Tushita Again & Other Experiences
Tushita Meditation Centre: Peaceful Living and Dying (a three-day workshop with Ven. Rita and Gregg Ruskusky)
In the West we have a saying “you can’t take it with you”, referring to your wealth & material things. A crystallization of the course was basically as you are dying the money, the things, the people close to you all fall away – they are of no help to you. Having a reliable refuge or spiritual path (any belief system) that has supported you in times of suffering becomes more important.
Pema Chodron, a Buddhist Nun who runs Gampo Abbey, in Nova Scotia, says “by considering our death we step more fully into life.”
An Indian saying “moment to moment, be happy be kind.”
Some really poignant poems about living, death, and dying:
Mary Oliver: “When Death Comes”
Rumi: “The Guest House”
Derek Walcott: “Love After Love”
Pablo Neruda: “Keeping Quiet”
Naomi Nye: “Kindness”
Tibetan Universal Massage: (http://www.tibetanmassage.com/index.htm)
I spent two weeks (30 hours) studying Tibetan massage from Professor Dhondup. What I learned includes postural assessment; reflexology; pressure points, fascia, muscles and tendons remedial release; techniques to treat injuries of the extremities, back and neck; traction and stretching; cupping; kidney massage; fluid balance and lymphatic drainage; and general relaxation techniques including effleurage, petrissage, kneading and wind balancing. I plan to go through the course again before I leave as there are no books or pictures to refer to. It’s really incredible how the body releases toxins & emotions through some of the techniques.
This, coupled with my Reiki practice, should be a very powerful offering to my clients. As many of you know I do Reiki work for tax deductible donations to The Siddhartha School and also to support the education of a young Tibetan woman who wants to become a Tibetan medical practitioner.
Tibetan Medicine:
I went last week to Dr. Yeshi Donden to have a check-up and work on balancing my system. He took my pulse, looked at my urine, and asked (through a translator) if I was having pain in my lower back and running down to my knees – Oh, yes I was at a point where I was always in discomfort and pain. He talked about cold and kidneys and that I should stay away from fried foods, cold foods like ice cream, and cold drinks. He gave me Tibetan herbs to chew four times a day and will see me again in 15 days. At that time he will also give me advice and herbs for acclimating to the altitude in Ladakh. I have to say that my pain and discomfort have diminished significantly.
“Dr. Yeshi Donden was born in 1929 and received the traditional Tibetan medical training in Lhasa, Tibet. Beginning in 1960, he served for over two decades as the personal physician to H.H. the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. There he re-established the Tibetan Medical Center and achieved fame by his successful treatment of many renowned people. Dr. Donden continues to serve a great number of patients around the world.” Health Through Balance: An Introduction to Tibetan Medicine (Paperback) by Yeshi Donden
Graphic of the week
Material Girl: I have been trying to downsize and detach from material things over the past two years but it seems as though I end up with the same amount of “stuff”. I get rid of things and then accumulate more. Being in McLeod Ganj is like one huge superstore of Tibetan, Indian, and Muslim goods; a temptress to my weakness for beautiful art. Two weeks ago I went to a one man art show of Tibetan contemporary art at the Tibetan Museum and ended up purchasing a large piece. The artist, Migmar Wangdu Shaasar, expresses the experiences of growing up in exile in India. Through his painting the viewer gains a deeper understanding of Tibetan culture both spiritual and secular. His wife works at the Tibetan Library & Archives and they have two young children. Here you can see the painting and the artist. And yes I’m going to need help stretching the canvass when I get home!
Readings:
A Fine Balance (Oprah's Book Club) by Rohinton Mistry With a compassionate realism and narrative sweep that recall the work of Charles Dickens, this magnificent novel captures all the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism, of India. The time is 1975. The place is an unnamed city by the sea. The government has just declared a State of Emergency, in whose upheavals four strangers--a spirited widow, a young student uprooted from his idyllic hill station, and two tailors who have fled the caste violence of their native village--will be thrust together, forced to share one cramped apartment and an uncertain future. Inside Flap
Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East by Gita Mehta. "Beginning in the late '60s, hundreds of thousands of Westerners descended upon India, disciples of a cultural revolution that proclaimed that the magic and mystery missing from their lives was to be found in the East. An Indian writer who has also lived in England and the United States, Gita Mehta was ideally placed to observe the spectacle of European and American "pilgrims" interacting with their hosts. When she finally recorded her razor sharp observations in Karma Cola, the book became an instant classic for describing, in merciless detail, what happens when the traditions of an ancient and longlived society are turned into commodities and sold to those who don't understand them." Amazon.com
Monkey Business: My fascination with monkeys continues – the crouching monkey is in a pose of aggression as I was getting to close to him. My hiking stick comes in handy with the monkeys – usually just waving it in the air at them sends them away. They can be quite vicious.
In the West we have a saying “you can’t take it with you”, referring to your wealth & material things. A crystallization of the course was basically as you are dying the money, the things, the people close to you all fall away – they are of no help to you. Having a reliable refuge or spiritual path (any belief system) that has supported you in times of suffering becomes more important.
Pema Chodron, a Buddhist Nun who runs Gampo Abbey, in Nova Scotia, says “by considering our death we step more fully into life.”
An Indian saying “moment to moment, be happy be kind.”
Some really poignant poems about living, death, and dying:
Mary Oliver: “When Death Comes”
Rumi: “The Guest House”
Derek Walcott: “Love After Love”
Pablo Neruda: “Keeping Quiet”
Naomi Nye: “Kindness”
Tibetan Universal Massage: (http://www.tibetanmassage.com/index.htm)
I spent two weeks (30 hours) studying Tibetan massage from Professor Dhondup. What I learned includes postural assessment; reflexology; pressure points, fascia, muscles and tendons remedial release; techniques to treat injuries of the extremities, back and neck; traction and stretching; cupping; kidney massage; fluid balance and lymphatic drainage; and general relaxation techniques including effleurage, petrissage, kneading and wind balancing. I plan to go through the course again before I leave as there are no books or pictures to refer to. It’s really incredible how the body releases toxins & emotions through some of the techniques.
This, coupled with my Reiki practice, should be a very powerful offering to my clients. As many of you know I do Reiki work for tax deductible donations to The Siddhartha School and also to support the education of a young Tibetan woman who wants to become a Tibetan medical practitioner.
Tibetan Medicine:I went last week to Dr. Yeshi Donden to have a check-up and work on balancing my system. He took my pulse, looked at my urine, and asked (through a translator) if I was having pain in my lower back and running down to my knees – Oh, yes I was at a point where I was always in discomfort and pain. He talked about cold and kidneys and that I should stay away from fried foods, cold foods like ice cream, and cold drinks. He gave me Tibetan herbs to chew four times a day and will see me again in 15 days. At that time he will also give me advice and herbs for acclimating to the altitude in Ladakh. I have to say that my pain and discomfort have diminished significantly.
“Dr. Yeshi Donden was born in 1929 and received the traditional Tibetan medical training in Lhasa, Tibet. Beginning in 1960, he served for over two decades as the personal physician to H.H. the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. There he re-established the Tibetan Medical Center and achieved fame by his successful treatment of many renowned people. Dr. Donden continues to serve a great number of patients around the world.” Health Through Balance: An Introduction to Tibetan Medicine (Paperback) by Yeshi Donden
Graphic of the week
Material Girl: I have been trying to downsize and detach from material things over the past two years but it seems as though I end up with the same amount of “stuff”. I get rid of things and then accumulate more. Being in McLeod Ganj is like one huge superstore of Tibetan, Indian, and Muslim goods; a temptress to my weakness for beautiful art. Two weeks ago I went to a one man art show of Tibetan contemporary art at the Tibetan Museum and ended up purchasing a large piece. The artist, Migmar Wangdu Shaasar, expresses the experiences of growing up in exile in India. Through his painting the viewer gains a deeper understanding of Tibetan culture both spiritual and secular. His wife works at the Tibetan Library & Archives and they have two young children. Here you can see the painting and the artist. And yes I’m going to need help stretching the canvass when I get home!Readings:
A Fine Balance (Oprah's Book Club) by Rohinton Mistry With a compassionate realism and narrative sweep that recall the work of Charles Dickens, this magnificent novel captures all the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism, of India. The time is 1975. The place is an unnamed city by the sea. The government has just declared a State of Emergency, in whose upheavals four strangers--a spirited widow, a young student uprooted from his idyllic hill station, and two tailors who have fled the caste violence of their native village--will be thrust together, forced to share one cramped apartment and an uncertain future. Inside Flap
Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East by Gita Mehta. "Beginning in the late '60s, hundreds of thousands of Westerners descended upon India, disciples of a cultural revolution that proclaimed that the magic and mystery missing from their lives was to be found in the East. An Indian writer who has also lived in England and the United States, Gita Mehta was ideally placed to observe the spectacle of European and American "pilgrims" interacting with their hosts. When she finally recorded her razor sharp observations in Karma Cola, the book became an instant classic for describing, in merciless detail, what happens when the traditions of an ancient and longlived society are turned into commodities and sold to those who don't understand them." Amazon.com
Monkey Business: My fascination with monkeys continues – the crouching monkey is in a pose of aggression as I was getting to close to him. My hiking stick comes in handy with the monkeys – usually just waving it in the air at them sends them away. They can be quite vicious.
Photos of the week: There is a long walk around the Dalai Lama Temple (Namgyal), his home, grounds, etc. which Buddhists, tourists, and others circumambulate in a clockwise direction usually at sunrise and just before sunset. It’s called the Kora. Along the way are Mani stones 
(Mani stone 
are stone plates, rocks and pebbles inscribed, usually, with mantra, served as a form of prayer in Tibetan Buddhism. Mani stones are placed along roadside, in the river or put together to form small mounds. Creating mani stone is a way of showing one's piety to his/her deities and the Buddha's teachings. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mani_stone 4/22/07) carved with prayers, and thousands of people have hung prayer flags or wind horses along the path. There are also prayer wheels, little alters, and a large Stupa (a monument that contains prayers & relics of the Buddhas or high practitioners) all helping the pilgrim to gain merit for their deeds and devotion. As my teachers would say we don’t really know if any of this helps but if it does we will receive great benefit and if it doesn’t - nothing is lost. We have done no harm.
Spinning Prayer Wheel
Hanging Prayer Flags
Suspended on a hillside
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