Grandpa Kewl

Book Review – Shambhala – The Sacred Path of the Warrior

For a tiny little book which gave me fits to understand, this sure did generate a lot of notes….LOL

“Here the word “warrior” is taken from the Tibetan ‘pavo‘, which literally means ‘one who is brave.” Warriorship in this context is the tradition of human bravery, or the tradition of fearlessness”.

“The key to warriorship and the first principal of Shambhala vision is not being afraid of who you are.”

“A genuine sense of humor is having a light touch: not beating reality into the ground but appreciating reality with a light touch.”

“Shambhala vision is trying to provoke you to understand how you live, your relationship with ordinary life.”

“By meditation here we mean something very basic and simple that is not tied to any one culture. We are talking about a very basic act: sitting on the ground, assuming a good posture, and developing a sense of our spot, our place on this earth. This is the means of rediscovering ourselves and our basic goodness, the means to tune ourselves into true reality, without any expectations or preconceptions.”

“The practice of meditation allows us to experience all the textures of the roadway, which is what the journey is all about.”

“The essence of cowardice is not acknowledging the reality of fear.”

“You have looked and you have seenand you don’t have to apologize for being born on this earth.”

“The basic definition of meditation is ‘having a steady mind’.”

“Dignity comes from using your own inherant resources, by doing things with your own bare hands – on the spot, properly and beautifully.”

“We need to find the link between our traditions and our present experience of life.”

“But the reality of the world is something more than the life style that the twentyieth-century world has embraced. Pleasure has been cheapened, joy has been reduced, happiness has been computerized. The goal of warriorship is to reconnect to the nowness of reality, so that we can go forward without destroying simplicity, without destroying your connection to the earth.”

“Arrogance comes from hanging on to the reference point on ME and other.”

“Being gentle and without arrogance is the Shambhala definition of a gentleman.”

“Arrogant people can’t see intensely bright red and blue, brilliant white and orange. Arrogant people are so involved with themselves and they are competing so much with others that they won’t even look.”

“We are not talking about philosophy, but we are talking about how on earth, how in the name of heaven and earth, we can actually become decent human beings without trying to entertain ourselves from here to the next corner.”

“…sacredness goes back and back through history to prehistory to before history, before thought, before mind had ever thought of anything at all.”

“You feel at home in your world.”

“…magic is something you must experience for yourself.”

“…the ambush of hope…”

As with any book of Eastern thought, there are, at least for myself, difficulties with a philosophical approach that is so different from out Western traditions and manners of thought. Just the difference between our linear and their rhythmic vision of time is enought to throw one off. But, there is a goodness here that needs to be appreciated as much as I am capable.

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