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the macrocosmic pulse of universal energy. By usingbreath as a metronome, we can harmonize body,breath, and mind in an integrated state of awarenessthat allows us to experience the real time of the eternalpresent rather than the artificial time of past andpresent conjured by linear thinking.The “bottom line” is this : if we wish to attainthe Great Perfection of enlightened awareness andunderstand the Tao of Complete Reality, we must doit here and now, in this body, in this life, while westill have the “precious pearl” of primordial light toilluminate our way. Wemust always rememberthat the Clear Light ofimmortal awareness residesonly in the heartsof living beings, andthat at death the spiritualLight in our heartsreturns to its originalsource in the primordialheart of the universe.The Light does not illuminatethe dark nightof death, so unless wemerge our minds withthe immortal Lightin life, while we stillhave the chance, wewill die with mindsstill clouded in illusionand wander aimlesslythrough the dark corridorsof the illusory astral realms. Known in TibetanBuddhsim as the bardo (“in-between state”) and inChinese Taoism as chung-yin (“middle shade”), theseastral realms include all of the heavens, hells, and“other worlds” ever imagined by the human mind,and after death they trap the unenlightened mindsof those who invested belief in their falsehood duringlife. The only way out of these shadowy realmsof delusion is to get another chance at winning theprize of immortal awareness by getting another lifeand another body with a heart of Light to serve asa vehicle for practice. Tibetan teachers compare thechance of gaining another human body to the chancethat a blind turtle swimming aimlessly in the bottomof the ocean will rise to the surface and stick its headthrough a ring tossed randomly into the water. Thosearen’t very good odds, which is why Tibetan mastersalways refer to this life we have here and now as the“precious human existence:” because it offers us theprecious opportunity to receive the teachings andgives us the vehicle of a human body to practice themethods which can lead us directly to the radianttreasure of enlightenment and the “precious pearl”of immortality.The Great Perfection of awakened awareness isNever dismiss yourbody as a viable vehiclefor reaching the goal ofenlightened awareness,for without it you don’tstand a chance ofsuccess.not attained by rejecting, transforming, or transcendingthe human condition. It can only be discovered throughdirect experience of the world as it is, here and now. Whenyou practice instant presence in all aspects of your life,each and every moment has the extraordinary potentialto reflect the whole truth of reality in the mirror of yourmind and awaken you to the Great Perfection of yourown enlightened awareness. There is nothing to reject,nothing to transform, nothing to transcend, and nothingparticular to do, because the Clear Light of awareness isalways shining here and now in your own heart. All youneed to realize it is presence.In closing, I would liketo quote the last line of myfavorite Tibetan prayer. It’sa call to all one’s teachers toask for their blessings on thepath of practice, and it neatlysummarizes the essence ofeverything written above:“Grant us your blessingsthat we may attain thesupreme accomplishment ofbeing awarein the Clear Lightof Great Perfection,right now,immediately, here in this veryplace!”Daniel Reid was born in 1948,in San Francisco, and spent hischildhood in East Africa. Aftercompleting a Bachelor of Artsdegree in East Asian Studies at the University of California,Berkeley in 1970, and a Masters of Arts degree in ChineseLanguage and Civilization at the Monterey Institute of InternationalStudies in 1973, Reid moved to Taiwan, where hespent 16 years studying and writing about various aspects oftraditional Chinese culture, focusing particulaly on Chinesemedicine and ancient Taoist health and longevity systems. In1989, he relocated to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he continuedhis research and writing until 1999, when he immigratedwith his wife Snow to the Byron Bay region of Australia,where he now makes his home. Dan and Snow have plans toestablish a High Mountain Oolung Tea plantation in northernNew South Wales.His published books include The Tao of Health,Sex, and Longevity, Complete Book of Chinese Health &Healing (Guarding the Three Treasures in British edition),Handbook of Chinese Healing Herbs, Complete Guide to ChiGung, and Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine.His health latest title is The Tao of Detox: The Natural Wayto Purify Your Body for Health & Longevity, and his mostrecent publication is My Journey in Mystic China: Old Pu’sTravel Diary” (Inner Traditions, USA), his translation of thewriter John Blofeld’s memoirs of China from 1930-48, whichBlofeld wrote entirely in Chinese at the end of his life.More information on Daniel's work is available onhis website: www.danreid.orgThe Empty Vessel 45