration of the Gnostic path or Lamrim, for one cycle, in preperation of our new term on Tantra. The internal realisations of reality.

The root, growth and flourishing of the path is faith or confidence. To attain faith or confidence it is impossible to do this by thinking alone. As human beings it is a scientific fact that we learn by mirroring through other humans. The Mahayana path begins when love emerges in our being as our motivator. It is impossible to develop love if we don't engage with people. In Tantra, the Vajrayana path, we see God here and now in everyone. This is impossible unless we can see God here and now in at least one person.

This view of seeing humans as divine is called Yoga of the beloved friend - Guru Yoga.

Who is a spiritual friend?

At the very least, it is said, they are someone with a good heart and know a bit more than us on the path. This can be enough for us to develop faith or confidence in spiritual realities and to know that we ourselves can improve.

A good Lama will be a 10 on the enneagram.

They will be constant and engage in the divine work. Sober and patient they will be a type 1 at their best moving into the 7.

They will be very clear, present, able to answer your questions in an impartial manner. They will be logical, studious and knowledgeable. They will be a type 7 at their best moving into the 5.

They will be truthful, merciful and innocent. Totally passionate about the dharma and challenging us to live life in truth. They will be a type 5 at their best moving into the 8.

They will be totally free in their expression and humble in their honesty. Naturally giving their energy to others through the dharmic path they will be a type 8 at their best moving into the 2.

They will be a contemplative, grateful and emotionally balanced. Naturally able to creatively explore themselves. They will be a type 2 at their best moving into the 4.

They will live a right way of life, in peace and serenity. Everything is taken to be perfect as it is. They will be a type 4 at their best moving into the 1.

They will have complete confidence in the path, faith in their Guru and totally loyal to the dharma. Their courage to be themselves will shine. They will be a type 3 at their best moving into the 6.

They will be able to see all sides, positions and reveal solutions. They will be loving, engaged and manifest right action. They will be a type 6 at their best moving into the 9.

They will be authentic and honest with a profound sense of knowing it's all good. Living from the heart they will work tirelessly on the path. They will be a type 9 at their best moving into the 3.

Our Lama, our guide, our teacher is a mirror for us to establish faith and confidence in ourselves. To find the freedom, fluidity and joy of presence, that is beyond a fixed personality type.

Put in a more colloquial way our spiritual friend who exemplifies for us the type 10 (that is someone who moves into all 9 types of energy and is not identified with any)

Will be goofy, silly, comfortable in what seem to us 'childlike' things. Reading comic books, playing games with children, and dancing. In dharma they are not fixed to any dogmatic system but move consistently to any new ground like an adventurer. The 7.

They will be good students, readers, able to study scripture and apply logical and critical thinking. It will be clear they enjoy studying the dharma. The 5.

It will be clear they are passionate about the dharma, as Tsongkhapa said 'one will have an insatiable desire for the dharma'. They will demonstrate challenging the self, striving to go deeper into the path. They will be difficult to ignore. The 8.

They will always be available to help, guide, protect and be a good friend. They will appear sweet and friendly able to chat about anything and make everyone feel included. The 2.

They will be creative, poetic, able to express metaphoric language. Easily able to be alone and to be at total ease with the shadow side of life. Able to stand outside the normal perspective and give balanced knowledge. The 4.

Our guide will be serene, not provoked by anger or angry people. They will be endlessly patient with our progress on the path like a loving parent. The 1.

They will by loyal, no matter when we go astray they will welcome us back. They will have courage in the dharma, courage to express themselves creatively, new and fresh. Loyal to truth not dogmas. The 6.

They will have the gift of listening, able to see all sides and perspectives. They are very good at discerning what is the right action. They will be engaged with you when you're with them as if they are just a simple ordinary person exactly like you. The 9.

They will practice, they will know and enjoy techniques. They will speak from their heart, not politically correct, but present what the person needs to hear to feel comfortable. Their intensity for the dharma will be obvious. The 3.

In our lineage we grapple with a very challenging statement made by the master 'In these times I would rather you were spiritual guides than buddhas.'

We can understand this to mean it is not enough just to have internal freedom we must develop the ability to express and guide others.

A symbol for this is becoming an enneagram type 10 or type 0 however you want to look at that?

Find someone and develop the totality of the self.

Be loose, playful, childlike, studious, logical, challenging, passionate, helpful, humble, kind, alone, deep, adult, illogical, serene, patient, courageous, loyal, open, engaged, practical, and loving.

Be unable to pin down. This doesn't mean in terms of what people think about you. It means you cannot define yourself, you don't define yourself, you cannot find yourself. You are freedom itself.

May God guide us to knowing and love.