Signing in Seattle

On Wednesday, October 25, Diana Mukpo read excerpts from DRAGON THUNDER to
an audience of more than sixty yesterday at the Elliott Bay Book Company in
Seattle, Washington. It's a well known and well regarded independent
bookstore. I spoke with Diana yesterday by phone about the event. Diana
told me that the store was reminiscent of an old English bookstore, with
beautiful wood railings and other touches. She found the audience
stimulating and varied. She gave a short talk on Chogyam Trungpa and their
life together and read from two sections of the book. She took questions
from the floor as well, which she said included a discussion of the role of
women in the dharma. Lady Diana said that about half the audience was from
the Seattle Shambhala Center or other Buddhist centers in the area (such as
Nalandabodhi). There were also about a dozen readers with interest in
dressage. Diana teaches dressage clinics in the area and has many committed
students there. The rest of the audience? She didn't know who they were,
but they certainly seemed interested in the book and its author. Almost all
of the books that the store had ordered for the signing were sold. Diana
signed the few remaining copies. Next week Lady Diana will be in Halifax
for both a book signing and a Chogyam Trungpa Legacy Project meeting.

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of his
unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website at http://oceanofdharma.com

Let the Phenomena Play

The first consultation on the Chogyam Trungpa Legacy Project was held in the shrineroom of the Boulder Shambhala Center last night, with more than 250 in attendance. Following the lighting of four shrines and a chant, Light of Blessings, dedicated to Chogyam Trungpa (led by Larry Mermelstein), Lady Diana gave remarks on her hearfelt wish for the Legacy Project to succeed in preserving and propagating the dharma teachings and legacy of her husband Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Lady DIana began by reading the letter from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche which is on the chogyamtrungpa.com site. Then I gave some opening remarks, which were less than comprehensive but expressed the openness of the evening to audience involvement and comment on this project. For the next two hours, community members came to the mikes to express their feelings about the project, concerns about it, and many many varied points of view. Acharya Judy Lief gonged anyone who went beyond their 3 minute limit for comments. It was a remarkable outpouring by members old and new,with comments from Naropa Pres. Tom Coburn as well. He, by the way, was extremely gracious about being gonged. Following the meeting, a group of us went to the Corner Bar of the Boulderado Hotel, where over beer and cheese we raised many toasts to Chogyam Trungpa. Henry Schaeffer commented "It's wonderful," many times in regards to the invocation of the Vidyadhara and his energy over the past few days. While the Boulder meeting left some less than satisfied by its formlessness, I found the open space powerful. It was good to be in that room with so many comrades, old and new. We'll see what comes of it. A forming steering committee will begin to work with Boulderites, led by Tom Hast and Cassell Gross. I'm off to the airport, back to Halifax, where next week we have both a book signing and another Legacy Meeting in the Halifax shrineroom. This week, Judy Lief will meet with interested members of the New York community.

The Legacy

The Ocean of Dharma inaugural conference on the life and teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche closed yesterday with reading of Rinpoche's poetry by David Rome and Anne Waldman, which followed a day of panels that ranged from the literary legacy to publishing around dharma art teachings and editing the Shambhala teachings. During the Literary Legacy panel, which I participated in, Samuel Bercholz described in detail the last instructions that Chogyam Trungpa gave him about publishing his work and preserving his voice for the future. Judith Lief spoke about plans to devote her editorial energies to producing volumes of the Seminary Transcripts for general readership. Melvin McLeod talked about the double duty we have to both widen the view of Chogyam Trungpa in the world while deepening our own understanding and that of others. Walter Fordham was also on that panel and talked about, among a variety of things, how Rinpoche had a miniature replica of a Scottish throne on which he placed a small frog when he was in residence at his Court and how he placed the frog under the throne when he left. Walter spoke on larger issues as well, but this wonderful detail for me demonstrated the importance of caretaking all the objects collected by the Vidyadhara during his lifetime, and how nothing was trivial, not even a child's toy, in his world. Although there was much humour. Martin Janowitz gonged us out of the conference. People left, I think, feeling that something had shifted in our world for all of us. I guess that's what these things are for! Naropa was a gracious and tireless host. Today on to a meeting in the Boulder Shambhala Centre shrine room to talk about what the Chogyam Trungpa Legacy Project should be and how we should accomplish the goals we set for ourselves. The meeting will be opened by brief remarks from Diana Mukpo, followed by an overview provided by Carolyn Gimian, or moi. Then it's open mike night. With two microphones and a room full of people who feel passionately about the legacy -- anything could happen. No secret handshake or password required. Please come if you can.

Many Panels and a Fabrice

The Ocean of Dharma conference opened Saturday morning with meditation led by Loppon and Acharya Lodro Dorje. In the hallway, a large television was playing the first talk by Chogyma Trungpa in his first course at Naropa. The DVD was on a loop,playing throughout the day, having just come off the editing table and been rushed to the conference. The talk "Spiritual Materialism" was in the Tibetan Buddhist Path course, which is being lovingly remastered by Gordon Kidd of Kalapa Recordings to be made available next year as a DVD series. I was the moderator for one of the two morning panels entitled "SPoken to Written Word: The Early Books." The other panel down the hall was on "Vision in Action: Sacred Society." My panel was like a gathering of Titans, the old gods of the editorial world of Chogyam Trungpa. Samuel Bercholz, Publisher at Shambhala Publications, spoke first. Then Kunga Dawa, editor of Meditation in Action, gave remarks followed by John Baker and Marvin Casper. In the audience were other senior editors: Judy Lief and David Rome. Quite a gathering of editorial mind, which can be both beautiful and intensely editorial, if you know what I mean. I loved it.
Time running short for me, so I'll collapse the rest of the desription of the day: afternoon included workshops by individual presentors ( I did one on the method of Elocution developed by Chogyam Trungpa. Others included Judy Lief on Sacred Utterance, Robin Kornman on renaissance man, and David Rome on poetry.) Then more panels, one on vajrayana and another on language in psychology. The evening keynote was author, teacher and dear friend Fabrice Midal in glorious orange jacket speaking of his depth of understanding, love and connection with Chogyam Trungpa, whom he never met in "the flesh." Fabrice encouraged us all to meet him in his work. For the full text of the address, go to www.chronicleproject.com. Now I'm on to a meeting this a.m. with the Chonricles board members who are in town and others. More panels and closing reception later today.

Ocean of Dharma Conference Opens

More than 600 people gathered at the Nalanda campus of Naropa University last night for the opening art reception (students of Chogyam Trungpa showed their art) and keynote address by Diana J. Mukpo. The full audio and a good description of the keynote is available at www.chronicleproject.com. Click on the Ocean of Dharma conference button. There will be continuing coverage of the conference at that site. Following the opening remarks by Board Chair Martin Janowitz and President Tom Coburn, Lady Diana gave a powerful and bold address punctuated by a lot of warmth and humor, especially in the question and answer period, which was opened by questions from Buddhist Studies Faculty member Judith Simmer Brown. Lady Diana was dressed in black and gold, which combined regal and martial spirit, both appropriate to the evening. After the keynote, Lady Diana read passages from DRAGON THUNDER and several hundred people lined up to get books signed. I excused myself around 9:30 and headed off to the party for senior students, or old dogs. About 75 Boulderittes and conference attendees shared drink, food, and a lot of talk in a remote north boulder location. Today it is snowing again. Is this a blessing or just a lot of snow? Off to have breakfast with Fabrice Midal, tonight's keynote speaker. Then on to Naropa for panels, workshops and the continuation of this fest of dharma.

Elephant

Thursday morning, October 19: clear, sunshine, cold, windy: Boulder weather has lots of suprises. I drove to Diana Mukpo's residence where ELEPHANT magazine was arriving to set up and interview her. They are planning to put Chogyam Trungpa on the cover of the Winter Issue and include the interview in that edition. In addition to Waylon Lewis, there were three or four Elephant staffers, who contributed questions and energy to the interview, plus the videographer (Elephant will be podcasting this interview with other material within a few weeks) and a photographer. Diana was seated on a white sofa with large living bamboo fronds behind her. It was both strong and touching to have the interaction between Waylon, who Diana has known since his childhood, and Diana, who he talked about as the Queen in his world growing up. The questions were direct and a bit raw, appropriate for Elephant I think, and Diana seemed engaged and ready to talk about anything Waylon brought up.
In the afternoon, I drove to the Nalanda campus of Naropa University to see the space where the Ocean of Dharma conference will take place. Quite an interesting, large industrial space transformed into classrooms, performance studios, art studios, and a big event hall. This afternoon the conference opens with an exhibit of artists influenced by Chogyam Trungpa, a Dharma Art installation and flower arrangement by senior students, a reception for those presenting and attending, and then the keynote address. After that, the party for the mix of those visiting and those living in Boulder. Don't forget the handshake and bring a bottle of wine or sake. Tomorrow: unending panels of literary dharma

A Very Naropa Day

Wednesday morning, the 18th, I went to Juniper Cottage at Naropa University to meet with the University Archivist, Tim Hawkins. The Naropa Archives, with a grant from the federal government (don't ask me which department or agency of the government) has done an amazing job reformatting 2,000 hours of audio in the writing and poetics department. Tim showed me their audio lab and we spent quite a lot of time on line looking at their material online at archives.org (I think) Lots of opportunities to collaborate with the Shambhala Archives, Legacy Project et al. Tim also introduced me to the Special Collections Librarian who was cataloging CDs in the Audio Recovery Project of the Shambhala Archives (Naropa is participating in that). In the afternoon, Tom Hast, Larry Mermelstein and I met with Naropa President Tom Coburn to talk about the legacy projects at Naropa to celebrate their founder, Chogyam Trungpa, and how the CT Legacy Project can help to support that mission. A member of the Naropa development staff also attended. It is remarkable how Dr. Coburn is "raising the consciousness" of the Naropa community and the Boulder and international academic communities, vis a vis Chogyam Trungpa, his role at Naropa and his role in American academia and scholarship. We also talked about the upcoming Ocean of Dharma conference. Last night was dinner with Ken Green, together with Tom Hast, Larry, and joined by Walter Fordham. We touched on how the Naropa conference needs to encompass the larger community of Chogyam Trungpa's senior students. As with any first venture, there is much room for growth nad improvement in the conference. I hope it will grow significantly next year. Those present at dinner resolved to have a party, er...discussion, Friday night after the keynote address by Diana Mukpo to bring together senior students of Chogyam Trungpa, whether they are "officially" part of the conference or not. If you are reading this and would like to attend, you just need to call Ken and he'll tell you the password and secret handshake, as well as the location of the party.
Today ELEPHANT magazine is interviewing Diana Mukpo, who arrived last night. I'm off to join that stream. Many streams crossing in Boulder this week. I hope we will have lift off!

Bad Blogger

Apologies to all three of the readers of this blog, or maybe it's four? I'm not a very savvy blogger, so I posted the blog yesterday three times because it didn't seem to be showing up on the blog site. I WILL NOT DO THIS AGAIN.
More importantly, Monday is October 23rd not the 24th. This is the date of the Chogyam Trungpa Legacy Meeting in Boulder, Colorado. Hope to see many there with interest in the Legacy Project.

A Snowy Boulder Blog

We Canadians are accused of having cold weather, but it was snow in Boulder
yesterday, the day after I arrived. Back in Halifax it was merely raining. In
the wet Boulder morning, I met Lee Worley for coffee at Vic's, where we
discussed a book she is editing of Mudra theater material, most of it based on
talks given by Chogyam Trungpa as well as his plays. Lee is vibrant and
inspired and working hard on this project during her sabbatical from Naropa
University. She kind of twinkled when she talked about the work. Following that
discussion, I met up with Tom Hast, who together with his wife Sylvia is
hosting me for a few days in Boulder. Tom and I drove to Burnt Toast, a
restaurant on the Hill (area near the University of Colorado) where Waylon
Lewis, who really does kind of wail in a great way, editor in chief of
Elephant magazine, had his office away from the office for the day. Waylon had
invited two other people of younger persuasion (well under 40) to join Tom and
me for a discussion of the Chogyam Trungpa Legacy Project. These people spoke
with energy and passion about their connection to Chogyam Trungpa and his
teachings and their desire to study and practice more in the spirit and lineage
of his teachings. All are active in Shambhala International but see a place for
programs devoted to Chogyam Trungpa's teachings. I hope they'll come to the
meeting on Monday, the 24th, in the shrine room in the Shambhala Center at 7
pm. PLUG PLUG for you Boulderites, if anyone's reading.
In the afternoon, I also met with Bill Karelis about various projects he's
interested in and then Tom and I headed for dinner at the Kitchen, great local
food. I proved once again to be a bad vegetarian as I ate the Tasmanian salmon.
After dinner, we drove through the snow to Marv Ross's house to visit with
Robin Kornman, who is here for the Ocean of Dharma conference which begins
Friday night at the Naropa Nalanda campus on Arapahoe with a talk and book
reading by Diana Mukpo from DRAGON THUNDER. PLUG PLUG Robin looked great, very
much like a cherubic and mischievous deity of some kind, amazing energy and
radiation.
Marv has been cooking up a storm for Boulderites and visitors every night, so
that Robin and he can enjoy old friends and new. We had eaten so we demurred
from sampling the pork roast and mashed potatoes. Robin told me that he'd like
to have a good argument at the conference with me about the dralas, magical
forces, of Shambhala. Hmmm. I told him I'd have to study up.
First day quite full. This morning: brilliant sun, snow on mountains, that
crisp Boulder air. This is my home town, place I was born, always strange to
return here. Now on to meetings at Naropa. Well, first more coffee at a local
cafe. Perhaps Trident today.

Shambhala Publications

I went to a downtown Boston hotel yesterday afternoon to meet Kendra Crossen Burroughs, who has been with the Shambhala Publications for twenty years and was the Shambhala editor for recent Chogyam Trungpa publishing projects, including THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA and THE SANITY WE ARE BORN WITH. I've worked with Kendra for many years but had never met her. We have exchanged hundreds of e-mails and many phone calls. Kendra lives some distance from Boston and had come to down last weekend to attend an anniversary party for her and Jonathan Green, a Vice President at Shambhala who is responsible for foreign rights sales and the contracts for Chogyam Trungpa's books -- as well as for many other authors. Kendra was dressed in an elegant black silk top and pants with a beautiful fresh water pearl necklace. A small, intense and radiant person: I was delighted to meet her at last. After chatting for about a half hour, we were picked up at the hotel by Shambhala's managing editor, I believe, Dave O'Neal and we drove from Boston to the Decordova Museum in Lincoln, Mass., for the celebratory dinner and toasts. It was a great setting for a party. I saw many old friends and colleagues and met many new employees and significant others of Shambhala folks. The bar featured ginger martinis -- I had only one! Dinner was delicious and I was happy to be seated at Kendra's table, where I could also talk with Jonathan and his wife, Sam and Hazel Bercholz, and the president of Shambhala, Peter Turner, and his wife. Conversation ranged from publishing plans, how we all met, the early days at Shambhala, to finding your family history in Cape Breton Nova Scotia. Peter Turner had arranged for color brochures featuring the many accomplishments of Kendra and Jonathan to be printed and placed at each seat. I felt so grateful to these people and to the company as a whole for the longstanding commitment to publishing quality books, including those of Chogyam Trungpa. After a night of muted revelry, toasts and the presentation of gifts, we dispersed. This morning I'm at Shambhala Pubs using a vacant desk here to post my blog. Soon to have coffee and discuss future projects with Kendra. This afternoon, I hop a plane to Denver for the next leg of the tour.

Brown Bookstore

Yesterday's book event was a reading and signing at the Brown Bookstore, located close to the university. A large independent, somewhat sprawling, but very attractive store packed with books and a lot of people browsing on a Saturday. Would anyone be there for DRAGON THUNDER? The manager, Susan, had set up chairs, a table and a microphone in the back of the store. Obviously, they do a lot of book events. Diana and the book were featured on the monthly bookmark along with other authors, and there was a stack of books for signing. Announcements over the loudspeaker let people know the event would begin in a few minutes, and about half of the chairs filled up. In addition to our little group, there were between six and ten in the audience -- it grew as the event went on. I gave a brief introduction to Chogyam Trungpa, his books, and to Diana Mukpo and her memoirs.I felt amazingly nervous for an audience of less than a dozen people whom I didn't know at all. Diana spoke about Rinpoche, briefly, and then read a section on her unusual wedding day in Scotland in 1970. Interesting to hear words you've grown so close to being read aloud. It's quite different than reading to oneself. Several people in the audience had questions for the author, including the manager, who seemed quite interested in the book and its author. I noticed people browsing nearby stop to listen to the reading. It IS quite an unusual story. That was Brown. Then we did have some champagne! Today I'm going to a Shambhala Publications' celebration for two employees who've been with the company for 20 years. One is a major editor of Chogyam Trungpa's books. The tour goes on.

Boston Shambhala Center Reading

Last night Diana Mukpo spoke at the Boston Shambhala Center, to a crowd of about 60, many of whom also came to get a book signed. Diana was introduced by Sam Bercholz, publisher of Shambhala Publications, who spoke about his many years of dedication to Chogyam Trungpa and his family and how inspired Sam is by DRAGON THUNDER: MY LIFE WITH CHOGYAM TRUNGPA. Then Diana spoke about her inspiration for writing this book of memoirs -- her desire to share the significance of Chogyam Trungpa's life with others and how hers was one story of many that will be told. She read several amusing anecdotes from early days at Tail of the Tiger, now Karme Choling, including one about how her mother arrived at Tail hoping to convince Diana to abandon the marriage. One of the questions from the audience asked if Mrs Pybus had ever accepted the marriage. Those who've read the book know that indeed she not only acquisced but became devoted to Rinpoche herself. The other questions and comments were heartfelt and personal. I was struck during the event by the coincidence that Diana chose to wear a golden jacket, the Shambhala Center gave her a chair with golden fabric on it, and the wall of the shrineroom behind her had just been repainted in golden paint. It was quite a golden moment. Off to the left there was a large ikebana arrangement of three spider Chrysanthemums and maple leaves. Chrysanthemums were one of Chogyam Trungpa's favorite flowers for arranging. Following the formal events in the shrineroom, people reassembled downstairs for dessert and book signing. Today we are about to head off to the Brown University bookstore for a booksigning there. After that, there are rumors of a bottle of champagne to be shared. Hmmm, this touring business is not all bad.

Trident

Last night, about 30 of us convened in the back dining room of Trident Booksellers and Cafe on Newberry St here in Boston, for the DRAGON THUNDER book reading. Diana Mukpo arrived in a somewhat military looking but elegant white jacket, accompanied by family, housemates and friends. A number of staff from Shambhala Publications came along, including the editor of the book, Eden Steinberg. Our agent, Joe Spieler, was in from New York with a friend of his in the children's book publishing field. Students from the University of Boston Buddhist group showed up, along with assorted others I didn't know and some folks from the Shambhala Center.
Diana chose for the first reading a selection that begins when she and Rinpoche travel back to Tail of the Tiger Vermont after a trip to California. They meet Allen Ginsberg in NYC and then after getting back to Tail, Diana is dispatched to England to see if Osel Mukpo is being held captive. (The answer is yes.) A lot of action in a very few pages.
After the reading, people came up to get books signed -- it WAS a book signing -- and then a number stayed to have dinner. Great momos, wine and sake flowed. Gail Flynn, Trident proprietor, put on a great party.Pretty good time had by all. Today is an event at the Shambhala Center in Boston. Between now and then, I'm off to the gym, really, and then getting together with an old friend who was Chogyam Trungpa's cook on retreat for a whole year in 1984. But that's another story.

Blogging Through Boston

First of all the disclaimer: this is not an official blog of the Chögyam Trungpa Legacy Project. It is the blog of Carolyn Gimian, somewhat demented but dedicated acting director of the project. It's 4 am Halifax time on the 12th of October 2006. Why am I awake? Well, why not! Today I set off for twelve days in Boston, Providence and Boulder doing dual duty for the Legacy Project and also celebrating the publication of DRAGON THUNDER: MY LIFE WITH CHOGYAM TRUNGPA. Today I fly from Halifax to Boston. This evening: a book signing at Trident Booksellers and Café on Newbury Street in Boston, followed by dinner with the author, Diana Mukpo, at the café. I plan to post entries from the various stops along the way.

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources. TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website at http://oceanofdharma.com