Narrow is a Fragile Heart: Western nun

Episode 62: A Narrow Heart is a Fragile Heart | How to Stop Feeling So Alone

 

(Handful OfLeaves) Handful of Leaves Podcast. Support British Bhutanese Vajrayana Buddhist nun Ani Pema Deki's charity fundraiser: openingyourhearttobhutan.com.

• Buddhism in Bhutan

"Opening Your Heart to Bhutan" is a registered UK charity, whose work is providing education, medicine, and shelter to children facing the greatest challenges in Bhutan.

In this episode, Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade) — a former London investment banker who left after a near-death experience in Jakarta (Indonesia) to ordain as a Buddhist nun high in the Himalayas of Bhutan — explores what it means to widen the heart and become truly unbreakable.

She contrasts fleeting, manufactured happiness with the effortless joy that arises from practice, explains how small acts of kindness build resilience, and reflects on faith, karma, and why some people in Bhutan seem less vulnerable to life's ups and downs.

Perfect for listeners curious about practical spirituality, courage, and living with greater purpose.

Key Takeaways:

• 🧭 Choose Liberation, Not Comfort — Why training the mind matters, and how practice aims for freedom from samsara rather than temporary ease.
• 💫 Real Joy vs. Manufactured Bliss — The difference between practice-born joy (stable, effortless) and short-lived worldly pleasures.
• 🤝 Small Acts, Big Heart — Two-minute kindnesses, widening our circle of care, and the role of faith/teacher in sustaining practice.

⏱Timestamps:

• (00:00) – Introduction to Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade), former banker turned Buddhist nun
• (01:00) – The challenge of practicing Dharma in a busy modern life
• (02:31) – Are we seeking comfort in samsara or liberation?
• (02:51) – What happiness really means from a Buddhist perspective
• (03:40) – Joy and bliss: natural results of Dharma practice vs. worldly joy
• (05:28) – Reflections on Bhutan and why happiness can’t be measured easily
• (06:20) – Mental resilience and faith in Bhutanese life
• (07:17) – Small daily acts of kindness in a busy life
• (07:53) – Expanding motivation beyond yourself and loved ones
• (08:52) – Why bother about anyone else besides your loved ones?
• (09:20) – Why widening your heart supports resilience
• (10:24) – The Bodhisattva path: stretching beyond your comfort zone
• (11:14) – How British Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade) became a Buddhist and later a Buddhist nun
• (11:40) – Meeting her teacher in Bhutan
• (12:24) – Moments of clarity and deep spiritual connection
• (14:27) – Karma and how Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade)’s path ripened in Bhutan
• (15:18) – Sneak preview of Part 2

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: 👤 Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Venerable Emma Slade) was born in Kent, England, and was educated at Cambridge University and the University of London, where she gained a First-Class degree. She is a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and worked in Fund Management in London, New York, and Hong Kong. A deep-seated yearning to enquire into the deeper aspects of humanity arose following a life-changing business trip to Jakarta, where she was held hostage at gunpoint. She resigned from her financial career and began exploring yoga and meditation and methods of wellbeing with the ultimate aim of turning a traumatic episode into wisdom and conditions for thriving. She qualified as a British Wheel of Yoga teacher in 2003 and, over the last 19 years, has run numerous yoga workshops and retreats. ​ Her interest in Buddhism as a science of the mind strengthened after meeting a Buddhist lama (teacher) on her first visit to Bhutan in 2011.

This crucial chance meeting led to her studying Buddhism with this lama and, eventually, led to her becoming the first and only Western woman to be ordained in the last Himalayan [Buddhist] Kingdom of Bhutan as a Buddhist nun. #OpeningYourHeart #BuddhistWisdom #MindfulLiving #FaithAndPractice

• 📄 Transcript: bit.ly/hol-ep-62

Resources:

• Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade) website: emmaslade.com
• Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade) charity fundraiser: openingyourhearttobhutan.com

Special thanks to sponsors:

Buddhist Youth Network, Lim Soon Kiat, Alvin Chan, Tan Key Seng, Soh Hwee Hoon, Geraldine Tay, Venerable You Guang, Wilson Ng, Diga, Joyce, Tan Jia Yee, Joanne, Suñña, Shuo Mei, Arif, Bernice, Wee Teck, Andrew Yam, Kan Rong Hui, Wei Li Quek, Shirley Shen, Ezra, Joanne Chan, Hsien Li Siaw, Gillian Ang, Wang Shiow Mei, Ong Chye Chye, Melvin, Yoke Kuen, Nai Kai Lee, Amelia Toh, Hannah Law, Shin Hui Chong, Dennis Lee

• 🙏 Become a sponsor: handfulofleaves.life/support

🎬 Editor: Hong Jiayi ✍️ Transcribers: Cheryl Cheah, Tan Si Jing, Bernice Bay 🎨 Visuals and Sound: Anton Thorne, Tan Pei Shan, Ang You Shan 📱 Get connected: Telegram: bit.ly/hol-telegram. Instagram: bit.ly/hol-instagram-podcast. Facebook bit.ly/hol-facebook-podcast. Spotify spoti.fi/3w2jfQ1.

• Handful OfLeaves, Sept. 23, 2025; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen B. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly, orig. 12/19/25

Vajrapani Bodhisattva: The Thunderbolt

(Buddha's Wisdom) VAJRAPANI: The Thunderbolt Bodhisattva who challenged Lord Shiva himself | Om Vajrapani Hum

Fierce protective spirit being

Vajrapani (Sanskrit Vajrapāṇi, Pali Vajirapāṇi, "holder of the thunderbolt," lit. meaning, "Vajra in [one's] hand") is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattva in various sub-schools of Mahayana Buddhism.

He is alleged to be the protector and guide of the historical Buddha Gautama and rose to symbolize the Buddha's power.

Vajrapāni is also called Chana Dorje and Chador and extensively represented in Buddhist iconography as one of the earliest three protective deities or bodhisattvas surrounding the Buddha. Each of them symbolizes one of the Buddha's virtues... More

• Vajrapani Bodhisattva
• Vajrapani thangka (Dharma Treasures)

Back to Buddhist Shambhala, Himalayas

(Positive Momentum)

("Mystic Mask")

Climbing Mt. Kailash: healing hot springs

Risking life on thrilling trek up south face of Mt. Kailash to touch the holy rock

Tibet Travel (Tibet Vista) Nov. 15, 2024: After touching the glaciers and rocks on the northwest slope of Mount Kailash, I headed to the south slope to touch her holiest rock and to worship at the 13 stupas [sacred Śarīra reliquaries] nestled inside the mountain's crevices. Two years ago, I made a wish here to promote the beauty of Tibet and its ancient Vajrayana Buddhist [Hindu and Bon] religious culture, and now I have achieved that.

Trek to healing Khambhu Hot Spring, ancient trade village China border

My followers have grown to over 250,000, and more than 1,000 tourists from around the world have learned about and traveled to Tibet through my videos and traveled with me. This trek up the south slope of Mt. Kailash was incredibly thrilling and dangerous. In August, heavy snow fell from the sky, and I nearly slid off the steep and slippery rocks into a valley more than 50 meters (150 feet) deep. I believe my efforts were worthwhile. As a Tibetan guide, I have successfully led tourists from all over the world in over 60 Kora treks around Mt. Kailash. This is my second successful climb to the 13 stupas on the south slope. The 13 stupas, also known as the "Inner Kora of Mt. Kailash," are the holiest sites for Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims.

If YOU wish to explore Mt. Kailash in depth, I can take you there. It may be dangerous, but you can join me on this adventure for passion and faith, right? I believe in you. Contact me at jamyangtour@gmail.com. I will plan it all with you. Contact: Tibet Vista Jamyang Tour phone: +86 13989918639, email: jamyangtour@gmail.com. WeChat: Jamyang-1234.

• WEBSITE: tibettravel.org

ABOUT: I am Jamyang. I have been working as a tour guide with Tibet Vista Tour for 15 years. In 2020, during the Covid-19 global pandemic, I lost my job as a tour guide. With the support of the company, I immersed myself in filming videos and documenting the culture of Tibet. My goal is to share the beautiful landscapes of Tibet, Tibetan culture, and the genuine and enchanting lifestyle of the local Tibetans with people around the world who love and care about my beloved home country of Tibet. If you plan to visit Tibet, be sure to get in touch with me. I can show you the best and most authentic Tibet.

• Jamyang (Tibet Vista Jamyang Tour); CC Liu, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

India versus China (explained)

A Wish Fulfilled: Vairochana Rinpoche

What is a tulku in Tibetan Buddhism?

Look, everyone! I'm a tulku!

A tulku (Tibetan སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་, Wylie sprul sku, ZWPY Zhügu, also tülku, trulku) is an individual recognized as the "reincarnation" [human rebirth] of a previous spiritual master (lama), and expected to rearise in a particular location or region after death.

The tulku is a distinctive and significant aspect of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, embodying the concept of "enlightened beings" taking corporeal forms to continue the lineage of specific teachings.

The term "tulku" is a loanword from Tibetan སྤྲུལ་སྐུ (sprul sku), which originally referred to an emperor or ruler taking human form on Earth, signifying a divine incarnation.

Over time, it evolved within Tibetan Buddhism to denote the corporeal existence of certain highly accomplished Buddhist masters whose purpose was to ensure the preservation and transmission of a particular competing lineage.

The tulku system originated in Tibet, particularly associated with the recognition of the second Karmapa in the 13th century. Since then, numerous tulku lineages have been established, with each tulku having a distinctive role in preserving and propagating specific teachings.

Other high-profile examples of tulkus include the fourteen Dalai Lamas, the Panchen Lamas, the Samding Dorje Phagmos, Khyentses, the Zhabdrung Rinpoches, and the Kongtruls.

The process of recognizing tulkus involves a combination of traditional and supernatural methods. When a tulku passes away, a committee of senior lamas convenes to identify the reincarnation.

They may look for signs left by the departed tulku, consult psychic oracles, rely on dreams or visions, and sometimes even observe natural phenomena like rainbows. [Somewhere over the rainbow...]

This process combines mysticism and tradition to pinpoint the successor who will carry forward the teachings of their predecessor. More

UPDATE: Vairochana Rinpoche's message

(Tarayana Foundation)

• The Secret Biography of Vairochana Rinpoche: Gateway to the Dharma Realm
• SLICE: Who is this special child?
• Neten Dorjee, A Wish Fulfilled: After Six Years [tulku Vairochana Rinpoche]; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Genius Buddhist prodigies, past lives?

The strange, brilliant life of a billionaire scientist living between two worlds

(Lei's Looking Glass) From child prodigy to billionaire scientist, Dr. John D. Young lived a life most people can only imagine—college at 13, dual doctorate degrees (PhDs) by 21, Nobel recognition before 30. But behind his extraordinary success was an even stranger story: visions of light, encounters with divine beings, out-of-body experiences, and a search for the truth behind consciousness. In this episode, we explore the brilliant and mysterious life of a man who walked between science and spirit, between wealth and awakening, between this world and another. Was he simply a prodigy—or something more? Discover the story of a genius who may have been chosen for a higher purpose.

Lei's Real Talk: @leisrealtalk. Donation: donorbox.org/support-lei-s-re... Support Lei’s work via her online shop: shop.leisrealtalk.com. Sign up for emails: leisrealtalk.com. Ideas/suggestions:  Leisrealtalk@gmail.com #leislookingglass #tonyyang #billionairescientist #childprodigy

(Lei's Looking Glass) The child prince who remembered a past life - and the Karmapa controversy

• Dr. Ian Stevenson, MD, American academic and scientific rebirth/reincarnation researcher, founder and director of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, professor and a founder of the Society for Scientific Exploration
• Lei's Looking Glass, Nov. 20, 2025, Nov. 5, 2025; CC Liu, Crystal Q., Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Mt. Everest: Storm traps 1,000 rich climbers

Hundreds trapped by out-of-season blizzard conditions on Mount Everest

COST: Price of completing the world’s most iconic mountain climbs (outforia.com)

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(NBC News) Oct. 5, 2025: Rescue efforts were underway on Sunday on Tibet’s eastern slope of Mount Everest, where nearly 1,000 [rich] people [spending at least $84,000 in 1922 prices for the attempt to summit and gain bragging rights] were trapped by a blizzard, according to Chinese state media reports. NBC News’ Camila Bernal has the latest. For more context and news coverage of the most important stories of the day, click: nbcnews.com. #nbcnews #currentevents

(BBC News) Rescuers bringing down rich, trapped, Everest climbers

(DW News) Heavy snowfall has trapped hikers on slopes of Mt. Everest

Heavy snowfall, wind, rain has trapped hikers on the slopes of Mount Everest

(DW News) Oct. 6, 2025: DW (Deutsche World) is a German public broadcast service. One trekker has died. Rescuers have guided hundreds of other trekkers trapped on Everest to safety. Unusually heavy snowfall and rainfall have battered the Himalayas. According to Chinese state media, the hikers have reached the small township of Qudang, Tingri County, and rescuers have made contact with the remaining 200 trekkers. Kenton Cool, a British mountaineer, talks about the situation and rescue efforts.

Quake in Tibet, Nepal, India, China (live)

• 2025 Tibet earthquake (Wiki)

China Earthquake LIVE: Death toll from powerful earthquake in Tibet reaches 126 | WION LIVE 

The wisdom eyes of the Buddha, Nepal

(WION) Started streaming Jan. 7, 2024: Bhutan has also been affected. A 6.8-magnitude quake [updated to 7.1] struck China's remote Tibet region on Tuesday morning. [This is disputed territory claimed by an independent Tibet, nibbled at by India, touching Nepal, not far from Bhutan, but invaded and occupied by Chinese forces.] The death toll is rising to at least 53 [at least 126 with at least as many injured], state media is reporting. US media states that a magnitude of 7.1 earthquake jolted China-Nepal border. The earthquake jolted Dingri County in Xigaze City (Shigatse), located in the Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region, at 9:05 am local time. In addition to the confirmed fatalities, 62 others have been injured. The powerful tremor has left a trail of destruction, and rescue efforts are underway. #nepal #china #tibet

• BBC VIDEO: Massive quake hits near Buddhist holy Xigaze, near Mount Everest

7.1 magnitude earthquake kills at least 53 people in Tibet | DW News

Powerful earthquake rocks Tibet and parts of Nepal

Aerial view of Boudhanath, Nepal

(CNN) Jan. 7, 2025: More than 100 people have been killed after a powerful earthquake struck a remote region of Tibet, with tremors felt across the Himalayas in neighboring Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of northern India. The 7.1-magnitude quake struck at 9:05 am local time at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) and was followed by multiple aftershocks, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). #CNN #News

CCTV captures moment 7.1 magnitude quake strikes China’s Tibet region

Tibet earthquake: Tibetan govt blames China for deadly quake | WION Pulse

Foreshocks? 11 earthquakes hit days ago

China’s Yinchuan hit by 11 earthquakes in 24 hours; millions flee, roads and rails jammed

(China Observer) Jan. 4, 2025: ✪ On Jan. 2 and 3, 2025, Yinchuan in Ningxia, China, experienced 11 earthquakes within 24 hours. The strongest measured 4.8 magnitude. The tremors were also felt in Shaanxi and Gansu. Although the magnitudes were not high, the frequent and widespread quakes, combined with shallow epicenters, led to strong tremors in some areas, causing public panic. Join channel: @chinaobserver0 #chinaobserver

LUST: Bodies are sexy and beautiful

You're, like, a total hottie and that makes me feel something gooey on, like, the inside, y'know?

.

The new fluidity aims to make us all bi, gay, NB

The body (form) is thought to be most obviously “me,” what “I” regard as the most tangible part of my “self.”

Around it therefore are constructed many views, all of them distorted and perverted to some extent, which prevent insight arising into the body as it really is.

This book, Bag of Bones, is a small Buddhist anthology relating to the body in various ways. It presents material which, if contemplated by the earnest and sincere student of the Dharma, will eventually provide fruitful insight and, thereby, freedom from the many cravings, obsessions, addictions, lusts, desires, and fears centered on the body.

Such thirst for pleasures in which the body is the instrument (though it is in the heart-mind where they dwell), awaken and intensify greed of all kinds, for instance, for food and sex and ego boosts of all kinds.

Greed (attraction, grasping, clinging, addiction, attachment) often accompanies pleasurable sensations. Therefore, desire (craving) needs a rather bitter medicine to combat it.

How can anybody say this body is unattractive?

So the number of items contained here on the unattractiveness of the body, its decay and death — all unpleasant matters — is high. Some of the material concerned with bodily unattractiveness is like a healing balm that need only be taken while the disease of greedy-lust is active. Afterwards, it may be discontinued and set aside.

It is important to understand this so as not to form the mistaken impression that the Buddha advocated viewing all beauty as loathsome. There is a great deal of beauty in this world, not all of which causes us to become obsessed with harmful things.

It is only that there is a hook hidden in beauty, an unseen danger that gets tangled with the greed in one’s heart and leads to more and more complications and difficulties.

Fears center around aging and disease, decay and death. They are never overcome by pretending they do not exist. Ostriches are said to bury their heads in the sand at the approach of enemies.

Only resolutely facing the inevitable features of life can bring insight and the dispelling of fear. The Buddha’s instructions on how to contemplate the body are addressed to those who are able, through their lifestyle, to practice them.

This means in effect monks and nuns, novices, together with dedicated lay people. The former group have this contemplation given to them by their monastic teachers at the time of going-forth from the homebound to the left-home life, which is when we might most need such a medicine to combat lust.

Gallery of the World's Ugliest Women : r/dalle2

Lust hurts and often harms anyone, but it can completely destroy the high life of someone training in monasticism.

Laypeople keeping the Five Precepts have contentment with their partners as an important part of their practice. Sex is a natural part of their life but should still be restrained and kept within the bounds of the Third Precept. If not, how much trouble might follow!

But some few may wish to live without sexual attachments, and this cannot be done in the way of Dhamma (the Buddha's Teaching or natural truth) by ignoring the power of our human sexual drive or by repressing and suppressing it.

Only when it is treated with mindfulness (nonjudgmental awareness and observation) can it be transcended. It does not last forever. It is overcome by the first meditative absorption and uprooted by the stages of enlightenment.

The aspect of mindfulness needed for this is the subject, or rather the interrelated subjects, of this book.

Bhutan: Last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom

In today's world we are subjected to a mass media bombardment of sensuality. Sex especially is used as the bait (attractant) to sell things, a titillation of sensory experience.

When this is continued, defilements of mind, notably lust, greed, and attachment, are sure to be strengthened. When this has happened, the result is not more happiness but only an increase of disappointment (dukkha, stress, ill, woe), suffering, trouble, and difficulties.

I stared until they started to look like skeletons, bags of bones, all of them. I ought to let go, become a monk, and gain enlightenment because flesh and bones are gross. I didn't tell them.

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The medicine for such over-indulgence and over-stimulation is given here. It is said that this subject of meditation is unique to the Buddha’s Teachings, the Dhamma, and that elsewhere it is not clearly taught.

This is unsurprising as we find that desire is sometimes accepted as being “natural.” Wherever desires are viewed as “natural,” that is, inherent in one’s nature or self, nothing much can be done about them.

But the Buddha analyzed desires into those which are wholesome — the zeal to practice Dhamma, for instance — and the unwholesome ones, among which are greediness and lust.

They may not be gross either, as in the case of the meditator who is greedy for bliss, or visions, psychedelic experiences, and attached to such things.

The Buddha has provided the medicine for all unwholesome desires, and according to our various ways of life we can use it to effect partial or complete cures.

When the emphasis is so much on sensuality, youth, and beauty as we find now, the darker sides of life get pushed away and attempts are made, always unsuccessful, to sweep them under the rug. Those who try to do so will not be pleased with the exercises contained in the Buddha’s contemplation of the body as it really is.

• Patikulamanasikara: Purposely focus on the unattractive (asubha)?

Look at those breasts and butt colon!

Such things will appear to them as morbid and unnatural, offensive and repulsive. Yet, they are also a part of this life and should not be ignored. And if the effort is made to ignore what is unpleasant about the body, sooner or later one will be jolted into the recognition of these things.

Such jolts are not pleasant. Rather than leave it until one is forced to know the body’s unpleasant sides, it is better to acquaint one’s emotions with this knowledge gradually. In this spirit, Bag of Bones is being published.

Unfortunately, being only a book, it cannot give person-to-person advice on special problems. It can only offer some general guidelines to people who are interested in reducing their greediness and lust.

It's only skin deep for reptilian hybridization

A word of warning: meditation on the unattractiveness of the body can be very potent and should only be practiced with moderation and care, especially if one has no personal contact with a teacher of Buddhist meditation.

If fear and anxiety, or other extreme unwholesome emotional states arise after practice of it, then it will be better to lay it down and take up loving kindness (mettā) or recollection of the Buddha (Buddhānussati) as one’s meditation instead.

This book, therefore, is not so much for beginners in Buddhism but rather for those who have already practiced for some time. May it inspire many people to practice the Dhamma more intently!

• Wheel 271, Bag of Bones: A Miscellany on the Body (Australian Theravada Buddhist monk Ven. Khantipalo, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka; excerpt edited by Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Intro to Vajrayana (3 Buddhist traditions)

Introduction to Vajrayana: Its place in Buddhist teachings (04-29-11)

A Cosmic Buddha, Maha Vairocana

(Sravasti Abbey) May 5, 2011: Venerable Thubten Chodron gives a basic explanation of Tantra, clearing up some common misconceptions about it. For more Vajrayana Buddhist teachings visit sravasti.org and thubtenchodron.org.

What are the three Buddhist traditions?

Wisdom Quarterly

Siddhartha, born in northwest, traveled east, awakened, and taught in this area for 45 years.

1. Vipassana ("insight meditation")
2. Zen (jhana or "meditative absorption")
3. Vajrayana ("Thunderbolt Vehicle"), a branch of Mahayana

Vipassana (insight) is a meditation technique, which utilizes systematic mindfulness and the peculiar teaching of the Buddha called Dependent Origination (pratītyasamutpāda). Zen is Chan as it evolved from China to Japan and Korea.

1. Vipassana
2. Zen
3. Tibetan Buddhism

This is wrong as well since Vajrayana is not synonymous with Tibetan culture. There are various Himalayan countries that practice Vajrayana, namely, Kalmykia, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia, Siberia, Russia, Buryatia, and Northern India (Ladakh, Sikkim, Himalchal Pradesh).

1. Theravada
2. Mahayana
3. Vajrayana

These are the three general traditions or schools, each a little different as it is practiced in different countries.

The real three Buddhist traditions

THERAVADA (the "Teaching of the Elders," a reference to the theras and theris who were the male and female enlightened monastics, the name designating someone in robes for at least ten rains retreats, who memorized and passed down the Teaching) is the back-to-basics, original, or orthodox school of the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama also called Shakyamuni (the "Sage of the Scythian or Shakyian" clan). This tradition (along with 17 or 18 now defunct schools that get labeled Hinayana or "Lesser Vehicle" schools like the Sarvastivada) was preserved in the language of the Buddha, who spoke Magadhi (the language of the Kingdom of Magadha), which is Pali. Prakrit seems to refer to a synthesis or blending of Pali and Sanskrit. The Buddha was a polymath conversant in many languages and dialects with an expert knack for not only understanding living beings in any language but also capable of addressing them in the language, expressions, and vocabulary they best understood. (This is one of the Ten Powers of a Buddha).

MAHAYANA is a further development or reform tradition conflated with Vedic Brahmanism (later referred to as Hinduism), very much influenced and degraded or brought into alignment with the old views of Brahmin priests instead of what the historical Buddha sought to teach which rejected the Vedas, promoting instead the shramanic ("wandering ascetic") custom of various teachers of antiquity, most notably the Buddha and his Doctrine-and-Discipline (the Buddha Dharma and Vinaya) and Mahavira and his Doctrine (Jainism), both of which the Brahmins tried to subsume as schools within Hinduism. This tradition was preserved in the exclusive language of the Vedic priests, the Brahmins, which was middle and late Sanskrit, Buddhist Sanskrit, and ancillary languages like Gandhara, an Indo-Aryan Prakrit. The oldest surviving texts, amazingly, may not be in Pali, which was a spoken language without its own script, but rather Gandharan. The historical Buddha was from Gandhara (modern Afghanistan and Pakistan, the ancient northwest frontier of Buddhist Emperor Ashoka's empire, Bharat/Bharata (from ancient Mahabharata, which reduced in size is called "India" today, although "India" did not exist at the time of the Buddha, the land being divided into many loosely affiliated and feuding kingdoms and republics or mahajanapadas, "footholds of the family clan"). All Mahayana schools and sects are strongly influenced by the country they came to or evolved in because of missionary Buddhism's custom of blending with the local religion and practices. Mahayana as the "Greater Vehicle" and accounts for 90% of Buddhism, even if differs greatly from country to country.

VAJRAYANA is an esoteric branch of Mahayana mixed with Bon and Himalayan shamanism from northern countries in and around the Himalayas, which colored it with many esoteric, yogic, tantric, and other Indian influences that attached to the popularity of Buddhism for export. It is distinctive, and many may think of it as the speedy path, as if the others promoted a slow, hard slog when, in fact, the historical Buddha often brought hearers to realization in a single Dharma talk (gradual instruction), one sutra (suture, string, theme running through a presentation suited specially for them). This is why reading the discourse is no substitute for hear the Buddha or an enlightened thera/disciple teach. It is not about a "transmission" of (shaktipat, yogic, psychic, or blessed energy) as such, though one may argue that is exactly what it is, but rather a teacher is reading the situation to present what is appropriate and most helpful right at this moment. That may involve an intuitive sense or psychic ability, an extraordinary load of compassion, and is almost certainly accompanied by strong faith (saddha, confidence and conviction in the teacher) such that the message penetrates. The historical Buddha had a pattern of first prepping the mind/heart of the hearer before presenting that transcendental knowledge peculiar to buddhas -- the teaching of the wisdom that has gone beyond. Before wisdom the gradual discourse proceeded on establishing a peaceful, joyful, and receptive mind then presenting the information. This was possible because the Buddha was more than an arhat (fully enlightened being). He was a Supremely Enlightened One (samma-sam-buddha), which is a specific designation full of meaning. Anyone might become an arhat now that a buddha has arrived and taught, but that a buddha should ever arise (fitted with all the capacities of a supremely wise teach, deft in knowledge, vision, and language) or that one has the karma to come across such a being, this is very rare. Such "teachers of gods (devas) and men (humans)" are rare because it takes so long to cultivate the ancillary skills to be an effective teacher. Not all buddhas are alike, and the historical Buddha learned from the mistakes and shortcomings of previous buddhas. In one case, a buddha of the past did not much emphasize vinaya (monastic rules and regulations) and therefore his dispensation (the existence of the Dharma in the world under him) was shortened. The historical Buddha always tried to strike a balance between what the world as he found it needed and what needed to be done to ensure the preservation of the Teachings for at least 1,000 years. We are now 2,600 or so years out (possibly 500 more than that) and can expect that the Buddha Dharma has become corrupted in this Dark Age (Kali Yuga), with its many schisms and schools, interpretations and translations. The Dharma survives, but there are fewer and fewer humans and devas with the karma to meet with it or readily grasp its profundity. The historical Buddha even in his day wondered whether it was worth teaching to a world so obsessed with sensual pursuits and pleasure. Imagine, that was then. How have we as humans become? More golden and truthful (closer to the Satya Yoga the Vedas speak of, that past and future Golden Age) or darker and more depraved, needing more foundational information and more vivid (less implied) examples? Don't take Wisdom Quarterly's word for it. Do the research, as Ani says the Dalai Lama suggests.

• Ven. Thubten Chodron, Sravasti Abbey (video, May 5, 2011); TEXT by Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Ashley Wells (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol)

Asangoham, 1/20/23; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How should we transmit esoteric knowledge? - Let's encode it in colored sand.

The Secret Teachings of The Tibetan Book of the Dead

(Asangoham) The Tibetan Book of the Dead, also known as the Bardo Thodol, is an ancient terma text that has its origins in the esoteric [heavily influenced by pre-Buddhist Bon] Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

The US of the 1960s loved Tibetan Buddhism

It is a guide to the intermediate state between death and rebirth. It is read or, more accurately, recited to someone who is dying or has recently died in order to help that person navigate the hallucinations and visions that occur during the dying process.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead offers a unique perspective on the nature of consciousness and the human experience of death and rebirth, teaching that consciousness is not limited to the body and that death is not the end, but rather a transition to a new state of being [actually of dynamic and never static becoming].

The Tibetan Book of the Dead's origins can be traced back to the 8th century when the Tibetan King Trisong Detsen [Emperor Tri Songdetsen, the 38th emperor of Tibet] directed the Indian Buddhist master Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) to bring the teachings of Buddhism [from ancient Brahminical (and Brahmin-influenced Mahayana Buddhist] India] to Tibet.

Padmasambhava, known also as "Guru Rinpoche," brought the teachings on the bardos, or the intermediate states between death and rebirth, from his teachers in India.

The teachings were later compiled into the text known today as The Tibetan Book of the Dead. However, the book is not considered Buddhist scripture [not taught by the Buddha or his immediate enlightened disciples or included in the canon of teachings] in the traditional sense.

Scriptures are texts that are the words of the Buddha or other enlightened beings, and these sources are considered to be the ultimate source of Buddhist teachings or the Dhamma or Dharma.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead is considered a terma, or "hidden [cultural] treasure." Termas are believed to contain teachings that are specifically suited to the Tibetan cultural context.

Tibet's church-state  mixes politics and religion.

[These might not be acceptable teachings or regarded as "treasure" in neighboring Buddhist or Himalayan cultures like the Nepalese, Bhutanese, Mongolian, Bangladeshi, and curious hill tribe peoples of South and Southeast Asia many of whom fell within the purview and influence of Potala Palace (a kind of imperial Rome that became the Vatican/Holy See and Catholic Church headquarters ever since the pre-Jesus worship of Mithras later erasing this god and replacing him with the figure of Jesus Christ, or "Ceasar's Messiah," but keeping many of the same myths and details), Lhasa, Tibet at one time].

#bardosthodol #tibetanbookofthedead #spirituality

• Script: Matt Mackane
• Voiceover: Andrea Giordani
• Editor: Aakash Chauhan
• Score: Epidemic Music

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