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.
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.
posted by Carolyn Gimian at 4:06 PM
2 Comments:
Keep up the good work.
Getting back to Khenpo Carolyn Gimian's remarks about the terma.
I have my own personal journey with these teachings, since the list of his Tibetan writings was given to me in 1992 and 1993. Basically I didn't know what to do with them, since I was practicing Vajrayogini having received the Karma Kamtsang transmission, along with many others, from the Vidyadhara.
In a sense, my own personal ship left the orthodox spiritual moorings of Vajradhatu, living and practicing in China and once a year at Surmang over a period of 17 years. This process grew, receiving the Surmang Nyengyud Chakrasamvara at Surmang and studying the Chakrasamvara Lama Dance. My preceptor, my Dorje Loppon was the late Regent Abbot Sazi; I also received CS from Karma Senggey Rinpoche.
Although I don't claim any credential for this, it did deepen my connection with Rinpoche. I helped get a number of the Surmang texts to Larry Mermelstein --most importantly the Vidyadhara's sealed namthar (memoir) about his time with Gangshar Rinpoche. Reading this text had a profound effect on me and brought the Vidyadhara into a much more significant place in my life. I also was able to pass along a number of other Tibetan texts from Surmang that included additional writings of CTR.
I began to see that he was much bigger than who I thought he was; I was told by his tulku, Gangshar Rinpoche V, that his predecessor was widely believed to have become enlightened at Surmang. This story is told in several places, not the least of which is Born in Tibet.
Then I heard many stories about his discovery of the termas at Surmang Jyeregon in 1958, when he was 19, about the same time that I was busy slow dancing on Friday nights and watching "Gunsmoke," cars had fins and father knew best.
On receiving the transmissions of these texts I saw that they were not only great, but actually much more profound than anything we'd been given afterwards in the West, because they are all fruition-level materials, written from the point of view of unfabricated wakefulness.
At that point I started to think of them the way many people think about the early episodes of "Star Wars": they were the pre-quel.
Like former Pres. Bush I saw how I mis-underestimated the Vidyadhara. Although religion is not rocket science --thank goodness-- I believe that when he came out of Tibet he, like his guru, Gangshar Wangpo Rinpoche, was enlightened.
Of course it was a rocky road for him both out of Tibet, out of India, out of England, and out of the US. He was shot at, almost starved, subject to sectarian shanannegans, had his son kidnapped, had his dharma heir basically go nuts.
I remember at the 1972 Ten Bhumis Seminar, the first one at Rocky Mtn. Dharma Center (since renamed "Universal Studios, Ft. Collins") someone asked Rinpoche if the bodhisattva still steps in dog poop.
The answer was "yes, of course." But poop is at that point, not enemy, not an obstacle. It's a further invitation. So enlightenment means to be willing to continue the journey, to add new fuel to the fire. It's not a thing like a Disneyland "A" ticket.
That's the limit of an enlightened teacher's power --as my friend Moke put it, 'to surf the karma.'
In that way not only can our life continue to unfold, but so can the presence of the teacher. At least that's been my experience. As I get older more and more he and his teachings speak to me and more and more I see what a shlep I was 'back then.' What kind of teacher teaches more, even more, after he died than when he was alive? Rinpoche answered that question himself: "absence brings further presence."
Post a Comment
<< Home