articles @ sedonainformation.com

As you read this, a homeless man in Detroit who is hungry for food is thinking about someone in Guantanamo who is hungry for justice, who is thinking about someone in Iraq who is hungry for news about a missing loved one, who is thinking about someone in Darfur who is hungry for food.

As you read this, somewhere a Muslim is kneeling to pray in Arabic, a rabbi is greeting the dawn with a prayer in Hebrew, a priest is celebrating the first Mass of the day – and they are all praying for the same thing: Peace.

As you read this, a girl in Egypt is strumming her guitar, as an old man in Newfoundland is adding the sound of his fiddle, as a boy in New Orleans is thumping out the bass line, as a chorus in South Africa is joining their voices to a song which will eventually be heard everywhere.

As you read this, a firefighter is risking his life to save others without knowing their politics, a doctor is in his twelfth hour of surgery trying to save a patient without knowing their religion, a teacher is working overtime to tutor a student without knowing the financial wherewithal of his family.

As you read this, an artist in France is working on a mural, which will inspire a sculptor in Italy, whose work will instill passion in a writer in Denmark, whose poetry will lead to an editorial in a newspaper in Greenland, which will touch the heart of a student in South America, who will write a book that is embraced by a filmmaker, who will produce a movie that will capture the imagination of the entire world.

As you read this, someone who spent their life promoting hatred is dying, and someone who will spend their life promoting understanding is being born.

As you read this, someone is abandoning their bigotry to make a new friend, someone is helping a newcomer feel welcome in a strange land, someone is consoling a stranger in their grief. As you read this, someone is sharing a story that will bring a smile to a face that has been sad for too long, someone is bringing the warmth of laughter to a child who has felt only the chill of hopelessness for too many years.

As you read this, someone is thinking about the abundance on their dinner table and how to share it, someone is dreaming about love and how to spread it, someone is pondering the concept of peaceful coexistence and how to instill it in the hearts and minds of those around them.

As you read this, a high school student in Germany is reading a message from someone in Mississippi promoting harmony between nations, and she is sending that message to a friend in Kuwait, who is sending that message to a friend in Iceland, who is sending that message to a friend in Australia – and each recipient in turn is sending that message to their friends, who in turn will send that message to their friends, until that message circumnavigates the planet.

As you read this, the voice of prayer is being raised in countless languages, the song of freedom is being sung in countries too numerous to count, the quest for justice is being pursued by millions of people around the world.

As you read this, a scientist in Sweden is looking through a microscope at what may be the key to a cure for cancer, and he’s thinking not of the money to be made, but the lives to be saved. As you read this, an astronomer in Russia is looking through a telescope, and she is thinking about how the exploration of the universe can be used for the good of all mankind, and not for the accommodation of weapons systems that will eventually destroy us all.

As you read this, someone is standing down when urged to do something unconscionable, someone is standing away from a group that advocates violence, someone is standing up for what they believe in.

As you read this, remember that those who live their lives in pursuit of wealth will always be poor, those who judge others based on the color of their skin will always be friendless, those who advocate violence will always live in fear.

As you read this, remember that those who twist religion to serve their own purpose will always be outnumbered by those who have true faith, those who obfuscate the doctrines of justice will always be outnumbered by those who uphold them, those who are blinded by prejudice will always be outnumbered by those who see the humanity in their global neighbors, those who live in the darkness created by ignoring the plight of others will always be outnumbered by those who live in the light of brotherhood.

We, the people who believe in the basic goodness of each other and what we can accomplish together, may be downtrodden. But in the end, we will prevail.

We are all connected; we are not alone. And our numbers are legion.

As you read this, keep that thought in your head, and that truth in your heart.

Written by Nance Greggs
www.democraticunderground.com

“Quite possibly there is no such thing as spirituality
other than to stop deceiving ourselves.”
- Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche –

The last time I saw Chogyam Trungpa he was walking down the street in Boulder, Colorado with Allen Ginsburg, Gary Snyder, and Robert Bly. It was 1970 and on the previous night this motley group of pirates had presented a very spacy poetry reading at the University’s performance hall. Gary Snyder introduced his epic poem “The Smoky the Bear Sutra”, Ginsburg played the harmonium and recited stream-of-consciousness ravings, and Chogyam placed a meditation bowl over his head, beat on it, and laughing until he fell over, broke up the scene. It was cosmic fun at its finest.

I never got my private audience with the Rinpoche like several of my friends did. Two friends had a private meeting with him and he sent them off to India where they met Neeb Karori Baba. They went overland from London the entire way, it took months, and arrived just in time to meet Richard Alpert, AKA Ram Dass, as he was settling in. Remarkably they discovered other synchronous events related to Chogyam Trungpa throughout that journey and on many other journeys to come.

Since I read Trungpa’s earliest works I have been deeply engaged by the Tibetan Buddhist way. It has enabled me to make sense out of chaos and then put it back to be itself. As time passed, I noticed that Carlos Castaneda’s teachings seemed more and more like a Mexican shaman’s mirror of Trungpa’s teachings. No wonder really because the truth comes in many forms. What packaging do you prefer?

Trungpa spoke a lot about “Spiritual Materialism”, the concept of “shopping” for spiritual meaning that Americans fall prey to by being suddenly exposed to the fabulously colorful and esoteric teachings of monks, gurus, psychics, crystals and shamans from all around the world who offer new and exciting ways of “getting better” and “finding truth”. He felt it was an obstacle to what he described as “waking up”. He would probably have a field day in Sedona if he were alive today viewing the proliferation of New Ways in the New Age, in all their bright and cheery forms. Still, what can you say about his own path – he was living the way of Crazy Wisdom and drank a lot of sake along the way. His life has not been without the harsh judgement of others, too, regarding the way he walked the walk and talked the talk.

One of Shambhala Publishing’s Trungpa offerings is a collection of fifteen previously published articles by him. It is called The Heart Of The Buddha (Shambhala Publications, 1991). I find the question and answer sections in his books that are transcripts of his talks at seminars to be of great value because they contain typical questions and streamlined answers, like FAQs, that make sense out of his deep transmissions. This book has a few of those Q & A sections, however most articles in this book present the basic teachings of Buddhism and how they relate to everyday life in the form of short essays.

I love Tequila and other fine spirits. And sake is right up there with Single Malt Scotch. I have always had questions related to drinking and spirituality that I wanted to ask Trungpa since he was a legendary drinker at times, that is to say, an alcoholic. A fine chapter in this book, “Alcohol as Medicine or Poison”, finally answered some of my questions from Trungpa’s Vajrayana teachings. It was composed during Trungpa’s personal, private retreat in Charlemont, Massachusetts, 1972. This retreat was famous because after he finished it, Trungpa began a new style of teaching that was more suited to western students. He “joined” their world as a Bodhisattva would and gave up a lot of the external trappings of traditional Buddhism. He wore a suit, ate pizza, and had martinis at lunch.

Trungpa states that alcohol can be used in transcending the duality of the apparent world as part of Buddhist tantra practice. When a yogi drinks, it is his or her way of accepting the dualistic world, the world of ordinary appearance. Alcohol in this case serves as an invitation to communicate with compassion and relationship. It becomes fuel for relating to students and the world in general. It becomes amrita, the sacred potion that is antideath.

With alcohol, unlike other intoxicants, there is always a sense that we still have a body. It involves a process of coming down rather than going up into space. To fully relate with alcohol, it is extremely important for the average person to maintain an awareness of their state of mind during drinking, that they tighten up their system as an “intelligent defense mechanism” as Trungpa states it. This form of “conscious drinking” allows a person to be aware of a sense of dance with alcohol, an ability to avoid relating only to the joviality of alcohol that spells a destructive level that is absent of mindfulness. As humans we tend to relate incompletely with booze, to either the cheering up, the party aspect, or the sedative, the relaxing aspect. It is this incomplete relationship with alcohol that changes it from medicine to poison. The end result is that a person’s neuroses take over, the style he or she is habitually hiding. By staying conscious of the increasing effects of alcohol, a creativity arises and brings the drinker down to ordinary reality. A sense of humor evolves at that point from the poignant sights, sounds, colors, and smells of life. For the conscious drinker, elation seemingly without limitation is seen accompanying the depression of knowing one’s neuroses. It is not one or the other. It does not become an unconscious experience.

Trungpa mentions that in the Guhyasamaja Tantra, the Buddha teaches that that which intoxicates the dualistic mind is the antideath potion. The person who truly enjoys drinking is usually uncertain and questions whether it is an alliance with good or with evil. This uncertainty allows space to develop for a sense of intelligence and fearlessness and to relate to the present moment as it truly is. In Trungpa’s words, “ Fearless willingness to be intelligent about what is happening in the face of the unknown is the very energy of transmutation that has been described in the tantric tradition of Buddhism”. Ultimately, the conscious drinker can glimpse, or even attain, the highest level of intoxication if they are open enough. It takes surrender and the acceptance of the notion of freedom rather than doubting it. This is regarded as the highest level of intoxication, skillful means and wisdom.

I find Trungpa’s thought on the subject of drinking to be like many pearls of wisdom, it either resonates in your being or it doesn’t. Like many activities that are emotionally-charged and come sprinkled with feelings of guilt and judgement, other people’s opinions can certainly get in the way. To see clearly takes work. To consider the question with awareness and an open mind puts one in the position of being alone. Drinking alcohol has all the attributes necessary for waking up and letting go of self-deception. At the same time, because of its inherent ability to invoke personal demons in the form of neuroses, alcohol is an energy that beckons mindfulness in order to stay off the floor and on the path.

“In other words, you think you are able to deceive the path by being
a smart traveler on the path, but you begin to realize that you are
the path itself. You can’t deceive the path because you make the path.”

Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche
Crazy Wisdom

She can be reached at: moore_bobbi@yahoo.com

This week while training a group, I was asked how I came to write “Little Miracles”. The question stemmed from a statement that I had written on the board before class: “Life Is What You Emphasize It To Be”. I have no idea who originally authored that quote, however how I came to believe it was an entirely different and surprising element in my life.

About 10 years ago, when I was attending an interesting seminar (I love seminars because you can learn a lot in a short time), the presenters gave us a very unusual assignment. We were given tags, five that said descriptions like “cold, hard, unlikable, unfriendly, unreasonable”, and five that indicated the opposite such as “warm, friendly, likable, reasonable, or nice”. Our assignment was to pass out all of our tags by walking up to any person in that seminar and sticking a tag on them. We were only allowed to say, ” I am giving you this tag because you look “friendly”, “unfriendly”, etc.

So off we went, very uncomfortable with our task, and started distributing our tags. After we were finished there was one gentleman about 65 years old who had his entire body covered with negative stickers, front and back. He looked sad, but resolved.

The seminar’s conductor knew about this man’s personal history. He asked the gentleman if he would please come up to the front of the podium and speak about himself. What followed was heart-breaking yet beautiful.

John (not his real name) was originally from Hungary. He had been a Baron as a child, living happily with his family until Hitler’s armies invaded his country and moved through the countryside killing virtually everyone in their path. No prisoners were being taken.

It was too late for John and his family to escape so his parents called all the children, family, and servants together. In case the children escaped death, they were given simple maps to follow. The maps included instructions on how to live off the land and scavenge for food as well as directions of likely places they could go to for help. The maps were hidden in the childrens’ shoes and they were quickly dressed in the warmest clothes available for the hopeful, long walk ahead. All of this was done in less than a hour.

The adults, royal and servants alike, agreed to stand around the children and act as a barrier when they were shot. They hoped to protect the children with their own bodies and lives. In the event that any of the children survived they were instructed to “play dead” until they were safe and then, if possible, walk to freedom.

John was the only one to survive through the night. He began his walk to freedom by travelling only at night and hiding or sleeping with the dead during the day for protection from the troops that scoured the countryside. Six weeks later he made it to freedom. Eventually he came to America, started a family of his own, and began a new life.

Most of the seminar participants who listened to John’s story wept with bowed heads. How could so many of us have labeled this man who had suffered so deeply? As he continued to talk it became obvious that he was a happy person though very, very shy.

He had learned to keep a still, straight face on that walk which accounted for why so many of us had believed he looked “grim”. Inside of him there was great joy.

John had decided to emphasize the joy and beauty in his life. He said his parents and friends had wished this for each child should they survive. He said that to do less than to value all the wonder and beauty in the world was to let down the very people who had sacrificed their lives for him.

What he said changed a great many things in my life. It was inspiration to change the way that I looked at the world. It allowed me to see the miracles of life each and every day and to emphasize the joy within myself and in the world around me.