It's presumptuous for me (Rama) or anyone to talk about buddhism, because it is so vast, so complete, and there are so many aspects of it.  So, without being presumptuous, I'll talk about buddhism.  I'm an enlightened teacher and my name is Rama. I've been teaching buddhism for lots of incarnations and I teach it in this incarnation.  But none of us really teach buddhism.  Buddhism is a way of life.  It's yoga, and we practice it.  People can watch us practice it.  They can learn how to practice it by watching, by observing, by listening, by becoming sensitive, but I think it's something that life teaches us. We are teachers, we are necessary, but life is the real teacher, and always remember that.

 

Buddhism is the enlightenment cycle, and there are different types of it. Principally there is short path and long path buddhism. The long path is more the religious aspect, that is to say, the church aspect; the practice of reading sutras, healthy ways of living, things like that, a certain amount of prayer, a little meditation.  The esoteric aspect of buddhism is meditation, and I'm a teacher of zen and vajrayana buddhism, primarily, which are the two primary short path forms of buddhism.  The short path of buddhism, which is kundalini yoga, involves the release of the kundalini energy through the chakras or 'energy centers' to create very rapid enlightenment.  It is also taught with empowerments from a teacher, someone who is enlightened who has experienced parinirvana and has gone through the gradated stages of enlightenment and has the siddhas and powers necessary to utilize in the teaching process. It's a very complicated process.

 

The short path, of course, is the silly path.  It's the path with the smiles, 'cuz you (laughing) have to be funny, or you won't last long.  It's about releasing energy.  It's about being enthusiastic, overcoming all fears, doubts, worries, anxieties, basically, being perfect all the time and knowing that you're not... that's buddhism - the short path. (The colophon is 'getting shorter all the time.')  So, please put on a smile and a sense of humor if you're going to continue listening.

 

 - "Buddhism", The Enlightenment Cycle