Mon, 20 Jul 2009
Solar Eclipse
Wednesday there will be a total solar eclipse visible across India, Nepal and China. According to khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, the day of a total eclipse is a good day to practice, because the inner winds move in harmony with the motion of the sun and moon and during an eclipse all the winds are in a favorable configuration for practice. This idea of the harmony of outer and inner is the basis of all astrology. ("As above, so below," says the Thrice Greatest Hermes, a neoplatonic text.) I don't know much about Tibetan astrology and I've always been more interested in understanding the calendar, but from what I understand Tibetan astrology is more interested in choosing favorable and unfavorable days (hororary astrology) than computing birth charts (natal astrology.This page has a Westerne astrologer giving her interpretation of the significance of the eclipse, including the statement that Tai Situ Rinpoche will be affected. (The eclipse will be conjunct his natal moon.)
Here are two links I found interesting. Gesar Mukpo, Trunpa Rinpoche's son, has made a documentary about Western tulkus, something he's well qualified to do, as he is one. The dvd is not yet on sale, but you can view the trailer and some short clips. Mingyur Rinpoche was described as the happiest man in the world in this post. He's currently touring the United States, so you may want to check him out. I only had one brief encounter with Rinpoche, when he gave the Karma Pakshi empowerment at the New Jersey KTC. Before the empowerment he passed by me on the way to the shrine room. He hesitated briefly, as if he wanted to say something to me, but thought better of it and continued into the shrine. There was nothing special about me other than I was one of the few Western faces in the largely Chinese crowd, so I have no idea what that was about.
