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