There is no need for me to take refuge in my religion. The moment I stepped foot on the Buddhist path, I was a refugee. I don’t randomly and conveniently take vows and abandon them, select teachers and then move onto the next. I am not a spiritual supermarket shopper. Furthermore, I have not – in any way whatsoever – abandoned my authentic tradition. The mere thought of Leonard Cohen praying for me is absolutely nauseating. Only an adoring fan journalist would fall for the strategies Cohen will stoop to. He himself admonishes – do not stoop to strategies like this and yet he cannot control himself, from what I can tell. Leonard Cohen’s heart is rock solid, as is his mind, and he practices the lowly art of deadly self-intoxication and revenge. Leonard Cohen, who has turned himself into a demon through this unconscionable activity, does not appear to have the karma to understand even the simplest Buddhist concept. Cohen is overwhelmed by his confusion and grotesque attachments to material wealth. Greed has, from what I witnessed, consumed the man. When he was ordained a monk he vowed to give up all material possessions. He gave up no worldly comforts. Leonard Cohen has taken himself as real, solid, and has definitely manifested in a manner that should frighten and terrify ordinary and decent individuals. Perhaps Leonard Cohen should have given the Buddhist teachings the same type of attention he gave to his studies of serial killers and Jeffrey Dahmer’s sense of remorse. As Sasaki Roshi personally told me – Leonard Cohen will never attain “true love” and I know precisely what Roshi was talking about. Roshi must be delighted that his Buddhist student has abandoned him for yet another tradition (based on his testimony about Judaism) and targeted two women who were also his students. If Buddhists understand that Cohen’s conduct is the antithesis of ethical and moral teachings such as those of the Lord Buddha, imagine what an enlightened man like Roshi thinks. Only a lunatic journalist would view Cohen as a sage and mention the term enlightenment in the same sentence as this absolute fraud. Cohen testified about my son having his fingers ripped off. Did this annoy him? If so, his apparent borderline personality disorder is far more serious than even I can imagine. He’s a good example of why one should avoid drugs. Drugs most certainly do not lead to liberation. Neither does targeting a woman over your own wrongdoing.
What we call demons are not materially existing individuals with huge black forms, frightening and terrifying anyone who sees them. A demon means anything which hinders liberation.
The origin of all demons is in mind itself.
When awareness holds on and embraces any outer object,
It is in the hold of a demon.
Likewise, mind is stained when a [mental image]
Is wrongly taken to be a real object.
When awareness holds on and embraces any outer object,
It is in the hold of a demon.
Likewise, mind is stained when a [mental image]
Is wrongly taken to be a real object.
Machig Labdron
