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Dalai Lama cuts U.S. tour short
genkaku
Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
Even as 78-year-old Pope Francis headed for Philadelphia in a winding-down of his six-day U.S. visit, the Dalai Lama, 80, abruptly cut short a tour in America for medical reasons yesterday.
Strange how the spot-lighted and popular heavy-hitters get old and advance towards memory, just like the rest of us. Both of these men have a background in a disciplined spiritual effort and yet radiate kindness: How's that for a lesson that cannot be learned simply by aping kindness?
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Hopefully it is nothing too serious. I saw he was at Mayo for an evaluation that was not a normal checkup. It is curious that the response is that he needs total rest. I can't imagine a diagnosis that would result in rest but no other treatment. One would think if he needed treatment he would stay at Mayo, unless of course he declined treatment which would not surprise me. Not to speak for all Tibetans (or Tibetan practitioners) but the general sense I have gotten when these types of things have come up for discussion is they prefer rest and support-rather than interventions-that interrupt the natural progression of the dying process. When my grandma died, she was drugged up on morphine. It appeared to be a fairly peaceful way to go, physically. But would it be the best spiritually? I suspect advanced practitioners perhaps don't fear suffering the way most of the rest of us do.
In any case, best wishes and blessings to him while he rests.
I have heard somewhere (I will need to try to find reference) of someone spiritual refusing pain relief, because they wanted to remain lucid and aware of their own self.... They wanted to feel connected to the pain, in order to come to terms with it and to accept it.... I can see their point.....
I can also see the point my wife's mother, who bore seven children and was always a little skeptical of her daughters (including my wife) when they opted for natural child birth. Her view: why endure the pain... "wake me when it's over." Or, in the deathbed scenario, perhaps Woody Allen had a point: "I am not afraid of death. I just don't want to be there when it happens."
Embrace it or reject it, the result seems to be pretty much the same.
In the end, yes, the death happens no matter what. But Tibetan Buddhists have a whole succession of steps (bardos) of what they believe happens leading up to and after death and that particular interventions can interfere with that transference of consciousness or the karmic stream or whatever you want to call it. They also want the body left for a while after death which is usually not honored upon deaths in western hospitals because of health codes and other things. So I could see a number of reasons why, even if the HHDL is truly ill, he would return to his home rather than receive what we would term as "treatment." Often the treatment is worse than the disease especially if someone is elderly and not wanting to fight off death but to go on their terms and with the support they need.
As for birth, why endure the pain? Because I can determine that I want to accept that pain and suffering knowing it is temporary rather than accept drugs that the baby also gets both in utero and in breastmilk after birth. It's easy for older people to say "of course you want pain drugs!" without realizing what side effects it has on the child. There is always a trade off to treating or rather blocking high levels of pain.
Edited to add: our fear of the suffering that goes along with death is often just that: our fear. We base it on the fully active life we have now and imagine it all to be suffering. Not that there are not painful and suffering ways to die, but the overall process when it occurs outside of traumatic injury basically usually leads to a coma with or without medical pain intervention. But depending what is going on, there can be a lot of pain leading up to that point, like with cancer. But what many of us see as suffering, I don't think we can comprehend until we are there. I think when people know they are dying, there is an entire other process that is going on in so many ways that we cannot understand. We are afraid for what it is our turn to be there. But I think when we are there, most of the time there isn't so much of that fear. Anticipation is always the worst part, and I don't think death is any different.
@genkaku I had absolutely no pain relief whatsoever with either of my daughters, the second of which was born at home. My eldest daughter, furthermore, was 57cm long and 51cm round the head. They were seriously worried I would need a caesarian, but all went well, and she was born naturally after a start-to-finish 7-hour labour.
), as was my ex-H. who proved to be a wonderful support, in every way possible...
My youngest emerged with the cord around her neck, but that was quickly dealt with. She was born in my bathtub.
I would add, I was fully present (!
Sometimes, it is helpful (for me anyhow) to go through the pain rather than block it. There is a lot of discomfort in life and I've never been one to shy away from that, unless it's a migraine, LOL. A lot of people I know who are addicts and alcoholics, that is precisely one of their problems-wanting to block out or remove all discomfort they feel whether it's a cold or emotional and mental pain. Anyhow, not to get completely off topic. I also had children with no pain management all over 9 pounds. The largest was 23 inches and 9 pounds 10 ounces. He's still a moose of a child, lol. But there was something to me about working through that pain. And they teach you all about how to do so, and many of the techniques work really well, including stuff related to meditation. I think we can use a lot of that in dealing with a lot of pain and discomforts we just don't because there is no reward in the end unlike childbirth.
I am indebted to the above women who have gone the distance and seen something useful/informative/pick-a-word about addressing pain head-on. It's not a one-size-fits-all scenario, but....
I think that the above descriptions and the deep-down understanding and perhaps satisfaction related in those posts might likewise be applied to meditation, a situation in which no-hand-holds pain can come calling. It always makes me a bit nervous when those who experience pain in meditation are advised to find a more comfy easy chair or some other mollifying agent. "It's supposed to be joyful!" ... yeah, right! Tell me that when my right knee is on fire. Meditation is about real life; real life includes pain; if the only answer anyone finds to pain is running away or ducking, to what extent has meditation fulfilled its full-hearted, arms-open promise?
And before the oh-that's-masochism crowd sharpens its knives, no, I am not talking about some self-flagellating, the-more-it-hurts-the-better-it-is routine. All I mean is that each of us in one way or another faces pain. It's a question of how and with what skill that matters and without investigating pain purposefully, I have a hunch we'll all end up as very comfortable couch potatoes who can't find our own asses with both hands.
OK ... my ass is available for kicking.
Thanks, ladies ... and I hope all the children are well.
Just for the record, I place no judgement or anything on women who choose to have pain relief medications during labor and delivery. None at all. I made my choice based on my needs, my pain threshold (which is quite high) and my preferences. Everyone is so very different, I would never look down on others who chose differently. I intended only to share my experience but reading back it might come across as me thinking my way was the right way, which isn't the case. Only right for me.
In the case of both TNH and possibly now HHDL, I wish they would share their experiences more. I totally respect their right to privacy and ritual and whatever else they desire. But their students and followers could learn so much by experiencing some of that process as to how they cope. Of course, perhaps there is no way to do so. No doubt it is a state they achieve mostly by living so many years in practice that enables them to deal differently with such situations than the rest of us.
Did I miss something? The Dalai Lama is pregnent? I hope it's a girl ...
He may just need some rest, or he may have something more serious. Not all public figures are equally open on the details of their personal health.
But at some point the day will come when he can no longer travel.
He is now checked into the Mayo as a patient for "further evaluation." Not going home just yet.
Was that Kraft, Best Foods or one of the natural ones?
Seriously, I wish both the Pope and the Dali Lama well.
Everyone with a sincere message of humility, humanity, love and compassion is more than welcome on this ship. The rest we'll bring along anyway because, well, it's a big ship.
I hadn't heard anything lately so I did a search and found this article:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/966630/dalai-lama-brushes-off-health-fears-after-cancelling-us-tour/
Apparently he made it home and is fine, but he is saying very very little.