About this ebook
self-determination, or are we totally at the mercy of fate? Does personal
responsibility exist, or is even that an illusion? These are questions rising
when discussing karma.
Also in the West there has always
been a notion of the interdependence of deeds and their results, reflected in
some of our sayings:
As you sow, so shall you
reap
Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind
Nobody pushes your button
except you yourself.
Gehlek Rinpoche, using four
different characteristics explains how the law of karma works within the individual.
In that, the part that ego plays, and our habitual patterns are central issues,
rendering the key to freedom from (pre)-determination.
The theme is
clarified by lovely stories from the Indian and Tibetan tradition.
About the author
ABOUT GELEK RIMPOCHE
Born in Lhasa, Tibet, in 1939, Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche was recognized as an incarnate lama at the age of four. Carefully tutored from an early age by some of Tibet’s greatest living masters, Rimpoche gained renown for his powers of memory, intellectual judgment and penetrating insight. As a small child living in a monk’s cell in a country with no electricity or running water, and little news of the outside world, he had scoured the pictures of torn copies of Life Magazine for anything he could gather about America. Now Rimpoche brings his life experience and wisdom to both the east and the west.
Among the last generation of lamas educated in Drepung Monastery before the Communist Chinese invasion of Tibet, Gelek Rimpoche was forced to flee to India in
1959. He later edited and printed over 170 volumes of rare Tibetan manuscripts that would have otherwise been lost to humanity, many of them only retrieved due to his memorization as a young man. Rimpoche was also instrumental in forming organizations that would share the great wisdom of Tibet with the outside world. In this and other ways, he has played a crucial role in the survival of Tibetan Buddhism.
He was director of Tibet house in Delhi, India and a radio host at All India Radio. He conducted over 1000 interviews in compiling an oral history of the fall of Tibet to the Communist Chinese. In the late 1970’s Rimpoche was directed to teach Western students by his teachers, the Senior and Junior Masters to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kyabje Ling Rimpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche. Since that time he has taught Buddhist practitioners around the world.
Rimpoche is particularly distinguished for his thorough knowledge of English, familiarity with modern culture, and special effectiveness as a teacher of Western practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. He has brought Buddhism into strong dialogue with science, psychology, medicine, metaphysics, politics and the arts, skillfully addressing the dilemma of living a spiritual life in a material world.
In 1989, Rimpoche founded Jewel Heart, a Tibetan Buddhist center. His Collected Works now include over forty transcripts of his teachings, numerous articles as well as the national bestseller Good Life, Good Death (Riverhead Books, 2001) and The Tara Box: Rituals for Protection and Healing from the Female Buddha (New World Library, 2004).
What others are saying about Gelek Rimpoche
What I like about Gelek Rimpoche is that he has consistently shown resiliency and flexibility of character. I have also seen in him sound understanding of selflessness, the hallmark Buddhist teaching. He can be an elegant lama in a formal setting, a truly worthy representative of his illustrious lineage. He can be a wise advisor in another setting, placing responsibility for growth wherever it belongs: on the individual. He can be a loyal and creative colleague, in the endless work of seeing to the long duration and continuing usefulness of the Dharma. Throughout it all, he remains a cherished and jolly person, a good friend.
—Robert A.F Thurman
Gelek Rimpoche is one of the wisest, most cheerful people I know. He is a beautiful and gracious spirit who carries the great wisdom of Tibet. We are fortunate to have him teaching in the West.
—Jack Kornfield
Gelek Rimpoche constantly shows wisdom, gentleness, depth, rascality, humor, spaciousness, and the spiritual side to everyday life.
—Ram Dass
