THE JEWEL TREE OF TIBET
Om Mani Padme Hum
Every literate person has read something that touches a chord within. There is a knowing, a comprehension that you have stumbled upon a universal truth and that somehow you have always been aware of it. All too often this understanding and recognition disappears within a few minutes. Even more often, we will read something that is on the edges of our understanding and intellect. We know we’ve read something profound and that the core of it is beyond our reach.
The latter has been my experience with Robert Thurman’s book THE JEWEL TREE OF TIBET. I’ve read it twice and each time I find myself tangled in the words and concepts. As a very average sort of American I am vaguely familiar with a lot of things and I enjoy telling myself that I understand some things. Never having lived in Tibet and never having been a Buddhist monk, I accept the fact that my understanding of Tibetan Buddhism is superficial and prejudiced.
A surprising footnote in any biography of Professor Thurman is the fact that he is the father of the actress Uma Thurman. This has nothing to do with today’s essay, but I threw it in to keep readers interested.
Returning closer to the topic, I recommend that anyone with an opportunity to listen to Robert Thurman speak should do so. The web of concepts and thoughts that he weaves in his book becomes transparent in a lecture. He turns 81 next year and he probably no longer travels with the Dalai Lama. Similarly, Tenzin Gyatsu, the 14th Dalai Lama, is now 87 and will probably never return to the USA. I was fortunate to see and hear them both at the University of Indiana in Bloomington many years ago and must take a moment to reflect on the aura, the sense of love and wisdom, displayed by the Dalai Lama. For those uninformed, it is tragic that the Chinese Communists kidnapped the Panchen Lama on May 17, 1995, making it unlikely there will ever be a 15th Dalai Lama and that Tibetan Buddhism will disappear just like the Babylonian worship of Marduk. But who is to say?
None of the above has anything to do with the Jewel Tree of Tibet. As I understand it, it is either Tibetan Buddhism or the chant Om Mani Padme Hum. Once again, I must confess my ignorance. If I am not far off the mark, Om Mani Padme Hum is a prayer that the worshipper’s heart and mind be one-directed and pure.
Most people in our world of technological wonders, distractions, and fears, find it hard to control the monkey mind and to focus on love and happiness. It is difficult to sense that golden ray that extends from the mind of God through the Sahasrara, flows through our bodies and exits through our fingers and toes. It is nearly impossible to imagine that everything is mostly nothing and that waves of energy are constantly creating and becoming the universe we live in.
To live a joy filled life, it is necessary to not dwell on the evil that exists and to find the time to reflect on all that is good.
Practically daily, I question this obsession with needing to know what’s really going on in the world. Almost feeling a sense of addiction to the latest clown act. It’s all so crazy, what’s the next act….it all just builds and builds and I don’t want to miss when it topples….that sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) that many people these days experience in the world of social media. I personally think of Substack as a social media of substance (vs the ‘junk food bites you get on Twitter, FB, tick-tock etc) but nevertheless it’s become an addiction, and I can’t help but wonder if it would be better to be in my metaphorical temple, meditating, spending quiet time with nature. I guess it’s all about balance…and I’m glad I read this post…thanks 🙏
Bless you, my son.