Non-dualism

There are many ways to describe non-dualism. However, what I'm going to share now is sort of a more advanced version of it so if you haven't yet studied dualism at all this won't make any sense.

I have studied Tibetan Buddhism with Tibetan Lamas both here in the U.S. in the Santa Cruz and Berkeley areas of California and in Mt. Shasta, in Oregon and In India and Nepal especially during the 1980s when my wife and older children and I went to India, Nepal, Thailand and Japan in 1985 and 1986 from December 1985 until April 1986.

During this time I was told a story about Padmasambhava, who brought Buddhism from Nalanda in India to Lhasa Tibet to King Trisong Detson. I believe he did this around 800 to 900 AD.   . However, this is in a completely different cultural context.

When I was taught about Padmasambhava the lamas said that he was a very practical man in that he used all his attributes (that we might consider both good and bad) to enlighten everyone he was around). As I thought about what they were talking about  I began thinking about people everywhere. And I realized that people I have met have used literally every kind of ploy on me and everyone else to make sure I and others stayed alive through the years. Especially parents do this just to keep their kids alive to their mid 20s when they just might have enough sense to stay alive by themselves in a good way.

So, I realized that non-dualism is literally keeping people alive long enough to do good for themselves or others. Even when I was counseling Juvenile Offenders (boys 12 to 17 years of age in San Jose in the early 1990s) I was mostly just finding ways to keep them alive and not either killing themselves or each other and sometimes preventing them from killing me too. Though it was different when I later counseling emotionally disturbed teenagers because they never were trying to kill me, instead I had to find ways to prevent them from killing or injuring themselves.

So, whether it is your own children, your friends, your relatives or acquaintances, most of us spend a great deal of time just trying to keep people alive including ourselves.

So, understanding how Padmasambhava would use literally almost any method to keep people alive long enough for them to learn better to take care of themselves and each other made a lot of sense to me. Even ministers and Catholic Priests and Nuns. That is what they are doing around the world a lot too. Trying to keep people alive long enough for them to figure it out and go to heaven. That's what it's all about. Trying to keep people from killing themselves at least until they are 25 or 30 and can figure it out for themselves that they want to be alive to help themselves and others.

So, that is what is most amazing to me about Padmasambhava as a teacher. He will use any method to keep you alive long enough to become enlightened. And what does he have in common with Jesus and Saint Germain? That's what they do too. They try to keep us all alive long enough to make it into heaven in a positive way. That's how it works whether you believe in God, heaven, Satori, Enlightenment or any of it or none of it. That's what it's all about. You find ways to keep people alive, even yourself, so you can make your own life and others lives better ongoing towards a heaven right here on earth!