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Are you feeling like the world is going a bit crazy these days? Have you had some recent first hand experiences of an upsetting globally renowned event?  This article will hopefully make you feel better as it gives you access to the bravery others have shown in the face of similar or indeed much worse adversity.

Having recently sat through the London riots in the safety of my south London flat I gave thanks for the fact I was not above any commercial shops which seemed to be the main target.  As upsetting as it was I must admit it was a major reality check.  We all at times feel like we are in a bubble of safety here in the West and looking around that bubble is becoming more and more like the impermanent dream that it actually is.  Major shifts are happening as we move forward into 2012, the year predicted by the Mayan people as a powerful yet possibly terrifying time for humanity as we are forced to either take responsibility and step up or cash in our ‘karmic debt’.

So as we move forward into such uncertainty what can we do to make ourselves deal with it better?  One suggestion I would like to make is to look back and learn from our brothers and sisters who have already felt the harsh blow of fate and lived to not only tell the tale, but also have worked hard to share it in their writing.   Palden Gyatso is one such person who wrote the book ‘Fire Under The Snow’. In it he tells us how he was imprisoned for thirty-three years by Chinese forces in Tibet for the supposed ‘crime’ of wanting to be free to live his life as a Tibetan monk.  Upon his long awaited release he courageously fled across the Himalayan range to India smuggling with him the instruments of his repeated torture.  Determined to tell the world of the atrocities he experienced under the hands of the Chinese after their invasion of Tibet in 1950, Palden Gyatso was the first Tibetan to give evidence at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on the realities of Tibetan life under Chinese rule.  The response to which by the Chinese was that his story was “untrue”.

His book is a heart breaking yet at the same time entrancing account of all he endured.  Yes it is difficult to read about the brutality that went on and is still going on in Tibet.  But the reward for facing that reality as a reader is the lesson we learn that ultimately we are blessed and can draw upon the strength of people like Palden.  We may have difficulties ten fold, but if we still have the freedom to walk outside when we choose to, drink water when we are thirsty and speak openly to the people around us then are we truly suffering or blindly blessed?  Once we can see our reality through reading testimonies such as that in ‘Fire Under The Snow’ we can begin to relax.  Once we relax we are more equipped to make better decisions.  Once we start to make better decisions we are one individual creating a better world for all.   And together we can perhaps begin to slowly rebuild the wall of good karma that seems to have been left demolished for far too long here in the spiritual poverty of the West.  As many people travel to the Dalai Lama in India from all corners of the globe on spiritual retreats they don’t realise people like Palden Gyatso are also there in Dharamsala with their door open to visitors from far and wide as they courageously continue to share their incredible story…

Om mani padme hum

Tashi delek

Lisa & Lama Buga

To be or not to be…a lone female ranger during these times of great change?

As a thirty something female on a journey of self-discovery I have found myself in a position that I would call the 'lone female ranger’.  I live alone, mostly work alone, reside in a different country to all of my family members and I am single.  Now for some women that would be their worst nightmare and that is fair enough but for others it is not. So is this a new modern independent woman phenomenon or has this been happening overtime? 

 I came across a wonderful book called ‘Women Of Wisdom’ by Tsultrim Allione.  The author of this book was the first Westerner to be ordained a Buddhist nun, granted by the 16^th Karmapa himself no less.  She left monastic life eventually to get married and have a family.  The beauty of that is we now have a woman who is still committed to her path of spiritual growth and self-discovery who now has first hand experience of the daily challenges a family life brings to living out those deep yearnings.  This journey inspired her to write this book for all the women in the West facing similar difficulties and triumphs.  It contains stories of Tibetan female mystics who all achieved enlightenment and became great leaders despite cultural prejudices and other problems that male practitioners simply don’t have to contend with.

This book makes a fascinating read for any women out there struggling with any natural instincts to go against the societal expectancies.  The author draws many similarities between our lives today and these ancient mystics.  For example the majority of these women were single.  Those who were forced to get married either died at the hands of their husbands who didn’t like their wives shifting and changing as they grew more into themselves or they found a way to get out of the marriage.   The next trend was they found it difficult to practice freely and to their full abilities within the constraints of a patriarchal monastic environment, so they tended to be nomadic practitioners travelling over great distances using their feminine intuition to guide them.  Opting to leave their families and friends behind they would spend decades of their lives in isolated retreats in mountainous caves.  If we swing those trends back around to the ‘lone female ranger’ we can perhaps spot some similarities according to the author Tsultrim.  She takes it a step further when she mentions modern women who have just come out of a crisis in their lives sometimes choose to live alone as though entering into a type of retreat.  When I was at a teaching by the Dalai Lama last year one of the first things he mentioned was for effective spiritual growth we must leave the distractions of our family behind by moving elsewhere.  Tsultrim also made an interesting case when she likened modern women seeking the guidance of a psychotherapist to help them ease their troubles with the teachers of these Tibetan women helping them reach a state of full illumination through mastering the mind.   To be clear these women were not nuns, in fact most of them had consorts who they practiced with to deepen their spirituality through sacred sexual union.  So has the time of the lone female ranger naturally evolved once again for some women to free up a bit of space for their feminine selves? 

My intention for sharing these findings is to bring solace to the solo ladies and insight to the gentlemen out there during these times of great global change.  Where a balancing of the matriarchal with the patriarchal seems to be afoot and my feelings are it is for the sake of all sentient beings.  What do you think?

 OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA

 

With love

 

Lisa

www.spiritualbackpackersindia.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spiritual-Backpackers-India/169789129745613