05.08.2010
The following passage is an extract of Alexander Berzin’s book Wise Teacher, Wise Student: Tibetan Approaches to a Healthy Relationship . Alexander Berzin (born 1944) is a Buddhist Scholar, translator and teacher focusing on the Tibetan tradition.
Most young westerners of the sixties generation had little or no respect for their elders at home. Unable to understand the hardships our parents had faced with the Depression and the Second World War, we found the older generation materialistic and emotionally stiff. We sought openness and unconditional love. Our clumsy attempts at free love with each other had failed to remove our underlying tension and alienation. On the other hand, the natural warmth and acceptance we felt from the Tibetan masters was undeniable, even if the spiritual practices behind their attainments remained incomprehensible. The authenticity of these teachers’ realizations spoke loudly to us. Here, at last, were persons worthy of respect—something we had desperately sought, though perhaps only unconsciously. With joy and enthusiasm, we freely prostrated at these masters’ feet.
