Another View

Greetings.

I have finally found the website that the articles you've been commenting about in Damtsig. I read most of the article by Tara Carreon but couldn't finish it. Nor could I take much of the rest of the articles seriously; although some of them did remind me of some forms of the extremely individualistic Neo-Pagan groups. I am relatively new to Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism and cannot really speak about these articles from that viewpoint. I can, however, note, that as a former, 20 plus years student of the western mystery traditions ("Hermetic Qabalah"), the idea that we in the west are only left brained, logical, individualistic beings is way off base. There is very healthy, thriving western "mysticism" here in the US. It has much of value or I wouldn't have stayed the course for as long as I had. But I discovered that it didn't lead me to complete enlightenment, which is why I became a Buddhist. The idea that we, at least here in the USA, are so "sophisticated" is sad. Why else would the Neo-Pagan community, "Shamanism", Goddess worshippers and the Hermetic/Qabalistic mystery schools be growing and thriving, unless, we too, related to "supernatural forces" (inaccurate terminology) and the world around us.

This is my two cents worth. I am glad your magazine exists, it helps me understand and stand firm in my choice of tradition, my receiving of the Ngakchung vows and of my Rinpoche, the Venerable Drikung Ontul Rinpoche. Thank you very much.