Category Archives: Buddhism

September 18, 2014 · 11:54 am

THE LOST SECRET OF IMMORTALITY by Barclay Powers

I’ve been taking some classes on a particular branch of Gnosticism and went in search of a book to help me see “the forest through the trees.” Certain things that were being taught on the transmutation of energy and enlightenment started to feel restrictive and I wondered how other spiritual traditions approached the subject. Author Barclay Powers has a BS in East Asian Studies from Columbia University and has studied meditation, yoga, and martial arts for over thirty years. His book allowed me to gaze across several Eastern traditions while confirming almost everything Gnosticism outlined.

Photo: Mark Donoher

Once upon a time, the secrets of the East were tightly restricted to advanced followers of personal lineages. That has all changed with new translations of ancient texts and a proliferation of skilled teachers. The internet itself can even act as a guru. Ancient wisdom is available from India, China, Egypt, Tibet, Japan, and eastern and western alchemy. Powers sees a paradigm shift coming. Science is now looking at states of mind through brain imaging and he feels science will eventually look at the phenomena of the “rainbow body”* (the dissolving of the body into pure energy). When that happens, the world has the potential to change and manifest the best of humanity resulting in a global Bodhisattva* civilization.

Photo: Dennis Jarvis

As we wait for science to catch up, individual practitioners all over the world are taking up techniques like meditation, yoga, tai chi, gi gong, kundalini awakening, and the internal martial arts. All of the methods begin in the body and ultimately unite the body, soul, and spirit. Instead of a psychological transformation, Powers is talking about a physiological process that spans traditions. The ultimate freedom of enlightenment is found when the individual transcends birth and death, as well as time and space. The bulk of the book is devoted to examining Indian (Kundalini), Chinese (Tao), and Tibetan (Tantra) teachings for their similarities of energetic enlightenment. This was a good book for getting an overview of the systems of enlightenment. I enjoyed learning more about Taoist philosophy and the difference between the internal and external martial arts. The book could be expanded to include more about western mysticism and the Kabbalah, but those are not Powers’ areas of expertise. This is probably not a book for someone without burning questions about the nature of reality and enlightenment. For the novice, these practices will, at times, be shocking. They are meant to be having spent a millennia being well guarded by the masters of many traditions.

Photo: Joe Mabel

*Rainbow body- a phenomena well-recorded in the East, especially when a great spiritual teacher dies

*Bodhisattva- someone who postpones full Enlightenment to return to help others: the ultimate expression of compassion

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Filed under Book Review, Books, Buddhism, Spiritual/Mysticism, Uncategorized

Tagged as ancient wisdom traditions, Barclay Powers, Bodhisattva, Buddhism, Chinese medicine, divine union, Ellis Nelson, enlightenment, gi gong, Gnosticism, internal martial arts, Kabbalah, kundalini, kundalini awakening, kundalini psychosis, kundalini rising, kundalini yoga, kung fu, meditation, serpent energy, spiritual, spiritual path, Tai chi, Tantra, tantric sex, tantric yoga, Taoism, The Lost Secret of Immortality, the Tao, Tibetan Buddhism, YA, yoga

August 14, 2014 · 9:36 am

INTERVIEW WITH KAREN WILSON

I recently finished reading a book by healer and spiritual teacher, Karen Wilson. Karen has spent the last decade or so immersed in the study of spirituality, meditation, and alternative health. No stranger to the mystical, she shares her experiences and the techniques you can use to find happiness, inner peace, and contentment in her newly released book titled, 7 Illusions. Karen teaches at workshops and spiritual retreats in Australia and Europe.

7 Illusions asks us to examine who we really are. The seven illusions she explores are categorized as creation, free will, the mind, fear, death, the self, and emotion. Understanding how our perceptions cloud our reality opens our eyes and allows us to see things as they truly are. This is the key understanding that will allow us to live happy, contented lives. Karen writes from experience and is passionate about helping others as we make the spiritual journey. She joins me today to discuss her book and her approach to spirituality.

Welcome to the blog and thanks for taking the time to be with us. I appreciate it!

What do you think triggered your spiritual journey? What were your own personal challenges at the time?

When I arrived in Australia at 23, I wasn’t at all into anything ‘spiritual’. During my travels I arrived ‘by chance’ in a little town called Byron Bay, the alternative mecca of Australia. There I started hearing about all kinds of New Age beliefs, alternative therapies, talks about yoga-healthy living- meditation, and God. I remember thinking that all these people might be crazy or that there was something they knew that I didn’t. I started asking questions to ‘the universe out there’ as I was being told. I wasn’t expecting any answers back, at all. Yet I got some. Too many to be ignored, I couldn’t keep my head buried in the sand anymore. That was my biggest challenge, to realize that all my old beliefs were not true, that was questioning my very sense of self. I was like an adult back at kindergarten, having to learn everything from the beginning. When I was ready to learn, I started reading all kinds of self-help / New Age books. I started learning energy healing, and I started meditation. All that I didn’t believe in before! I practiced a lot and I also started having many ‘spiritual/mystical’ experiences. My life totally changed in the years following these awakenings. I became happier, more peaceful. I also healed my physical body. I was on medication for hypothyroidism since I was 14, which according to my doctor couldn’t be cured. But the best of all, I found myself and I started living, really living.

Your book identifies 7 illusions. Of these, which is the most difficult to overcome or see through?

I think the identification with the mind is a powerful illusion. Until we experience a state of no mind and realize that we are not that voice in our head, the mind will keep on controlling us. The mind is a great tool, but it is not who we are. Unfortunately we tend to get caught in its incessant chatter without realizing that we have the power to stop it or change ‘what is being said’. If we change ‘what is being said’, then we change the experience we are living. No matter what`s in front of us, the mind will always judge it. Things are either ‘good’ or ‘bad’. The difference between the two comes from the programming of our mind. But seeing things as ‘good’ will create a sense of happiness while ‘bad’ will bring dissatisfaction. That`s the difference between an optimist and a pessimist. When we identify with the mind we are condemned to see life through its filter. But when we understand that we are not that mind and that we have the power to change the filter, then our life changes. We truly have the power to change our mind and our life.

Photo by: Kate Jewell

I love the phrase from the book about “creating happiness by creating ourselves happy.” How can we go about this?

We can create ourselves happy by changing our negative beliefs and perceptions on life and on ourselves. We will never find happiness on the outside; we will never find happiness in material things. All the happiness in the world is present inside of us. What does it mean to be happy? It is being contented with what is. It is being contented with who we are. If we want to create ourselves happy, we can create the person we will be contented with. The person we dream of becoming. And there is an indefinite number of possibilities of who we can be. For example, are we trying to become rich to feel more empowered and self-confident? Then why not trying to be more confident first, so it doesn’t matter if we get rich or not, we will be happy with ourselves. We can create ourselves as we wish. We can be anyone we want to be. And becoming our dream-self will bring us self-love and contentment which no amount of money in the world can buy.

The book balances the idea of free will and fate. In this way, we’re not omnipotent but we’re not victims either. How do we integrate this into our daily lives?

If we can`t change what is happening right now in our life, we can always change how we are reacting to it. We can always try to fight and resist our life but it will only bring unhappiness and frustration. When we start accepting what is and when we start to live the present moment, then our experience changes. We are not changing the outside circumstances, but we are changing the inside, we are changing ourselves. Instead of focusing all of our thoughts, all of our energy on the past or on the future, we can shift our focus to the now. We can start living and enjoying the now. And in the now we have the power; we have the free will of who we want to be. In the now we can choose to be happy or not, we can choose to be fearful or not, we can choose to be loving or not. In the now we always have the choice to smile…or not.

Photo by: Deror Avi

Why do you think so many people struggle with meditation?

I think it is because we don`t learn early enough how to meditate. We are taught early how to use our body: how to walk, talk, write, use a fork, etc. Imagine if we were to start learning all that in our twenties, thirties or later, imagine the struggle then! It`s also like training a dog, it`s much easier to train a puppy than a grown up dog with its old habits and way of being. It`s the same with our mind and meditation. It does not mean that it`s too hard or impossible, just that it may take more time and effort to tame ‘the beast’. Many will give up after a few days or weeks, thinking that it doesn’t work or do anything. It’s like going to the gym after years of not exercising and looking at our abs after a week and giving up because we don’t have a six-pack yet! I remember the first time I meditated, I only lasted five minutes! My mind was so busy and ‘unchained’ that I kept on forgetting I was meditating! Yet I’m so glad I persisted, as not only it became easier and easier, but it totally changed my life. I think meditation can be a struggle at the beginning but it is definitely worth the effort.

Why is it good to be “out of your mind?

Because when we are “out of our mind” we are present, we are here. We can be physically present somewhere, yet in our mind we are somewhere else. We can be in a beautiful place in nature yet we can’t really SEE it, because we are thinking about something else. To really SEE something we need to be completely present with it. When we look at a tree for example, and start defining it: ‘it`s a nice tree’,’ it’s an oak’, ‘it’s quite tall’, we are still in our mind. We are LOOKING at the tree but we don’t really SEE it. Instead of watching the tree we are listening to the voice in our head which is telling us about the tree. Soon that voice is going to compare that tree to another, make judgments, reminds ourselves of other trees we have seen in our past, then other people, then we are going to think about what we are going to have for dinner. We are still in front of the tree, but we are long gone. If we are ‘out of our mind’ then we just look at the tree, that is all. There is nothing standing between the tree and us, no words, no thoughts. We are really seeing what is. The tree just is, and we just are, that is all.

Thanks for being here and sharing!

For more about Karen Wilson or her book, 7 Illusions, please explore these sites.

Website: www.karenwilson.co

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/omniahealing

Blog: http://karenwilson33.wordpress.com

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Illusions-Discover-who-really-are-ebook/dp/B00JZHU3TM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407958582&sr=8-1&keywords=7+Illusions+by+Karen+Wilson

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Filed under Book Review, Books, Buddhism, Energy medicine, healing, Spiritual/Mysticism

Tagged as 7 Illusions, Buddhism, contentment, ego, Ellis Nelson, emptiness, energy medicine, happiness, healing, health, illusion, Karen Wilson, making changes, meditation, mystical, mystical experience, nature of reality, no self, reality, Reikki, spiritual practice, spirituality, YA, yoga

October 24, 2013 · 10:02 am

WHAT IF YOU DON’T HAVE TO DIE TO FIND OUT?

THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD

In 1927 American anthropologist, Walter Evans-Wentz published a bestseller he called The Tibetan Book of the Dead taking his lead from the Edwardian fascination with all things Egyptian. Only five years earlier Howard Carter had discovered King Tut’s tomb. Evans- Wentz’s book or subsequent translations can be found in most bookstores and the original has never gone out of print. During the rebellious Hippie days, the book was re-interpreted by Timothy Leary at Harvard to guide and justify the use of LSD. How can an eighth century Buddhist text still capture our imagination? Simple really. It might just hold the key to what happens after death.

Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup & Walter Evans-Wentz, circa 1919

Not that this book will ever really be mainstream. How could it be in a society perpetually captivated by youth and the denial of death? Americans do not talk about death. It is taboo. People die in hospitals and nursing homes, and we like it that way. As a society, we are all about acquiring stuff and death has its upside. Maybe we’ll inherit something. That’s probably about as deep as it goes. We muddle through funerals and try very hard to get back to normal. It is the odd fellow who contemplates his own death. So if you are a typical American, this is where you go look for something ego-comforting and fluffy elsewhere on the web.

Ah, but what if you’re not typical. Come closer because we are about to examine the origin of a mysterious text and answer some questions about what happens to you when you die.

PADMASAMBHAVA, wall painting in Bhutan, Baldiri, 2007

Sometime in the eighth century the famous Indian saint, Padmasambhava entered Tibet. Today he is known for converting the indigenous demonic spirits of Tibet to Buddhism, doing healings, and producing miracles. He also wrote a funerary text which he called Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State. Some scholars have called it the first how-to book, but today we know it as The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Upon reflection, Padmasambhava felt he couldn’t release the book to a population of newly created Buddhists. He hid the book keeping it safe for future generations. Six hundred years later, treasure revealer (terton), Karma Lingpa had a vision and was able to recover the manuscript.

The book is a guide for what happens to your consciousness as it passes from this life to the next. Reading it before death allows for preparation and familiarization with the process.

For, at this singular opportunity, you could

attain the everlasting bliss (of nirvana).

So now is (certainly) not the time to sit idly,

But, starting with (the reflection on) death, you

should bring your practice to completion.

In Tibet, the text is read for the dead by monks during a forty-nine day transition period. After encountering the light (similar to what NDE survivors report), the deceased is faced with three bardo states. Each phase offers the opportunity for liberation (enlightenment). Rare individuals who have been well-prepared avoid subsequent phases having mastered the understanding of consciousness, avoid rebirth, and become enlightened. Others pass through the bardo stages where various peaceful and terrifying beings appear arriving at the third which concerns itself with rebirth. A person’s karma then directs rebirth into one of six realms. The human realm (although not the most comfortable) is considered to be the best because it offers the possibility of eventual enlightenment. The deceased has the ability to choose his parents and the best situation for the next incarnation.

Zhi Khro Bardo Thodol: Mandala associated with The Tibetan Book of the Dead

The value of The Tibetan Book of the Dead does not lie in its vivid descriptions of the entities the deceased meets along the way because those can be viewed as cultural constructions. Interestingly enough though, it might explain why Christians meet Jesus or Muslims meet Mohammed as reported in near-death accounts. The bardos are constructions of the mind, self-generated, and culturally dependent. You can only create what you are familiar with and what scares you the most. So the value of this profound and lyrical text is an overall familiarization with the process of death as a transition of consciousness. From the Tibetan standpoint, death doesn’t have to be a scary unknown. It is knowable and everyone can prepare for it. What would it be like to live a life not fearing death? How would our world change?

Watch a History Channel Documentary on The Tibetan Book of the Dead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ermcc6iDqQA

FOR MORE:

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Pilgrims of the Clear Light- Biography of Walter Evans-Wentz by Ken Winkler

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Filed under Book Review, Buddhism

Tagged as Asia, bardo, Buddhism, clear light, death, dying, Ellis Nelson, mandala, Near Death Experience, Nyingma, Padmasambhava, rebirth, reincarnation, religion, Tantra, terton, Tibet, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Tibetan Buddhism, transmigration, Walter Evans-Wentz

July 5, 2012 · 1:38 pm

Dalai Lama’s Birthday: July 6th

On Friday, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, 14^th Dalai Lama will turn 77. In the past few years my family has marked the occasion by sharing birthday cake and reflecting on the contribution of a man who describes himself as “a simple Buddhist monk.” Of course, that statement is always accompanied by his ever- present smile and slightly raised eyebrow as if to see who has gotten the private joke. It seems to me like that anyway.

There is much to be said of a man who is undoubtedly one of the most recognized beings on the planet. He’s traveled to 62 countries and met with heads of state, religious leaders, scientists, and thousands of other equally important, average citizens. In 1989 he won the Nobel Peace prize and later a Nobel laureate for his environmental leadership. The Dalai Lama remains committed to non-violence, kindness, and compassion. On the worldwide stage, he is the most visible proponent of peace. He also has championed inter-religious understanding, universal responsibility and interconnectedness, and environmental protection. Some simple monk!

Tenzin Gyatso was born in rural, northeastern Tibet (Amdo) in 1935. He was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13^th Dalai Lama at the age of two and installed as Tibet’s religious and secular leader. To Tibetans, the Dalai Lama is an emanation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara). The Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950 finally resulted in deteriorating conditions with His Holiness fleeing his country after an uprising was brutally suppressed by the Chinese. In 1959, The Dalai Lama and many other Tibetans crossed into India. The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile now reside in Dharamsala, India.

With Americans celebrating the 4^th of July this week, it’s interesting to note (in a synchronistic sort of way), how His Holiness shares democratic values and has done much to implement them for his own nation. In 1990, Tibetans elected their first Assembly in a one-man, one-vote system. This overturned a centuries-old political system headed by the Dalai Lama. In a further advancement of democratization, Tibetans- in-Exile elected their first top minister of the cabinet known as the Kalon Tripa.

His Holiness has advocated and supported these changes. In addition, the Dalai Lama continues to reach out to the Chinese government to open a dialog on the issue of Tibet.

Long Life Prayer for His Holiness the Dalai Lama (short version)

In the land encircled by snow mountains

You are the source of all happiness and good;

All-powerful Chenrezig, Tenzin Gyatso,

Please remain until samsara ends.

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April 26, 2012 · 12:49 pm

MONKS’ BRAINS ARE DIFFERENT

With the Mind & Life Institute kicking off its international symposia in Denver today, I thought it might be interesting to look back on some of the work this group and others who study contemplative traditions have found. A member of one of my yahoo groups recently posted an article from the Wall Street Journal (How Thinking Can Change the Brain, Jan. 2007) which helped remind me of some of the discoveries in the last few decades dealing with the emerging field of neuroscience called neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity is the godsend that allows the brain to change its structure and function in response to experience including thinking. Nowadays we take this as a given. But once upon a time, not very long ago, the Dalai Lama asked a bunch of scientists if the mind might be able to affect the brain (the actual material entity). A brain surgeon told His Holiness that was impossible. Such downward causation from the mental to the physical was not possible. Don’t you just love science! So wrong- but this would take a series of experiments to knock the surgeon on his butt. You can find those and read about them, but my real interest is in the monks and what they can tell us. So let’s fast forward.

Since the 1990s Tibetan monks have been studied to see if their contemplative practice or mental training produces lasting changes in the brain. The monks were wired to record brain wave activity while entering a state of contemplation focusing on compassion and loving kindness. Gamma signals began rising and kept rising. Even between sessions, the monks’ gamma waves remained high. The more hours of meditation training achieved, the stronger and more lasting the gamma signal. It supplied Prof. Davidson at UCSF with the evidence he’d been seeking. Mental training can produce enduring brain traits. So the conclusion for me, is that we should try to keep an open mind about things and not jump to conclusions about what we think the world is or how we think it should behave. We know far less than we think we do, and arrogance and close mindedness will not be allies in the quest for truth (or Truth, if you like).