Well, Howdy-Do!

The Vetali's Gift, a Tantric Buddhist Vampire Romance.

I had a shiver of "Xena, Warrior Princess" mashup anticipation when I came across this, via Buddhist Geeks. 

The Disclaimer:  "This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to persons living, dead, or in-between is probably intentional, but not to be taken seriously.

"This novel is for entertainment purposes only. Obviously you should not assume that anything on a web site with a name like “Buddhism for Vampires” is religiously or historically accurate.

"Do not try this at home. The stunts in this story were performed by highly-trained Buddhist professionals, under carefully controlled conditions. Attempts to imitate them may result in injury or undeath."

And  the Acknowledgments: "Should any actual Buddhism be found in this book, it is thanks to my teachers, particularly Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen. They are, of course, not responsible for my monstrous distortions (intentional and otherwise) of the precious Dharma."

And people think Buddhism is for wimps.  Hah.

The author, by the way, is one David Chapman, who writes and speaks on Buddhism as it is shaking out and waking up in the wild, wild West.

Here and Gone

At 4:44am, on 4/11/11, Monica Wilson passed beyond the veils. Monica was the great, majestic friend who showed me her Han Dynasty jades and told me the story of her life and tragedy in the Chinese Court more than 2000 years ago ... and I knew this was a story that was mine, too, and I had to write it as a novel.

She touched thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest with her energy and charisma; she steered her complicated, extended family as matriarch and anchor of passionate good sense;  she bore and raised four exceptional human beings, helping each of them understand their exceptional past lives; she guided children of the Sakya Monastery sangha through the beginnings of Dharma practice in Buddhist Sunday School.

She read cards and astrology charts for a huge clientele, helping people find balance and hope, while divining the World's Changes in their struggles.  She was a glutton for information (oh, Gemini!) and snacked on conspiracies. (We got off on challenging each other.)

Monica's wild intuitive talent was grounded by expert critical thinking, and her leadership of spiritual discussion groups (aimed at really raising consciousness) transformed the strange into the straightforward. For so many people, hanging out with Monica raised our tolerance threshold for weirdness into the stratosphere.  

She changed us, her friends and clients, collaborators and onlookers.  The space left empty by her passage out of this world into the Other is large.  

We will fill it, by becoming the people she taught us to be.

Vale.