Ask Dr. Ding

Dr. Ding had been feeling uncharacteristically unsettled for the last several hours, ever since departing the soul-shrivelling deep-freeze that was this morning’s YogaFit experience. Seeking consolation, I recalled a Tibetan Buddhism Deck of oracle cards I’d once given The Beyonce, so I got them out, shuffled and picked a random card. Turned out to be Amitabha, Buddha of Boundless Light. It said:

Amitabha rules over the western paradise of Sukhavati, the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in which all beings enjoy unbounded happiness.

Amitabha’s color is red, his element is fire, and he is associated with life beyond the setting sun. In his hands he holds a lotus, the flower that is born in the mud and finds its way to the surface of the water to flower — like our true nature. He represents the ability to transform malice into compassion and opens a door to salvation that does not depend upon a tireless dedication to transformation.

Feel your substance,

bones, flesh, and blood,

saturated with cosmic essence.

Here’s a lovely image of Amitabha hisself.

Confession: a major part of why Dr. Ding is attracted to Tibetan Buddhism, as opposed say, to Zen or Nirichen, is the bling. Yeah, you heard right. The spiritual bling. The thangkas, those gorgeously ornate and intricate scroll paintings, just fascinate me. I could stare at some of them for hours. I adore the shrines, the figurines, the nifty robes. What’s not to love about a spiritual tradition whose head dude gets to wear a hat like this?

Or where you get to play with bowls that sing?

Where you get the option of spinning your prayers instead of speaking them.

Dr. Ding appreciates the sheer variety of beautiful, shiny, and generally cool stuff to look at in Tibetan-style Buddhism. But I also find it to be exceptionally compassionate and embracing of our humanity; the part of Amitabha’s “message” that resonated most deeply with me is his burning desire to ease humanity’s suffering. When we awaken to the boundless, illuminating wisdom within, that inner light that warms and also guides us to salvation, we discover that it was there all along, that like the lotus, it simply needed the right conditions to emerge and come more fully into being.

Deep!

Short version: No more cold, pinchy-assed, boring YogaFit classes for Dr. Ding. In the future, I will not wait 3 hours and 25 minutes to end my suffering; there is nothing to prove and no contests to win, and so suffering is needless in this kind of frozen-fannyed context. I can and will continue to enjoy yoga for myself only; there is no need to share it by becoming a techer, as I already do quite a bit for the world. And that’s enough.

Woot!

I know, I know…Dr. Ding can’t stay in Yoda Mode for more than a few lines. Luckily.