Musings from a Feast

While waiting for an image of the dharma protector Ekajati to load -- and it may not -- I'm musing about the feast that was held this afternoon to conclude and mark the abhisheka conferred by Karma Senge Rinpoche. He was passing on teachings from Tibet received in 1958 by the Vidyadhara the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, concerning the mahasattva Avalokiteshvara. These were terma, or treasure teachings, that the Vidyadhara received before having to leave Tibet due to the Communist incursion.

The question I was contemplating was: what about the argument that is sometimes put forth that we, his disciples, should move on and not wallow in nostalgia for the past? Well, of course we shouldn't wallow! But when that is equated with not being "attached" to teachings that were given by the teacher at some point in the past....well, doesn't that seem a bit absurd after receiving a text like this in this manner? A wonderful sharing with dharma brothers and sisters. These teachings were, it is said, originally given by Guru Rinpoche in the 8th Century. They were hidden in a crystal cave, to be revealed in a future age when they would be relevant. They were found, again, by Chogyam Trungpa, who revealed them in 1958. Through the amazing perserverance and dedication of Karma Senge Rinpoche, they were recovered from disciples of Trungpa Rinpoche who had held on to the text and understood the practice. NOW they have been translated and are being presented to Western disciples. Out of date? Nostalgic? Please! Couldn't be more powerful, up to date or relevant.


Wouldn't it be nice to put that particular argument to bed, for a long long sleep! E Ma Ho. Wonderous marvelous dharma. Oh well, I give up on the illustration of Ekajati. Maybe she will want to appear tomorrow. So far not. But, as far as the feast is concerned, an amazing time was had by all. And lo and behold Ekajati is there. This print of a painting by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche was published by Trident Publications and is copyright Diana J. Mukpo. Used by permission.

Terma from Tibet

I'm posting this over the lunch break from a program in which Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's nephew, Karma Senge Rinpoche, has been presenting a terma (treasure) teaching that CTR received in Tibet in 1958. KarSeng Rinpoche arrived about 10 days ago from the Surmang area of East Tibet. This is Trungpa Rinpoche's birthplace and the site of his Tibetan monastery. This is his nephew's third or fourth visit to the West. I learned today that he's learned at least one English word: "okay?" He asked us that during the program.

The story goes that the dharma protector Ekajati, a fierce woman with one tourquoise lock of hair, one eye, one fang and one breast, appeared to Chogyam Trungpa in a vision and presented him with a casket that had been hidden by Padmasambhava, the crazy wisdom teacher who helped bring Buddhism to Tibet. He left many such treasures for the future ages. This casket spontaneously opened to reveal letters written in dakini script, which Trungpa Rinpoche decoded within a few days. From this sprang a dzogchen Avalokiteshvara text. This is what we were receiving in the shrine room in Halifax. If that is not totally decoded for you -- well, this is a text about compassion, openness and the space of mind, which Chogyam Trungpa envisioned in Tibet.

For many years, Karma Senge--who never met his uncle--has travelled all over the Surmang area, locating students of Trungpa Rinpoche who kept copies of the texts they had received from CTR and studied as his students. KarSeng Rinpoche got the transmissions for all of these texts, gathered them, and now is bringing them to the West, presenting them slowly to Western disciples with a connection to Chogyam Trungpa.

Understandably, the Chogyam Trungpa Legacy Project is delighted to participate in planning these programs and publicizing them.

The abhisheka brought 300 of us to the Halifax Shambhala Centre. The more than capacity crowd seemed very happy to be together in such tight quarters. Karma Senge gave us three hours of preliminary instruction last night, followed by about 4 1/2 hours today. At the end of the empowerment, he said that unfortunately he hadn't been able to give us the long, complete version but that at least we had received the medium level version. He apologized for how long it took, and also mentioned that this program/empowerment was in part being offered to mark the 20th anniversary of the death, or parinirvana, of Chogyam Trungpa.

This abhisheka is available to all vajrayana students who have received vajrayana transmission from Chogyam Trungpa, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin, or at the Vajradhatu Seminary. KarSeng Rinpoche plans to present the empowerment in June in the United States, in Philadelphia, Boulder, and Berkeley.

I'm heading back now to learn the practice. Tomorrow, we have a tri, or talk, by Karma Senge Rinpoche and in the afternoon a feast. For more coverage of Karma Senge Rinpoche's visit to North America, check out the Chronicles website: www.chronicleproject.com

California Dreaming and Legacy!

Last Thursday, I left Halifax in the wee hours of the morning and flew through Toronto to Los Angeles. I was picked up there by an old friend, Darryl Burnham, who drove me to the home of Carol Sheehan, who was hosting Diana Mukpo for two nights. Carol lives in Tarzana in a home with an amazing garden that must be close to an acre of beauty in the middle of the populous San Fernando Valley. I arrived in time for lunch, followed by a viewing of the new trailer for Johanna Demetrakas's documentary on the life of Chogyam Trungpa, a doc in progress. Moving footage, a preview of a powerful film to come. Following the showing, Lady Diana was interviewed for the film for several hours. I have to confess that I was jetlagged and took a nap! We set out later in the afternoon for the new Shambhala Center in the LA area, which is close to Glendale, I believe. An old architects office/studio makes a lovely space for meditation/offices. An audience of approximately 50 gathered to hear Lady Diana speak and read from Dragon Thunder. She was a turquoise dragon in a, yes, turquoise jacket with white flowers on it. Quite lovely. Her talk, as I remember, was on similarities in the transmission of Buddhism by Chogyam Trungpa in North America to the transmission of Buddhism to China by Bodhidharma and to Tibet by Padmasambhava. She told the story of how the local forces in Tibet would tear down the walls of Samye Monastery that were being built. Every night the walls would be torn down. Finally the king sent for Padmasambhava who tamed the wild beasts and after that they helped to build Samye while everyone slept. So too Chogyam Trungpa tamed the wild Hippies and got them to help him build Buddhism in America. Short version of a great talk -- Book signing followed, I talked about the Legacy Project with Claude Zachary and left him some pledge cards, and then we were off to the residence. The next morning, everyone rested. Afternoon, following some great Mexican food, we headed to the Burbank airport. Southwest airlines to Oakland.

We were late into Oakland and whisked away to a restaurant on Shattuck Avenue for a quick dinner. We met up with Amy Conway, head of the Bay Area centers, and others including Marc Matheson, visit Coordinator, and Jesse Miller, Old friend and senior student/teacher. The Berkeley Center is STILL in the Oddfellows Hall near the University of California. About 80 came to the talk and book signing. The signing itself was in a new streetfront space, below the hall. I felt that I was having a big deva vu being back in my first center -- and it was deja vu because I was there before! Anyway, following the talk, which brought out many old and new faces, Lady Diana headed to Marin where she was staying and I went to my sister-in-laws in Oakland.

On Saturday afternoon, about 30 members of the Bay Area community attended a Legacy Meeting. Lady Diana read the Sakyong's letter endorsing the project. We had a lively discussion that focussed mainly on TIES. I had mentioned the Vidyadhara's ties in passing when I was speaking of all the things of his that we want to conserve and exhibit. One of those attending questioned why on earth we would display his ties as something meaningful. This was provocative -- and led to discussion of how we view the objects he owned, what our responsibility is to give them meaningful context, and was a sort of reality check.

Saturday night, Lady Diana, Lisa Fiore and I had the pleasure of joining Steve Silberman, a journalist, for dinner at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Francisco. I have to think about what we discussed. That's how good the wine was. Lots of fun. Throughout the weekend, Diana was teaching on the topic of Shambhala world and lineage. As time is short, I won't give the synopsis! Monday, following the conclusion of the program, we drove up to the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center where Lady Diana was escorted by Kwong Roshi and Shinko, his wife, to the stupas for Suzuki Roshi and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Power spots indeed on a mountain side that is tamed by all the discipline and meditation that Roshi and Shinko and their students have put into this place. At lunch, I sat between Roshi and his son Demian. The discussion ranged from Roshi's visits to Iceland and Poland -- he is the first Buddhist teacher to visit Iceland, so I teased him about being the father of Buddhism in Iceland, not really a joke -- to the materialism of this era and how difficult it is for students to commit to a life of dharma practice. It was really a gift to spend this time.

From there, we buzzed off to the Santa Rosa Shambhala Center where Lady Diana had tea and brief discussion with about 30. From there, she left for the airport.

I am writing this the next day, before my evening flight back to Halifax. I hope the formatting comes through but for some reason....it often doesn't. Many in the Bay Area and LA seem inspired by Chogyam Trungpa's teachings and very connected. The Legacy Project seems a natural connection for many people here. In Berkeley they have been doing an extensive study of Seminary Transcripts for about 6 or 7 months -- just one of many connections with the Vidyadhara's work. which brings much more work for all of us to do. Good thing. Signing off.