Friday, August 31, 2012

Hantavirus in Yosemite?

 

 

News for hantavirus


  1. Hantavirus at Yosemite: 10000 people who stayed in tent cabins may be at risk for the deadly rodent-borne illness


    New York Daily News‎ - 1 hour ago
    Some 10000 people who stayed in tent cabins at Yosemite National Park this summer may be at risk for the deadly rodent-borne hantavirus, ...
CDC says 10000 at risk of hantavirus in Yosemite outbreak


Health

Hantavirus at Yosemite: 10,000 people who stayed in tent cabins may be at risk for the deadly rodent-borne illness

Two men have died from hantavirus linked to the Yosemite outbreak and four others were sickened but survive

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Updated: Friday, August 31, 2012, 8:34 PM


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 In this undated photo provided by DNC Parks and Resorts at Yosemite, Inc., are tent cabins in the fall at Yosemite National Park in California. Yosemite officials are expanding their efforts notify visitors to a complex of tent cabins who may have been exposed to a rare but potentially deadly rodent-carried virus. Officials said Wednesday they have notified 2,900 visitors who stayed in the Curry Village "Signature Cabins" since mid-May, up from 1,700 initially notified. (AP Photo/DNC Parks and Resorts at Yosemite, Inc.)

DNC Parks and Resorts at Yosemite, Inc./AP

Official examines one of the tent cabins in Yosemite National Park. Two men who stayed at the park have died and at least four more were sickened after being exposed to rodent-borne hantavirus. It is suspected they contracted it while staying in one of 91 'Signature' tent-style cabins in Yosemite's popular Curry Village camping area.

Some 10,000 people who stayed in tent cabins at Yosemite National Park this summer may be at risk for the deadly rodent-borne hantavirus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday.
The CDC urged lab testing of patients who exhibit symptoms consistent with the lung disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, after a stay at the California park between June and August and recommended that doctors notify state health departments when it is found.
Two men have died from hantavirus linked to the Yosemite outbreak and four others were sickened but survived, while the CDC said additional suspected cases were being investigated from "multiple health jurisdictions."
Most of the victims were believed to have been infected while staying in one of 91 "Signature" tent-style cabins in Yosemite's popular Curry Village camping area.
"An estimated 10,000 persons stayed in the 'Signature Tent Cabins' from June 10 through August 24, 2012," the CDC said. "People who stayed in the tents between June 10 and August 24 may be at risk of developing HPS in the next six weeks."
YOSEMITE 2

Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle via AP

Housekeeper Albert Gomez sprays the floors of a tent cabin with a bleach mixture to prevent the possible spread of viruses in Curry Village at Yosemite National Park on Tuesday, August 28.

Yosemite officials earlier this week shut down all 91 of the insulated tent cabins after finding deer mice, which carry the disease and can burrow through holes the size of pencil erasers, nesting between the double walls.
Park authorities said on Friday that they had contacted approximately 3,000 parties of visitors who stayed in the tent cabins since mid-June, advising them to seek immediate medical attention if they have symptoms of hantavirus.
Nearly 4 million people visit Yosemite, one of the nation's most popular national parks, each year, attracted to the its dramatic scenery and hiking trails. Roughly 70 percent of those visitors congregate in Yosemite Valley, where Curry Village is located.
YOSEMITE 4

DNC Parks and Resorts at Yosemite, Inc./AP

General view of tent cabins at Yosemite National Park.

YOSEMITE LOGS 1,500 CALLS
The virus starts out causing flu-like symptoms, including headache, fever, muscle ache, shortness of breath and cough, and can lead to severe breathing difficulties and death.
The incubation period for the virus is typically two to four weeks after exposure, the CDC said, with a range between a few days and six weeks. Just over a third of cases are fatal.
end quote from:
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/yosemite-hotline-jammed-6-fall-ill-2-die-exposed-hantavirus-pulmonary-syndrome-article-1.1149246#ixzz25AwzH0wc

Since I also live in California since Hantavirus has obviously made it to California from New Mexico and Arizona I think it behooves all of us to take rodents more seriously in our home areas including mice and country wood rats. If people are dying from the stationary(for the summer) tent cabins it might be necessary for all areas in or near California to think about being more proactive regarding rodents.

Being Empowered

Being empowered is the opposite of being a victim. It is not necessarily about what one does or even their life circumstances. It is all about attitude. Being a victim is a choice and being empowered is a choice. Understanding this is completely freeing. So, choosing to be completely empowered will completely change your life if you aren't already empowered in your consciousness.

Sometimes when your physical circumstances make you feel like you are a victim it is important to be wise and to take stock of your surroundings and your life and if you don't like it you need to change it. So, being empowered one must be brave and bold. It doesn't mean that you have to hurt anyone or to break anything. It usually means if you are being victimized in one way or another usually at first the best way to empower yourself is to leave that victimizing situation. Most of the time you can't get fully into your new state of empowerment without going somewhere else for awhile and becoming internally who you need to be to survive and to be empowered. After you empower yourself and are strong enough then if you really need to return to that situation and change the things that need to be changed. But remember, being empowered is not about violence it is about justice and compassion.

The Buck who Broke Concrete

I was coming back with my dogs in my 4WD truck after walking with them in the woods nearby when I saw some pieces of concrete chipped out of my driveway. I thought to myself, "Who would do that?" So then I looked more closely and was amazed that it was a deer hoof that broke the concrete. Here we have proof of just how lethal a deer or buck hoof can actually be where it chipped the concrete right out of my driveway. 

I then walked over to my daughter's boyfriend who is painting the front of my house and told him about it and both of us were sort of amazed. But, as I looked towards the street there was the buck  that did it walking by from left to right. He reminded me of the Father Deer Buck in "Bambi"  because he walked like he was King of the Forest and nobody better mess with him. And I thought, "Why would he get mad in my driveway?" and then I realized it was the beginning of rutting season when bucks fight for the hand of their lady loves throughout the U.S. where deer live. It's Pretty Amazing to see what a strong buck can do to a cement driveway!

Tantric Means Secret

To many in the western world Tantric means sexual. But that is not it at all. Though it is possible to explode into a permanent enlightened consciousness through a sexual method it isn't the only Tantric way. So, because of this most people in the western world  don't really understand much at all about the whole purpose of this.

The purpose of Tantric methods is to permanently stop being a victim of life. So, how does one do this? One stops being a victim when one joins in consciousness permanently with the creator. However, for most people the actuality of doing this would be too terrifying to even contemplate.

Because, for example, one of the Tantric visualizations is that two beings are partners and one is the God of the universe and the other is the Goddess of the universe. So, if two people experience this and continue to experience this sometimes this becomes a permanent state of consciousness within those two beings. When it becomes permanent those two people have become enlightened. And until then whenever they can experience this in their lives they are also enlightened as long as they are experiencing this. So what happens for most people who continue in this direction is that they experience this unity and oneness with the creator for longer and longer periods until it is permanent.

However, this completely changes ones life experience and not everyone tends to be ready for this. So, unless these two people are very grown up and balanced this kind of thing just as easily could be fatal or cause insanity as literally everything within these two beings will spin faster and faster and more and more powerful. So, being very adult and balanced and in some ways warrior like is necessary for this to be very useful both to the beings and to mankind. Because it moves people out of a victim human state of consciousness into being literal Gods and Goddesses resident on earth who can create reality for themselves and others. However, along with this comes politeness of not scaring everyone to death because you can and everyone becomes relatives like one's own children that one wants to help and take care of in a compassionate way. Any other result is eventually fatal because life won't put up with people being selfish in this state for very long at all.

So then evolved Tantric states of consciousness are the exact opposite of didactic materialism and the victim or reactionary consciousness of the western world. Instead one takes responsibility for oneself and all life in the universe and begins to create a heaven on earth or whatever planet one is then on.

The Crazy Wisdom Path

This crazy wisdom path is often called a path of "Instant" or "lightning" enlightenment. I suppose it is not for every single nature of people. But, I might say that if someone was exposed to the exact right Crazy Wisdom Master at the perfect moment of their lives that literally everyone on earth would be enlightened if they could be in the right state of consciousness at the right moment in their development and met their perfect Teacher or practitioner of Crazy Wisdom. This would or could enlighten literally anyone in that moment.

But would each person recognize the benefits of their enlightenment after having become enlightened? Now, that is another question entirely.

Enlightenment is sort of like wanting a specific car, say you always dreamed of owning and driving a Ferrari. So, you went out and looked for someone who would give you a Ferrari and you wanted this Ferrari so you could give rides to people who had nothing to lift their spirits. Then that Ferrari might take you and whoever you gave a ride to anywhere and anywhen you wanted both physically and in consciousness.

But, if someone just gave you that Ferrari out of the blue and you didn't know what it was and you couldn't drive and didn't want to learn you might just look at the Ferrari but never use it at all and it would go to waste and turn eventually to rust.

So, unless you can value and want Crazy Wisdom enlightenment it would not be recognized as something completely priceless and precious and useful to all beings. But, for those who understand the value it is precious beyond speaking. It is an infinite series of Zen moments that one often can pass to others to make their lives more a literal heaven on earth.

For example, a Crazy Wisdom Moment that sometimes enlightens people is the experience of impermanence when a lover, wife, husband, parent or friend dies and passes over to the other side.
This often creates Instant or lightning enlightenment in individuals.

However, they often don't realize what has happened to them.

So, unless they can find a way or context to put this enlightenment into they have difficulty with their new experience of reality.

The movie "Hereafter" by Clint Eastwood starring  Matt Damon deals with a female reporter almost dying in the 2004 Tsunami wakes up from being unconscious and underwater and has become enlightened by realizing that life isn't what she thought it was. She has to meet Matt Damon who is a psychic in europe at the time to make sense of her life. This, for the woman is an example of Crazy Wisdom enlightenment happening in her life.

The entire meaning of her life has shifted in an entirely new direction. But instant or Lightning enlightenment is sort of like that. Everything completely changes in your life when you become enlightened. So, it is sort of like God explodes your old world  for his purposes and then gives you an entirely new world to live in.

News for pentagon may take legal action against seal ... Pentagon may take legal action against SEAL author

News for pentagon may take legal action against seal ...

Pentagon may take legal action against SEAL author





August 31, 2012 4:51 AM

Pentagon may take legal action against SEAL author

FILE - This book cover image released by Dutton shows
FILE - This book cover image released by Dutton shows "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden," by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer. The Pentagon's top lawyer has informed the former Navy SEAL who authored the forthcoming book describing details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden that he violated agreements to not divulge military secrets and that as a result the Pentagon is considering taking legal action against him. The general counsel of the Defense Department, Jeh Johnson, wrote in a letter transmitted to the author on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012, that he had signed two nondisclosure agreements with the Navy in 2007 that obliged him to "never divulge" classified information. Johnson said that after reviewing a copy of the book, "No Easy Day," the Pentagon concluded that the author is in "material breach and violation" of the agreements. (AP Photo/Dutton, File) (Uncredited)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's top lawyer has informed the former Navy SEAL who wrote a forthcoming book describing details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden that he violated agreements to not divulge military secrets and that as a result the Pentagon is considering taking legal action against him.

The general counsel of the Defense Department, Jeh Johnson, wrote in a letter transmitted Thursday to the author that he had signed two nondisclosure agreements with the Navy in 2007 that obliged him to "never divulge" classified information.

"This commitment remains in force even after you left the active duty Navy," Johnson wrote. He said the author, Matt Bissonnette, left active duty "on or about April 20, 2012," which was nearly one year after the May 2011 raid.

By signing the agreements, Bissonnette acknowledged his awareness, Johnson wrote, that "disclosure of classified information constitutes a violation of federal criminal law." He said it also obliged the author to submit his manuscript for a security review by the government before it was published. The Pentagon has said the manuscript was not submitted for review, although it obtained a copy last week.

Johnson said that after reviewing a copy of the book, "No Easy Day," the Pentagon concluded that the author is in "material breach and violation" of the agreements.

The book is to be published next week by Penguin Group (USA)'s Dutton imprint. The Associated Press purchased a copy Tuesday.

Johnson addressed his letter to Mr. "Mark Owen," using quotation marks to signify that that this is the author's pseudonym. His real name is Matt Bissonnette.

Bissonnette referred requests for comment about the letter to his publisher, which was not immediately available.

"I write to formally advise you of your material breach and violation of your agreements, and to inform you that the department is considering pursuing against you, and all those acting in concert with you, all remedies legally available to us in light of this situation," Johnson wrote.

The Pentagon has not revealed how it got a copy of the book.

Johnson noted that "copies of the book have apparently already been released." He added, "further public dissemination of your book will aggravate your breach and violation of your agreements."

The Pentagon did not release copies of the nondisclosure agreements that it said Bissonnette had signed in 2007. A spokesman, Army Col. Steve Warren, said they were being withheld because they include the author's real name and his signature.

In his book, Bissonnette wrote that the SEALs spotted bin Laden at the top of a darkened hallway and shot him in the head even though they could not tell whether he was armed. Administration officials have described the SEALs shooting bin Laden only after he ducked back into a bedroom because they assumed he might be reaching for a weapon.

Military experts said Wednesday that if Bissonnette's recollection is accurate, the SEALS made the right call to open fire on the terrorist mastermind, who had plenty of time to reach for a weapon or explosives as they made their way up to the third level of the house where he hid.
end quote from:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501706_162-57504068/pentagon-may-take-legal-action-against-seal-author/

Here is how I see the problem that this author got himself into. The original story vetted to the news before the book was that  Bin Laden defended himself with a Kalashnikov. But in the book he didn't try to defend himself at all. What this may mean is that Bin Laden still worked or was retired from the U.S. Government as an operative for the CIA. He may have been a double agent all this time since he received stinger missiles in Afghanistan and began shooting down Soviet Helicopters and planes with them. This is how Bin Laden became popular with the Mujahedeen and Pakistanis in the first place. But if Bin Laden always has been a double agent this makes a lot of things that the U.S. Government saying about him very uncomfortable to say the least for the western world and even for NATO.

I think this also ties into some of the prisoners at Guantanamo likely were aware of a lot of this and maybe this is why some Pakistanis and Afghanistanis were kept prisoner all this time as well to keep them quiet without trial. So, this Seal revealing all this showed some of the chinks in the armor of the stories the western world has been telling for 20 to 30 years that may not have been totally true.

So, if Bin Laden really was a double agent then likely he was a "fund raiser" which is a made up bad guy to get more money for the military and the world military industrial complex. So, maybe Eisenhower was right about  the world military industrial complex being one of the most dangerous things to a free world that he had ever seen. I don't have any proof of any of this and since Bin Laden is now dead and no one ever planned to take him prisoner many people will now suspect more than ever that what I'm writing here could be true. Because from a logical point of view it all adds up. But since Bin Laden is now dead none of us can ever know for sure. But the likelihood that this Seal will be prosecuted likely is greater now because I'm not the only one who can be logical and add everything in the public domain up that happened in the last 30 years or so.

Maybe a way for you to understand better is to watch the movie "Charlie Wilson's War" while realizing the guy shooting the missiles at helicopters and planes was Bin Laden and his people. The next movie to watch is: "Wag the Dog" with Dustin Hoffman and maybe some of the pieces I'm talking about will all fit together better for you.


Presidents

Generally speaking, Presidents come from only 3 types of careers. Either they are Military Generals like George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Grant, and Eisenhower. Then there are the Senators like Obama and President Kennedy. Then there are the Governors like  Reagan and Kennedy. Then in my lifetime Nixon was Vice President under President Eisenhower who followed Truman who was Vice President under Franklin Delano Roosevelt. After Eisenhower came first President Kennedy who was a Massachusetts Senator who ran against Nixon and Nixon lost. Then when Kennedy was assassinated Johson who was a Senator from Texas took his place. Then Nixon won and was President from 1968 1 1/2 terms until about 1973 or 4 and his Vice President Ford who was either a Congressman or Senator became President and pardoned Nixon to save the nation from a trial of a Standing President. Then Jimmy Carter who I believe was a Governor of Georgia became President until he ordered a rescue of the Embassy Employees kidnapped by the Ayatola in Iran for about 400 days. Then Reagan who was Governor of California got in and made some kind of deal that freed the Embassy employees in Iran. Then the First George Bush got in who had been Head of the CIA and in government most of his life since World War II as a fighter pilot in the Pacific theater of World War II. Then Clinton got in in 1992 and stayed in for 8 years. I think the least insane and crazy time of the U.S. in my lifetime was while Clinton was in office because the Soviet Union had collapsed and people weren't worrying about the whole world getting nuked since before I was born so much after that. Then in 2000 the 2nd Bush Got in who had been Governor of Texas for 8 years. And now Obama who was a Senator has been in almost 4 years now.

So, as you can see in my lifetime since 1948 I can remember seeing Eisenhower on TV on my Grandad's TV before my Mom and Dad bought one because my Grandad bought his first black and white TV specifically to watch the Republican Convention in 1952. So, likely the first thing I ever saw on TV was the 1952 Republican Convention at age 4.

So, there are advantages and disadvantages to being a General, a Senator and a Governor in becoming a President.

The best people for actually delegating authority (which is really important for a President) is a Governor and a General. Because this is something both jobs require all the time. Whereas a Senator knows how to deal with the Congress which is equally important to delegating authority.

The Disadvantage of a Governor is obvious. It is experience in dealing with Foreign policy. Romney demonstrated he might be really terrible at foreign policy when he went to the Olympics and offended Great Britain regarding security and then went to Israel and terribly offended the Palestinians. So, in regard to foreign policy I would say Romney is in the "Dangerous" category of potential presidents.

However, he is in the preaching category of Presidents like Reagan and I think people who have heard Reagan speak might also like Romney even though he is not as personable or as tough as Reagan was.

So, delegating authority might be Romney's best skill. Unfortunately, Romney in some ways might make the best U.S. side president just like Obama is a much superior foreign policy President except for one thing. The Middle Class and the poor do not trust Romney's wealth or off shore accounts or what he did with Bain Capital. So, what do I think?

This is what I think. Any President Republican or Democrat that is not impeached during his first 4 years in office in most cases likely should be re-elected so he can finish what he started to do. If Obama gets re-elected he can do more good in the next 4 years than Romney can because he never has to worry about re-election ever again. Whereas if Romney gets in he will make some stupendous mistakes just like every new president does his 1st 4 years. Every President including Reagan never really got started at the Good he was capable of until his last 4 years. And I think this is true of both Democratic Presidents and Republican Presidents.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Where is Romney's Plan?

Where is he talking about actual suffering and solutions? Where is his specific plan?

He has always been good about talking about dreams and aspirations. But then I sort of feel like I have a traveling salesman trying to sell my grandmother life insurance talking to us. Where are the facts and hard choices. What we heard was like listening to a fairy tale.

Maybe things are just so bad he knows no one can actually handle the truth so to get up there and inspire the people like a minister would is the only thing he can think of doing. But, I worry that he is the minister on the Titanic when the people should have gotten on the lifeboats if you remember that movie. Though that part was inspirational it was also horrific to watch. Where's the plan? Without a blueprint it is just minister's talk which I suppose we also need about now to carry on.

What does it mean to believe in a Religion?

What does it mean to believe in a Religion?

First, it means that you believe something different than some  or  all people on the planet Earth.

Second, it means that if you are a Christian then there are about 2.1 Billion people who believe somewhat like you do. If you are a Muslim there are also about 1.5  Billion people who believe somewhat like you do. And if you are a Hindu there are about 900 million people who believe somewhat like you. And everything else is a minority on a worldwide basis. But, minorities worldwide might be majorities in an area or country depending upon where you live on earth.

If, for example, you live in the United States where Christianity is the majority religion in North, Central and South America, then you see that most of the culture is based long term, (200 to 400 years or more) on Some form of Christianity and before that it was based upon animism which is what indigenous peoples of the world who have lived tribally for thousands of years tend to believe in. Whereas people who have lived in large cities for a really long time tend to believe in Chritianity, Islam (Muslim), Hinduism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Jainism, and any other major variation I have neglected to mention.

But, I was thinking today that even the Democratic and Republican parties could be considered Christian factions or sects under the above set of rules of:

If you believe in a religion it means you believe in something different than some or all people on earth.

So, under this definition of religion I would say that the Democratic Party tends to be the Christian Liberal Party and the Republican Party tends to be the Christian Conservative party. And even though both the parties have wandered all over the place over the last couple hundred years that is what they both sort of are now.

So, the Democratic party doesn't like abortions but realizes that they are necessary in some circumstances.

And generally, the Republican party (as it says in the Republican Platform this year) that Abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape or incest.

So, there you have the Christian Liberal and Christian Conservative Parties. The liberal party is more inclusive and the Conservative party tends to be more exclusive and even though it is not their intention to be exclusionary their policies tend to exclude racial minorities, religious minorities, Gays and Lesbians.

Whereas the Christian Liberal (Democratic Party) tries to include all minorities. And even though it is not 100% successful in this it does quite well at this in some ways.

So, the whole point of having two parties like this is to not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Because the liberals are very experimental and the conservatives tend to not want to change anything from the way it was for the last 200 years. So, both parties are necessary to move forward and to progress without throwing away useful things as a nation. So, great philosophical debates take place every 4 years to see where we are and where we might go as a nation. And we all want to see what kind of religion we all want to be living the next 4 years or so. And that is where we are right now.

By the way I found this graph which does a good job of representing the major religions here on Earth: Begin quote:

   


    Major Religions of the World
    Ranked by Number of Adherents

    (Sizes shown are approximate estimates, and are here mainly for the purpose of ordering the groups, not providing a definitive number. This list is sociological/statistical in perspective.)
    1. Christianity: 2.1 billion
    2. Islam: 1.5 billion
    3. Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
    4. Hinduism: 900 million
    5. Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
    6. Buddhism: 376 million
    7. primal-indigenous: 300 million
    8. African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
    9. Sikhism: 23 million
     end quote from:
    http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html


    Obama: On Getting things done in Washington

    I thought I would quote the following article because I saw the author talking to Wolf Blitzer about it on CNN TV. Also, this is all the more important because Romney has been incredibly vague about being specific about ANYTHING all this election season. Even though sometimes being completely vague is a way to sometimes get elected, without concrete practical knowledge regarding how to get things done in Washington as opposed to a Governor's mansion it is also a way to destroy this nation completely. So, I thought Obama's insights might be useful in the practical day to day governing of the country by whatever party it is that wins the presidency as well as the congress in this election. 

    So, if you want to read the entire interview with the President please click on the word button below.

    TIME: What he knows now: Obama on popularity, partisanship and getting things done in Washington

    More Regarding Drukpa Kunley

    Note: After actually reading some of the more exotic esoteric Tantric sections of English Translations of Drukpa Kunley's poems and songs I realized this really isn't for children. Even High Schoolers should be careful in reading this because to make full sense of this it is important to note you are dealing with a completely different culture than this one you presently are living in if you are in the U.S., Canada, or Europe and reading this. It only can make perfect sense if you understand the context in which it is given. For example, in the U.S. we are one of the most Prudish Countries on earth because of our Puritanical ancestors who were some of the first cultures to come here from Europe to survive and not die out completely. So, it is important to view it in historical cultural context to make sense of it at all. I would say this kind of thinking is very real and rough and even very Zen like in the "Carry Water Chop Wood" kind of thinking. And likely it will be more usefully understood by men and women who have already traveled all over the world and physically and psychologically already survived their journeys.

    begin quote from:

    Keith Dowman / The Divine Madman


    The Tantric Buddhist Master Drukpa Kunley is one of Tibet's foremost saints and yogis and the patron saint of Bhutan. He belongs to the Drukpa (Dragon) school of Tibetan Buddhism established by Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa and Milarepa.

    end quote:

    When I first heard of Drukpa Kunley it was from Thubten, in Dharamshala, India while I was there with my family in January 1986. The stories he told me were so very funny that I laughed until I cried and then sometimes I fell upon the floor laughing. Thubten, who was then a mountain climbing guide and 30 to 35 years of age was close enough to my age to become buddies with me because I was then 37 years old. He married a lady from Minnesota named Tara and returned there with her about the same time I returned to the U.S. with my family in April 1986. At the time I thought the stories were all fictitious and told to bring people into the dharma (Tibetan Buddhism). The Zen of laughter is an enlightenment tool throughout Buddhist cultures I find. Done in the proper way laughter breaks the mind so enlightenment can enter. And Thubten  was a monk until his parents became old and had to give up his robes to become a mountain climbing guide to support them until they died was a master of Buddhist Laughter. So, in some ways he helped enlighten me through these joke stories about Drukpa Kunley. 15 or more years went by before I discovered to my amazement that Drukpa Kunley was actually a real person. 

    But also in January 1986 Thubten arranged for my family to visit Ling Rinpoche above Dharamshala in the Himalayas in India who ran Tibet for the Dalai Lama until the Dalai Lama came of age. Ling Rinpoche is the senior Teacher of the Dalai Lama and Tri jang Rinpoche is the junior teacher of the Dalai Lama. I also met Tri Jang Rinpoche who was then 4 years old because he had recently reincarnated. So, Thubten led us several miles on foot trails above upper Dharamshala to the stone house with a locally gathered slate roof. Inside was His Holiness Ling Rinpoche sitting in the Maitreya Mudra on a table unmoving. The radiation (dharma darshan aura) of the room brought tears to my eyes because my own father had passed away about 6 months before. I was completely unprepared for this outcome. Here was a man, obviously a master who had sat like this for one year already and who was not planning to come back but whose body was not decomposing and who was sending his heaven realms back through his body from the heaven realms he had obviously reached. I had to go outside and cry for about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour as the deep deep meaning here encompased my whole being and life. This man was not dead and yet he was not alive and moving around either and he was not decomposing either. This was an impossible thing for western medicine to cope with. And yet, here it was, a Tibetan Miracle by a Tibetan Buddhist master who once ruled Tibet. Here it was for me to witness by some miracle and now to share it with you as well.

    I seem to have an affinity for the Drukpa or Dragon School of Tibetan Buddhism practiced by Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa and Milarepa. I also remember being a student of Milarepa who I experienced also being Saint Francis of Asisi. So, I have memories of studying with both masters in those centuries in different lifetimes. 

    Interestingly enough the Dragon School also manifests in the future to create Arcane on New Deva about 1,000,000 years into the future and then after he saves the planets New Deva and Isfahel he returns to Earth in 1987 and is here now and on into the future as a Galactic Time Guard anthropologist studying earth's cultures and how the Galaxy can benefit from all we learn here as beings. Of course whether you believe any or all of what I'm saying is optional to you according to your needs and beliefs as is only polite according to the ways I have been taught.

    One of the best things about spiritual politeness and spiritual ethics is that once you have them in place there is no necessity for life to limit anything that comes through you because life has learned to trust you implicitly. So, this is something useful for everyone to attain that wishes to for the betterment of themselves and of all life in the universe. It is in the enlightened self interest of every being in the universe to become compassionate and enlightened as soon as possible.

    Drukpa Kunley: The Divine Madman

    Keith Dowman / The Divine Madman

    The above word button "Starting with "Keith Dowman---" will take you to his site on his book. Also I included it here because I thought that might be helpful to you to regarding learning more about Drukpa Kunley who is a a historical Bhutanese "Crazy Wisdom Saint". I have also heard that his house is still there in Bhutan and has become something of a shrine. So, if you want to visit it it might still be possible today.

    Also, this information though historically true and from the real Drukpa Kunley might be confusing for children in general and children in the western world in specific. We here in the U.S. tend to be some of the most prudish people on earth because of our Puritan heritage. Whether this is good or bad depends upon your point of view. However, generally in Asia prudishness is not a part of those cultures in general. At least not in any form we can easily recognize except maybe for the part where in most of Asia a man cannot walk in public holding a woman's hand without getting dirty looks from passersby. And this is even if it is your girlfriend or wife. Whereas males grabbing males or holding hands or females grabbing females or holding hands with each other in any way imaginable was normal when I was in India in 1985 and 1986. So, this information though historical and true is not for children and is at a very adult college level of study of a religious culture.

     

    Begin quote:

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    The Divine Madman
    The Sublime Life and Songs of Drukpa Kunley
    dorje.gif (1060 bytes)
    DM_cover.JPG (34240 bytes) A compilation of anecdotes and songs ('Gro ba' i mgon po chos rje kun dga' legs pa'i rnam thar rgya mtsho'i snying po mthong ba don ldan) by the Bhutanese scholar, Geshe Chaphu, in 1966; translation and introduction by Keith Dowman and Sonam Paljor; preface by Dugu Choegyal Gyamtso Tulku; introduction by the editor James Steinberg; illustrations by Lee Barslaag; cover painting by Dugu Choegyal Gyamtso Tulku. First published by Rider & Co, London, 1982, and Dawn Horse Press, 1983; second edition by Dawn Horse Press, Middletown, California, 1998. ISBN 0-913922-75-7. Translated into German as Der Heilige Narr (Barth, 1983) out of print; and into French as Le Fou Divin (Albin Michel, Paris, 1984) out of print. Ten years out of print, by popular demand The Divine Madman has been reprinted in 1998 by the Dawn Horse Press. Reprinted in 2000 in Kathmandu by Pilgrim's Publishing (<pilgrims@satyam.net.in>.

    The Tantric Buddhist Master Drukpa Kunley is one of Tibet's foremost saints and yogis and the patron saint of Bhutan. He belongs to the Drukpa (Dragon) school of Tibetan Buddhism established by Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa and Milarepa. Well known to common Tibetans through the oral tradition of legends and songs, as well as to scholars and mystics through his biographies, he is greatly loved by all the people of Tibet as an enlightened master and an exponent of 'crazy wisdom'. He taught through outrageous behavior and ribald humor in order to awaken the people he met to a higher awareness free from conventional morality and self-obsession. In particular he took his female friends and disciples along the path of sexual desire and relationship to free them from attachment to the illusory world and to awaken their buddha-nature. He would constantly taunt the monks with jest and insult to dissolve their hypocrisy and hidden faults. He was a Dzogchen yogi following the highest path of Yoga-tantra and his Dzogchen songs are some of the best in the Tibetan language.''There is no other book translated from Tibetan that discloses the 'secret' life of a crazy yogi and reveals the rationale and teaching processes that modern masters such as Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche have used to such beneficial effect in America. This work reveals how Buddhist Tantra is lived on the ground through the life of a realized adept and discloses the sexual mores of a tantric society. The Divine Madman is the most potent introduction to the high teaching of tantra to date.'
    'In Thimphu I ran into a phenomena common to both India and Bhutan: reference for the wandering ascetic who combines preaching religion with sex and liquor. He takes them as they come his way. As a matter of historical fact homeless purveyors of faith and sexual delights were known to all religions: Rabelais has written about lascivious monks consorting with nuns; Islam has its mast-qalandars and pagal babas. Of the same genre were yogis of Mirabai's hymns from whom Indian housewives sought spiritual and sexual gratification... Drukpa Kunley's anecdotes are ribald beyond belief. Wherever he went he carried his 'divine thunderbolt of wisdom' (his penis) before him. It penetrated the mysteries of life as it did willing virgins. The bawdy tales of fornication and copious intake of chung wine are interspersed with words of wisdom, advice on how to square one's karma, escape the vicious circle of samsara (birth, death and rebirth) and attain nirvana. The god-fearing but high-living Lama Drukpa Kunley sums up his philosophy: "The best chung wine lies at the bottom of the pail / And Happiness lies below the navel." ' Khushwant Singh.
    Note: The American rights to The Divine Madman were bought by Dawn Horse Press, the publishing arm of Da Free John, aka Adi Da Samraj, the American tantric teacher. It has an introduction by the editor James Steinberg, a scholar and devotee of Adi Da Samraj. Keith Dowman is in no way attached to the cult of Adi Da Samraj, and he disclaims all responsibility for the material presented in the editor's introduction.

    Contents of The Divine Madman
    Editor's Introduction: Drukpa Kunley and the Tradition of Crazy
           Wisdom
    List of Illustrations
    Foreword by Choegyal Gyamtso Tulku
    Translator's Introduction
    Prologue
    1 How Drukpa Kunley became an Ascetic Wanderer and how he
           delivered the Lady Sumchokma from the Ocean of Suffering
    2 How Drukpa Kunley visited Samye and Lhasa for the Sake of
          All Beings
    3 How Drukpa Kunley visited Taklung, Yalpachen and Sakya
          to give Meaning to the Lives of the People
    4 How Drukpa Kunley travelled through East Tsang for the Sake
          of  All Beings
    5 How Drukpa Kunley, the Master of Truth, went to Dakpo and
         Tsari and arrived in Bhutan
    6 How Drukpa Kunley bound the Demond of Bhutan and
          directed the Aged of that land to the Path of Liberation
    7 How Drukpa Kunley Instructed his Consorts in the Southern
          Valleys
    8 How Drukpa Kunley returned from Bhutan to Tibet and
          the Events which attended his Nirvana
    Benedictory Prayers
    Appendices

    [Click on Highlighted Title for Excerpt]
    DRUKPA KUNLEY'S TEACHING SONGS
    DRUKPA KUNLEY'S LORE
    PEMA LINGPA'S DZOGCHEN SONG
    CONVERTING DEMONS
    REFUGE IN SEX
    SUTRA OF SEX

    Drukpa Kunley's Teaching Songs
    The Lama returned to Adzomma's chung house, to his drinking and cavorting. The girls were full of admiration.'Yesterday you killed those animals and then returned them to life and we have great faith in you', they told him. You must certainly have been a Buddha in your past life. Please tell us about it.'
    'In the rosary of my many lives
    I have taken the form of every creature;
    I remember it only darkly,
    Yet I feel it was something like this:
    Since now I thrive on chung,
    Once I must have been bee;
    Since now I am so lustful
    Once I must have been a cock;
    Since now I am so angry,
    Once I must have been a snake;
    Since now I am so slothful,
    Once I must have been a pig;
    Since now I am so mean,
    Once I must have been a rich man;
    Since now I am so shameless,
    Once I must have been a madman;
    Since now I am such a liar,
    Once I must have been an actor;
    Since now my manners are so rude,
    Once I must have been a monkey;
    Since now I have such blood lust,
    Once I must have been a wolf;
    Since now I have so tight an anal sphincter,
    Once I must have been a nun;
    Since now I am so punctilious,
    Once I must have been a barren woman;
    Since now I spend my wealth on food,
    Once I must have been a Lama;
    Since now I am so avaricious,
    Once I must have been a steward;
    Since now I am so self-esteeming,
    Once I must have been an officer;
    Since now I enjoy cheating others,
    Once I must have been a business man;
    Since now I am so loquacious,
    Once I must have been a woman;
    But I cannot tell you if this is really true.
    Consider the matter yourselves.
    What is your opinion?'

        'You pretend to be telling us your past lives,' said the girls, 'but actually you are showing us our faults. We thank you for your teaching.'
        The Lama travelled on to the Academy of Palkhor Stupa where he found the metaphysicians engaged in debate. Watching the show, his attention was held by a very beautiful woman sitting on the edge of the Stupa. But at the head of the line of monks was an old monk who said to him, 'Your magical powers and signs of accomplishment are astonishing, but, you know, your refusal to bow to the Stupa, and to the monks, is wrong-headed and contrary to the Buddhas' Law,'
        'I am an experienced Naljorpa who long ago completed his prostration and confession,' said the Lama. 'But if you wish I will prostrate now.' And he began to perform his prostrations to the girl and the Stupa with this prayer:

    'I bow to this body of beautiful clay,
    Not counted amongst the Eight Sugata Stupas;
    I bow to this marvellous creation,
    Not fashioned by the hand of the god of craftsmen;
    I bow to these Thirteen Wheels,
    Unsurpassed in the Thirteen Worlds;
    I bow to the cheeks of the Gyangtse maiden,
    Not regarded in the body of the Saviouress.'

        'Alala!' exclaimed the monks. 'How crass! This Drukpa Kunley is truly crazy!'
        'Since woman is the way that all good and evil enter the world, she has the nature of Mother Wisdom,' the Lama told them. 'And further, when you took your ordination and vows of discipline at the feet of your spiritual preceptor, offering gold and silver without any concern for the future, you entered the mandala between woman's thighs. So I make no
    distinction between this woman and the Stupa as my object of refuge.'
        The laymen who heard him laughed, but the monks gave him black, resentful looks and turned away. 'We are trying to maintain the peerless rules of moral discipline,' said the Moral Guard, 'and you come here making fun of us.' And he took up a stick to beat him.
        Drukpa Kunley sang this song:

    'Proud Kongpo stallion, matchless in style and elegance,
    Black Tibetan horse, lifting high its white socks,
    Both racing together on the wide open plains
    Aku's Stableboy bear witness
    See which is first to pass the flag!

    'Bengali peacock, matchless in fine feathered display,
    Tibetan vulture, bird-lord with the wide Wings,
    Circling high in the empty sky
    Snow Mountain Heights bear witness
    See which bird has the bird's eye view!

    'Blue cuckoo in the tree's upper branches, matchless in song,
    Red breasted house cock with deafening cokorico,
    Both aroused by the season, stretching their lungs
    Old Man of the World bear witness --
    See who tells the time correctly!

    'Ferocious mountain snow lioness, matchless in pride and
            paw-power,
    Striped Indian tiger in the Sengdeng jungle,' savage in anger,
    Both in the Sengdeng jungle aroused to pitch of cunning fury --
    Gomchens and nuns bear witness-
    See who truly rules the jungle!

    'Palden Stupa abbots and professors of the robe, matchless
           Panditas,
    And I, Drukpa Kunley of Ralung, relaxing in the stream of events,
    All examining our moral performance
    Incontestable Truth bear witness --
    See who finally gains Buddhahood!'

    Finishing his song, his listeners were overcome with faith and devotion, and begged the Lama to protect them in this life and the next. 62
    At Tsechen Monastery (below Gyangtse), where the monks were conducting the Rite of Confession, the Lama offered a handful of tea in a cymbal the size of a yak's eye. 'Free tea all round,' he said, making the customary offering.
        'There's not enough tea there for three hundred monks,' they told him. 'Go away!'
        The Lama thought he would enlighten them in a playful manner and began running around the mountain, striding over boulders and skirting small stones.
        'Look at that madman!' cried the monks. 'See how he runs!'
        'This is like your type of practice!' the Lama responded.
        'That's nothing to do with our practice!' shouted the monks. 'That's just your craziness!'

    TOP
    Drukpa Kunley's Lore
    ...At the end of his beautiful song the monks and nuns served him tea and chung while others fell down swooning with devotion. Chenga Rimpoche, too, was very pleased:
    'Naljorpa contemplating illusion,
    Wherever you stay is your Academy,
    Wherever you stay is your hermitage.
    In your travels throughout the country,
    Who have you found the most pious?'

        The Lama replied thus:
    'I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited a Kahgyu Academy,
    And in that Kahgyu Academy every monk was holding a jug full
          of chung -
    So fearful of becoming a drunken reveller, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited a Sakya Academy,
    And in that Sakya Academy the monks were splitting subtle
          doctrinal hairs -
    So fearful of forsaking the true path of Dharma, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited the Academy of Galden,'
    And in the Galden Academy each monk was seeking a boyfriend -
    So fearful of losing my semen, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited a School of Gomchens,
    And in those hermitages every Gomchen wanted a lover
    So fearful of becoming a father and householder, I kept to myself
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited a Nyingma Academy,
    And in that Nyingma Academy each monk was aspiring to
           perform in the Mask Dance
    So fearful of becoming a professional dancer, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited Mountain Hermitages,
    And in those hermitages the monks were gathering worldly
          possessions
    So fearing to break my vow to my Lama, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited a Charnel Ground
          and outlying areas,
    And in those deserted places the Shaman Diabolists' were
          brooding on fame
    So fearful of enslaving myself to gods or demons, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited a Pilgrim Caravan,
    And found the Pilgrims engaged in trading
    So fearful of becoming a profit-hungry trader, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited a Retreat Centre,
    And here the meditators basked in the sun
    So fearing to relax in a small hut's security, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, sat at the feet of an Incarnate Lama
    Whose constant preoccupation was his religious treasures
    So fearing to become a collector or miser, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, stayed with the Lama's attendants
    Who had established the Lama as their tax collector
    So fearing to become a servant of the Disciples, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited the house of a rich man,
    Where the slaves of wealth were complaining like Denizens of Hell
    So fearful of rebirth as Lord of the Hungry Ghosts, I kept to
           myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited the house of poor, lowly
           people
    Who had placed their patrimony and possessions in pawn
    So fearful of becoming a disgrace to my race, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, visited the Religious Centre of Lhasa,
    Where the hostesses were hoping for their guests' gifts and favours
    So fearing to become a flatterer, I kept to myself.
    I, an ever roaming Naljorpa, wandering throughout the land,
    Found self-seeking sufferers wherever I looked
    So fearful of thinking only of myself. I kept to myself.'

       'What you say is very true,' assented Chenga Rimpoche.
        The company broke up, each returning to his duty, the Lama to continue on his way to Jayul.

    In Jayul the Lama stayed in the house of the Governor, and enjoyed lavish hospitality in the company of several Scholars, Gomchens, and monks. They drank chung and conversed together.
        'You don't wear Lamas', monks' or sages' apparel,' an elderly Scholar reproved him. 'You do whatsoever you please and set a bad example to the common people. You should find yourself a permanent home and settle down, instead of wandering around footloose and useless like a dog. You give all religious people a bad name. Why do you do it?'
        'If I became a Lama I would be the slave of my attendant disciples, and I would lose my freedom of action. If I became an ordained monk I would be obliged to keep the discipline, and who can keep their vows unbroken constantly? If I became a sage I should engage myself in discovering the Nature of Mind -- as if that was not already self-evident! Whether or not I am a bad example to anyone depends totally upon the intelligence of the individual in question. Furthermore, if a man is destined to spend his time in hell, imitating a Buddha will not save him. And if a man is destined for Buddhahood, the kind of clothes he wears is irrelevant, and his activity, whatever that may be, is naturally and spontaneously pure. Wishing for a permanent home, or becoming fixated upon any single materialistic aim, deflects one from the Path because it strengthens the idea of "I" and "mine". In so far as monks are venerated, their potential for emotional attachment is to that extent greater than the layman's. Although it is usually true that in the first place the motivation for founding a monastery, the desire to establish a place where aspirants can meditate, is laudable, when the need for communal protection gives rise to contention within and friction without, what was originally a sacred fellowship becomes a den of thieves because everyone is overtaken by selfish motivation.'
        The Scholars, impressed by this diatribe, approved of his words and thanked him. [pp.76-78]

    Drukpa Kunley continued on to Jayul where he found a company of intoxicated, Small Tent People from Bhutan, singing songs and drinking chung on the roof of the Jayul fort during a Sacramental Offering to the Gods and Protectors. The Governor Chogyal Lingpa was present and enjoying himself. Kunley joined them and was offered chung. Later he was asked to sing a happy song, and he sang them this:
    'Happily I am no common ritualist Lama
    Gathering followers, power and wealth,
    Without time to experience the fullness of life.
    Happily I am no scholarly monk
    Lusting after novice lovers,
    Without time to study the Sutras and Tantras.
    Happily I do not stay in a Mountain Hermitage
    Entranced by the smiles of the nuns,
    Without time to ponder the Three Vows.
    Happily I am no Black Magician
    Taking the lives of other people,
    Without time to cultivate Compassionate Mind.
    Happily I am no Shaman of the charnel ground
    Lending myself to gods and demons,
    Without time to sever the root of confusion.
    Happily I am no householder or father
    Fighting to put food in dependants' mouths,
    Without time to wander in pleasant places.'

        He was served more chung, and that night he stayed with the nun Yeshe Tsomo. After a few days he went on to Lhodrak.
    Travelling through the district of Lhodrak, he met the Adept Takrepa.' 'I would dearly like to sing you a song of praise,' the Adept told him, 'but I don't know how to begin. Please sing one yourself for me.'
        'I have no virtues to extol,' the Lama replied, 'but I'll sing you a song anyway.'

    'Dancer in the indestructible stream of magical illusion,
    Unifier of the welter of inconsistencies and absurdities,
    Power-holder turning the Wheel of Bliss and Emptiness,
    Hero perceiving all things as deception,
    Nauseous Recalcitrant disgusted with temporal attachment,
    Little Yogin piercing others' illusory projections,
    Vagabond selling Samsara short,
    Light-traveller making his lodging his home,
    Fortunate Wayfarer perceiving his Mind as the Lama,
    Champion understanding all appearance as the mind,
    Diviner of Relativity knowing unity as multiplicity,
    Naljorpa tasting the one flavour of all things-
    These are some of the masks I wear!'

    Then Drukpa Kunley visited the Power Spots of Drowolung (where Marpa lived and where the Kahgyu Tradition originated), Saykhang Chutokma (the ten story tower which Milarepa built), the cave of Tanyalungpa, and other places, before climbing over from Karchu to Bumthang in Bhutan, where the Second Buddha, Orgyen Padma Sambhava, left his imprint in a rock upon which he had sat in meditation. Here he made demanding eyes at the Bhutanese girls.
        'A Tibetan NaIjorpa has arrived,' they told each other. 'Let's take him chung and make love with him with body and mind.'
        But while the Lama was singing and drinking with the girls, a king of the Mon Chakhar line, King Iron Staffs dynasty, heard of him and tried to poison him, albeit unsuccessfully.
        Then he tried to shoot the Lama with poisoned arrows, but he missed his mark. After this second failure the king recognized him as an Adept, and paid him profound reverence.
        Interpreting this event favourably the Lama had a small temple built there which was called Monsib Lhakang. He appointed a Lama to spread the Teaching, and ordained thirty monks.  This was the beginning of the spread of the Drukpa Kahgyu Tradition in the eastern borderlands.

    He deflowered the virgins of Bhutan, and ever since then consorts with such soft skin, and with such strength to carry loads, cannot be found elsewhere. He taught both men and women the doctrine of karma according to their varying capacities of comprehension and their levels of devotion, and gave them instruction upon recitation of the MANI and the GURU SIDDHI mantras.
        In explanation of his behaviour he told them, 'I didn't come here to seduce the girls of Bhutan because I was sexually frustrated. Rather, although I have little power, I came to show you the little that I have; and although I have little benevolence, I came here to offer you some token of virtue. And I didn't wander here seeking food and clothing, for as you have seen, I have refused everything offered to me. Even if you were to offer me a load of Capsicum, I would refuse it.' The people were well-content with his words. [pp.80-82]
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    Padma Lingpa's Dzogchen Song
    The emptiness in the seeing which is called Vision
    Transcends definition as something or nothing;
    When seeing, is there nothing there?
    But if there is an object of sight, there is no Vision.

    The profundity that is called Meditation
    Lies beyond the presence or absence of mental images;
    When there is no mental image there is no object of meditation,
    And when there is a point of reference there is no act of
           meditation.

    He whose moral action is called spontaneous activity
    Has gone beyond the possibility of choice;
    When there is no bias or discrimination, there is no perfect action,
    And when there is no accepting or rejecting, where is moral
           action?
    [p.83]

    TOP                  BACK TO DZOGCHEN

    Converting Demons with his Thunderbolt
    The Lama Kunga Legpa decided to go to bind the Demon of Wong Gomsarkha (in the Thimphu district), who was threatening to exterminate the people of that area. From an inaccessible hiding place high up the valley, this venomous Serpent Demon had terrorize the inhabitants living on the terraces by the river, carrying them off at night, until only one old woman remained. Kunley entered the demon's territory and lay down using his bow and arrows and long sword as a pillow; he placed a pot of tsampa beside him, sucked in his stomach, smeared tsampa on his behind, and gave himself an erection. Lying on his back, he relaxed and awaited the demon, who was not long in coming.
        'Adzi! Adzi! exclaimed the demon. 'What is this? I have never seen anything like it! But perhaps it's edible.' He called loudly to his Elemental Slaves, who immediately descended upon the area in inconceivable numbers like flies on rotten meat. Some of them thought the body was dead, and others thought it was still living.
        'We had better not eat it if we don't know what it is,' said the Phuya Fiend. 'The body is warm, so it cannot be dead; it isn't breathing, so it is not alive; there's tsampa in that pot, so it can't have died of starvation; its belly is empty, so it couldn't have died of over-eating; there are weapons under its head, so it's unlikely it died of fear; its penis is still erect, so it must have been alive recently; it has worms in its anus, so it couldn't have died today. Whatever it is, it looks unhealthy for us. We should leave it alone.'
        'Whatever we do,' said the Serpent Demon, 'we should eat the old woman today. Let's meet at her door at nightfall.' Agreeing upon this plan, they dispersed.
        The Lama arose and went straight to the old woman's house. 'How are you, old lady?' he greeted her.
        'You are welcome,' she replied, 'but I am desperate,'
        'What's the matter?' the Lama consoled her. 'Tell me about it.'
        'Once I was wealthy,' she told him, 'but since no Buddha or Adept has ever set foot in this poor outlandish valley, the demons have run amuck and devoured both men and cattle. I myself do not expect to live through this coming night. You are a holy man and need not stay here. Go away while you can or you will be eaten alive. Tomorrow, if I am not here, you can take anything of value from the house to support yourself or to distribute amongst the poor.' Thus she made her will.
        'Things aren't as bad as they seem,' the Lama told her. 'I will stay with you here tonight.
        'Do you have any chung?'
        'I had a little but the petty gods and demons stole the moisture,' she replied. 'I don't know whether there is any taste remaining in the grain.'
        'Bring the grain and I'll see,' he said.
        He was drinking when night fell and the demons arrived at the door. When they began pounding upon it the old woman began screaming in paroxysms of fear.
        'You stay up here,' the Lama directed. 'I'll take care of this. Down below, he took his erect penis in his hand and thrust it through the hole in the door which was big enough to take a fist, and as a Flaming Thunderbolt of Wisdom it rammed into the Serpent Demon's gaping red mouth knocking out four teeth above and four teeth below.
        'Something hit me in the mouth!' screamed the demon wildly, and fled down the terraces of the river valley until he came to the cave called Lion Victory-Banner, where a nun called Lotus Samadhi was sitting deep in meditation. 'Naljorpa! Something weird hit me in the mouth,' he stormed breathlessly.
        'Well, what was it, and where did it come from?' she enquired.
        'It was at the old woman of Gomsarkha's house. A strange man who was neither a layman nor a monk hit me with a flaming iron hammer,' panted the demon.
        'You have been hit by a magical device,' the nun told him. 'That kind of wound never heals. If you doubt me look at this.' She raised her skirt and opened her legs. 'This wound was caused by the same weapon. There is no way to heal it.'
        The demon put his finger to it and raised it to his nose. 'Akha! kha! This wound has gone putrid, and I suppose mine will go the same way,' he moaned. 'What should I do?'
        'Listen to me and 1 will tell you,' the nun told him. 'Go back to the man who hit you. He will still be there. His name is Drukpa Kunley. Offer him your life, and vow never to harm living creatures again. Then perhaps you may be cured.'
        The demon took this advice, and returned to the house where the Lama awaited him. He prostrated before the Lama, and said, 'I am yours to command. I offer you my life.'
        The Lama placed his Thunderbolt upon the demon's head and ordained him as a layman, binding him with the lesser vows.' He gave him the name Ox-Devil, and invested him as a Reality Protector. Even today he is the Master of Gomsakha, and offering' is still made to him.

    Ascending from the Lhangtso river valley, the Lama saw the terrifying form of the Lhadzong Demoness approaching him dressed in absurd, unconventional clothing. He immediately erected his Flaming Thunderbolt of Wisdom in the sky and she, unable to bear the sight of that magical tower, changed herself into a Venomous Serpent. The Lama stepped upon her head and the creature was petrified. It can still be seen today in the middle of the main road.

    Finally Choje Drukpa Kunley arrived at Topa Tsewong's house, where his arrow had fallen, and stopped to piss against the wall.
        'What an enormous cock and balls he's got!' shouted some watching children.'
        The Lama sang them this song:

    'In blue cuckoo summertime your cock is long and your balls hang
          low;
    In the purple stag wintertime the head of your penis grows long.
    Throughout the year it's a long hungry beast,
    But that is the difference between summer and winter!' [pp.95-98]

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    Apa's Refuge in Sex
    On his return from the Long Rong valley, the Lama entered an arid region which he named Lokthang Kyamo (Arid Land). Here he met an old man called Apa Gaypo Tenzin. The old man's sons had left home and all but his youngest daughter had married and gone to their husbands' homes, leaving him bored and with nothing to do except follow his devotions. He prostrated at the Lama's feet.
        'I am most fortunate to meet you,' he told the Lama. 'My elder sons have established their own homes, my youngest son has entered a monastery, and my daughters have married. I am bored with life and need the teaching that will prepare me for death. Please instruct me.'
        'Yah! Yah!' said Kunley pensively. 'I will teach you a Refuge Prayer` which you must recite whenever you think of me. There is one stricture which accompanies it - never discuss it with anyone.' And he taught the old man this Refuge which gives release from samsara.

    'I take refuge in an old man's chastened penis, withered at the
           root,
    fallen like a dead tree;
    I take refuge in an old woman's flaccid vagina, collapsed,
           impenetrable, and sponge-like;
    I take refuge in the virile young tiger's Thunderbolt, rising proudly,
           indifferent to death;
    I take refuge in the maiden's Lotus, filling her with rolling bliss
           waves, releasing her from shame and inhibition.'
        'Remember to recite this Refuge whenever I enter your mind,' repeated the Lama.
        'I thank you with all my heart,' Apa Gaypo said fervently. 'Now please teach me a prayer that will strengthen my aspiration.'
        The Lama taught him this:

    'The branches of the Great Eastern Tree grow and grow,
    But the foliage's spread depends on the tree's roots' extent.
    Drukpa Kunley's penis head may stick, stick in a small vagina,
    But tightness depends upon the size of the penis.
    Apa Gaypo's urge to gain Buddhahood is strong, so strong,
    But the scale of his achievement depends upon the strength of his
          devotion.'

        'Keep this prayer in your mind!' Kunley directed him.
        The old man returned home. 'Did you meet the Lama?' his daughter asked him. 'Did you receive his instruction?'
        'He gave me a Prayer of Refuge which I learned by heart,' he replied.
        'You are neither intelligent nor educated,' said his daughter. 'Was it short and concise? Please repeat it for us.'
        Apa folded his palms in prayer and began, 'I take refuge in an old man's chastened penis. . .' and so on, in exactly the way that the Lama had taught him. His daughter ran away in embarrassment.
        'Are you crazy!' demanded his wife. 'A Buddha Lama's words are always quite pure. Either you misunderstood the Lama or you have forgotten what he told you. And even if you have remembered the words correctly, it is shameful to imitate the Lama. You must never repeat this in front of the children!'
        'The Lama told me to repeat it whenever I thought of him,' Apa insisted, 'and that I will do.'
        Later, when the family was gathered for their evening meal, Apa folded his hands and again repeated the prayer.'The old man has gone mad,' they whispered to each other, and taking their bowls with them they left the table, so that when Apa reopened his eyes he was alone. When his wife returned she told him that he must stay in a room apart if he persisted in his madness. Apa insisted that he would continue even at the cost of his life, so the hayloft in the roof of the house was prepared as his room of confinement, and he moved in there and continued to pray day and night.
        About a month later on the evening of the full moon, strains of lute and piccolo were heard through the house. Apa's wife, unable to hear her husband's voice in prayer, grew apprehensive, thinking that perhaps he was crying and moaning in nervous depression. 'Go take your father some chung,' she told her daughter.
        The girl went up to the loft with the chung and found only a heaped quilt on the bed. She threw off the quilt and found a sphere of rainbow light with the syllable AH in the centre of it, shining white and radiant.
        'Apa! Apa! Apa has gone! Come quickly!' she screamed in superstitious dread.
        When the family and neighbours had gathered, the sphere of light flew off into the western sky, trailing behind it the voice of the old man. 'Drukpa Kunley has delivered me into the Potala Mountain Paradise of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. You prudish people must stay here! Give the Lokthang Kyamo to the Lama as an offering.'
        When the Lama visited that house, he built a stupa over the spot where Apa had died and put the old man's rosary inside as a relic. Later the abbot Ngawong Chogyal built a monastery around the stupa, and today that monastery is called the Khyimed Temple. [pp.104-106]

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    Drukpa Kunley's Sutra of Sex
    Then the consorts and patrons of Bhutan made a further request to the Lama. 'Lama Rimpoche, we beseech you to bless us, the people of the Southern Ravines, with a discourse upon the Buddhas' Teaching. We ask that you give your discourse a name in Sanskrit, that it be serious in content, but with some touches of humour. Please deliver it in the language of the common people so that everyone can understand it, but give it a profound inner meaning. Teach us the simple message of the Buddha, so that merely by hearing it we are released from the troubles of transmigratory existence.'
        The Lama delivered this discourse.

    'In Sanskrit: Nga'i mje sha-ra-ra!
    In Tibetan:Bu-mo'i stu-la shu-ru-ru!
    This is the discourse on mundane pleasure.

    'The virgin finds pleasure in her rising desire,
    The young tiger finds pleasure in his consummation,
    The old man finds pleasure in his fertile memory:
        That is the teaching on the Three Pleasures.
    The bed is the workshop of sex,
    And should be wide and comfortable;
    The knee is the messenger of sex,
    And should be sent up in advance;
    The arm is the handle of sex,
    And it should clasp her tightly;
    The vagina is a glutton for sex,
    And should be sated again and again:
        That is the teaching upon Necessity.
    It is taboo to make love to a married woman,
    It is taboo to make love to a girl under ten,
    It is taboo to make love to a menstruating woman
    Or a woman under a vow of celibacy:
        That is the teaching on the Three Taboos.
    Hunger is the mark of an empty stomach,
    A large penis is the mark of an idiot,
    Passionate lust is the mark of a woman:
        That is the teaching on the Three Marks.
    The impotent man has little imagination,
    Bastards have little virtue,
    The rich have little generosity:
        That is the teaching on the Three Deficiencies.
    A Lama's joy is a gift,
    A politician's joy is flattery,
    A woman's joy is her lover:
        That is the teaching on the Three Joys.
    Sinners hate the pious and devout,
    The rich hate loose spendthrifts,
    Wives hate their husbands' mistresses:
        That is the teaching on the Three Hates.
    For blessing worship the Lama,
    For power worship the Deity,
    For efficiency worship the Reality Protectors:
        This is the teaching on the Three Objects of Worship.
    Pay no respect to mean Lamas,
    Pay no respect to immoral monks,
    Pay no respect to dogs, crows or women:
        That is the teaching on the Three Rejects.
    The Discipline's purpose is to calm and pacify,
    The Vow to serve others is to free from self-will,
    The Tantra's purpose is to teach unity of polarity:
        That is the teaching on the Three Vehicles.
    The starving beggar has no happiness,
    The irreligious have no divinity,
    The wanderer has no bonds or commitment:
        That is the teaching on the Three Lacks.
    He who is without honesty has a dry mouth,
    He who is without spirituality makes no offering,
    He who is without courage does not make a general:
        That is the teaching on the Three Zeros.
    The sign of a rich man is a tight fist,
    The sign of an old man is a tight mind,
    The sign of a nun is a tight vagina:
        That is the teaching on the Three Constrictions.
    The fast talker inserts himself into the centre of a crowd,
    Monastic wealth inserts itself into the monks' stomachs,
    Thick penises insert themselves into young girls:
        That is the teaching on the Three Insertions.
    The mind of a Bodhisattva is smooth,
    The talk of self-seekers is smoother,
    But the thighs of a virgin are smoother than silk:
        That is the teaching on the Three Smooth Things.
    Immoral monks have thin skirts,
    Widows and spinsters have thin stomachs and clothes,
    Fields without manure bear thin crops:
        That is the teaching on the Three Thin Things.
    Kunley never tires of girls,
    Monks never tire of wealth,
    Girls never tire of sex:
        That is the teaching on the Three Indefatigables.
    Although mind is clear, one needs a Lama;
    Although a lamp burns brightly, it still needs oil;
    Although Mind is self-evident, it needs recognition:
        That is the teaching on the Three Needs.'

        And then the Lama continued:
    'The Lama without a disciple, the student without persistence,
    The pundit without an audience, the woman without a lover,
    The master without a servant, the rich man without food,
    The farmer without crops, the nomad without cattle,
    The monk without discipline, the Gomchen without instruction,
    The nun obsessed with sex, the man unable to reach erection,
    Wealth sought with the bum, and shy girls panting for sex
    How ridiculous they look! What laughter they raise!'

    And again he went on:
    'Although the clitoris is suitably triangular,
    It is ineligible as devil-food for the local god's worship.
    Although love-juice can never dry up in the sun,
    It is unsuited for tea to quench thirst.
    Although a scrotum can hang very low,
    It is an unsuitable bag for the hermitage's victuals.
    Although a penis has a sound shaft and a large head,
    It is not a hammer to strike a nail.
    Though endowed with a human body and shapely,
    It is not proper to be mistress to the Lord of Death
    Although your mind may be virtuous and pure,
    The Buddhas' Teaching is not accomplished by staying at home.
    The teaching of the Tantric Mysteries is most profound,
    But liberation cannot be gained without profound experience.
    Drukpa Kunley may show you the way,
    But you must traverse the path by yourself.'

    After he had finished this discourse, the people cried and laughed, and crying and laughing they left that place with great faith and devotion. Through his own buoyancy and benevolence his fame spread throughout the land of Bhutan, and all men and women, monks and laymen, recognized his power and revered him. By virtue of this faith and devotion they became ready vessels for the Buddhas' ambrosia.
        When the Lama Drukpa Kunley arrived in Shar Kunzang-ling, the inhabitants confabulated:
        'We should try and bring our demon face to face with Drukpa Kunley,' they plotted. 'No one give him lodging so that he has to stay up in the ruins. We'll take him food up there.'
        So, unable to find lodging in the village, the Lama went up to the ruins to sleep, and at midnight he was attacked by a demon that had nine goitres piled one above the other growing out of his neck. Kunley thrust his Flaming Thunderbolt of Wisdom up the demon's rear and sent him fleeing up the hill. Even today near the Orgyen Rock, one can smell burnt meat and hear cries of pain. And although there used to be eighty tax payers in Kunzangling, because the people refused Drukpa Kunley hospitality, now there are only four. [pp.108-111]

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