Ani Chudrun: From Top Gear Presenter to Tibetan Buddhist Nun

[C T]

Rebecca Adam, TV Presenter, Buddhist Nun, Artist - A journey of transformation. Inspiring video.

 

http://vimeo.com/37114392

[GrandmasterP]

Not a happy lass.

 

[C T]

Not a happy lass.

Thats just your limited perception.

[GrandmasterP]

Body language mate.

Eyes.

Gestures, tone of voice and speaking rate.

She's not even convincing herself isn't that lass.

Edited August 5, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[C T]

Ok, if you say so.

[Tibetan_Ice]

Why do agnostic Taoists come to the Buddhist sub forum and piss all over people whom are sincerely trying?

[C T]

Why do agnostic Taoists come to the Buddhist sub forum and piss all over people whom are sincerely trying?

Caring overly much perhaps.

[Tibetan_Ice]

I read this last post and I thought about boddhicitta and compassion towards Ani. I thought about the aspect of seeking the meaning of life and how bad life must be to want to throw away the normal lifestyle and become a nun.

 

My heart started to open up. I could feel the tingles start to radiate outwards. I was about to be caught up in the heart again. I knew it.

 

As time would have it, it was time for my afternoon meditation. I went to my meditation bench, set the timer for 1 hour and started my routine. All the while, the heart was pulsing out waves of tingles for Ani. I noticed that the inside of my head was particularly clear for some reason. I could see the space in the head much more clearly than usual. That space had expanded sideways and also down towards the heart through the center of the upper neck and chest.

 

My thoughts were very clear and I could see many thoughts like a pool of little colored fishes all swimming around. The clarity was so great that my mind made several attempts at perceiving the "scene"

 

I thought of Ani and wanted to send her some happiness, some acknowledgment, to let her know that I knew exactly how she felt about turning her back on mundane living in favor of the spiritual quest. So, I focused on her image, from what I had seen in the video.

 

At once, I could see her, very clearly. It was so clear that it resembled looking through a high def telescope. The scene, with some leaves and trees in the background surprised me a little. Since my heart was already in "tingle gushing mode" I projected care, love and happiness to Ani. My heart opened even more as the white light streamed out towards the vision. Then, something strange occurred.

 

The space in front of me got very bright and a golden Bhudda appeared! He was very bright and luminous. He wore some kind of pointed head piece that extended about a foot above his head. He was sitting by himself, cross legged and was not naked. He appeared to have robes of gold hanging over his body. Actually, it was more like clothes made of golden metal plates. He was so bright! I tried very hard to make out the features of his face but I could not. There was too much golden light radiating and it was almost blinding. I pulled my attention back a few times but the Buddha remained. It was quite spectacular. Slightly to the left, I could see the vision of Ani in the trees. And dead ahead I could see the golden Buddha. Then the Golden Buddha sent a beam of white light into my heart which then rebounded out to he image of Ani. Wow! I was overcome with amazement. I started to cry, feeling and knowing that this Buddha had revealed itself and was helping out. At that point I knew that whatever we wish for others is somehow returned to us.

 

Then, having sent some happiness and compassion to Ani, I decided to go back to my regular meditation routine. I tried to dissolve the scenes, but they would not dissolve. The golden Buddha was persistent, it was not going away. I contemplated what to do... I decided to ask it some questions. I asked it "what is your name?" Much to my surprise it responded and said "Drikung". I not only heard the word but the word appeared as a visible image. No mistake there. Then I asked it if he was Ani's guardian, one who watche's over her. He said "yes". Then I realized that Ani has a very powerful spiritual being watching over her and decided that she is indeed a very lucky person.

 

I thought of asking this golden Buddha for something and my conceptual mind started getting too greedy for my tastes so I retreated into he space of the heart, leaving the mind to churn away on its own. It was very nice, to watch the whole mind from a lower vantage point, somehow unaffected and quite content. I remained in that state for a while and then decided to pack it in. When I looked at the timer, although it felt like I had been sitting for ten minutes, I had been sitting for fifty minutes.

 

For the rest of the afternoon and into this evening, it feels like my arms and my chest have vanished. I mean, I can see them and move them but it feels like those parts of the body have become fields of very fine electrical impulses. Sort of like the after effects of a kundalini burn, but without the heat.

 

During this evenings meditation, the golden Buddha is still there. This type if persistence is something I recognize because I have had persistent phenomenon before from the other planes. The funny thing is that when I look at him, I have no desire to think, I have no interest in anything at all except the amazement of the visitation,

 

Actually I feel like I am totally wiped out. I feel like, although I am very familiar with the powers of the heart, that I am just a child that hasn't even scratched the surface. There is nowhere to run, I can find no hiding place or comfort zone. I know it is all emptiness and manifestations of the alaya or darmakaya and I've been repeating that over and over over, hoping my mind doesn't just crumble under the shock of it all.

 

Anyway, thanks for listening, it helps to put it down in words

 

Edited August 6, 2014 by Tibetan_Ice

[BaguaKicksAss]

Hmmm? That whole this regular life is so horrid that one wants to give it up to become a nun, or monk or whatever, makes no sense to me.

 

Personally I see it more along the lines of this life is pretty awesome, even more awesome when I am in my practice and do so in most of my free time, so I can clearly see how folks might want to convert that into 24X7, to make things even more awesome .

 

Not the lifestyle for me, though a month or so would be enjoyable, I more prefer to have the best of both worlds at this present time .

[Apech]

ZHEN LOK GOM GYI KANG PAR SUNG PA ZHIN

Detachment is the foot of meditation, it is taught.

ZÉ NOR KÜN LA CHAK ZHEN MÉ PA DANG

Attachment to food and wealth disappears

TSE DIR DÖ TAK CHÖ PAI GOM CHEN LA

To the meditator who gives up ties to this life,

NYE KUR ZHEN PA ME PAR JIN GYI LOB

Grant your blessing that attachment to ownership and honor cease.

http://kscoz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Dorje-Chang-Thungma-Aug-2013.pdf

[C T]

Hmmm? That whole this regular life is so horrid that one wants to give it up to become a nun, or monk or whatever, makes no sense to me.

 

Personally I see it more along the lines of this life is pretty awesome, even more awesome when I am in my practice and do so in most of my free time, so I can clearly see how folks might want to convert that into 24X7, to make things even more awesome .

 

Not the lifestyle for me, though a month or so would be enjoyable, I more prefer to have the best of both worlds at this present time .

I dont think its so much as horrid than the constant feeling that theres something missing, some prevailing unsatisfactoriness that grabs one by the ankles more and more as mundane attachments become less and less meaningful.

[Jetsun]

I wouldn't say that Top Gear is unspiritual exactly, it is basically a few friends having a laugh and joking around and going to some amazing places in the process, when it comes down to it those are some of the best things about life

[GrandmasterP]

Top Gear is a truly Zen show.

As was ' Last of the Summer Wine' which TG is based on.

Five gets you ten that 'Ani Chudrun' ( not her real name nor personality either) is back in a London media job by this time next year.

That or writing spirituality pieces on a freelance basis for women's magazines from her bijou rented cottage in Wales.

It's a phase some go through is ordaining as a religious.

Life can be tough and they see it as an escape hatch.

It's not.

99% pack it in after the first wet and lonely winter.

Edited August 6, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[GrandmasterP]

I dont think its so much as horrid than the constant feeling that theres something missing, some prevailing unsatisfactoriness that grabs one by the ankles more and more as mundane attachments become less and less meaningful.

 

Yep...

"Escape" also known as " Running Away".

Thing is, when they get there they discover that they are still exactly the same person.

[Apech]

Top Gear is a truly Zen show.

As was ' Last of the Summer Wine' which TG is based on.

Five gets you ten that 'Ani Chudrun' ( not her real name nor personality either) is back in a London media job by this time next year.

That or writing spirituality pieces on a freelance basis for women's magazines from her bijou rented cottage in Wales.

It's a phase some go through is ordaining as a religious.

Life can be tough and they see it as an escape hatch.

It's not.

99% pack it in after the first wet and lonely winter.

 

 

Welcome to my 'profile page'. In 2003 after spending a while settling my mind I managed to find time to teach myself to paint and to have my first exhibition and also, to sell a few pieces. Since then I have been endeavouring to improve my painting techniques. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. However, one thing I found which came easily was line-drawing. A lecturer at the RCA generously commented that my line work did not need to improve. I hope that I honour my motivation - which is to share some of the joy and contentment I have found through my meditation training. I initial my work 'AC' - as I was ordained a Buddhist nun in 1994 and given the name Ani Chudrun.

 

ref: https://www.artgallery.co.uk/artist/rebecca_adam_2

 

... so that's 2014 - 1994 = 20 years.

 

Try again Mr. GrmP.

[Apech]

Yep... "Escape" also known as " Running Away". Thing is, when they get there they discover that they are still exactly the same person.

 

Yes its easy to misinterpret words like 'refuge' and 'renunciation' like this. Actually the Buddha created the idea of being a monk in order to free people up from the life of a 'householder'. At the time of the Buddha the duties of a householder were onerous and completely consuming in terms of social and other duties even if you were rich (as he was). He realised that people needed to be able to devote time to study and meditation, cultivating an ethical life and so on if they were to get anywhere.

 

The key to renunciation is that you are rejecting worldly values ... which is needed for any spiritual path in the sense of simplifying your life (daily deal with less and less as one great sage said). Many great Buddhist masters were not monks but lay practitioners e.g. the great Marpa and they demonstrated that it is not the ordination but the attitude which really counts. So it is not for everyone, or necessarily right for everyone to become a monk/nun ... but for some especially those particularly immersed in the world it is useful. This woman has chosen this path and good luck to her. I hope she achieves some level of peace and realisation. Her path may not be my path or your path but thinking that everyone has to be the same or fit some kind of preconceived notion of how to be is the mark of a closed mind, a state of being in which I refuse to dwell.

[Jetsun]

Becoming a nun/monk and going into long retreat away from life can just be another form of escape, I expect for a lot of people it is running away, but it all depends on the individual

[C T]

I believe somewhere in that short interview Ani said (paraphrased), "Ordinary life begins well, but towards the end its mostly difficult, whereas the spiritual life begins with a lot of knocks, yet tends to end rather well."

 

That hits the point right where it matters. Especially having shared life's endings with some family and some friends, i can see the truth in that observation very clearly.

 

Yes, of course some do use the retreatant's path as a form of escape, but so what? At least its a noble form of escape compared to many others. There is a growing dissatisfaction in the world today anyhow, so either one turns away in ignorance or turns inside with gentle courage -- Its a choice we have to make everyday of our lives.

[GrandmasterP]

Each to their own.

It would be a dull world if we were all the same.

That poor lass isn't happy though.

Edited August 6, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Guest zgoat]

Goats

Edited August 10, 2014 by zgoat

[Anderson]

 

That poor lass isn't happy though.

 

And you know that how ?

Dont make any judgements until you know for sure, mr mindfulness teacher instructor guide or whatever.

[C T]

Mingyur Rinpoche -- How to do retreat in daily life.

 

[BaguaKicksAss]

I really liked his "retreat" suggestions .

 

How come the non-sentient beings always get left out?

Edited August 7, 2014 by BaguaKicksAss

[GrandmasterP]

And you know that how ?

Dont make any judgements until you know for sure, mr mindfulness teacher instructor guide or whatever.

 

See post 4 and please, don't shoot the messenger before apprehending the message.

We're not at home to Mr. Snippy.

 

[GrandmasterP]

Mingyur Rinpoche -- How to do retreat in daily life.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFQ7LykuHxM

 

That lad eats well and enjoys his food.