its elemental

Now a days I walk down the mountain to train my mind on the language of the Tibetans and my spirit on the way of the dharma. As I walk back up the mountain, I meditate on what I learned.
Languages of the heart.
Letters as characters, vowels as sound vibrations, the tounge generated from the roof of the world.
A language unlike any other. Excersize for the mouth, the body, the mind. REconfiguration. body heart mind spirit.

Languages from the heart.
The dharma, buddhist philosophy is simple. Of course the most simple things in life are often the ones most overlooked. We absorbed thoughts on the nature of the mind.
The nature of the mind is that of a crystal. Life shall be a discipline of maintaining its purity. It is always like this crystal, but its quality changes according to how you lead this life, and most important your control of the thoughts that come through the mind. It is a choice. Yet it is more so a practice, that takes patience, determination, and great compassion. Like clothes, the mind gets dirty, but can be cleansed with effort and good intention. After washing, the stains are gone, but the cloth remains. The wisdom of the mind is always there, but it gets burried by thoughts, extreme emotions, and lack of discipline.

AS we go throught this life, we seek happiness. Yet often all we find is suffering. As we change our mind to recognize suffering as the profound ebbs in this flow of life, we can find the light of the crystal reflecting even though the darkest moments.

And as we see this more clearly, we cease chasing and biting our own tail, and rather flow forward with the momentum of positivity.

As like attracts like, life begins to grow rather than recede with time.

It may seem a strange thought to some, but the dharma explains that this life is one of thousands of lives we will live. For as we are all made of energy, our energy will continue on when our bodies dies. And it is my understanding that this crystal mind we hear of is in fact the energy of consciousness, and it is this conciousness that we are to honor, cultivate, and pass on with grace. It is our duty as beings. It is the real work.

Life is short, but cyclical existence in the chains of suffering is forever. Until you begin to cultivate the GOOD. Even in the BAD.

So this dharma ramble comes as the clouds move in, the rain tempts us, and I yearn to share these words.
May this find you at peace, and if not may you find peace through the suffering.

When I ask...

The moon is on the rise.
Change is our constant, but I wonder is there a greater change, a force, a momentum at work for truth? For justice? For peace? As I sit here, Mcleod Ganj is bustling with people from all over the world. People, pilgrims of truth come to have a glance at a living reincarnation of the buddha of compassion---His holiness the Dalai Lama. They also come to support the tibetan people as we approach the historic day---March 10th, 2009.
From 1959 to 2009--50years in exhile, 50 years of resistance to the chinese government which seeks to devour the land of these people as our ancestors once devoured the land of the red man--the navaho, the sioux, the arrapaho, the shoshonee, the hopi...the list goes on.
And why I ask, does history repeat itself?
Why are the indigenous people of this planet treated so brutally?
The brutality is embedded in this greed, the paranoid fear for the power of the world.
Manifest your destiny, across the land.
Head west my boy, they said back then.
Head north they say without any knowledge that as they move north they simaltaneously are participating in cultural genocide.
Ignorance? Culturally blinded?
The roof of the world.
The heart of the west.
What is the difference...and why must it repeat itself?
March 10th, 1959 the tibetans rose up, revolted for truth...couragious disedance against the monster. David and Goliath.
A failed revolt.
But a successful escape of His Holiness.
Oh, yes and some 80,000 tibetans to follow.
exodus.
fleeing this genocide.
saving lives, culture, the way.
a way so unique.
minds so full of heart, so connected to the earth.

And so I ask, what can be done?
where does justice prevail?
When will this dark period end, and illumination begin?
When, good lord, will truth prevail?
2012? Polar shift?
From ME to WE, from greed to green?

Until then, I will continue to believe.
and to prepare by standing on my head, breathing from my head to my toes.
recirculating, as to prepare phyisically for this shift.
so my head can feel my heart beat constantly as I bow in the face of truth, and stand strong in the face of injustice.

may this all find you and instill you with courage.
as I mentioned earlier---look to the root.
This word courage finds its latin roots in the cor, the heart.
When I ask will we all have the courage to stand for truth, and not just for "I" and "ME".

among the tibetans

Here among the tibetans I find myself perched once again.
Losar, the new year of the moon, brings us here...
celebrating for the hope of the coming cycle, but mourning all those martyrs whom have
sacrificed their own lives for the struggle and ultimate freedom of tibet.

black flags line the streets, white letters enscribed---po or tibet.

simple.
black and white: innocent people are dying everyday, cultural genocide is happening at the top of the world.

the monks of this society are the ultimate activists.
liberation theology at its best.
they embody and stand up for TRUTH.
not hiding behind a script, but with open palms and open hearts couragiously walking in light of freedom for tibet.

I found myself haning out with many tibetan youth, mostly males for women do not really hang out like we are used to.

we drank we talked broken english and tibetan we shared ideas, thoughts, visions.

and now the energy of the new moon is on the rise. Losar comes with the new moon, and as this moon cylce comes to be, we will see what energy the full moon will bring. OH yes, as it is the full moon falls on March 10th---the tibetan day of uprising. Maybe wisdom, compassion, truth will strike down on the minds of the reigning Chinese and call for real peace, real justice, and real autonomy for these beautiful people.

until then, we all must cultivate this wisdom with in.
Educate yourself.
stand for truth.
embrace this life, and have gratitude for what you have.