K
ING GESAR OF LING rides the powerful Wind Horse, which has the power to strengthen mankind’s inner spirit
force, our lung ta. In so doing, the Wind Horse gallops through the skies, dispersing obstacles and opening the way for us mere mortals to at first gain FAME, SUCCESS and WEALTH, the samsaric aspirations we all crave, but also much more, as the essence of our inner natures begin to unfold, skillfully, first satisfying our worldly desires, then causing realizations of the true nature of reality to emerge within our minds. King Gesar’s epic is the Tibetan
equivalent of the Iliad or the Odyssey of Western literature. Te legends of Gesar are derived from the rich oral traditions of the Himalayan Kingdom, beginning in the eleventh century and now regarded as the longest single work in the world. King Gesar’s exploits are full of
wondrous magic and high adventure and all contain strong underlying Buddhist teachings on compassion and wisdom. King Gesar is widely revered as an embodiment of the great bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Manjushuri, as well as an emanation of the awesome Guru Rinpoche also known as Padmasambhava, the being who brought Buddhism to Tibet. King Gesar’s heroism and humour personify the best of human qualities – courage, bravery, loyalty, compassion, virtuous behavior and ultimately triumph over evil, deception and self-interest. His warrior songs are simple yet so intense they reach right into our hearts with their profound wisdom and compassion. Not much but some of these songs have been translated and they are a joy to read! But even nicer to sing as I have recently come to discover. Tere are as yet, few books on
King Gesar, but last month, the highly respected Tibetan Publishing House Shambhala Publications came out with the first three volumes of translations on the epics of King Gesar. Tis corresponds so fabulously with my own personal discovery of King Gesar’s existence that my hair
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Here with Jennifer, Honey, Ven Kunchuk and Khenpo Delek Rinpoche in my garden.
stands upright at the thought. So many causes and conditions
have been coming together for me, all pointing to my personal affinity with the Kingdom of Shambhala, with Gesar, with Guru Rinpoche, incidents and coincidences that have coloured my world for the past couple of years and if I told you about them all - tales of experiences that have convinced me of the power and existence of cosmic magic - they would surely fill a whole book and more. It is enough only for me to share one of the more recent of my experiences…
Tis is the coming into my life
of an amazingly highly-qualified reincarnate Rinpoche, a Khenpo of the Nyingma Tradition of the Tibetan Buddhist lineage who literally dropped out of the skies and into my home unexpectedly bringing into my life, a wealth of new Dharma knowledge so precious! Khenpo Gyurme Delek Rinpoche told me about King Gesar who he said had the same surname as him i.e. Ling…
and I laughingly replied, “Oh my, that too is my name for my maiden surname is also Ling, although we Hokkiens pronounce it as Lim. So we are chin chia, the Hokkien word for clansmen,” I said.
MY NEW FRIEND… Tis very humble Khenpo is also my chin chia then. Ah but he does have such a brilliant sense of humour and so simple. He kept discouraging us from performing all the protocols due to his high status, and yet he looks so much like an ancient nobleman, I swear if you see him dressed in his full robes and jacket, you can easily imagine him walking out of the pages of history. But even dressed in 21st century casual monk’s garb, I feel he looks positively royal, or like a movie star! Several of my Dharma friends and I did an amazing Tara Retreat with Khenpo. That is when we discovered the depth of his vast knowledge as well as the richness of his unmatchable voice. Every mantra,
JULY / AUGUST 2013 | F ENGSHUIWORLD 37
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