Reliving Past Lives (Dr. Helen Wambach)

Dr. Helen Wambach, psychologist, past life regressionist, researcher, author of Reliving Past Lives: The Evidence Under Hypnosis (4.4 out of 5 stars with 91 ratings); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Reliving Past Lives (scientific research)

In Reliving Past Lives, psychologist Dr. Helen Wambach, Ph.D., shares the fascinating results of her scientific research, a large-scale past life group hypnotherapy regression sessions.

Wheel: Bhavachakra thangka explained

In an effort to rule out wishful thinking, false reports, clouded memories, and self-aggrandizing fantasies often associated with past life hypnosis reports, Dr. Wambach devised a rigorous protocol.

She chose time-specific periods from 2000 BC to the 20th century and asked hypnotically regressed respondents where they were and what they were doing during that specific period.

Race, social class, occupation, types of money used, and gender were all explored. Mundane questions were asked such as:

• "What types of utensils are being used?"
• "Describe weaving techniques that are being used."
• "What foodstuffs are commonly in use during this time?"
• "What color is the brickwork of the houses?"

With meditation we can see karma and rebirth

When taken to a specific time period, some respondents reported experiences while others did not, prompting the question, Did they report nothing because they were between lives?

Dr. Wambach reasoned that if she asked a large number of subjects questions about a specific time and place and received a sizable percentage of similar answers from subjects who weren't consciously aware of the information they or others were reporting, that was objective scientific data worth investigating further.

Together with her book, Life before Life, the data is compelling reading for anyone contemplating the validity of rebirth, reincarnation, and life beyond physical death. More

• Reliving Past Lives: The Evidence Under Hypnosis (Goodreads)

Samsara: cycling through REBIRTHS

Ven. Nyanatiloka (B. Dictionary); Giphy; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Symbolic Tibetan art showing the various worlds all caught in Death's mouth.

Samsāra is the "round of rebirth," literally "perpetual wandering," "cycling through the revolving wheel of life and death."

It is a name that designate the sea of life or ocean of suffering, ever restlessly heaving up and down. It is the symbol of this continuous process of ever again and again being reborn, growing old and decrepit, suffering then dying only to be reborn.

Samsara is not suffering in the sense of unending agony but rather of constant nausea with bouts of agony, bouts of bliss, and long stretches of carrying on as karmas (past actions) come to fruition and play themselves out with imponderable ramifications.

Results (vipaka, phala, mental resultants and fruits) ripen as the outcomes of ill-done and well-done deeds alike and interact with one another, constantly affected by our present choices and responses.

More precisely put, samsāra is the unbroken chain of the fivefold aggregate-combinations that -- constantly changing from moment to moment -- continuously follow one upon the other through inconceivable periods of time. We call this ultimately impersonal process "renewed existence," "again becoming," or simply "rebirth."

• "Reincarnation" should be avoided because it is a word for "a spirit again entering flesh" (re - again, incarnation = into flesh), which is ultimately inaccurate. Conventionally, this may be what seems to be happening. "Transmigration," foolishly used by Ven. Thanissaro, is completely misleading. For it suggests an unchanging actor or doer migrating through many births, which is utterly at odds with the Buddhist "Doctrine in Ultimate Terms" (Abhidharma), which states there is no soul, no self, no ego actually going through this impersonal process.
• But that is very tricky to understand, because it is the basis by which we are trapped in ignorance, clinging, and being averse to experience taken as personal. Being rid of this wrong view of "self" is the entrance to the first stage of enlightenment (bodhi), awakening (nirodha or the "attainment of the extinction of ignorance"), and complete freedom (NIRVANA).
• Nirvana is NOT Samsara, as is popularly stated by the Hinduistic Mahayana Buddhism, that clings to a doctrine of self that states that living beings are consciousness itself, or a conscious soul, or a "Higher Self," all of which the historical Buddha went to great pains to reject and dispel. The meaning of the 1960s slogan "Nirvana is Samsara" seems to be that, "Everyone is already enlightened, so there is nothing to do but behave in our conventional lives as if we were ultimately free" like the Buddha and the arhats, the "Noble Ones." Nirvana is not samsara because nirvana is free of suffering, and samsara is steeped in it. Nirvana is free of greed, hatred, and delusion, whereas samsara is nourished by these underlying motivations.

A single lifetime, like this one, constitutes only a miniscule and fleeting fraction of this samsara. To be able to comprehend the First Noble (= leading to enlightenment) Truth of the disappointing/unsatisfactory nature of all things because of their utter inability to fulfill us.

One must allow one's gaze to rest upon the samsāra, upon this frightful chain of rebirths (now here in a good place, soon in a terrible place of suffering, and so on according to our just desserts), rather than merely on one single lifetime, which may of course be more or less painful than the entire process taken as a whole.

See also the Three Universal Characteristics of All Existence (ti-lakkhana), "not-self" (anatta), "ultimate truth" (paramattha), and "rebirth" (patisandhi).

Maitreya the Future Buddha (sutra)

ExoticIndiaArt.com; sutra (DN 26); Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Tibetan thangka painting of Maitreya Buddha as "deity" (exoticindiaart.com)

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Maitreya thangka with brocade (Exotic India Art)

Maitreya (from maitri or "friend," embodiment of "loving-kindness"), the "kindly one," is a bodhisattva ("being striving for enlightenment") according to the sutras or a buddha (supremely enlightened one) according to the tantras.

When he is represented as a buddha, he is shown seated. But the legs, instead of being crossed, are pendent.

He is the only "divinity" (deva) in the Himalayan Buddhist pantheon represented seated in European fashion.

He has the signs of a buddha such as long earlobes, urna (auspicious bump with curled hair between eyebrows), and the ushnisha (cranial bump on the crown of his head, symbolizing wisdom), and he wears the robes of a wandering ascetic.

Maitreya, also known as "the Future Buddha," is now thought to be living on the Tushita plane waiting for the right time to come down to earth. Tushita is one of the celestial deva worlds above Mount Sumeru and is considered the special field of future buddhas.

Tibetans believe that if someone makes statues and thangka paintings of Maitreya Buddha and chants the mantra "The Promise of Maitreya Buddha," that person will be reborn in Tushita after death.

Shown with an extremely sweet and gentle countenance, he holds in his left hand, between thumb and forefinger, the stem of a lotus flower. The bloom of this lotus supports a wheel. This is the Buddhist wheel of spiritual instruction (eight spokes of the Noble Eightfold Path).

His right hand is held in the varada-mudra (Tibetan mchog sbyin gyi phyag rgya) of generosity or boon granting, with the palm facing downwards and the fingers extended.

Surmounting his image is a royal parasol (Tibetan gdugs, suggestive of a vimana-UFO), the traditional symbol of both protection and royalty. More

• Maitreya (Metteyya) Sutra, flawed translation

SUTRA: "The Wheel-Turning Monarch"
Wisdom Quarterly translation (Pali canon, Cakkavati Sutra, based on Ven. Thanissaro, DN 26)

Future Buddha Maitreya, India (Sahil Vohra/flickr)

Another Buddha -- Maitreya (Pali "Metteyya") -- will gain enlightenment, his monastic community (Sangha) numbering in the thousands.

The greatest king of the time, King Sankha, will go forth into the left-home life of a wandering ascetic and attain full enlightenment as a disciple under Metteyya's guidance.

The story, after chronicling the ups and downs of human wealth, life span, and so on concludes with the following lesson on karma and skillful action:

"...Meditators, live with yourself as your island (lamp), yourself as your refuge (safe resort), with nothing else as your refuge. Live with the Dharma as your island, the Dharma as your refuge, with nothing else as your refuge.

• [Note 1: May also be translated as: "Live with phenomena (dharmas) as your island, phenomena as your refuge, with nothing else as your refuge," where the only real "refuge" (sarana) is nirvana. Other things called "refuge," namely the Three "Refuges" are actually mistranslated and are actually "guides." See Henry Steel Olcott for correct etymology.]

"And how does a meditator [do so]? In one instance a meditator remains focused on the body in and of itself-- ardent, alert, and mindful -- setting aside craving and grief for the world.

"One remains focused on feelings (sensations) in and of themselves... mind in and of itself... mental formations in and of themselves -- ardent, alert, and mindful -- setting aside greed and grief for the world.

"This is how one lives with oneself as an island, as a refuge, with nothing else as a refuge, with the Dharma as an island, the Dharma as refuge, with nothing else as a refuge...." More

Free College Night: Himalayan Buddhism

Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly; Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena

Buddhist prayer flags flutter in the Himalayas (Bhakti Omwoods/facebook.com)

College Night is an evening at the Museum just for college students. 

Meet the curators, attend tours, and listen to gallery talks with exclusive behind-the-scenes information about favorite paintings and sculptures. 

Learn about the 20-foot-tall Tibetan Buddhist silk thangka in the special exhibition In the Land of Snow: Buddhist Art of the Himalayas.

Lamayuru gompa, Ladakh (DT)

et inspired by the photography exhibition Face It: The Photographic Portrait, and then channel that inspiration as by drawing in the galleries and enjoying music, food, and drinks with fellow art lovers in the Museum’s sculpture garden.

Students receive 25% off all food for sale in the Garden Café. Visit the Norton Simon College Night page for more information.

• Friday, April 25, 2014, 7-9:00 pm
• Open House, FREE with valid college I.D.
• Registration recommended but not required

The Four Floods

Seven & Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly (EXPLANATION), with Encyclopedia.com

The great Tsunami that woke up the world to climate chaos and HAARP activity

ogha (a "flood"). Term denoting negative moral and mental qualities, such as ignorance and craving, that impede a person on the path to enlightenment. Various qualities originally grouped into lists of five and later of four. The "four floods" are identical with the four "outflows" or "inflows" (āśrava; Pali, asava), namely: sense-desires (kāma-āśrava), craving for renewed existence (bhava-āśrava), wrong views (drishta-āśrava), and ignorance (avidya-āśrava).

Living beings -- humans, celestials, this worldly, otherworldly, more fortunate, less fortunate, all such beings -- are overcome by factors that bind them to samsara, the Round of Suffering in cyclical births and deaths. These flows, which are described as both flowing in and flowing out, are difficult to perceive as problems.

1. Craving for sense pleasure? Few would regard sensual desire as a problem. Instead, it seems "natural" or certainly neutral, just a function of having senses. But insight meditation reveals the immediate dukkha (distress, discomfort, unsatisfactoriness) that arises with the arising of a desire. There is good-desire, still painful, regarded as such because it leads to the end of suffering. What kind of desire is good: Motivation (chanda) for enlightenment and liberation (moksha). Not all motivations are beneficial, but sitting in meditation, for example, is a quest that is quite positive.

Global deluge stories predate Jewish "Noah's Arc" lore by many millenia (Ra'ad)

2. Craving for "renewed becoming" (bhava), or rebirth in progressively exalted worlds, also seems natural and good ("good" means resulting in sukha, the opposite of dukkha). But it also results in suffering. No world, no matter how exalted or long lived, is free of dukkha. The end of ALL suffering is nirvana. Rebirth in heaven is a legitimate goal in Buddhism, but it is not the ultimate goal. And there is a reason why it is not. The Buddha does not recommend leaving a better thing for a lesser thing. The opposite is true. When criticized for encouraging rich Shakyan princes to renounce their positions and become ascetic-monastics (samana-bhikkhus), he explained why what they were leaving was far inferior to what they were moving towards. Obviously, ordinary uninstructed "worldlings" think this is madness. We have been striving for riches, pleasure, status for countless lives. Who would abandon these things on purpose? So long as we do not see the value of things in perspective, we will naturally consider the inferior superior. Looking at the big picture, those princes attaining nirvana compared to abandoning their trifling, short-lived comforts... there's no comparison.

• desire. There is no single Sanskrit or Pāli equivalent. Instead, Buddhist psychology classifies impulses according to their objects. Desire for unwholesome things is generally known as tanhā, "craving." Other forms of desire, which may be skillful, unskillful (producing suffering when their results are met), or neutral, are analyzed into the three forms of chanda. The often-encountered notion that Buddhism teaches that all desire is bad or wrong is a gross oversimplification.

3. Wrong views seem, on the face of it, quite reprehensible. They are. But what so few people know is which wrong views? Not every distortion needs correcting. The Noble Eightfold Path factor "right view" deals with understanding karma and consequences (vipaka, phala), that good follows good, but does not follow right away. It takes time to ripen and results come opportunistically. Sariputra, foremost in wisdom among male disciples (Khema was the foremost female), defined right view. There's no sense in spending life trying to right all our views. That's not right view. Right view is more limited: it is understanding what "suffering" (dukkha) means, what is causing suffering, what is the end of suffering (nirvana), and what the path to its end is (DN 22). Wrong view can be abandoned by eliminating views altogether. There is no reason to hold a view when practicing meditation (the cultivation of serenity-and-insight), but what could possibly replace views? Mindfulness and keen investigation of dharmas (the doctrine Dependent Origination and phenomena in general). When practicing insight meditation on a foundation of "right concentration" (the first four jhanas), it becomes possible to penetrate things directly, without the intermediation (intercession, mediation) of views. (Bhikkhu Bodhi on right view).

The 31 Planes of Existence simplified to six general states of rebirth in Tibetan art

4. Ignorance is universally condemned (except perhaps when it is thought to lead to bliss). But we normally do know what to regard as the sort of ignorance that the Buddha is pointing to as a "flood." We are overwhelmed and inundated by the view of self (what mystic Jews and Christians and even Muslims might call "pride") or sakkaya-ditthi. It's the primary hurdle to reaching enlightenment. One is not freed from it by thinking or reasoning. It can certainly be "understood" through such means, but it cannot be penetrated, experienced, or directly known that way. The real ignorance to be overcome is not ALL ignorance, a view which leads to the expectation that enlightenment means omniscience. What we are ignorant of is the Four Noble Truths. Just as with right view, what can ennoble us is penetrating the profoundity of these four things: Dukkha, Samudaya (cause or origin), Nirvana, and Magga (path, cure, or solution). A superficial understanding just leads to doubt and arguing.

Flooding Today
There is literal flooding today. Los Angeles is being drenched with cliffs giving way. Meanwhile, Australia is having its own Katrina. These are as nothing compared to the problems resulting from climate chaos in the developing world. When all this is happening in different places simultaneously, might it be possible that in the future history will read that we lived through another global flood?

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"Peace comes from within"

(Zoe Green)

Symptoms of Inner-Peace
(Wildmind) I came across the following in my chiropractor’s waiting room. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Be on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world. Some signs and symptoms of inner peace: More>>

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Tibet sees record number of tourists in July

Annual Buddha Thangka unfolding ceremony, Drepung Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet, Aug. 20, 2009. Such ceremonies at Drepung and Sera monasteries are held on the first day of the Shoton Festival and attract thousands of Buddhists, Chinese, and foreign tourists visiting and on pilgrimage (Xinhua). Photos

Buddhist monks and believers unfolding a Buddha Thangka, Drepung Monastery, Lhasa, capital of Tibet, Aug. 20, 2009 (Xinhua). Photo

• Special Report: 2009 Shoton Festival

Tourists take pictures, Potala Palace, Lhasa, capital of SW China's Tibet, 7/29/09.

BEIJING, (Xinhua, Aug. 22, 2009) -- China's Tibetan Autonomous Region saw a tourist surge last month, with the number of tourists from home and abroad rising to a new monthly record of 1.22 million, according to the National Tourism Administration.

• Photo Gallery

The peak-season tourists generated more than one billion yuan in tourism revenue for the region, the administration said Friday in an online statement. The number of tourists more than doubled over last July... More>>

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