Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chod

 

“To consider adversity as a friend is the instruction of Chod.”

Machig Labdron

 

 True liberation happens when one is free from the restraints of the ego. If you read Across many Mountains by Yangzom Brauen--a book I wrote about last February--you are somewhat familiar with Machig Labdron’s teachings. The Chod is a spiritual Tibetan practice introduced by a woman a thousand years ago. Her name was Machig Labdron, an eleventh century Tibetan yogini.

 After reading Across Many Mountains I was intrigued to learn more about this aspect of Tibetan culture and Buddhism, so I searched reading material on the subject, and I found “Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chod” by Jerome Edou. Jerome Edou has been an interpreter for various lamas, and is an author and translator of works on Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.

 The book chronicles the life story of Machig Labdron, revealing her teachings and wisdom. The writer of this blog post has been a meditation practitioner for many years; the book meets the needs of this practitioner, responding to doubts and concerns and clearing spots of confusion. It helps to integrate various aspects of meditation, transcending the act of meditation itself.

  It is not clear to me whether this book will be appreciated by somebody who has no experience in the practice of meditation. Machig Labdron’s words suggest there is truth in my statement:

 “My Chod instructions consist in the authentic teaching of Mahamudra,

And the Mahamudra cannot be explained by words.”

 Buddhists agree that people tend to be enslaved by what the ego dictates. The   Chod guides the practitioner to let go of the desires of the ego. This liberation enables the mind to find its state of true freedom and clarity.

 If you are just starting to explore this subject, Loving-kindness by Sharon Salzberg may be a good beginning to introduce this topic. Eventually, you may choose Jerome Edou’s book on Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chod.

It is time for a break. By the end of April I will be back to My Writing Life blog with more book recommendations, both fiction and non-fiction.

Enjoy the ride, wherever it takes you.

Till next time.

 

 

Interesting references:

https://dakinitranslations.com/2021/10/13/gender-blindness-patriarchy-denial-and-female-tokenism-in-buddhism/

https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/cultivating-health/10-health-benefits-of-meditation-and-how-to-focus-on-mindfulness-and-compassion/2022/12

https://www.taramandala.org/teachings/what-is-a-dakini/

 

 

 Note: the next post will by published in May. Thank you for your interest in My Writing Life blog.

The Animals' Agenda: Freedom, Compassion and Coexistence in the Human Age by Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce

 

“The Animals’ Agenda brings us closer to the day when our behavior toward our fellow species is determined not by convenience or greed but by compassion.” Sy Montgomery

 

 It is a common “mistake” to make generalizations about groups of people, and this mistake is also made in relation to animals. Just like people, animals have individual personalities. Their intelligence and intuition allow them to adapt to their environment. They have emotions and they experience trauma. Despite the scientific progress made in understanding animal cognition and behaviors, the poor treatment of animals continues to ignore the suffering and pain humans inflict upon them.

  The Animals' Agenda by Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce is a detailed account of our interactions with animals; the authors propose solutions that can be applied to address these issues.

 Animal sentience is well established in the scientific community, so why is it okay to disregard the ethical implications of this knowledge?

 What is the meaning of freedom? According to Hope Ferdowsian, physician and bioethicist, freedom for animals has the same meaning that it has for humans. “Freedom to meet our basic physical needs, whatever those might be by species and individual—including freedom of movement (bodily liberty); safe and secure from harm from humans (bodily integrity—and this should include freedom from harm to the mind); freedom to love and bond with whom we wish; respect for our choices, and freedom from humiliation and intentional shaming.”

  The Animals' Agenda reveals the ways in which we mistreat animals, and it opens the door to a new possibility: the hope to turn the Anthropocene, or Age of Humanity, into the “Compassionocene.” First, The Animals’ Agenda sets the path to acknowledge how the consequences of our actions have effects on our own lives, so we are not immune to these consequences.

  There is no way out of the chaos unless we choose a path of compassion and understanding.

   What we do to others, we do to ourselves. Changes need to happen from the heart. Caring for others is intelligence in action.

     It was devastating and disturbing to learn about the details of the massacre in a school in Texas. As a mother myself, my heart breaks for the lives of the kids and the teachers lost. A hater shot 19 children and two teachers, but first he shot his grandmother. Then he had enough time to crash his grandmother’s car and to perform these atrocities inside the school building while enforcement officials hesitated outside and stopped parents from breaking into the building to be with their children.

 The hater had bought the ammunitions on his eighteenth birthday. Every detail of this horrifying event is traumatizing. There are no words to describe the desperation I feel as I type this paragraph.

  The hater responsible for killing 21 people had a history of abusing animals. Not only did he abuse animals but he also promoted the abuse of animals by sharing photos on social media. 

  Animal abuse should never be ignored.

  The white supremacist in Buffalo, New York, who killed ten people at the grocery store two weeks ago, has a history of animal abuse, and it had never been reported. Why?

  How is it possible that the person who whines about “politicization” of the shootings receives large amounts of money from pro-gun groups for his political campaigns? His statement is not only contradictory, but the whole situation seems to have been taken from a terrifying dystopian novel. And why is animal abuse not taken seriously?

  I wrote about the association between cruelty toward animals and criminal behavior when I reviewed the book Second Nature by Jonathan Balcombe. You can also learn about this by reading the link of the Humane Society I provide at the bottom of this post.

 The way we treat animals is indeed a reflection of how we fail on many levels.

I am sharing an articles that may be of interest to you:

https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/the-link-between-animal-cruelty-and-human-violence

 

The Wisdom of Wolves by Jim and Jamie Dutcher

 

 “Each and every wolf has a story to share. Can we be trusted to listen?”

 Marc Bekoff

 Every member of a pack of wolves is valued by the others and recognized as a unique individual who makes a special contribution to the group. Their bonds are deep.  Jim and Jamie Dutcher spent six years living in a tent beside a pack of wolves by the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. The Wisdom of Wolves shares their knowledge and experience of living side by side with the Sawtooth pack of wolves, taking us into an emotional journey of countless surprises.

 Jim and Jamie Dutcher describe the wolves’ compassionate nature; they admire their curious courageous spirit. Wolves care well for the most vulnerable in the pack, and they do what it takes to keep everybody safe.  Jim and Jamie examined their relationships and paid special attention to the ways wolves communicate. They also learned how wolves keep each other in check to maintain harmony in the group.

  The authors give each wolf a name and describe their fascinating personalities. Besides, they explain how wolves interact with other species.

  When a person kills an old wolf, the survival of the group as a whole is threatened because old wolves have invaluable knowledge and experience that help the pack. Furthermore, the loss of any member of the group causes deep pain among the wolves. The Wisdom of Wolves elucidates how they grieve.

  The book was published by National Geographic. Both Jim and Jamie Dutcher raise public awareness about the true nature of wolves by writing books, making documentaries and giving talks in educational settings.

 

 The authors debunk the myth of the so-called lone wolf: “We often hear the term of the ‘lone wolf’ in reference to a person who acts alone, cares for no one, and craves no companionship. Sadly, like so many negative things falsely connected to wolves, the term has now come to mean a loner who wishes to do us harm. Such a state is an aberration among humans, and it’s equally rare among wolves.”

  It is important to clarify the concept to avoid misunderstandings and confusion. The truth is that a lone wolf in nature is a temporary phenomenon. Biologists call him a disperser. In reality “the lone wolf in nature is a wolf in its third year or so who has decided to leave its birth pack and strike out in search of new territory and a mate. What does a lone wolf want? It wants to stop being a lone wolf. It wants togetherness, to be part of something bigger.” It is not the aberration that the misused term alludes to.

  The term “lone wolf” should not be used to describe people that have no compassion and empathy for others because it perpetuates an attitude of ignorance toward wolves. It tarnishes the reputation of wolves and is dangerous. Another relevant fact to highlight here is that when the ecosystems where wolves thrive are respected, wolves don’t attack cattle.

   During the fourth year of their project, Jim and Jamie encountered all kinds of threats. They received anonymous letters in their mailbox asking them “to get rid of those wolves or we will." Authorities put pressure on them to make sure they would move out of their wolf camp. They were persecuted in different ways.

 “Somebody posted signs near our camp warning us to be gone or ‘wind up in the Custer County jail.’ Even a former governor weighted in, saying our project was nothing more than ‘wolf propaganda’ and should not be allowed to exist. Jamie and I were painfully aware that we were responsible for the lives of these wolves, but our ability to keep them safe seemed increasingly beyond our control.”

  In view of the stress they faced, Jim went out for a walk to sort things out. During his walk, the leader of the pack, Kamots, stayed close to him. He would disappear into the trees, and then he would emerge again, trotting and exploring the territory, until something amazing happened.

 As Jim sat and talked to himself, wondering what to do, Kamots approached him.

 “In a gesture I’d never seen before, he raised his paw up to me. I put out my hand and pressed it against his paw, and we sat there like that for a minute in silence. I felt as though he was assuring me that if we held up our end, he would hold up his. We should continue to deal with the human world, and in his calm, strong, confident way, he would keep his pack stable and safe. He was that kind of leader.”

 

The wolves gave Jim and Jamie a very special gift: the gift of trust between species, and through this gift they learned a lot about life, love, and compassion. You can visit their website to learn more about their work:

If you enjoyed this post, you will probably welcome my writing on these books:

Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals

Untamed

Unforgotten

Brave New World

 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a satire about a society in which people are labeled and classified into groups or castes. They are conditioned to behave a certain way since they are born. Anybody who dares to think original thoughts or to crave solitude is considered dangerous and weird. These people are treated like misfits and are deported to a distant island.

  In Brave New World everybody is supposed to be happy, but this happiness is not true happiness. It is loveless and synthetic. It is based on the consumption of goods. Human beings are deprived of love and compassion, and those who dare to do something differently are treated with contempt and sent away.

  People are  encouraged to consume a drug called “Soma” to feel good and “happy” all the time.  In this male dominated society sexual promiscuity is the norm. Yet the sexual act is meaningless.
   Aldous Huxley’s Brave New Word is the description of a conformist society in which art and science are considered threats to their stability and their so-called “freedom”. They have to be muzzled to satisfy the interests of the status quo. Literature, for example, is of no interest to people because they fear that it will make them feel sad, so they shy away from it just as they reject anything that is thought-provoking. Literature carries the risk of awakening the possibility of dealing with original thoughts.

 Even though the individuals in Brave New World believe they are free they are all expected to behave in predictable ways.  Anything that is considered unconventional or that strays from standard patterns of behavior is treated with distrust, and so the root of the irony is that this world is neither brave nor new.

 Interestingly, George Orwell expressed his concerns about banned books in his popular novel 1984.  Aldous Huxley, on the other hand, portrayed a society in which there was no need to censor books anymore because people did not care about literature altogether: since a very early age they were conditioned to believe that literature  was boring, depressing or a threat to their stability.

 Soon after the publication of 1984, Huxley wrote a letter to George Orwell. I will share a fragment of this letter:

“My own belief is that the ruling oligarchy will find less arduous and wasteful ways of governing and of satisfying its lust for power, and those ways will resemble those which I described in Brave New World.

“The lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude or by flogging and kicking them into obedience. In other words, I feel that the nightmare of “Nineteen Eighty-Four” is destined to modulate into the nightmare of a world having more resemblance to that which I imagined in Brave New World.  The change will be brought about as a result of a felt need for increased efficiency.”