And Yet Another Potentially Missed Buddha: Michael Talbot . . . the Bridge

Apparently, Michael Talbot, author of The Holographic Universe, died in 1991 just after completing his book.

I read his book when I had 2 or 3 years of Tibetan Buddhism under my belt . . . c. 2003. It seemed to me, astoundingly, at the time, how fluid and parallel were the two descriptions of aspects of the Truths of the Universe. The book, to me, is a bridge between science and Buddhism, yet true consideration of those parallel contents were never explored within scientific forums[i?] . . . I suppose because of Michael Talbot’s passing so long ago. The book is a mind-blowing connection, especially if you have some knowledge of both hard science and Tibetan Buddhism.

As long as I’m on a book review thing . . .  the next MUST for any sane person, especially Western Health Professionals and their Consumers—H. H. the Dalai Lama’s The Universe in a Single Atom. Western health pros will, I swear, be astonished . . . or I’ll pay for your book! Having read it, and having been on the “consumer” end of Western health care since 1993, I have a credible experience to bring to bear on the claims made in His Holiness’s book.

We’re just not getting it here: that Tibetan Buddhist Psychology has been evolving for more than 2500 years. How do you think Tibetan doctors view the mental health system here?
They are astonished at all the pills.
They are astonished that the whole person’s life is not treated by one doctor (as in their tradition).
Their psychology has enabled all Tibetans to endure incredible pain as ordinary, and go about the day as usual.
At least read the first chapter in the bookstore.

Alright, this is the last. You don’t deserve to be deluged, and I certainly don’t want to dilute the importance of the 2 above texts . . . but time is short. Read In Search of Medicine Buddha by David Crow, as an Ayurvedic practitioner from California takes a journey to the Himalayas, Nepal, Bhutan . . . seeking out doctors everywhere and learning some of their practices. The hidden cures of each of these healing practices is generally unknown to the rest of the world . . . we’re talkin’ about cures for AIDS . . . and true alchemy. The author, David came back to California, and I think now has a huge Ayurvedic business . . . I haven’t checked lately.I read the book years ago. It embraces the whole realm of working with the sacredness of the earth; ecology; botany, etc.,, because all Tibetan medicines are from the earth. Crow is currently planting forests in these areas.

Ok. You’re off the book hook . . . for now.

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The Waning of the Male Iron Tiger Year, 2137 (Chinese)

Accept things as they are. Do not name it as it passes. It never stops passing. Get over it. We’re going to die. We’re going to suffer more.

I’ve been running from this suffering forever; and the more I perpetuate that activity, running and running, grasping at others (“Help! Help!”), the BIGGER the unnamed grows . . . not yet catching up to me, but a bigger and bloody bigger fact that fills and fills my mindstream with fear.

I want to accept with equanimity that I, now, cell by cell, like all other beings, am dying. And I want that to be ok as I live healthily and happily a very long and productive virtuous life . . . to be able to expose to as many people what Wisdom and Compassion I have inherited, experienced, and been taught . . . which is to give all.

I want to die totally relaxed, without any afflictive emotions distracting me, with this mind in single-pointed concentration on Ven. Geshela, full of peace, and emanating love, and dying for the sake of all beings with a consciousness. Pema Chodron’s encouragement to die at each exhalation—one’s last—such a practice!

I have been acting on this, minimally, at the moments I remember her teaching.

May the moments last longer and longer till there is no gap amongst them.

Then I think I would be balanced and capable, able to move around in peace in samsara, this endless cycle of suffering.

Accept what comes at you with equanimity, stillness as the surface of a lake, with poise, dignity, balance always, aware of one’s breathing, one’s body. Go with the flow. Relax in the ever-swiftening current of this river of suffering.

Things pass you faster and faster. You want to see it all, but it becomes increasingly difficult. I think I could see it all if I were in the mode of mind previously described.

I want to see my sky-mind clearly, and be able to sustain the vision. What strength this will take! What perseverance, powerful intention and action! What patience and discipline!

I want to do this . . . to uncover what is already there inside me. To See what is already there. To understand and be capable of integrating the Four Noble Truths [google it] for the purpose of benefiting all suffering beings with a consciousness. For you.

Did We Miss a Buddha In Our Midst?

Dear Ones All, Charlene, Lexi,

    Today is the day to celebrate the altruistic, bodhisattva, buddha, who was here for a time to try mightily and heroically to mend the world’s suffering. Some of us saw him as such a saint because we had done something positive in the past that gave us the karma to see through the delusions thrown at us by deluded others, onto our paths, like veil after veil after veil . . . till you see nothing of the Truth.
   
    Some of us didn’t have the karma, but could sadly only see a faint shadow through their many delusions and so, misjudged

The Venerable Lama Reverend and Revered Martin Luther King

     A Bodhisattva is a human being who has committed herself and himself to becoming Enlightened (achieving Great Compassion and achieving the Wisdom of Realizing Emptiness). She’s first. He’s first. Like the child and the parent flying and plummeting in a plane. She puts on her oxygen mask first to help her child; he puts on his own oxygen mask, first, to help his child. And not just for herself, ignoring the oxygen for her child; not just for himself ((Nirvana, ie., personal liberation from suffering)).

     A Bodhisattva INTENDS so strongly upon these virtuous goals. She and he Train Their Minds, Control Their Minds . . . towards the end of Great Compassion. Not just for a select few. But Great Compassion for every being with a consciousness.
 
    A Buddha, like Shakyamuni Buddha of this era (Prince Siddhartha at first), has achieved Enlightenment.

     I am not saying I have the karma to see Precious Martin Luther King as a Buddha . . . that takes many years of strong intention . . . but, intellectually, with 11 years of study and excellent teachings, I’m thinking he may have been.

     But I don’t know.
 
    I do know and I have seen and heard directly that The Dear Dr. King was committed to the path of the Bodhisattva, and had already attained greater love and caring for others far beyond probably 99% of the rest of us on this planet.

Our Treasure Doctor King

This planet needs you now more than ever

            All our honor and love for everything you did,

            Mother Earth, Father Sun

Could ja use a little inspiration?

from Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart:

“When we cling to thoughts and memories,  we are clinging to what cannot be grasped. When we touch these phantoms, and let them go, we discover a space, a break in the chatter, a glimpse of open sky. This is our birthright—the wisdom with which we were born, the vast unfolding display of primordial richness, primordial openness, primordial wisdom itself. All that is necessary then is to rest undistractedly in the immediate present, in this very instant in time. And if we become drawn away by thoughts, by longings, by hopes and fears, again and again we can return to this present moment. We are here. We are carried off as if by the wind, and as if by the wind, we are brought back. When one thought has ended and another has not begun, we can rest in that space. We train in returning to the unchanging heart of this very moment. All compassion and all inspiration come from that.”