Understanding the Difficulties That Arise on the Path As founder of the Forum of An Interview with Living and Dying and the well-known author of The ANDREW Power and the Pain, Dr. An- drew Holecek teaches semi- nars throughout the country HOLECEK on spiritual hardship and the Tibetan views of life, death, and beyond. teaching applies particularly to people who are no longer win- Jeff Cox: What moved you to write dow shopping and have some about the pain that happens on the mileage under them in terms of How to Heal Using Sound spiritual path ? practice. by TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE Andrew Holecek: There are JC: People need to see the connec- many books that extol the benefits tions between what comes up in their of practice. They discuss the sunny lives and the effort they are putting of space, and in space there are side of meditation. Obviously we into the practice. The very fact of first place—we did not want to This invaluable teaching on awareness and energy. When need to hear this—otherwise, why having some challenges is actually a deal with them. healing physical and psy- these three aspects—open space, would we get involved in some- sign of progress. Meditation gives us a second chological problems using clear awareness, and spontane- thing that guarantees hardships? AH: This is the exactly the case. chance to relate to unwanted ex- sound—used since ancient ous energy—are not in harmony, But during my twenty years as We could summarize the entire perience in a healthy way that is times in Tibet—is adapted physical illness may form. It can a meditation instructor I started path into one word—relaxing. based on equanimity and accep- from The Tibetan Yogas of Body, be important to rely on conven- hearing a consistent litany of Relaxing into the nature of your tance. It is a second chance to pu- Speech and Mind, by best-sell- tional healing methods to treat difficulties—I've talked with own mind. However, when we rify karma. In order to wake up, ing author Tenzin Wangyal the form of an illness, for exam- many meditators. For this reason start to relax, the repressed ele- you have to face the shadow side Rinpoche. ple, having surgery to remove I wanted to write something that ments of the body/mind come that you have stuffed into your diseased tissue. But you can also would encourage people by tell- up—it is like a Pandora's box. We body/mind. focus on healing the space, aware- ing the that they are not alone in discover that there is a reason we When you get on the path, you A chapter of the Bon Mother ness, and energy through the use their difficulties on the path. This repressed these elements in the need to realize that you are ask- Tantra describes various syllables of sound. Combined with the ing for it! When we get it and are you can sound to remove mental breath and prana, sound not only unhappy about it, it is because obscurations, cut through energy can help alleviate the symptoms we didn't read the fine print in blocks, and even heal pain and of illness, it can also address the the dharma path contract. physical illness. source of illness. Nothing is guar- These "regressive" experienc- How can sound heal a physi- anteed, but a strong possibility for 746 es, such as your life falling apart, cal ailment? Every part of your healing through sound exists. STD physical body has a foundation (Continued on page 7) (Continued on page 5) NO. NY14851 POSTAGE PAID PRSRT U.S. PERMIT ITHACA, PATIENCE on the Path by JETSUNMA TENZIN PALMO and enough pleasure so that we Patience may not be the flash- don't totally despair. We have to iest of all of the virtues, but appreciate that and not always it's one that allows us to get look for everything to be just through each day with some lovely. And so when things do go Usually we live our whole lives measure of grace. In this ex- wrong, when we do meet people trying to avoid pain and attract cerpt from Into the Heart of Life, who are difficult, instead of fall- pleasure; we are afraid that we Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo offers ing into despair or trying to run will experience more pain than a fresh look at the importance away or drug ourselves into not pleasure. This creates a very in- of being patient, in the deep- acknowledging it, we make use secure and fearful mind, because est sense of the word. of that situation. We make use of we know that we cannot have one it through our intelligence. without the other. But we can face Patience isn't something pas- everything within a spacious yet In Buddhist cosmology there sive—it is very active and very grounded mind. When we deal are many levels of beings. But intelligent. It is important, in all skillfully with both the pleasure the human realm is considered circumstances, to have this kind and the pain, where is the fear? ideal because we supposedly of openness, so that when things There is no hope and fear in that have intelligence and we also go well we can be happy, but kind of mind. Whatever comes, Requested have choice. We have the bal- when things don't go so well we we can deal with it; whoever ance between pain and pleasure: can still be okay. We can deal with comes, we can deal with them. Publications 14851 enough pain to keep us awake it. We learn through patience to I want to express this clearly Service 6483 BUY DIRECT FROM SNOW LION NY be as stable as a mountain. We because I don't want you to Lion Box AND SAVE AT LEAST 30% don't shake, whatever winds are think that cultivating patience e photo: Wisdom Quarterly America Buddhist Journal blowing against us. Ithaca, Change Snow PO ON MOST SNOW LION TITLES! (Continued on page 2) ■ PATIENCE ON THE PATH derful, but for the rest of us.... to separate, this is the opportu- Continued from page 1 One of the problems in fami- nity to learn and develop, to cul- lies is that we do get locked into tivate and create something more Relating to the Guru just means being weak and pas- unhealthy patterns from which positive, even when a situation sive and unable to answer back we are unable to extricate our- has become very negative. We do Q: If one has taken a teacher and then sees them behaving badly or in or stand firm. It's not that. Some- selves. So it is really important to not necessarily need to ditch the seemingly inappropriate ways, what advice do you give students who are one who is patient and doesn't develop the quality of standing whole thing and say, "Let's try interpreting this? Is it even acceptable to leave a teacher once you have hit back is much stronger than back and observing the situation again somewhere else," nor just made a commitment to him? the person who hits. Movies un- by seeing and hearing ourselves. carry on because we are too tired TetsunmaTenzin Palmo: Personally, I think that we should nev- fortunately tend to model a very But to see and hear ourselves ac- and worn down to think of how er completely surrender our own integrity. I think that it's a big macho culture where, if someone curately we have to take into ac- to get out of it. mistake to think that once you have taken on the teacher that's it, annoys us, we just bash him, or count the tone of our voice. We We all have the possibility for and whatever he does you have to see it with pure perception. Of kick him in the face, or blow him may think later, "Oh, but I only change. It does not matter how course, you know, one can point to Naropa and Tilopa and Marpa up, and that's the solution. But said this and this and this." Yet long something has been going and Milarepa, but nonetheless I think that's quite dangerous. of course that is not the solution perhaps it wasn't what we said on—our ways of acting and speak- The point is that the students are the children and the teacher is to anything, as we know very ing—we can change. When some- the parent. A good parent helps the child to mature properly, to not well. If something upsets us and thing is not right, when something endlessly be a child. And if a parent is abusive, then just because they annoys us, maybe we should re- are the parent doesn't mean that the child should be left in their care. ally look into our own mind. In If a teacher really acts inappropriately or requests inappropriate be- the movie Star Wars, there is one We all have the possibil- havior on the part of the student, then the student has the right, also scene where Luke Skywalker gets ity for change. It does as a human being, to say, "No, I'm very sorry, I don't accept that," angry as he faces the Dark Em- not matter how long or, "Well, okay, explain why you're doing this," And if the teacher peror. He begins to verbally abuse something has been him, saying that he would always will not explain, or their explanation doesn't ring true, then I think I going on—our ways of it's perfectly appropriate to say be against him and his evil ways with all due respect, "Well, I'm and so on.