REFLECTION FOR
OCTOBER 2013 PETER MILLAR
petermillarreflects.blogspot.co.uk
A LOSS FOR
OUR WORLD
At a time when so much around us is bland and empty of real
meaning. I would like in this month’s Reflection to honour a human being who
has brought depth to the lives of millions. Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche who did
so much to bring the riches of Tibetan Buddhism to the western world after he
fled from his native country was recently murdered in China. He was 73. His
tragic and sudden death at the hands of robbers is a loss to our world for this
was a man who had come through countless sorrows and tribulations to understand
in a remarkable way the depths and capacities of the human spirit. When I heard
of his passing, I knew that our often divided human family had lost a soul
whose goodness transcended many of these divisions. A man of truth among whose
many accomplishments was the founding of the Kagyu Samye Ling monastery in
rural Dumfriesshire in south west Scotland – a place of inner healing, of
vision and of challenge for thousands of people. He will be remembered for many
things and not least for the great range of charitable and philanthropic projects
in many countries which have come into being through his wisdom, humility and
prayer.
I much appreciated what the British journalist Madeline
Bunting wrote following Akong Rinpoche’s death. This is in part what she wrote
and it touches upon many issues concerning faith in our secular societies. “ Buddhism’s
popularity over the past half century in the west has surprised and dismayed in
equal measure. Alongside the fad for Buddhist statues, there has been a much
more serious engagement with hundreds of centres opening, many of the most
dynamic founded by Tibetan Buddhists. Given that Tibet had limited contact with
modernity until the 20th century, it’s been an extraordinary story
of cultural export and rare religious success in a deepening secularism. Central
to this was the remarkable life of Akong Rinpoche. Anyone visiting Samye Ling
in Scotland or the London centre cannot fail to be impressed by the sheer scale
of the ambition. This kind of institution
building by a refugee community is hard to match. Akong Rinpoche was a
traditionalist and one of his driving motivations was the preservation of
Tibetan Buddhism in the face of a concerted Chinese effort to obliterate
Tibetan culture. In recent years he and a team gathered thousands of
single-copy manuscripts and took them out of Tibet to be copied. What was at
stake was an entire cultural tradition. And it was work done amidst huge
struggle, difficulty and danger.”
Some have said that western followers of Buddhism
romanticise it and only take from it what suits them. Samye Ling and other
Buddhist centres remind us of the discipline within religious faith and invite
us to take seriously the profound meaning of “mindfulness” in the modern world.
The search for that inner awareness and “mindfulness of the present” is no easy task - which may be one of the
reasons why much of Christianity has
largely abandoned it. It is just too hard. But a Christianity devoid of a deep
inner silence is not always able to contribute to real reconciliation in the
world or to the healing of many secular people who carry within them a range of
wounds. It is for that reason that contemporary Christianity must look again at
its own narrative and re-discover the great tradition of inner silence which
was, for example, so central in the early Celtic church.
The same combination of practicality, compassion and
commitment to revivifying what he had known in Tibet led Akong Rinpoche to
initiate many projects. He placed these in three categories.
First were spiritual activities focused on Samye Ling and a
network of more than thirty Kagyu Samye Dzong Buddhist centres world-wide. Second there was humanitarian work, mainly
channelled through the charity ROKPA, which funds education, health and
environmental projects in Tibetan areas of China. Third he was interested in
healing and Tibetan medicine, writing books on the subject and initiating
arrange of psychotherapy projects. Much of this was achieved through his
ability to inspire others and the fundraising was never about soliciting big
donations but about dozens of dogged initiatives, many of which lasted decades
without losing a clear vision of the ultimate goal. As we look back at such a
remarkable life, our immediate response must be one of gratitude. May women and
men like him continue to give us new insights and courage for our own journeys.
TWO GREAT BOOKS
I would like to recommend:
THE OLD WAYS: A JOURNEY ON FOOT by Robert Macfarlane
published by Penguin Books 2013
(ISBN: 978 – 0 - 141-
03058 – 6)
AMMONITES AND LEAPING FISH: A LIFE IN TIME by Penelope
Lively published by Fig Tree 2013
(also an e-book.)
THE WIND OF THE SPIRIT
Jesus said, “The wind blows wherever it wishes. You hear the
sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is
going. It is like that with everyone who
is born of the Spirit.” John3:8
God of the wild Spirit help me - may be for just once in my
life - to take a risk for You, even if it is a small one and hedged around with
safety nets, so that I can at least start to understand the words you spoke to
those who wanted security rather than LIFE.
WORDS ON A POSTER
This is God’s day so make the most of it.
AND FROM POPE JOHN PAUL II
In different cultures, the fundamental questions which
pervade human life arise: Who am I? Where have I come from and where am I
going? Why is there evil and suffering? What is there after this life? These
questions are found in the sacred writings of Israel, and also in the Veda and
Avesta: in the writings of Confucius and Lse-Tse; in the preachings of Tirthankara
and the Buddha; they appear in the poetry of Homer and in the tragedies of
Europedes and Sophocles; in the philosophical works of Plato and Aristotle. And
today’s church is no stranger to this journey of discovery and has a duty to be
a partner in humanity’s shared struggle to arrive at truth.
From Pope John
Paul’s encyclical , Fides et Ratio.
REMEMEMBERING…..in the coming weeks we remember all those
who have suffered through wars.
