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Waking Up
Tibetan Buddhist nun Ven. Tenzin Palmo explains that, although we desperately want happiness, we are undermined by a society that rewards greed, aggression and egotism. She asserts these causes of suffering are ultimately based on a misconception of who we really are. With heartfelt passion for human potential, Tenzin Palmo asks, "How can we collectively wake up?"
At the age of 20, Ven. Tenzin Palmo left her home in
London for India to pursue her spiritual path. There she met her guru,
His Eminence the 8th Khamtrul Rinpoche, and became one of the first
Westerners to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. In 1976, seeking
more seclusion and better conditions for practice, she found a cave in
the Himalayan Valley of Lahaul, where she lived for 12 years, the last
three in strict retreat. In 2000, she founded the Dongyu Gatsal Ling
Nunnery to give young nuns of the Drukpa Kagyu Lineage the opportunity
to realize their intellectual and spiritual potential.
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Yes, the question is whether we're talking about individual or collective awakening. Strictly speaking, I don't even see how there is a "method" to awakening - even if there is an approach can we consider that a matter of cause and effect? But as for collective awakening, in a way it makes sense that even leaders don't really know what's going on, after all that would be a hierarchical model wouldn't it? They may be leaders for individuals, even spiritual leaders, but it is oneness that we're talking about, right? So when we say whether there is enough awakening, we need to qualify that statement. Enough for what, or who? For the world? Or for people? The same can be asked about pessimism, from what perspective? What is pessimistic or negative for human beings may in fact be a positive thing for the rest of the world. Maybe, just maybe individual awakening (or "enough people") is not all that relevant when it comes to collective awakening, or at least the number of human beings is not the only deciding factor. Maybe we're not as important as we think we are.
I don't feel she's being pessimistic or dissing the Buddha. She is afterall an ordained Buddhist nun.
What she's speaking about is collective awakening. Yes, the Buddha provided a method but still today those using it, let alone actually awakening is relatively small. And it's not happening in positions of leadership, so systems don't change. When we look at the world in general, there doesn't seem to be enough awakening.
It's slow, but it will happen. Unfortunately much of it is a forced awakening prompted by climate change and the collapse of the world's financial and economic systems. Humanity learns the hard way, is what she's saying...
I disagree that the Buddha did not provide a method for which people could awaken. He did in fact provide an excellent method!
However I would add that we need a level of development that is worldcentric and values ecology in order to awaken to our global problems and their potential solutions.
Tenzin clearly identifies the problem, but pessimism will not help us find solutions.
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