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(Prologue: I’ve got first-hand experience that a real understanding of the laws of karma can substantially change our lives for the better. I created this weblog to share information and personal experience with others. May it be beneficial!)

Karma isn’t just accumulated by individuals. It can be accumulated by groups as well. I believe that companies like Red Bull that make “energy drinks,” heavily laced with much more caffeine than regular soft drinks, are motivated by greed for money. So they “shoot the bull” and promote their drinks to impressionable adolescents as “harmless.” Just like the cigarette companies once did.

On January 6, 2008, my 15-year-old son Brian was competing in a day-long paintball tournament. Around noon, Red Bull representatives came into the venue and handed out free samples of energy drinks. The lead detective investigating Brian’s death stated that Brian was witnessed drinking one of these samples. My wife and I arrived around 4:00 p.m. to watch the semi-finals and finals. His team won second place overall for the day. At about 7:20 p.m., while waiting for the awards ceremony, and a victory team dinner, Brian collapsed and later died in hospital to an arrhythmic event that could not be corrected. <source: Jim Shepherd, Toronto, Canada>

Jim makes a promise to himself, his family, and his dead son Brian: he will work tirelessly to inform others of what he believes caused the death, or partially contributed to the death, of his son: energy drinks.

The Government of Canada’s Standing Committee on Health invites Jim to speak before them on June 08, 2010. A friend of his asks if I would like to help Jim with his speech. As I used to write speeches for a cabinet minister in the Government of Ontario, I’m glad to support Jim’s campaign against these deadly, dangerous drinks. He has five minutes to convince the Minister of Health, through this Standing Committee on Health, to regulate the companies that make “energy drinks.” Read the rest of this entry »

What do Einstein and the Mukpo family’s newest addition have in common?

They were both born on March 14th. Both Pisces.

Welcome to Jetsun Yudra Lhamo Yangchen Ziji Mukpo. She appeared in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the Year of the Snake to the Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo.Her name means Turquoise Princess Thunder Melodious Lady of Brilliance.This is the second daughter for the Mukpo family. I’ll bet they’ve already got daddy wrapped around their little fingers. Long live girl power!

After participating in the Rigden Abhisheka in Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 2006, I wrote the original version of the song and offered it as a gift to Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche — who teaches children and adults alike — for granting me an interview held on April 15, 2006.

At the time, I wondered if I should offer it to others.

When I asked David Brown of Kalapa Court in April, 2007, he kindly replied that

Having had the joy of reading the song myself, I thank you, and suggest you do offer it to others.

He also offered the Sakyong’s view: 

As he once said to me, (I paraphrase) “I don’t want Shambhala to become like China, where every part of our culture is directed from the top. I don’t want everyone to have to play one Shambhala national sport, like they play ping pong there!)”

And:

In his Treatise on Society and Organization, he <Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche> wrote:

“I have always encouraged both older and newer students to take initiative where they see fit, to jump in if it is truly beneficial, not to wait for the perfect conditions to come about, or for me to formally direct them or invite them to participate. It is not necessary for everyone to have specific instruction from me personally. When it rains, you don’t ask the clouds how to grow vegetables. You take the water and you grow vegetables. This is the notion of society. The role of the Sakyong is to provide space, to protect the space, so that the flowers can blossom. The sun does not pull the flowers up to the sky; the flowers grow, reaching toward heaven. If heaven is too close, the flowers will not exert themselves.”

I must also credit David for his suggesting the word “highlands” to replace my original word “forest” which might sound a little gloomy. I agreed. Forests could bring to mind Little Red Riding Hood and the big, bad wolf.

The song I wrote is sung to the tune of Old MacDonald Had a Farm.

I supplicate the Sakyong and the Sakyong Wangmo and request that I may offer a children’s song to the latest addition to their family.

The Rigden King had a castle in the highlands
KI KI SO SO KI
And in the east of the forest was a meek, humble tiger
KI KI SO SO KI
With a tiger’s growl here and a tiger’s growl there <children can make growling sounds>
Here a growl there a growl
Everywhere a growl growl.
The Rigden King had a castle in the highlands
KI KI SO SO KI

And in the north of the highlands was a perky lion
KI KI SO SO KI
With a lion’s roar here and a lion’s roar there <children can make roaring sounds>
Here a roar, there a roar
Everywhere a roar roar.
The  Rigden King had a castle in the highlands
KI KI SO SO KI

And in the west of the highlands was a fearless garuda|
KI KI SO SO KI
With a garuda’s shriek here and a garuda’s shriek there <children can make shrieking sounds>
Here a shriek, there a shriek
Everywhere a shriek shriek.
The   Rigden King had a castle in the highlands
KI KI SO SO KI

And in the south of the highlands was a turquoise dragon
KI KI SO SO KI
With a dragon’s thunder here and a dragon’s thunder there <children can make boom\thunder sounds by clapping their hands together loudly>
Here a thunder, there a thunder
Everywhere a thunder thunder.
The  Rigden King had a castle in the highlands
KI KI SO SO KI

 Long may the Rigden King reign!

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(Prologue: I’ve got first-hand experience that a real understanding of the laws of karma can substantially change our lives for the better. I created this weblog to share information and personal experience with others. May it be beneficial!)

(Note: The phrase May-to-December in the title is a take-off on “May-to-December” romances that are based on the romantic love tradition of the Middle Ages.)

Before I go into a month-long in-house retreat from March 04 to the day before Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s parnirvana, I must thank Judith Simmer-Brown  (JSB) for her work on romantic love.  Had I not had her programmes and articles to refer to, my year of dangerous living <click here and here for details> could have been “dangerous” in a destructive way. As it was, I was able to navigate the dangers, not without pain, but at least with some awareness. This enabled me to use romantic love as a jump-off point to develop the beginnings of some genuine affection and appreciation for people as they are in any given moment, not for cardboard cut-outs and cookie-cutter templates.

The intelligent way of working with romantic love is to experience it fully, beginning with the romanatic passion, and then experience the disappointment and go on from there. We should understand fully what we are doing, being aware of our tendencies toward delusion when we are “in love.” <source: Judith Simmer-Brown: Romantic Vision vs Everyday Disappointment>

May this post benefit others besides myself. Read the rest of this entry »