Wisdom from Mumford and Sons (and Tsoknyi Rinpoche)
"So I'll be bold As well as strong And use my head alongside my heart." -- Mumford & Sons A couple of weeks ago I saw Tsoknyi Rinpoche speak at NalandaWest in Seattle. One of the main themes of the talk was heart vs. head. He talked a lot about how what he teaches in the West is the very opposite of what he teaches in the East. In the West, he tries to teach us to open our hearts. In the East, he needs to teach his students how to use their heads. In Nepal and India, for instance, he teaches his students about "healthy fear." This is apparently an unknown concept to them. They do not fear germs and disease and dirty water. And thus, health problems stemming from these hygiene issues are rampant. In the United States most of us are fortunate enough not only to be aware of the necessity of cleanliness and good hygiene, we also have access to plenty of fresh, clean water with which to wash and keep clean. What we need to learn is those skills t...