Water and Wood Shastras

Book excerpt: The Water and Wood Shastras take images from the natural world to illustrate profound insights into the nature of humanity and the path to enlightenment. The author uses his own experience drawn from years of intensive spiritual study and practice in order to articulate his realizations for the benefit of others. These poems embody the central passion of ancient Tibetan culture--the pursuit of knowledge and compassion in order to actualize the highest potential of the human spirit. They are a treasury of instructions completely dispelling the poverty of inner and outer dissatisfaction, a pastoral waterfall peacefully calming the tempest of secular and personal conflict, and a supreme medicine for healing the worldly and spiritual ills of our times. Their message is deep and vast, but deceptively simplified and garbed beautifully in the metaphors of Gungtang Rinpoche's elegant verse.