Thanks for this - I enjoyed reading it. I was drawn to Tibetan Buddhism rather than other Buddhist traditions due to the ritual - it's so rich and incorporates the natural world and elements plus the lunar cycles. Tibetan medicine also draws on the elements which seems very intuitive to me - very similar to traditional chinese medicine.
I grew up Catholic, which as Christian religions go is pretty heavy on the ritual. As a kid though, I felt like there was very little emphasis on the ritual and the power of Ritual. A wise friend helped me connect the animist rituals I do with the ritual tools used in Catholicism (spoiler alert they are the same things used for the same reasons). I would love to know more about both traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine. I know about the five elements and I've read a few books, but it seems like the holistic view could really influence western medicine if we had the humility to learn from it.
That's great that you were able to make the connection between the rituals 🙏
Tibetan Medicine is very much intertwined with Tibetan Buddhism - but if you are particularly interested in using ritual to relate to the elements then you might be interested Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's work https://cybersangha.net/ - and just looking at the upcoming programme and I see that next week there is this session on burnout 🙏https://cybersangha.net/awareness-as-medicine-2/
There is an emergence of ritual in my life now as a formal expression of community. The difference between personal ritual and community ritual are striking. The lack of community ritual in our broader culture leaves us disconnected and abandoned in our transitions and I am hoping to rekindle that space for community locally or virtually as I walk along this journey.
I totally agree ritual in community is so important and so much more meaningful and often really hard to recreate once it's not part of the fabric of community. There are so few places where we can still gather for ritual in community now. If you're near the Twin Cities we can do ritual together in person.I am trying to create community around my daughters so we can celebrate menarche with some sort of community ritual too.
Thanks for this - I enjoyed reading it. I was drawn to Tibetan Buddhism rather than other Buddhist traditions due to the ritual - it's so rich and incorporates the natural world and elements plus the lunar cycles. Tibetan medicine also draws on the elements which seems very intuitive to me - very similar to traditional chinese medicine.
I grew up Catholic, which as Christian religions go is pretty heavy on the ritual. As a kid though, I felt like there was very little emphasis on the ritual and the power of Ritual. A wise friend helped me connect the animist rituals I do with the ritual tools used in Catholicism (spoiler alert they are the same things used for the same reasons). I would love to know more about both traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine. I know about the five elements and I've read a few books, but it seems like the holistic view could really influence western medicine if we had the humility to learn from it.
That's great that you were able to make the connection between the rituals 🙏
Tibetan Medicine is very much intertwined with Tibetan Buddhism - but if you are particularly interested in using ritual to relate to the elements then you might be interested Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's work https://cybersangha.net/ - and just looking at the upcoming programme and I see that next week there is this session on burnout 🙏https://cybersangha.net/awareness-as-medicine-2/
There is an emergence of ritual in my life now as a formal expression of community. The difference between personal ritual and community ritual are striking. The lack of community ritual in our broader culture leaves us disconnected and abandoned in our transitions and I am hoping to rekindle that space for community locally or virtually as I walk along this journey.
I totally agree ritual in community is so important and so much more meaningful and often really hard to recreate once it's not part of the fabric of community. There are so few places where we can still gather for ritual in community now. If you're near the Twin Cities we can do ritual together in person.I am trying to create community around my daughters so we can celebrate menarche with some sort of community ritual too.