To: K-list
Recieved: 1999/07/31 13:03
Subject: [K-list] Buddhist Nun
From: A. Erhart
On 1999/07/31 13:03, A. Erhart posted thus to the K-list:
Dear Jerry and list,
On Fri, 30 Jul 1999 17:46:48 GCWein1111 wrote:
>Just thought l'd offer that the Tibetan Buddhist
>nun of whom you spoke is Tenzin Palmo
Thanks for giving us her name. :)
>the English woman who described her 12
>yrs in a remote cave in the Himalayas in her book CAVE IN THE SNOW. l found
>her story to be quite inspiring and her commitment to her spiritual growth
>awesome.
Yes, it certainly is. :)
>The book is also highly readable. The only thing that disappointed
>me somewhat is that she chose not to say very much about her meditation
>experiences, observing a code of silence that is fairly common in the Tibetan
>tradition.
LOL ! Yup, I agree with that.
When I browsed the book, I was immediately
reminded of a comic book I read a few
years ago, which was a French rendition of a Chinese
myth. In this comic, there was mentioned a yoga and
martial arts master who went into a cave to meditate
and became "acquainted" with a force so strong and
alien it nearly killed him and taught him a series of
incredibly effective martial arts stances, increasing
his qi to "impossible levels". (Sounds a bit like K ! ;)) )
The heroine in the book
finds the cave, looks at the finger grooves in the cave
wall which the monk made and goes through the yoga/
MA moves and becomes transformed by the postures
herself. Of course, the myth says nothing about the
particulars in the stances / postures, which serves
to wrap everything in a fog of mystery and secrecy.
I found the same air of myth / folk tale air about
Palmo's book, even though it is a modern "tale".
Whereas I can understand the need for secrecy,
a part of me (probably the most unenlightened one,
LOL !)
still finds this "knowledge on a need to
know basis" rather annoying, so I can relate to your
disappointment.
In fact, one of the things I browsed for in Palmo's
book was what type of practice she had been doing
and what things she had experienced
and as you say, that is mentioned only very sketchily.
One reason for this silence may be that the book
seemed to be geared towards a general public, to whom
the meditational practices / experiences would not
be relevant or interesting. Another reason may be as we
all know that a lot of the experiences encountered in
meditation and especially with Tummo / K, are too
outlandish and "weird" for ppl to believe. :)
>But you come away from this book filled with >admiration for her.
:)) Absolutely. When my "sour grapes" attitude finally
died down after the browsing,
I really did think her experiences highly
admirable.
Still, I do have this horrible,
sneaking suspicion that the cave
isn't strictly necessary. That it is the committment
and belief which is important. That if you are 100%
convinced an indefinite stay in a cave in the
Himalayas is going to propel you faster towards
"enlightenment", then it will. But you could just as
well have chosen another path of lesser or greater
"extremes". Just my thoughts. :) When I embark on a
path of extremes, I will probably change that outlook.
;)
> l suppose this has some relevance to the topic of celibacy as an
>extreme practice. Jill and l have both offered previously that in both our
>cases celibacy has been an involuntary aspect of our k journey in the sense
>that sexual functioning has automatically changed. One can certainly view
>this as extreme, particularly in western culture
Well, Jerry, I don't see it as extreme at all,
especially in light of what David said, that if it
comes to you, either one way or another, then it may
be good. :) The most extreme would be a forced,
wilfull type of exercise. The Buddhist talk about
joyfullness in practice and I think that is very
important. I know that is not exactly what happened
to you, so I beg for forgiveness if you feel
offended by that. That said, K seems for the moment
to have paralyzed certain circuits in my body and well,
;) I do feel a little "impotent", but having been
literally bounced off the walls by K today, I can't say I miss it all that much.
>but it can't be judged any
>more than can Tenzin Palmo's 12 yrs in her cave--it's >simply one's path.
Yes, agreed. :)
>Palmo, incidentally, since leaving her cave has been very active out in the
>world, establishing a monastary and doing other things to help the plight of
>women following the Tibetan path. jerry
Yes, I agree with that too.
Let me just say that
I don't see being a woman a plight.
It is in that respect I find Palmo's stance a bit
extreme, and perhaps the reason why I sort of didn't
like her "way";
her view that being a woman is somehow
counterconducive to enlightenment. I think that is a
truck load of bullshit. (No offense, Jerry)
It just makes me very uneasy, as I feel in many ways
you construct your own obstacles, especially when
it comes to the gender vs. enlightenment thing.
It seems that Palmo was just playing along with an
age old view that she had been given by the Tibetan
tradition to which she belonged. I think she gave in
to external pressure and in her cave cavortings
only served to "prove" that women need "special
methods" to gain enlightenment.
I shall therefore profess to ask:
What is gender to the Oversoul anyway ?
Best regards,
Amanda.
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