Reflections in a Mirror: The Nature of Appearance in Buddhist Philosophy
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This certainly is in the tradition of the wise ones."
From the Foreword by Ven. Lama Pema Wangdak
Charlie Singer
Charlie Singer was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1952, and moved to the United States with his family in 1954. In 1970, he began studying comparative religion and philosophy as a freshman at Pennsylvania State University, where he received a B.A. degree in General Arts and Sciences in 1973. Since 1974, he has studied Tibetan Buddhism with lamas from all four major schools of the Tibetan tradition. He has worked in the fields of Special Education and Early Childhood Education, and is also a blues musician with eight albums to his credit (see Blues Mandala at cdbaby.com). Currently he is the Buddhist instructor at the Wilkes-Barre, PA affiliated center of Donak Choling, under the direction of Ven. Lama Rinchen Puntsok.
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Reflections in a Mirror - Charlie Singer
Copyright © 2011 by Charlie Singer.
Empty Blue Planet copyright ©1998
The No-Self Nature copyright ©1995
The Last Word in Shalom is OM copyright ©2001
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:
iUniverse
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-4656-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4620-4657-7 (ebk)
Printed in the United States of America
iUniverse rev. date: 08/25/2011
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Empty Blue Planet
Chapter 1: Blue Planet
Chapter 2: Compassionate Planet
Chapter 3: Empty Planet
Chapter 4: Empty Blue Planet
Afterword
The No-Self Nature
Foreword
The Last Word In Shalom Is Om
Recommended Reading
Dedication
To H. H. the Dalai Lama, H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche,
and to all the people of Tibet;
To my parents and to my brother and sister;
And to all the bluesmen and women of the past,
present, and future.
Preface
Reflections in a Mirror was written largely for purposes of the author’s own edification, along with the intention of sharing some insights from Tibetan Buddhist tradition with people of various religious or spiritual backgrounds. While not intended as a scholarly presentation, this composition may be of interest to the general reader, who is interested in Buddhist philosophy. For those who wish to follow up their study of some of the topics discussed herein, a recommended reading list is included at the back of the book.
The author gratefully acknowledges the late Ven. Khenchen Palden Sherab for his encouragement, and also for the authorization to include the Vajrayana teachings in this presentation, as well as H. H. Sakya Trizin, Ven. Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, Ven. Lama Pema Wangdak for kindly providing the Foreword, Ven. Lama Rinchen Puntsok, and all the lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, for all their kindness and inspiration.
Finally, thanks are extended to Dr. Edwin Bokert, who is an esteemed psychotherapist and a long-time student of Tibetan Buddhism, for providing the introduction; to Marie Blizzard, for typing and preparing the original manuscript; to Dr. Steven Goodman and Jeff Cox for their advice; and to Joy Hansen and everybody at iUniverse; to Dan Menges and Bob Fierman for editorial assistance; and special thanks to Shelley Pearce for sponsoring the production of this book.
Introduction
In the Tibetan medical tradition, the doctors/lamas make small, precious pills that help heal their patients in various ways. Charlie Singer’s Reflections in a Mirror is like one of these pills—when you read and digest this small, precious book, it will undoubtedly help.
Like a skilled physician or therapist, the book diagnoses our problems with the blues
of dissatisfaction, impermanence, and the inevitability of our own demise. The text, again like a good doctor, then prescribes the remedies we need. It discusses how we can begin to heal ourselves by taking refuge in the three jewels,
developing a kind heart, awakening the mind of enlightenment
, and practicing meditation. The treatment is complete with the realization of our non-dual wisdom.
In the western tradition, medical doctors diagnose and treat the patient’s body, and psychotherapists treat the client’s mind. These approaches are indeed helpful, and yet, without getting at the root cause of all physical illness and mental suffering: ignorance and the attachment to our ego, all other treatments are only temporary and relative. Reflections in a Mirror describes this ultimate healing state, which is none other than our own enlightened nature, the pure, pristine awareness or cognition, which is the true doctor and therapist within us all.
Edwin Bokert,
Ph.D.
March, 2000
Empty Blue Planet
missing image fileThe Primordial Buddha, Samantabhadra, with consort, Samantabhadri
Chapter 1: Blue Planet
From the perspective of a traveler in outer-space, our planet, Earth, may be said to resemble a big blue marble,
floating peacefully in space. If this traveler were a being from another part of the universe, as they approached the surface of the planet, they might be under the impression that they were beholding some sort of paradise, a heavenly realm, where the inhabitants all enjoy lives of complete peace and happiness and well-being.
Here on the surface of the Earth itself, however, this is not the case at all. One need only to pick up the daily newspaper, or watch the evening news, or merely live among other people, to learn of all the many types of problems besetting the inhabitants of our world.
When the historical Buddha, Buddha Shakyamuni, attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, in India, regarded in Buddhist tradition as being the central axis of our world system,
for some time afterward, he did not teach. Rather, he remained silent, regarding the truth of his realization as being beyond