With appreciation, again, for the Vidyadhara... 4.4.2011 Lately, I translate backwards. Though growing up Jewish, like many of my friends, I sought out other things, turning in the 70s to our Shambhala, then Vajradhatu/Dharmadhatu communities. Today, among my other activities, I also try to bring fresh eyes to Jewish practice. I did purchase tefillin recently (nevermind (?) that my sadhana practice materials also coincidentally got shelved in a temporary move to storage). In short order, or maybe it was immediate, I came to associate the practice of laying tefillin with the principles of samaya. In preparing to share with someone why I thought what I thought, I first went to google and entered only: samaya. But, this returned somewhat exotic references, that would not be too helpful in communicating with others...especially the "general principles" I was seeking to be able to share about. So...I added: "trungpa" to samaya. And...as I was ready to expect, his presentation helped quite a lot, and moved to bring it all together, as I had hoped.... to wit: "When we commit ourselves to the world, whether as a reaction to constraints or as a decision to get into something new, that is called samaya, sacred world, or sacred vow." More here [from Journey Without Goal] Ira Zukerman DC