Ani Tenzin Palmo & Mariana Caplan

There is no one on this earth who is not looking for God Hafiz
Mariana Caplan
http://www.realspirituality.com/purpose.html
author of the following books that I read this year..
1. The way of failure: winning through losing Hohm press Arizona 2001
2. Halfway up the mountain: the error of premature claims to enlightenment
3. Do you need a guru? Understanding the student-teacher relationship in an era of false prophets Thorsons London 2002

All three of the books are very well written, clear, lucid and thought provoking. The thesis of the first book the way of failure is that - failure should be seen as a positive experience. Just because your perception of success was not realized, does not mean anything. Often because you did not "succeed" you found insight, experience and wisdom, which is much more profound than success.

Failure challenged one to look for other options, which often leads to more compassion for others who are in similar circumstances. She related experiences of failures of love, happiness, suffering, pain, projections and expectations, leading to higher spiritual developments.

Half way up the mountain and Do you need a guru has some similarities in content and were often overlapping with each other.

In do you need a guru, the author used a lot of interviews by spiritual teachers who had experienced many of the dilemmas the author faced looking for the right guru. Chapter two and three were interesting to me. Here she discusses building a working model of a relationship- basic sanity, conscious relationship to power dynamics and mutual trust and surrender. And in chapter three she spoke about using discrimination when deciding on a teacher. Her theory is that conscious discipleship is essential so that the guru and student are in a aware relationship that requires complete participation, to guide the student to their highest potential.

I heard about the author when I went to a talk by English Buddhist nun, Ani Tenzin Palmo about two years ago, in New York.. More about Ani Tenzin Palmo at tenzinpalmo.com
Ani Tenzin Palmo, is establishing a nunnery for Tibetan and others Buddhist nuns in Tashi Jong in the Kangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh in North India. She is an inspirational women, who lived in a cave mediating for a twelve years.

She has worked hard to make it easier for women to access knowledge of Tibetan Buddhist teachings. She teaches in a very compassionate and honest way. She is a humorous and down to earth, making complex teachings simple and relevant in our lives.
She has written one book called reflections on a mountain lake teachings on practical Buddhism
and a biography of her has been written by Vicki Mackenzie Cave in the snow: Tenzin Palmo’s quest for enlightenment.

Annila belongs to the Kagyupa school of Tibetan Buddhism. In Tibetan Buddhism there are 4 traditions the Nyingmapa, the Sakhyapa, the Kagyupa and the Gelupga.

In her book she discusses the two forms of mediation practise in Buddhism- Shamatha and Vipashyana. Shamatha means to calm the mind, and Vipashyana means to look into the mind. Once that can happen then we can became aware of what’s going on inside and outside of the mind and have clarity and insight. She also talks about the practise of Tonglen which is giving and taking. This practise is taking in someone else’s pain and giving out your own positive energy.

I heard a story growing up, that a son had fallen very sick, the father was praying at the sons bed and he asked God, please give me my sons sickness and let him be well. A few days later the son got well and the father passed away.