by Marcus on February 8, 2010
Presenting … that grand old man of words … Mark Twain!
He was one of my favorite writers of old…er…my young days. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn,
One of his favorite phrases which I still remember was, “Giving up smoking is so easy I have done it a thousand times.” Or something like that.
I beg your pardon for the pages a little twisted but what is a great tale if not twisted? Hope you enjoy the man’s wit and inimitable style as much as I did. Still do.
The rest of the pages are here.. [click to continue…]
by Marcus on February 4, 2010
Earlier I posted the Tibetan Book of the Dead. I hope that the following little that I have read about will be helpful.
I must declare that what is written below are just a summary (and a very brief one at that) of my own readings. Some would be my own assumptions and simplifications. How real it is I do not really know. Perhaps the truth of it can only be realized by the individual. The more fortunate would ‘bump’ into a teacher who has realizations of what is taught in the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
The Book (of the dead) describes the process of dying into eight stages. I observed that it is in two major processes.
These two processes are:
1 the dissolution of the gross physical body
2 the dissolution of the consciousness winds
The Gross Physical Body
This is what we see walking around. Our physical body that we identify as ourselves is comprised of five elements: earth, water, fire, wind, space.
The other way of relating to these five elements is to think like this:
Earth = our cells, the solid organic matter that eventually decay to become earth or dust
Water = the liwuid part of us, the water in our cells and blood
Fire = the warmth or heat energy of our bodies
Wind = the cavities, the spaces between all cellular structures
Space = the gross consciousness (because there is also the subtle consciousness) which a part of the composition of us as a living thing.
The Consciousness winds
The critical part of the art of dying lies in the fact that there is that part of us that we cannot see. This is the subtle winds.
Before talking about winds, perhaps we need to know that [click to continue…]
by Marcus on January 28, 2010
Living and dying. This is one aspect of our short life that is inescapable. Its actual nature is to most remain elusive.
I tend to think that death is not so frightening. What is most frightening is the actual process of dying. Having seen many friends dying, it fills me with dread and sorry for the pain and suffering they underwent.
Trying to understand death before coming to death’s door has always fascinated me. It would be a victory of sorts and immense satisfaction to know what comes with dying. Of course, eventually theknell will sound but for the time being, I am nowhere near having the answers.
Reading up and hearing about it helps but they are in no way substitute for the actual truth of knowing it for oneself. Among the many literature that I have read and tried to understand, the Bardo Thodrol, The Tibetan Book of The Dead seems to provide the best answers.
After a relative passed away a week ago, I looked up one of my old books and started reading it again. The book I opened was ‘The Tibetan Book of The Dead – Liberation Through Understanding in the Between’ by Robert Thurman.
This book is in many ways useful for the uninitiated to the Tibetan view of dying. It provides a very good background of the the Bardo Thodrol, its origins and the fascinating history associated with it.
There were many instances where the author exercised some carefree abandon in interpreting concepts in his own words which I found distracting but he was trying his best to convey the ideas. Can’t fault him too much for that.
The book did well to present dying as a process which is the ideal occasion to gain liberation. In speaking of liberation, it is [click to continue…]
by Marcus on January 21, 2010
Tarot Cards Images
The Tarot is a good tool to delve into the unseen and unknown.
As a young fellow, I was very fascinated with Tarot cards. It was always a dream to own ‘my’ own set but back then they were very hard to get hold of. So we substituted them with playing cards. Mine was a pack of worn out Aladdins which had seen better days discarded by a group of carpenters. You can imagine the attachment I had for them!
Naturally, playing cards can never match the real thing. The major arcana, those 22 mysterious cards that bring forth vivid imageries were absent. And a Tarot is just not a tarot without them! But like they say, if you can’t have fish, prawns will do.
Without the major arcana, you may think that they are incomplete. Well, I once had the benefit of a reading from a Mrs Bak, who [click to continue…]
