A 56 year-old climber of note passed away on Everest according to the news today..

THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF TIBETAN BUDDHISM

Some years ago I read a book on the Secret Teachings of Tibetan Buddhism by Madame Alexandra David-Neel and her adopted son, Lama Yongden, who predeceased her....which I recently purchased from a bookstore I was browsing in....and re-read it......In all the re-reads I do, I find things that I have sometimes neglected or forgotten or overlooked at the time of the original reading and I suppose this is a common thing for most readers who are eager to learn what they did not know previously.......haste in reading and unsustained reading are often the case for intense zeal.... The fact that most of these teachings discussed by the author were 'given' to her by means of oral discussions or ORAL TRANSMISSION brings up an important point about learning things of an esoteric and also of a practical nature....learning certain skills and methods are better learned orally from actual teachers, especially martial arts, yoga, magic, or cooking,etc. than from reading manuals, instruction booklets, or watching tapes, dvd's, or listening to recordings, though these do have their place in certain areas and ways....... Since we cannot sit at the feet of the Buddha or some grand lamas or wandering mystics without feeling some sense of uneasiness with the modern ones now traipsing about the world with all manner of things.....listening to such, whether through lectures or workshops or whatever, such as, retreats, resorts, etc. can be expensive and not wholly convincing if one has some severe reservations about the affairs,etc. Nevertheless, those who search for a teacher, a guru or a master, may well find one that meets their requirements and needs, hopefully, but the world is full of manhy professing to be such....so from my point of view it is better to become 'your own best teacher' which is possible only when you begin to expand beyond your narrow conceptions and conceits about yourself..... In my own case, I tend to focus on the images that I have experienced and acquired in life and in dreams and in merely thinking with some kind of focus or imagination,while endeavoring to remember myself and some things that seem important and necessary...of which I shall not discuss here for now..... From this re-reading of this important book I have found some things that indicate the role of Shamanism,particularly that of Siberia and Central Asia,which has influenced Taoism and Buddhism in China, Tibet, and the 'northern' areas.....which I had also previously investigating through some reading of various books in my possession....
These I plan to place under by blog on TAOISM but for now I merely hint at such... Which brings me back to my feeling that GURDJIEFF(see my blogs on) was in Tibet and Central Asia and learned Taoism,Shamanism, and Lamaism of a peculiar and special variety which he brought back to the West....

SIR FRANCIS YOUNGHUSBAND

Sir Francis Younghusband was the one responsible in part for the opening up of Tibet in modern times....which was part of 'THE GREAT GAME' when nations competed to control or colonize nations....and he was the one that the late Gurdjieff 'discussed' in some of his writings in which he never 'forgave' the deaths of some in Tibet and especially a special LAMA by the troops led by Younghusband during the invasion of Tibet and also the effect it had on the DALAI LAMA, no doubt, which influences are still operating in this 21st century...... Younghusband, like many eccentric British Officers and military men, had a fascination for India and certain mystical practices and wrote the book,MODERN MYSTICS and a few others.....Like Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, and J>F.C. Fuller...who also involved themselves in various occult and esoteric groups and activities,which are interesting to read about if one has the time and can obtain their books,etc.

HIMALAYAN BUDDHISM

I have decided to create this blog because it is. not only interesting, fascinating, and complex, but it deserves a special treatment or discussion that cannot be fully done under other categories without a lot of confusing and other positions entering the field....HIMALAYAN BUDDHISM is simply the various rites and rituals and schools and sects and site that Buddhism has in those geographic areas knownn as THE HIMALAYAS and are not confined merely to Tibet or Nepal where much attention is focused by Westerners in particular....The occult and esoteric aspects are also important and they also have significance for other areas, like martial arts, for example or certain types of medical practices and theories....