Magic and Mystery in Tibet

I think this book is destined to have a profound influence on my life in many ways.  I listened to it on Audible, but have decided to get a hard copy as well.

One important idea is that meditation is a type of work to be taken seriously, which yields actual results.

Another is a reset in my sense of what is possible and acceptable in the pursuit of spirituality.  It was back then very commonplace for individuals to spend months and years in solitary meditation.  This is not a mistaken stereotype of pre-colonial (Tibet is now an annexed Chinese colony) Tibet.

It was very common to live for years in the cold and even dark subsisting on little but butter tea and tsampa.

And Tummo was a real thing.  It still is.

All of my existential conflicts are abstract.  My concrete needs are well met.  There is no good reason not to take advantage of my good fortune.

I sometimes feel that the internet has trained me for unhappiness, or that I have trained myself for unhappiness using the internet and “the news”, broadly understood.