Za Rinpoche, a Tibetan monk and founder of the Emaho Foundation based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Ashley Nebelsieck, an author and adventurer, have teamed up to write this primer on a secular method of self-improvement "that does not rely on or conflict with faith, mysticism, or a belief in any religion."
Using a fictional tale and an examination of the Six Perfections of existence taught by the Buddha, the authors present a way of embracing our fullest potential. They call this "the backdoor approach" to enlightenment since it offers immediate realization and is relevant to anything an individual wants to achieve.
Although we in the West have been taught to be frightened of impermanence (a world of ever-shifting changes and transience), Za Rinpoche and Ashley Nebelsieck see this Perfection as a means of moving beyond discontent, anxiety, and boredom. All the changes in objects, seasons, and people open the door to richness, beauty, and complexity. Equilibrium is a way of living that liberates us from the bondage of constricted thoughts and behavior brought on by comparisons, addiction, and judging everything.
The authors salute intention as "a mix of the imagination to envision new possibilities and the courage to make those possibilities a reality." This Perfection enables us to combat ignorance in the form of discouragement, laziness, and jealousy. Seeing that we are one with everything else is the Perfection of Unity, and it does away with the problems stemming from isolation and separation.
Here is a path to personal transformation that is built on tradition and infused with contemporaneity.
