“Where to find the One?” – asks the student. And the teacher says: “Give me a fig.” – “Here it is.” – “Break it open.” The student breaks it. – “What do you see inside?” – “Seeds, sir.” – “Break one open. What do you see now?” – “Nothing, sir.” – “That ‘nothing,’ the invisible, is the foundation of being. Its image cannot be seen, no one has seen it with physical eyes. It is perceived by the heart, by the mind, by thought. He who knows this becomes immortal. If the five senses—the five knowings—along with thought cease, the higher Self will be. Suffering can be overcome, and we can attain LIBERATION.”
Immediately the question arose: “Then why did he marry, and how did it happen that Richard, despite having a different sexual orientation, ended up marrying the lesbian Cynthia?” Less than a year later, Cynthia’s verdict proved unfounded. After some time, Richard fell in love with Carey Lowell, and in 2000 they had a wonderful son named Homer James Jigme (in Tibetan, Jigme means “fearless”). The name Homer was given by the actor not in memory of anyone, while the name Jigme was a tribute to his love for Tibet. The point is, Richard is a Buddhist who follows the philosophy and teachings of Buddha. The boy early showed diverse talents in music and gymnastics, later enrolled in the philosophy faculty at the University of Massachusetts, and after a couple of years successfully left (academic knowledge often discourages the pursuit of deeper wisdom). Music completely captivated him, but in 1978 he traveled to Nepal… and there his second journey began—meeting with the Dalai Lama and discovering much within himself. “When I am there (in Tibet), I am very happy. The Tibetans radiate light… They send light into the world. The Dalai Lama generates love and compassion for all humanity; he has committed himself to this task. I, however, have not made the ‘leap,’ have not risen in my self-realization, and continue making films with love,” this admission shows that Richard is still on the path of self-realization, like many advanced people of the West, striving to integrate Eastern wisdom with Western achievements.
Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, all of life is suffering: it arises from craving, from thirst for existence. This thirst drives beings through countless rebirths, through passion, rejection, abandonment, and loss. The desire to escape suffering (square aspect of the Sun in Virgo to the Moon in Sagittarius in Gere’s cosmogram) led him to embrace the philosophy of Buddha. The Sun in Virgo is meticulous and analytical, while the Moon in Sagittarius constantly challenges it, making it difficult to see “the forest for the trees.” The inner conflict between conscious and unconscious seeks external resolution, and thanks to the Moon in Sagittarius, finds it in the aspiration to “reach” God. Gere’s travels (England, Nepal, Central America, Yugoslavia), his interest in other worldviews, his sense of justice, and inclination toward philosophical-religious concepts—all are characteristic of the Moon in Sagittarius.
An interesting feature is the degree of the Sun conjunct the star Alioth (in the constellation Ursa Major)—this star is associated with religious activity, a great life mission, and often appears in the charts of travelers. Speaking of Gere’s destiny, it can be said that he undoubtedly has a mission, a strikingly bright personality on the horizon of Hollywood’s “gods”: his North Node is in Aries at the royal degree of courage—indicating that in past lives he failed to assert his individuality, was merely a reflection of others, especially in marriage and soul relationships. Richard is now fulfilling a leadership program.
In his youth, there was also a strong sensitivity to disharmony, hence his immersion in music—the higher form of love. Incidentally, his Venus in Libra is conjunct Neptune at 14 degrees, which speaks for itself: a deep love for music. True, the planet of love forms very negative aspects to Jupiter in Capricorn (at the degree of sexual crimes, marital misfortune, and occult abilities) and to the Black Moon in Aries (pantheistic consciousness). Conjunct the star Algorab, this suggests confrontation with lust. As the saying goes: “There is no smoke without fire,” and it is quite possible that Richard’s younger years were not marked by high morality—perhaps this is exactly what his former wife Cynthia meant.
Many degrees in the cosmogram speak of asceticism and the striving for perfection. Yet the Sun in Virgo finds it very difficult to overcome an intensified materialism, further reinforced by being born in the year of the Earth Ox (1949)—orthodoxy, a narrow worldview, and attachment to traditions altogether slow down the path of development. And therein lies the value: the person does not become rigid in his achievements nor confined to the narrow, glittering world of Hollywood happiness. Life in Tibetan monasteries showed Richard a practical way to resolve inner conflicts—self-renunciation.
What is the goal of Buddhist self-renunciation? Buddha called this goal Nirvana. He never allowed himself to define it. Nirvana is the complete extinction of passions and even self-awareness, the cessation of being. One cannot escape from this world, because everything is interconnected by laws. And if a person carries an evil seed within, upon death he does not return to the bosom of Brahman, but is reborn again on Earth. This cycle continues endlessly, turning according to the iron law of karma. This is called samsara, or reincarnation. Buddha affirmed the necessity of moral perfection. To escape the jaws of rebirth, to break free from this fatal wheel of existence, one must liberate oneself from passions, from anger and hatred. Indeed, Buddha did not teach love. But he taught compassion and humanity. He gave five precepts: Ahimsa (non-killing), abstention from intoxicants, restraint from sexual misconduct, from theft, and from lying—these are the simplest commandments.
At the peak of his fame, Gere affirms another principle within himself. He says: “I don’t want to be a personality”—a paradox of society and the individual who lives within it. People ask “what,” “how,” and “why,” trying to justify their narrow actions. Illusion, as Nietzsche said, allows us to live. We can lie until words become truth, but such truths are not fundamental. The absolute origin of ourselves, our true “I,” does not fall ill nor recover. It always looks at us, and our task is to look back at it. Looking inward, even occasionally, much becomes clear…
“I teach that you, like all beings, desire happiness and wish to avoid suffering. I teach about the way things truly are… I have hidden no teaching in a closed hand. Follow. Be a light unto yourselves,” – Buddha Shakyamuni. In these words lies the answer: perhaps that is why Gere radiates a special golden light amidst Hollywood’s neon… Valentina Wittrock
