Joe Niemczura

You bring fresh eyes, Matt. For us, something crazy may happen, and we all say 'Oh my' at the time, but the next week some new crazy thing happens that wipes the memory clean. And we go on to the next. La-di-da. I guess we just forgot about that other incident until now."- spoken by Sara, the missionary doctor, to Matt.(from The Sacrament of the Goddess, 2014)

Exactly. I think the original tantric Buddhists took notice of was some very wise old people who never studied in their youth, but took part in a range of risk-taking adventures when they were younger, and finally became wise when they reflected upon their lives in old age. There is only one problem.___hich is?___isk-taking is a way to die young. It is dangerous and you may forfeit the opportunity to grow old. An early death is not a sure path to wisdom in old age,_ Ranjit said, running his finger around the inside of the pipe bowl, __nd if you survive without reflecting, then you simply become an old degenerate.

Close your eyes, Matt, and focus on third eye, the second chakra of your being. Open third eye and you will feel energy of other river as it flows. And energy of Goddess._ He closed his eyes. He could sense the energy of the woman next to him and the power of desire. He felt warmth and a sense of belonging here. But that was all.

And this is a Buddhist country?_ said Matt, __his is a country of lovingkindness and compassion? Hah. I think the Americans would call this __ough love._ ___hat is the paradox of Buddhism,_ said Ranjit, __s a young doctor I would see these violent things and wonder why they happened, knowing that it was not something that Buddhists should do. Then I realized we are not born Buddhist. All the focus on channeling anger and dealing with hardship did not emanate from these people_. It was a lesson to these people. We are a land of Buddhists because we need to hear the lessons of Buddha, not because we follow Buddha._-spoken by Ranjit, the surgeon, after an episode of violence....