One of the stranger aspects of Tibetan Buddhism is how the lineage picks their leader. When a Dalai Lama dies, a search party goes out to find the child which now houses the Lama's reincarnated soul (it's not actually the soul, but I'm using that term because most of the people who read this blog are non-buddhists, and I really don't feel like getting into the nitty gritty of reincarnation - which I'm not totally on board with, anyway). Once a candidate is found, the search party dumps a bunch of the previous Lama's personal effects in front of the kid, and, based on how the kid reacts to the items ("Oh, look! He grabbed the eyeglasses!"), the child is or is not deemed the new leader. The candidate is then whisked off to a monastary in Tibet where they spend the rest of the child's life grooming him for his role as religious leader of that branch of Buddhism.
Sometimes, though, it doesn't go well.
Osel Hita Torres went through the process, and was deemed to be the reincarnation of Lama Yeshe who died shortly before Osel's birth. Now he's 24, and has decided to bail on the whole thing. He considers his childhood to be "living a lie," and seems to be very upset. And with good reason, since according to him the only movie he was allowed to watch was Eddie Murphy's The Golden Child! I'm thinking that would pretty much turn anyone off of the faith.
Can you imagine how many people Scientology would lose if the only movie they could watch was Battlefield Earth?
Here's the article that provides more details. Personally, I think the whole process is flawed, as no one ever asked the child what he (and it's always a boy - yet another problem with the system) wanted out of life. It was just assumed that the kid wanted to be the spiritual leader of an exiled people. Noble enterprise, but only if you're up to, and feel called to, the challenge.
In case you're curious what the Tibetans think, they're still calling him Lama Tenzin Osel Rinpoche and I guess figure that he'll come around some day. You know how kids are!
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Process Looked Good on Paper!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Spirituality, Pirates, and Tattoos
One of my dearest friends (Pooh) spent a few moments standing in a tattoo parlor the other day contemplating getting some ink done. She never did say what she was thinking of getting - though my suggestion was the phrase, "Respect My Authority!" based on some recent drama in her workplace. As it turned out, she ended up not getting anything done, and the matter became moot.
Still, my mind has been turning on the subject
You see, I stand with my feet in vastly different worlds. Whereas I was once a spiritual leader of sorts, I'm now simply a civil service worker. My interests vary, as you have undoubtedly noticed if you've read this blog before, but tend to swing between spiritual issues (Buddhism, Christianity, and some philosophy) and less serious pursuits (history - particularly pirates, horror fiction - particularly the works of Lovecraft, and some arts and crafts such as music, candle making, origami, and so forth).
Occasionally, those two ends of the spectrum collide with interesting results. Take tattoos, for instance. They're incredibly popular, and depending what social circle and sometimes what socio-economic class you move in, it's almost required that you have one. Musicians and tattoos go hand in hand, obviously enough, and Whirling Dervish and I joked that we needed to get some ink, because most of the staff and nearly all our patients who had some sort of military background were heavily done up. And of course, sailors - especially pirates - and tattoos go together like pirates and, well, rum.
However, most spiritual traditions have prohibitions of some kind against tattoos. For Jews and Christians, the big one is in the book of Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 28 ('Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.'). For Buddhists, there are the teachings on nonattachment - which basically states that suffering is caused by focusing on things that will eventually end and obsessing about them, and impermanence - which states that nothing lasts forever, so we should enjoy good things, but not expect them to last, and deal with bad times understanding that they're not going to last either. Impermanence and nonattachment are connected, of course, so my interpretation of these and other teachings can best be summed up by saying, "Look, you're not going to last forever, so why spend the money on getting ink, obsessing over what design you're going to get when that design is going to fade, stretch, and look crappy when you're 90, and experience the potential regret and suffering that may occur if the artist screws it up or you end up changing interests in the coming years and no longer like the design?"
But then I see pictures of Buddhist monks and lay leaders who are covered in tattoos and I wonder if I interpreted that correctly. Of course, there are almost as many different types of Buddhists as there are Christians, so interpretations vary widely! I also know tons of Christians - minsters and lay people - who have tattoos, and they're faithful and good.
I guess in the long run it doesn't really matter. So long as it doesn't hurt you, hurt others, and is a design you can live out the rest of your days with. I guess I now have to find a design that would sum up my Buddhist / Christian / Pirate / Lovecraftian / guitar / candle-making / origami lifestyle so I can get one!
Still, I have been looking at a few designs, just in case the disposable income, midlife crisis, and courage all come together in the same place and time. Here's what I've found:
This is the Buddhist Dharma Wheel. Each Spoke represents one part of the eight-fold path. Honestly, it also looks like a ship's wheel, so that gives this design points for double meanings
Speaks for itself. Arrr! : )
Origami crane. Obviously I would choose a different style, but this is the general ideaThe odds of me getting a tattoo are slim, but for some reason, I still think about it from time to time. Anyway, that's enough rambling for this morning. More later. And happy Friday!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Another Dead Hero
From my childhood, at least. David Carradine was found dead today in his hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand. He was 72. Police suspect his death to be a suicide. Here's the AP article.
I wasn't allowed to watch Kung Fu when it first came out - mom was scared to death (and rightly so!) that I would try to emulate the fight scenes on the neighborhood kids. But in my teen years I bought a VHS copy of the series premiere and watched it until it almost wore out. I think I still have it tucked away in a box somewhere.
Kung Fu was how I discovered that the Western way of thinking wasn't the only way. Sure it was Hollywood faux Zen and Kung Fu, and yes, Carradine's character, Kwai Chang Caine, was originally supposed to be played by Bruce Lee (studio executives felt that Lee was "too ethnic," so they picked Carradine, who didn't have a drop of Asian blood in his veins), but he was the entry point to the Shaolin way, and interested me enough that I was willing to study Kung Fu (I gots me a Brown Sash, baby!), study Zen (still don't understand that, but I believe that's the way it's supposed to be), and take some long hard introspective looks.
For that, at least, I am grateful for Carradine's work. After doing the Kung Fu series and the series sequel in the '90s, he went on to actually adopt the life. He wrote a book on Shaolin philosophy, created Tai Chi and Chi Gong workout videos and cleaned up his life. Oh, Kill Bill 1 & 2 were pretty good flicks, too.
I just wonder what was going on that he felt the need to take his own life. According to the article, he was working on a film and things seemed to be going well. I guess, as with many people who complete suicide, we will never know for sure why.
Updated Links List
In an effort to freshen up the place, I've deleted several blog links that have shown little or no activity over the past several months. I've also deleted a couple that, to be honest, don't seem to be that interesting. In their place I've attached a couple of new ones:
The Vault of Horror - A page that reviews, opines, and offers up news about all things scary.
Lovecraft is Missing - a web comic that I just found yesterday. Its basic premise seems to be a "what if" scenario in which H.P. Lovecraft was actually on to something in his writings; his ideas, characters, and the events depicted all had a basis in reality.
Innsmouth Free Press - A H.P. Lovecraft (can you tell I have a fondness for Lovecraft's work?) fanzine written in the style of a local newspaper. They are even accepting submissions, so all you budding horror writers, get your works (5,000 words or less) in!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
This Just In ...
Thought you were safe from pirate news today, did you? Well, ye weren't, ya swab!
2 and 1/2 Hours
Not that I'm counting or anything, but that's how long I have until I can clock out for the day. The morning started off somewhat busy, but then things ground to an abrupt halt. Even Annoying Coworker has stayed away (knocking furiously on wood as I type).
So that leaves me to find things to do to kill the time. Unfortunately, there isn't much that helps. The hospital has blocked traditional time wasters such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, so that's out. I've done some online shopping (no, I haven't purchased anything, but I did find a Fender Stratocaster that looked sweet!) but that got old after a while. So did the googling of people with whom I have lost touch. Then there was the sending of funny pics and LOL Dogs, but you can only do that too many times before coworkers who are actually working get irritated. So now what? Blogging, I guess.
Last night, in lieu of my nightly guitar practice, I started writing letters to my niece and nephew for our Disney World trip next month. The plan is that each evening, the kids will get a letter from one of the Disney characters - usually Mickey or Cinderella - telling them what's going to happen the next day. On the last day they'll get a "thanks for coming; hope to see you soon" card. One Ring read about doing this in one of her Disney forums, so we took the idea and ran with it. I found Disney-esque fonts to type up the letters. The rough drafts look pretty good, if I do say so myself!
I'm focusing on vacation stuff for a couple of reasons. The first is because this is the children's first trip to Disney World and we want to make it as incredible as possible. My sister hasn't been since she was a teen (I think), so we're trying to wow her as well.
The other reason is that there's a ton of dysfunction here at work. I can't get too specific on what's going on, for obvious reasons, but suffice to say that we have one patient who needs to have a mental health eval. One of the other therapists suggested that we could save everyone grief by discharging him to the Salvation Army shelter instead of doing more legwork. Needless to say, I was one of a few who was outspoken against his idea. But the debate went on long enough to really irritate me and put a damper on the day.
So, there's something like 45 days left until our trip, and I'm really looking forward to the break. One Ring is getting stressed, as her comprehensive exams are taking place in August. I don't know how she's going to study, then go to Disney World, then actually come back to sit for a 3-day exam. Lord knows I would be having second thoughts! But then, she's always been the more dedicated of the two of us. 
Soon. Very, very, soon!
Well, that's all from here. There's a patient coming in about ten minutes and I need to catch the doctor before that happens.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
A New Week
... and I have a patient arriving in about 20 minutes. Followed by another patient. What do these people think this place is, a clinic? Oh, yeah. It is. Bummer.
So last night I went to my guitar lesson, already a tad frustrated over my apparent inability to count to four while playing. At least, that's what it felt like. Strumming patterns are vexing, as is switching chords without losing my timing. Usually I end up sounding like G chord strum, strum, strum ... PAUSE ... D chord strum, strum strum ... PAUSe ... A chord strum, strum, strum ... REALLY LONG PAUSE ... B minor chord.
And it sounds nothing like the original tune I'm trying to copy. Of course, it did help to hear that normally the instructor doesn't introduce barre chords to students so early in their education. So why am I suffering? Because the song has them and I requested to learn the song, soooooo ...
Oh, yeah. My fault. Great.
He was nice, of course, stating that I've made progress, etc., etc. But still, it does irritate my perfectionist self when I go on YouTube and see some 15-year-old kid rocking out on some song that I want to learn, while I'm having trouble counting to four while simultaneously thinking down, down, up, down, up! Grrr.
So what else is going on? Ahh, yes, the new diet. Seems that since I've taken this job a few extra pounds have crept onto my midsection. Most of my coworkers are either overwieght or obese, so I can see where this could be heading. So I now have One Ring as a coach and I'm trying to eat better, exercise more, and all that good rot. Unfortunately, everything I enjoy eating seems to be loaded with fat, so I'm now trying to adjust to granola and yogurt. Mid-life, here I come!
All in all, though, life is good. I'm enjoying the guitar, enjoying the job, and really looking forward to my vacation next month.
Now if I can just get Annoying Coworker to stop coming into my office!
