Tibetan Tantric Masters: video

You can find a lot of crap on YouTube, but you know what? You can find gems like this, too. I don't know much about the origin of this video, but it's one in a series of three ten-minute chunks on YouTube -- rare color footage of Tibetan tantric masters meditating, in retreat. Looks a few decades old. Start at 0:39 and just zone out. According to the notes from the uploader, the last 3 faces you'll see in the video are:

1) His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, head of the Nyingma lineage in India
2) Venerable Kalu Rinpoche, great realized master in the Kagyu lineage.
3) His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa Lama (...) head of the Karma Kagyu lineage.

Video: Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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Anonymous

Love this one the narrator has such nice way of s-p-e-a-k-i-n-g should try being a news at ten to 12 or longer presenter. Think these chaps should offer to do time in place of prisoners of conscience doing solitary for 10 years, cannot understand how the people in concentration camps were not more grateful !! Each to his own, guess it’s a way to get free food from other poor peasants, in the west our more advanced masters can be seen meditating next to cash machines.
Multifarious

…inspiring? extreme mental acrobatics and emotions? What was the whole purpose again of mediation? Oh, yes, I remember: to think of absolutely nothing and thus gain a higher understanding of life the universe and our place in it. While thinking of nothing. Rright..
And the effect on the rest of the world? Not a single thing. Apart from people being inspired by people doing ab-so-lute-ly nothing.

Really, I cannot find the admiration some people seem to have for this. From a cultural point of view, maybe, it’s interesting people think they can amount to something by doing nothing. But from any other perspective? Meh!

I read a quote once, goes something like this: “you can pray and meditate until you turn blue, but nothing will happen outside of your pathetic mind”. To me that pretty much says it all.
It’s nice if you get a good feeling out of it, but please stop exalting it to some ‘holy grail of mental capacity’ level.
- soupisgoodfood
  
  Maybe you should read up about insight meditation and what it’s supposed to achieve? It may look like “nothing”, but the latest neuroscience in this area suggests otherwise. Your long argument just shows that you know very little about the subject other than the baseless assumptions you’re projecting onto it.
  
  BTW, a heated debate is not the same thing as meditation (Buddhist or not) and assuming that one can replace the other just shows a lack of understanding about what either is supposed to achieve in the first place.
Anonymous

This is pretty much what I look like when I’m websurfing.
georigin

What they fail to mention is, these so called “spiritual masters” are a pain when it comes to cleaning after them. I am an Indian and i have seen these monks and sometimes sadhus who have “entered a higher conscience” basically they are spoon fed and then they do their “business” right there!

Higher conscience while you crap your trousers..Gimme a break.
Blue

Multifarious #7:
” What was the whole purpose again of mediation? Oh, yes, I remember: to think of absolutely nothing and thus gain a higher understanding of life the universe and our place in it. While thinking of nothing. Rright..
And the effect on the rest of the world? Not a single thing. Apart from people being inspired by people doing ab-so-lute-ly nothing.”

As far as you can see.

Georigin #8, in other words, you once got mugged by a black person and now all black people are thugs.

Bigotry comes in many flavours. The anti-religious variation has the same base note – bitter.
ahmacrom

I agree. It’s beautiful. Meditation is one of the hardest things you will ever try! But it is worth it. Thank you.
midsentence

It’s amazing the sarcastic irritability people can muster over things they’re clearly ignorant about.

To start with, as any Buddhist can tell you, it is impossible to think about “nothing,” the mind is simply incapable of it. But long ago colonists decided it’s nothing they’re thinking of, and it is still believed by those who find it easier to dismiss than find out for themselves.

The true reason Mahayana Buddhists meditate is that they see our human existence as a sleepwalker’s dream full of disfigured assumptions and distractions which cloud and confuse our minds, often for our entire lives. We live in a world governed by knee jerk decisions made on irrational and misguided emotions, which leads to misery, hatred and violence. With extended meditation comes mental clarity, allowing the person to apply a deep rationality to all facets of life. The next step is to take this clarified mind and learn a deep love and compassion for all life, and devote one’s time to helping others.

Is that so stupid? Don’t all intelligent people believe that ignorance is what leads to violence? Isn’t rationality a common goal around here?

I know dozens of people who devote more time and energy to the plot of Mad Men than taking care of their own health and caring for those in need combined. According to Buddhists society has been like this for centuries, and it’s not hard to see their point of view. It’s not a sin, it doesn’t make us horrible people. It just proves we need help focusing on what’s important. The attitude seems simple enough. You help yourself get mentally clear, so that you can then help others efficiently and effectively, so that hopefully, eventually, all can attain enlightenment for the sake of peace.

Buddhists are not alone in extolling the extreme value of meditation. Recent scientific studies have shown that accomplished meditators actually change their brainwave oscillation rates at will.

http://www.pnas.org/content/101/46/16369.full

Plenty of doctors now suggest meditation as a way to fight the toll of stress on the mind and body. It’s theorized that those who practice have an easier time absorbing information, better memory, and quicker reaction time. Even the US Army is beginning a meditation program for soldiers.

But it’s much easier and safer to scoff and call it all dumb.
songdog-tech

Reading some the responses to the videos: even if they don’t want it, or are bitter, ignorant, annoyed or just bored, we have to have compassion for all, including those who feel that meditation – an attempt by oneself to affect the world for better – means nothing.
lailea

Beautiful
Ambiguity

@3

I guess some religions are more exempt from scorn and derision than others?

Well, truth be told I’m not a big fan of scorn and derision in general, but since you asked: yes.

To lump all cultural traditions together under one moniker (religion) in order to heap scorn and derision upon them is incredibly sloppy thinking–as sloppy as some of the thinking that some of those religions are derided for. There is great difference between, say, Buddhists and Baptists (Buddhism, for example, is a non-theistic tradition that doesn’t believe in God), and to ignore those differences for the purpose of self-congratulatory criticism is at best sloppy.

@8

I am an Indian and i have seen these monks and sometimes sadhus who have “entered a higher conscience” basically they are spoon fed and then they do their “business” right there!

Same comments apply. India != Tibet, and Vajrayana Buddhism != say, Vedanta. I’ve never heard of a Tibetan monk or Lama who shits himself, so I think it’s strange that you equate some of the extremes of one culture with another.

Really BB must be having a bad day. Usually the comments are a bit more insightful and a bit less, well, bigoted.
darwinschurch

Re; scientific studies, as yet, too small to be of good quality data. Meditation has an effect on brain wave patterns, so does LSD. More research is needed with double blind trials and bigger study group. Then a meta analysis,

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&doptcmdl=citation&

term=PSYCHIATRY[ta]%20AND%2053[vi]%20AND%20158[pg]
http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab004998.html

Meditaion has also been linked with psychosis;

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&doptcmdl=citation&term=J%20MED%20ASSOC%20THAIta%20AND%2082vi%20AND%20925pg

Meditation video’s do not work very well on camera. To me they all seem distressed or in pain, or maybe it’s just indigestion.
- ahmacrom
  
  Hey,
  
  I went to the link that showed that “Meditaion has also been linked with psychosis”
  
  Did you look at that so-called study? 3 cases? Also the summary explained the 3 causes of.
  
  I’ll bet that there are real double blind studies of meditation and from a large study group. Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn has been doing studies for decades.
Jinzang

The three Buddhist masters mentioned, Dudjom Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, and the Sixteenth Karmapa, did not spend all their time slack jawed in meditation, they were busy people who had a large effect in the world, whether you are aware of it or not. It was their attainment in meditation that was at the root of their achievements. I’m far from saying that everyone should meditate, but many years of daily meditation have proven its value to me. If you have a different opinion, I wonder what experience your opinion is based on. That’s what science is supposed to be based on, the evidence of experience, isn’t it?
Jinzang

“And the effect on the rest of the world? Not a single thing. Apart from people being inspired by people doing ab-so-lute-ly nothing.”

When I compare the demeanor of your typical skeptic, as expressed here and on innumerable other forums on the Internet, with that of my Buddhist teachers, who I admire and respect, I conclude that the practice of meditation has considerably more value than you are willing to credit it.
Multifarious

@midsentence ..oh dear, where to begin.

First, not agreeing with something, or not seeing the same value in it, doesn’t imply ignorance. Ignorance is when you regard people who don’t share your world vision as ..ignorant.

Second, I love how these Mahayana Buddhists see our human existence as a sleepwalker’s dream full of disfigured assumptions and distractions. I will tell the next group of people dieing from whatever natural disaster they’ll just have to wake up from their dream of disfigured assumptions.

Though I’d rather, as you said yourself, I’d rather take a rational approach, away from irrational and misguided emotions and turn to science or medicine before meditation. You know, the measurable stuff?

Now, on the other end of the spectrum, I’ll be the last one to state that a clear mind, a clear conscience and inner rest are no good things to base ones life on. On the contrary. But how one gets there is IMO more of a personal experience then anything else. One likes meditation, another likes riding a bike, yet another goes for yoga and still others (many actually) go for communal praying and/or confessions.
However, this tells us nothing about whether or not any of those methods are in any way transcendent or to be exalted to anything more then a mental discipline. WHat it DOES tell me however, is that humans can find solace in a myriad of things, many of them dubious by nature (as seen from any of the other disciplines).

My problem with many or most of these things is that it detracts from what is actually going on: A person doesn’t become a better person because of meditation per-se, or praying, or riding 230km on a bike. A person becomes a better person when they take the time to actually reflect on what they are doing and how it fits with how they perceive the world.

Now, these monks however, made it into an artform. And IMHO that kindof kills the whole purpose of doing it. If it cannot be applied to a normal life which most of us are forced to live, then it’s a redundant ‘virtue’.
I guess it’s a lot easyer to live such a life when you don’t have kids to take care for, a job, a house, people deciding about parts of your life.. No, your whole existence is centered about the one thing that should make your life without it easier. You live from gifts or whatever the land will give you, no taxes, no nine-2-five, no commuting, no getting out of bed N times per night because baby needs his bottle/breast. No, you spend your days thinking about the same things the average unemployed pot-head thinks about.
Sorry, I cannot, for the life of me, see what’s to be either revered or be inspired about.

And to close off this waaay to long comment: Remember, before you reply, that what we are doing here, this part of communication, this platform, the tools surrounding it, the bits, bytes, electrons: none of it has ANYTHING to do with meditation or what came from the monks. Cold Hard Reality is what makes these things happen. Nothing else.
Anonymous

This was filmed by French spiritual master – and former filmmaker – Arnaud Desjardins. The movie is called “the message of the Tibetans”. Every one of the films he made for the french TV are invaluable.

Check out “Sufis of Afghanistan”, which was filmed among the sufi brotherhoods before the disasters and destruction brought on by the russians and subsequently taliban. “Ashrams”, his first one, is wonderful as well, with precious images of Ma Anandamayi, Swami Papa Ramdas and Swami Vivekananda.

You can order the movies there: http://www.films-arnaud-desjardins.com/
midsentence

I was not calling anyone ignorant as a form of insult, or because they did not “agree” with Buddhism.

I was referring to the incorrect assumptions you made and continue to make about the subject.

“A person becomes a better person when they take the time to actually reflect on what they are doing and how it fits with how they perceive the world.”

The fact that you continue to argue that this is NOT Buddhism says more than I ever could.
Anonymous

I like this clip b/c it presents such a lovely collection of faces. A variety of personality types are implied. Just showing them like this, one after the other, invites you (or invited me, at any rate) to speculate about these people as individuals.
Ambiguity

“A person becomes a better person when they take the time to actually reflect on what they are doing and how it fits with how they perceive the world.”

The fact that you continue to argue that this is NOT Buddhism says more than I ever could.

Yes, the Vajrayana call this lojong or loving-kindness, and it’s one of the pillars of their tradition.

I understand that everyone has the right to their opinion (and the right to express it), and I’m all for the democratization of the media that the Internet can bring, but it does have a down-side I think. Everything is reduced to opinion, and all opinions are considered equal, regardless of what informs them. It reminds me of nothing so much as those biased “news talk shows” where communication is replaced with the ability to speak with emphasis.
Multifarious

“The fact that you continue to argue that this is NOT Buddhism says more than I ever could”
Never did I argue it isn’t. I just said it’s not *owned* by Buddhism. You don’t *need* Buddhism to reflect on these things. A heated debate, like this one would undoubtedly be IRL, can do the trick just as good.
I would argue better, since it’ll feed you different and even opposing viewpoints, as opposed to running in circles in your own mind and/or preaching to the choir.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  it’ll feed you different and even opposing viewpoints, as opposed to running in circles in your own mind and/or preaching to the choir.
  
  You seem to have conflated trollishness with discourse.
midsentence

“Second, I love how these Mahayana Buddhists see our human existence as a sleepwalker’s dream full of disfigured assumptions and distractions. I will tell the next group of people dieing from whatever natural disaster they’ll just have to wake up from their dream of disfigured assumptions.”

And *I* love how you take a commentary on the condition of society and, with as much sarcasm as you can muster, apply it to the painful trauma of natural disasters with all the willful obtuseness of a congressman. Atta boy.
haineux

Certain kinds of Zen are about sitting around staring at walls trying to clear your mind — BUT almost all of the other kinds of Buddhism include much more.

In the West, we would label these things:
- psychology (your own mind clouds your perceptions of the world, “projecting” your opinions onto it)

- philosophy (How things “exist,” what is reality, what is truth, what is the purpose of life)

- “popular science” (matter is really energy, observation changes reality)

and yes,
- religion (reincarnation, karma, how to be “good” and why you should)

I’ve been hanging around with the FPMT.org group, which is a mostly-american group of tibetan-style mahayana buddhists founded by some tibetan lamas in exile. I don’t buy everything they say 100%, but a lot of it is very, very interesting, and some of it is useful in my everyday life.

If you’re interested in a “survey of the field” which is not too detailed, “Buddhism for Dummies” is pretty good, and the authors are real live buddhists: http://bit.ly/TMaR3
Anonymous

Interesting video. During my family’s stay at the Mayo Clinic several years ago (my dad was undergoing cancer treatment), we watched a similar video in their library about the power of the mind over the body. The film, if I remember it correctly, contained documentary footage of a yogi who could will his body temperature to stay cool in the midst of a furnace/sauna set-up. Anybody seen this? I wonder if it’s on YouTube somewhere…
Marsha Keeffer

Very beautiful…thank you.
Doug Nelson

I guess some religions are more exempt from scorn and derision than others?
Pantograph

They look like they’re waiting for a bus. That’s the problem with meditation; it makes for lousy video.

Did monk X just have a spiritual breaktrough or did he just remember he’s out of yak butter? Despite the extreme mental acrobatics and emotions involved, from the outside they’re guys staring at a wall.
- Anonymous
  
  OMG, I just laughed so hard! re: replay from Pantograph | #4.
  
  Thanks for sharing the video, I’ll have to find the whole thing.
graphicsman

That’s totally getting remixed, I just wanted to be the first one to call it. At first I figured some kind of schoolyard thought process about farts, but “The Good The Bad and The Ugly” theme would fit.
Eka

I created an account just to thank you for this video. A rare and inspiring find :)

Namaste Xeni
Anonymous

>The film, if I remember it correctly, contained documentary footage of a yogi who could will his body temperature to stay cool in the midst of a furnace/sauna set-up.

There is a Tibetan Yoga called Tummo that allows monks to control their body temperature, though I’ve only seen it raise their body temperature. When the monks get really good, they will sit outside in the snow and have assistants put wet blankets on them. They generate enough heat that the blankets dry.
haineux

Second, I love how these Mahayana Buddhists see our human existence as a sleepwalker’s dream full of disfigured assumptions and distractions. I will tell the next group of people dieing from whatever natural disaster they’ll just have to wake up from their dream of disfigured assumptions.

You missed the essential point: The dreamer is SLEEPWALKING. What the dreamer perceives is distorted, but that does not mean that the dreamer cannot be affected by, for instance, sleepwalking off a cliff.

One of the “middle ways” that Mahayana Buddhism forges is between the extreme of believing that things are exactly as they appear (Delusion giving rise to Attachment) and the extreme of believing that nothing else exists at all (Nihilism).

Yes, there really are natural disasters that kill real people, no matter if you believe in them or not. But buddhists will say that they are phenomena that arise because of conditions. For instance, some natural disasters exist because people helped create them or didn’t help prevent them (ie. wildfires).

The Sufis have a saying, “Trust Allah, but don’t go walking off cliffs.”
Anonymous

Thought this was ‘Tetris Masters’