Expect nothing

A tweet by a music industry journalist prompted by yesterday's post advises me to "get a life". The ubiquitous social media epithet of 'get a life' is the polar opposite of the Zen teaching of 'expect nothing'. In preparation for a journey to the Dalai Lama's Kalachakra empowerment in Ladakh, India I have been living with Eliane Radique's Jetsun Mila, which is a homage to the Tibetan yogi, poet and saint Milarepa. My reference to Peter Matthiessen in yesterday's post was lost in obfuscation. So, to make amends, I offer another quote from The Snow Leopard. In it Peter Matthiessen is referring to the Tibetan Buddhist mantra Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ. But it also applies to Eliane Radique's Jetsun Mila, which can be sampled here:

The deep resonant Om is all sound and silence throughout time, the roar of eternity and also the great stillness of pure being; when intoned with the prescribed vibrations, it invokes the All that is otherwise inexpressible.

Header photo, which like the Sakari Oramo image is not photoshopped, comes via Kalachakra 2014 - Ladakh Facebook page. Any copyrighted material is included as "fair use", for the purpose of critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Also on Facebook and Twitter.