enlightenment

Daring Steps: Traversing the Path of the Buddha

alicia — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

In his interview last summer with Jet Mort, Ringu Tulku—teacher, author, and Rinpoche—detailed the necessity of helping, healing, and harmony to grant meaning to otherwise meaningless lives. His book Daring Steps advances all three through its thorough and accessible description of the Buddhist path. The three vehicles—yanas—are described: Shravakayana (Theravada), Mahayana and Vajrayana, or tantra. The author emphasizes that the three are aspects of one entity at different levels, not separate. Many Western Buddhists omit the direction in the Shravakayana system, believing that knowledge of the Vajrayana is sufficient. Ringu Tulku gently disabuses novices of this notion with an amazing array of references to methods and instructions.

The characteristic of Daring Steps that I most appreciate is its consistent relevance to the reader’s life. Ringu Tulku alternates description of the Dharma with the essence of the Buddha’s enlightenment and contemporary anecdote. Shravakayana contains the foundation for all further studies: the Four Noble Truths are in the Theravada. The most simplified Western version of the Four Noble Truths tends to be written as follows:

"To live is to suffer.
Attachment brings suffering.
An end to suffering can be achieved.
There is a path to the cessation of suffering."

Shravakayana focuses on meditation and concentration, the eighth of the Eightfold Path. Its resulting emphasis on a monastic life renders it less attainable to the majority of the population, those who must live and work in the world. In the first century AD, individuals including the philosopher-monk Nagarjuna, Asanga, and Vasubandhu changed Buddhist practice to a more accessible version. This revised practice came to be called Mahayana, or “Greater Vehicle,” due to its capacity to reach a greater number of individuals in varying walks of life.

Vajrayana Buddhism is a more complicated system that formed over centuries of practice and contains many inconsistencies. A distinguishing characteristic of Vajrayana is ritual, which is utilized as a substitute for more challenging meditations. (If I have offended any readers who follow Vajrayana, I humbly beg their pardon and ask them to remember that I am a neophyte.)

Do not take this overview as an indication that Daring Steps is an esoteric history. Far from it—in example, here is a passage from Ringu Tulku’s direction regarding Right Thought: “We have to adopt the habit of being joyful. When we are very depressed and narrow, very sad, we cannot expect to become joyful just by wishfully thinking, ‘Now I am very sad, but something will happen.’ As if joy might fall from the sky.” Don’t wait for this book to fall from the sky: it is a highly recommended addition to the shelf of any library containing texts on meditation or world faiths.

Written by: Erika Mikkalo, December 6th 2010

Buddhist Fasting Practice: The Nyunge Method of Thousand Armed Chenrezig

admin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:02:00 +0000

By Wangchen Rinpoche

Snow Lion Publications

Starting in high school, I became very interested in Buddhism, which really did not sit well with my Catholic family. The philosophy behind Buddhism intrigued me, as well as the history. That is why I was interested in reading Buddhist Fasting Practice. It is more than just a book on fasting: it encompasses the history, the philosophy and the practice of Tibetan Buddhism.

Wangchen Rinpoche goes into great detail about the history of the Nyunge method, which is a specific type of fasting, beginning with Gelongma Palmo, a princess stricken with leprosy. When Gelongma Palmo performed the Nyunge method, her leprosy was cured, and she entered enlightenment. In addition to Gelongma Palmo, Rinpoche discusses other great gurus of the Nyunge method; the amount of information that he provides in this section could be a book on its own.

The benefits of the Nyunge method, according to Rinpoche, are enlightenment, as well as cleansing. In the Buddhist tradition, misfortunes are due to bad karma, either in this life or previous lives. By performing the Nyunge method, the practitioner's karma is cleansed and she is born into a higher being her next life. One round of the Nyunge method includes a day with only one vegetarian meal, and another day of fasting. Practitioners can choose to continue the fasting, which provides even more benefits. In addition to the fasting, Rinpoche includes the chants used in phonetics and Tibetan prints. Pictures are also included of sacred images.

Buddhist Fasting Practice can be a tough book to get through: the information is dense and Rinpoche covers a large amount in his book. However, it is a valuable resource for people interested in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and Buddhist fasting methods. Scholars of Buddhism will find that Rinpoche knows what he is talking about as he provides an in-depth look at the Nyunge method and tradition.

Written by: Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch, October 17th 2009

Natural Great Perfection: Dzogchen Teachings & Vajra Songs

admin — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:50:00 +0000

By Nyoshul Khenpo, Lama Surya Das

Snow Lion Publications

Natural Great Perfection is a collection of stories, songs, commentary, and history, mostly as told to Lama Surya Das by Nyoshul Khenpo. Nyoshul Khenpo was a renowned Tibetan Buddhist monk (until his doctor told him he’d be much happier if he found a wife), and Lama Surya Das was his student and is a highly regarded teacher of Buddhism and meditation from New York.

The book begins with the story of how Khenpo was considered weak by his father and then, inspired by his female relatives, became a monk. What’s most striking is his take on the various stages of his life—some lived in luxury and some in severe hardship. He outlines living as a king and living as a beggar, punctuating with the words, “what a spectacle!”

Indeed, his attitude is inspiring. In addition to the story of his life, he offers his teachings on dzogchen. Dzogchen consists of three aspects: view, meditation, and action. A relative newcomer to Buddhism needn’t feel intimidated by the songs—“songs” seems to have been used to mean verses or prayers—as they are followed by very thorough commentary. In fact, the entire book is pretty straightforward and accessible, even with limited knowledge of Buddhist jargon and practice. Essentially, the message is similar to the message of Daniel Odier in his book, Desire: The Tantric Path to Awakening, that the most advanced stage of Buddhism is actually the simplest, philosophically speaking. Rules, regulations and practices aside, the basic realization of non-dualism (no spirit and matter or human and God) is the goal and there is no work involved in recognizing one’s true nature except to simply recognize it.

The book ends with a curious chapter that reads like something out of the Book of Numbers from the Bible, only instead of explaining who was the father of whom ad infinitum, it describes from whom each lama received his authority to teach the wisdom of Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism. This is apparently very important among a certain crowd, given that it’s addressed in nearly every book about Buddhism available. Full disclosure: I skimmed that chapter.

Overall, this book will be of interest to anyone attracted to Vajrayana Buddhism as well as those curious about religion in general, particularly comparative religious philosophy—it is fascinating how similar religions are when stripped of ceremonies and rules and reduced to simple philosophical theories. As such, it’s a good read for all those seeking enlightenment, both intellectual and spiritual, via any path.

Written by: Staci Schoff, August 8th 2009

Deeksha: The Fire from Heaven

admin — Thu, 31 May 2007 01:23:00 +0000

By Kiara Windrider

Inner Ocean Publishing

Imparting spiritual advice and spreading the message of a new worldwide movement, Deeksha: The Fire from Heaven offers readers a lot of information. In the first third of the book author Kiara Windrider takes readers on the journey of his personal enlightenment. He describes in great detail what brought him back to his native India, where he studied with the Avatar’s Bhagavan and Amma at the newly founded Oneness University.

The first part of the book reads like a no-frills memoir and ends when Windrider finishes explaining his new path in life. The book continues with shorter stories of other student’s experiences at Oneness University, explanatory passages covering everything from brain chemistry to the Mayan Calendar, and an interview with the Avatar Bhagavan himself.

The book title, Deeksha, refers to person-to-person transfers of energy that according to Windrider and the Deeksha Movement create a neurocircuitry change in the brain. This change allows ego and the sense of a separate self to take the back burner and eventually leave completely. Think of Deekshas as Reiki’s more powerful cousin. This change in the brain allows people to fully realize oneness, the idea that there is no separate self and that we are a part of everything in the universe. This, says Windrider, is what elusive enlightenment is all about.

So does enlightenment mean constant happiness for the rest of your life? Not at all, Windrider concludes. Happiness comes and goes just like all emotions and enlightenment is about not being attached to any of them. I picked up Deeksha: The Fire from Heaven hoping to learn more about the nature of happiness and was awed when the book ended up breaking down many assumptions I had about the emotion itself.

This book challenges the way most of the world looks at everything from religion to global climate chaos. It exposes readers to an important spiritual movement in India that has only just begun to spread westward. While you may not be moved to take the capital “I” out of your writing, this book will give you some tasty thought morsels to ruminate on for months to come. And who knows, maybe they will one day help you to be, in laylady’s terms, More Happy.

Written by: Kaytlyn O'Connor, May 30th 2007