I picked up a few books to read over the Christmas holidays from our great public library. I read the first few pages at the library and knew it would be a good and interesting read in a language that spoke to me. This book is easy to read but full of insight, honesty and wisdom.
The inside flap tells a bit about the authors. Tsoknyi Rinpoche was born in Nepal in 1966. He is married with 2 children and balances a busy teaching schedule around the world, as well as overseeing two nunneries in Nepal, also one of the largest nunneries in Tibet and many practice centres in Tibet. He is known as a being a compassionate and insightful teacher regarding human nature.
Eric Swanson has co-written many books with Tibetan teachers. A few are "The Joy of Living", "Joyful Wisdom", "Karmapa, The Sacred Prophecy" and a memoir "What the Lotus Said"
In the forward written by Richard Gere, he writes about Tsoknyi Rinpoche, "He helps to break through self-imposed limitations and seriousness to find that lasting love, wisdom, bliss are possible." He also writes how Rinpoche helps to reconnect us with our deepest nature, to be joyous, open and free of all conditions and conditioning. That recognizing our nature allows the warmth of compassion and love to naturally express themselves in everything we do.
"At the root we all vibrate with love"
Even the forward spoke to me. From all that I have been taught, it really always comes back to being up to me to practice, to study, to keep practicing so I can shine with the kind of selfless love and compassion that is our true identity. It is people like this that help to build us up, give us the tools so we can be our best. Not asking someone to do the work for us, but knowing they are there when we need them, when we feel fear, anxiety, etc. That we can just pick up where we were and keep practicing.
The last sentence of the forward is, "This book can help us find that initial spark that will grow into a roaring fire. It is up to us."
Tsoknyi Rinpoche shares the story of his lineage, of how at the age of 8 he was recognized as the reincarnation of the first Tsoknyi Rinpoche who was born in the mid-nineteenth century and mastered all the teachings of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage. He shares his story of growing up, what this discovery meant to him and how he proceeded to where his is now. It is a very sincere story and shares how the wisdom and love from his family and teachers has helped him.
This book is a blend of stories, not just his own but other real life stories so we can see how human nature is and that we are maybe not so different from others and then gives a few simple practices that can be done at anytime.
It leaves the reader with a place to begin for themselves. That we don't all have to be recognized Buddhist masters to be able to benefit from the teachings and put them into practice to become more joyful, compassionate and trusting.
Here is one practice on Tonglen from the book under the title Boundless Love.p.64
"Although reconnecting with essence love may be part of the process of Buddhist practice of recognizing the spark within us, it's only one step in a longer and ultimately more lasting and fulfilling journey out of fear, darkness, depression and other challenges. Everything I've learned from my teachers, my students and my own experience agrees that the motive behind the Buddha's teachings was to cultivate a deep and active caring for the fate of all living creatures. So once we have tasted essence love - and many of the practices described in the following pages provide various means of doing so - so the next step is to move beyond essence love to boundless love. One of the simplest methods for doing so is a Tibetan Buddhist practice known as tonglen, which can be translated as "sending and taking" and which involves a combination of breathing and visualization to send out whatever positive energy you have and whatever pain others may be feeling.
p.66 Often overlooked in the instructions of tonglen is that the most fruitful time to practice it is when we're feeling bad about ourselves - when we're consumed by anger, despair, jealousy, or some other negative feeling. We take these feelings, and our desire to get past them, as a starting point.
Begin by finding a restful position for your body.
Breath in; breathe out.
Let yourself feel the weight of whatever you're experiencing. Let yourself recognize that you're being unkind to yourself, that somehow you've blocked your innate sense of well-being.
Breath in and out again, but this time engage your imagination. Bring your attention to the person or persons who have brought about a painful situation. Breathe in all the darkness and pain that may have caused that person to act that way. Imagine it as a dark greasy cloud or oily smoke. Breathe out brightness - the essence of your own spark - and imagine it filling that person with confidence, light, a connection to essence love.
Keep doing this until you feel quite sure the person toward whom you have some difficult thoughts and feelings will somehow, through his or her own path, reconnect with his or her own spark.
Tonglen is not a practice or forgiving or forgetting. Rather, it is a practice that provides us with the capability of rising beyond the personal pain that we have endured and restoring confidence in our ability to face challenges; that we can move beyond it and learn to live productive, fulfilling lives."
That is just a bit from one of the practices.
I hope if you pick up this book you will enjoy it also.
Let me know!
Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher
