A story as told by Sherab Gyaltsen in 2006

First story told in Amden, October 13-14, 2006:

In a time countless of Kalpas before our Kalpa there existed a time and a place called the world of multicolored light.

The Buddha that was alive in that period of time was called the Buddha of the Sound of the Drum.  In this time

there was a king in a kindom who was very devoted to the Buddha Sound of the Drum.This king had a daughter, wisdom moon or Sherab Dewa, who was aware of the king’s great devotion and often was there when the king received the Buddha. When she first saw him (Sound of the Drum) she had instant faith in him. She then proceeded to serve him and his entourage of many many monks for over 100 years, before she aspired to ask and actually asked the Buddha for Bodhisattva-vows. The Buddha gave these to her and Sherab Dewa set off to practice.

Buddha’s monks were very fond of her and talked to her – and said: ”You have excellent Karma, you already got one request, you could and should ask for another request. The Buddha will surely grant you this wish. You should ask that you get enlightenment – but that will only happen if you are reborn in

male form, so ask to be born a boy.”

Sherab Dewa answered: ”There is no female, there is no male, it is just an illusion, there is no self, there is no categories. The idea of male and female is just meaningless labels – created from confusion… I will continue do develop enlightened activity as a woman until I and all sentient being attain full enlightenment.”

Sherab Dewa practiced Samadhi for a long long time. And she was realized by the mediation called ”the meditation that liberates from Samsara”. This gave her the power to liberate beings. She set forth:

Every morning she set a goal to liberate a certain number of beings. And she would not eat her mid-day meal until she had indeed liberated and set the number of beings on the path.  Every afternoon she did the same – set a goal of setting beings on the path to liberation and she did not stop until she had reached her goal. Then first she slept.

Therefore this Tara is called the LIBERATOR (LIBERATRICE).

Reflections... on a hot day in Qatar

• No matter what part of the world we are from, no matter how different the languages we speak, spirituality is somehow naturally there, everywhere. And diverse a
  s the different traditions may be, the fundamental similarity, I think, is that in all the different parts of the world the notion of spirituality is about wanting to find one’s peace not through material accumulation but through spiritual accumulation. I think that without the different religions in the world that have existed until now the world itself might not have survived – humankind might not have survived.        
  ~ His Holiness 17th Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje

And with that quote from the Master of Masters (at least mine) - let me tell you how abundantly tired I am of Samsara. I am looking at the beautiful Qatari women who actually show their face, sweeping the floors with their abayas. How weird to have to hide such beauty for the sake of.... men? a god? what?  Yes they are elegant, that I admit to, as are the men - in their white dish-dashs.  But VERY VERY difficult it must be to swim in the black abaya - as I saw one woman trying to do just now in the hotel pool. Weird tradition, weird weird weird. It is just as weird as walking nude. MIDDLE WAY! We need more regular sanity here and now. Just think about what Palestine and Israel are doing - repeating the same old pattern over and over and over again.  They seem not to be able to break the chain of really bad karma. But they must - for the sake of their kids. 
Again this makes me feel very fortunate to have Dharma, the Inner Path. Thank you teachers! Thank you!

Arabian Nights, outside my hotel window, yesterday. For more pictures look at http://pix.denizen.se