iSad. We Sad. World Sad.

“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.” – Apple.com/stevejobs 

As some of the readers of the blog may know, I am one who does not believe in coincidences. I honestly believe the rainbow above Pixar is a mystical occurrence, photographic evidence of someone achieving the Rainbow Body of Light taught in Buddhism. The timing of the rainbow is impeccable and instantly awakens the questioning mind. Interestingly an article was published today by CNN journaling Jobs’ philosophy and spirituality:

The name of Jobs’ company is said to be inspired by the Beatles’ Apple Corps, which repeatedly sued the electronics maker for trademark infringement until signing an exclusive digital distribution deal with iTunes. Like the Beatles, Jobs took a spiritual retreat to India and regularly walked around his neighborhood and the office barefoot.  

Traversing India sparked Jobs’ conversion to Buddhism. Kobun Chino, a monk, presided over his wedding to Laurene Powell, a Stanford University MBA. SOURCE

 Even Job’s said himself that he doesn’t believe in coincidences:

 “I believe life is an intelligent thing, that things aren’t random,” Jobs said in a 1997 interview with Time, providing a glimpse into his complicated belief system that extends well beyond the Buddhist teachings. SOURCE

According to an article published by The Red Dragon Shop,

The ultimate Great Completion culmination is the Rainbow or Body of Light attainment. This is widely recognized as a sign of extreme sanctity in Tibetan Buddhism and among the Bönpo.  [..] The Rainbow Body – The Body of Light is light without shadow; it is awareness without obscurations; it is omniscience; it is pure space. […] The Body of Light represents a complete and total and radical transformation of one’s status of being, a rediscovery of what was primordially present, and this condition is permanent. It is Awareness itself and is dependent on nothing else.

Sogyal Rinpoche wrote,

In 1952 there was a famous instance of the rainbow body in the East of Tibet, witnessed by many people. The man who attained it, Sonam Namgyal, was the father of my tutor at the beginning of this book. He was a very simple, humble person, who made his way as an itinerant stone carver, carving mantras and sacred texts. Some say he had been a hunter in his youth, and had received a teaching from a great master. No one really knew he was a practitioner; he was truly called a “hidden yogin.” . . . he then fell ill, or seemed to, but became strangely, increasingly happy. When he illness got worse, his family called in masters and doctors.

His son told him he should remember, ‘Everything is illusion, but I am confident that all is well.’ Just before his death at seventy-nine, he said “All I ask is that when I die, don’t move my body for a week.” When he died his family wrapped his body and invited Lamas and monks to come and practice for him. They placed the body in a small room in the house, and they could not help noticing that although he had been a tall person, they had no trouble getting it in, as if he were becoming smaller. At the same time, an extraodinary display of rainbow-coloured light was seen all around the house. When they looked into the room on the sixth day, they saw that the body was getting smaller and smaller. On the eight day after his death, the morning in which the funeral had been arranged, the undertakers arrived to collect the body. When they undid its coverings, they found nothing inside but his nails and hair.

Those who have mastered the trek-chod phase of Dzogchen in which pure and total presence is stabilized, are able to do to-gal. This is the final Dzogchen practice which enables the yogi at the time of death to dissolve his or her physical body into the essence of the elements.