Creation Stage

Pushed by a strong intuition, I have created a new online group to explore the connections between Buddhism, dharma practice, and creativity; it's called Creation Stage, and you can find it here.

If you know others who might be interested, please spread the word. Thanks! -AWW

Woodstock/Rain of Flowers

We had a rain of flowers the last night I was in Woodstock. I'll post this picture because it may be the best photo of this phenomenon—rain falling while the sun is shining—that I ever take.

I went back and looked at my notes on "rain of flowers" at one of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche's recent teachings. Rinpoche said that if this event occurs near a high-level teacher, it's probably associated with that person; "Otherwise, it's just weather."

KTD 10-Day Teachings/The Long and Winding Road

Tomorrow I leave Woodstock. We have been having rain last night and today, and everything is wet and leaves have been blowing off the trees.

I took this picture yesterday, looking back up the hill as I was coming down off the mountain (KTD is on Mount Guardian), and it reminded me of one of my favorite Beatles songs.

Think of the lyrics as a devotional song to Karmapa, KTD, and Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche—not just a romantic love song.

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

The long and winding road

That leads to your door

Will never disappear

I've seen that road before

It always leads me here

Lead me to your door.

The wild and windy night

That the rain washed away

Has left a pool of tears

Crying for the day.

Why leave me standing here?

Let me know the way.

Many times I've been alone

And many times I've cried,

Anyway you've always known

The many ways I've tried.

And still they lead me back

To the long, winding road

You left me standing here

A long, long time ago

Don't leave me standing here

Lead me to your door.

But still they lead me back

To the long winding road

You left me standing here

A long, long time ago (ohhh)

Don't keep me waiting here (don't keep me waiting)

Lead me to your door. (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Song of the Turkey Buzzard

Turkey Vulture, photo by Elizabeth Barakah Hodges

Back in the 1980s, when I was working as a program assistant for the University Extension division of the University of California at Berkeley, I made the mistake of reading Lew Welch’s poem Song of the Turkey Buzzard on my lunch hour.

I say “mistake” because the poem—in which Welch predicts his own suicide and sky burial—had a profound emotional effect on me, and I went into what I can only describe as some kind of altered state for about four hours. In short—I was useless at my job that afternoon.

In Tibet, where the ground is often too frozen to allow for burial and where firewood for cremations can be scarce, one way that the dead are “buried” is through what is called sky burial—ritual dismemberment of the corpse, the parts of which are then consumed by vultures.

So I was stunned to hear the following story, tacked onto one of the morning teachings by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche as a seemingly impromptu embellishment. (Note from AWW: This is not a verbatim transcript.)

In Tibet, the people who prepare bodies for sky burial are chod practitioners who do practice for the people who have died.

The birds that eat the bodies are considered dakas and dakinis, and are remarkable in their behavior.

After people who have earned merit through compassionate actions are dismembered, vultures will encircle the body but not touch it. Another vulture comes from the sky, gives a call, and lands on the center of the body. This vulture does a little dance, and then begins to eat—at which point the other vultures begin to eat, too.

The feast is considered a ganachakra (sacred feast), and the central vulture is the ganachakra master.

Now, many people will think this is a gruesome story, but I think it’s beautiful—and it connected me, immediately, to that experience long ago when I read Song of the Turkey Buzzard for the first time.

So I wonder if Lew Welch provided the food for a ganachakra, never seen by human eyes, out there in the California wilderness so long ago.

SONG OF THE TURKEY BUZZARD

For Rock Scully

who heard it

the first

time

Praises, Tamalpais,

Perfect in Wisdom and Beauty,

She of the Wheeling Birds

I.

The rider riddle is easy to ask,

but the answer might surprise you.

How desperately I wanted Cougar

(I, Leo, etc.)

brilliant proofs: terrain,

color, food, all

nonsense. All made up.

They were always there, the

laziest high-flyers, bronze-winged,

the silent ones

"A cunning man always laughs and smiles,

even if he's desperately hungry,

while a good bird always flies like a vulture,

even if it is starving."

(Milarepa sang)

Over and over again, that sign:

I hit one once, with a .22

heard the "flak" and a feather flew off, he

flapped his wings just once and

went on sailing. Bronze

(when seen from above)

as I have seen them, all day sitting

on a cliff so steep they

circled below me, in the up-draft

passed so close I could see his

eye.

Praises, Tamalpais,

Perfect in Wisdom and Beauty,

She of the Wheeling Birds

Another time the vision was so clear another saw it, too.

Wet, a hatching bird, the shell of the egg streaked with dry scum,

exhausted, wet, too weak to move the shriveled wings, fierce

sun-heat, sand. Twitching, as with elbows (we all have the same

parts). Beak open, neck stretched, gasping for air. O how we

want to live!

"Poor little bird," she said, "he'll never make it."

Praises, Tamalpais,

Perfect in Wisdom and Beauty,

She of the Wheeling Birds

Even so, I didn't get it for a long long while. It finally came

in a trance, a coma, half in sleep and half in fever-mind. A Turkey

Buzzard, wounded, found by a rock on the mountain. He wanted

to die alone. I had never seen one, wild, so close. When I reached

out, he sidled away, head drooping, as dizzy as I was. I put my

hands on his wing-shoulders and lifted him. He tried, feebly, to

tear at my hands with his beak. He tore my flesh too slightly to

make any difference. Then he tried to heave his great wings. Weak

as he was, I could barely hold him.

A drunken veterinarian found a festering bullet in his side,

a .22 that slid between the great bronze scales his feathers were.

We removed it and cleansed the wound.

Finally he ate the rotten gophers I trapped and prepared

for him. Even at first, he drank a lot of water. My dog seemed

frightened of him.

They smell sweet

meat is dry on their talons

The very opposite of

death

bird of re-birth

Buzzard

meat is rotten meat made

sweet again and

lean, unkillable, wing-locked

soarer till he's but a

speck in the highest sky

infallible

eye finds Feast! on

baked concrete

free!

squashed rabbit ripened:

our good cheese

(to keep the highways clean, and bother no Being )

II.

Praises Gentle Tamalpais

Perfect in Wisdom and Beauty of the

sweetest water

and the soaring birds

great seas at the feet of thy cliffs

Hear my last Will & Testament:

Among my friends there shall always be

one with proper instructions

for my continuance.

Let no one grieve.

I shall have used it all up

used up every bit of it.

What an extravagance!

What a relief!

On a marked rock, following his orders,

place my meat.

All care must be taken not to

frighten the natives of this

barbarous land, who

will not let us die, even,

as we wish.

With proper ceremony disembowel what I

no longer need, that it might more quickly

rot and tempt

my new form

-

NOT THE BRONZE CASKET BUT THE BRAZEN WING

SOARING FOREVER ABOVE THEE O PERFECT

O SWEETEST WATER O GLORIOUS

WHEELING

BIRD

(From "Ring of Bone" by Lew Welch, Grey Fox Press, Bolinas, California)

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Machik Labdron and the Practice of Severance (Chod)

The picture of Machik Labdron, above, is from an absolutely beautiful thangka that was won in a fundraising raffle (for the benefit of KTD) by one of our Western lamas.

I came to these teachings, a continuation of a teaching that was begun last year, for three reasons—first, because I am fascinated by the Tibetan woman Machik Labdron and her system of practice, chod or the severance of self-fixation; second, because the only relief I have ever experienced from being stuck in this bag of bones and flesh has come while writing or working with the tarot cards, and I think there must be some other way to overcome being stuck on “I”; third and finally, because as a Buddhist I have vowed to try to help all sentient beings, and so eventually being able to practice Machik’s system of severance on self-fixation may enable me to do this.

I have learned from my teachers—and it does seems to me to be true—that fixating on my own wants and desires is the source of numerous, all-pervasive problems. Severance offers the opportunity to cut through self-fixation once and for all, in order to benefit both the individual practitioner and, by extension, all sentient beings.

So I arrived in Woodstock and at KTD with a keen interest in getting further instruction from Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche on the text titled Machik’s Complete Explanation.

What I did not realize (and this falls into the category of things about which I can only say, DUH!) was that the teaching encompassed not only the reading transmission of the severance practice text, but also the full instructions on the practice itself! Rinpoche let this cat out of the bag in response to a question during the first couple of days of the teaching. My first clue about this should have come from the title of the text and the teaching—Machik’s COMPLETE Explanation—but for some reason, the idea that I would be receiving transmission and practice instructions went right over my head, probably because I have received these kinds of teachings in a different order in the past.

Usually I have taken an empowerment as part of a group and received the reading transmission (if it wasn’t done as part of the empowerment) and practice instructions later. So I asked Rinpoche if we weren’t getting the information backwards this time, and he explained that no, this is how practice instructions were usually given in Tibet—reading transmission and instructions first, and empowerment later. He explained that it’s fine to do things in this order, “as long as you plan to take the empowerment at a later date.”

So right away, my mind was blown; it got really blown apart a day or two later (see next post).

Here, in no particular order, are some gems from the teachings, things that I believe it’s okay to share:

-You include your parents in the practice of severance because they gave you the gift of your body. Your mind comes from your previous karma.

-The liturgy of the “Charity of the Body” (lu jin in Tibetan) was written by Machik herself. Note from A Word Witch (AWW): So when we hear the liturgy, or chant her words, we are really hearing her.

-Machik’s system begins with love (or lovingkindness, the wish for all beings to be happy) because “Love is like a pipe; compassion is the water that runs through the pipe.” (Compassion = the wish for beings to be free from suffering.)

-We are born with self-fixation, life after life. We mistake the absence of a self as the existence of a self. The seventh consciousness, which is the afflicted consciousness, mistakes the eighth or all-basis consciousness as a self. Note from AWW: So we are, in a sense, born trapped. This idea does not help my claustrophobia. L

-The idea that beings spend 49 days in the bardo (the in-between state between death and rebirth) is “a gross generalization.” For some beings, the time is shorter; for others, longer; and some beings don’t go into the bardo at all, but rather go straight to a pure realm or a hell realm.

-A highlight of the 10-day experience was watching some of the lamas who have gone through KTD’s three-year retreat perform the chod ritual, complete with mesmerizing drum and trumpet sounds and melodious chanting. Rinpoche encouraged us to pray to Machik throughout the ritual: “Great Mother, please grant me your blessings.” Note from AWW: I did as Rinpoche suggested, and felt that I had already received her blessings just by being there!

-Powa, or the transference of consciousness done at the time of death, was performed on animals (as well as people) in Tibet.

-Less effective: “May we get rid of swine flu.” More effective: “May everyone’s swine flu dissolve into me.”

-What we call death is simply the separation of body and mind. Note from AWW: Body rots. Mind doesn’t.

-There is no “near” or “far” with regard to the guru’s blessing. Blessings can be received anywhere, regardless of locality. Whenever anyone thinks of Buddha, Buddha is there—and the same applies to His Holiness Karmapa, Guru Rinpoche, and all other enlightened beings. People who hear statues speak (as is the case in Tibet; there are many stories) are those who are certain of the Buddha’s blessing; these sounds are not hallucinations. “Pray to those whose compassion is beyond near and far.”

-Someone asked a question about the relationship between taking pain medications at the time of death and doing the Buddhist practices that are usually performed at that time—good idea, or bad? Rinpoche said that if the medications help you to concentrate, they are okay; if they make you woozy, no.

-The very first question I ever asked Rinpoche, back in 1991, was related to my curiosity about whether some places were more conducive to meditation practice than others—so I was interested in hearing him say, in relation to a similar but not identical question, that the place of practice does not really matter for us as long as we are confident that the Buddhas and bodhisattvas are present. It’s good to think that “All wisdom dakas and dakinis are gathered in this place”; then your practice will flourish, and obstacles will be dispelled. When teachers have told students to go to certain places to meditate, it’s because the teachers have seen “through their wisdom vision” that the students have connections to those places that will help to ripen their dharmic development.

-Positive meditation experiences are not necessarily good. Negative meditation experiences are not necessarily bad.

Now, about the vultures…(see next post).

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Woodstock/Fireflies

I am staying at one of the several places in Woodstock that are on the banks of streams that run through the village.

Tonight, after dinner, the grounds are filled with the tiny twinkling lights of fireflies. I don't see fireflies very often any more; I think they may be casualties of too much pesticide use.

I remember catching fireflies in jars in Georgia—jars that had holes punched in the lids—on summer nights when it was much more pleasant to be outside than in. We lived on a creek, and our summer nights were filled with fireflies! Our jars glowed greenish-yellow with the many tiny lights; at the end of the evening, we'd open the lids and release the fireflies.

Tiny lights in the darkness remind me of the importance of light in almost all of the world's spiritual literature—including, of course, Buddhism's emphasis on enlightenment—and of one of my favorite poets, Lew Welch, who has been very much with me in spirit throughout the 10-day teachings at KTD. Here's one of his poems, about light:

HE EXPLAINS IT ANOTHER WAY

At times we're almost able to see it was once all
Light, and wants to get back to it.

Not brilliant, swift, or huge, since Light
is the measure, and we are

Flake off of All-Measure
Cinder cast down from Sun

(explaining every "fall" and why we yearn so?)

Harnessed jelly of the Stars!


-Lew Welch, "Ring of Bone"

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Favorite Table

In addition to trying to add blog posts of substance over the next view days, I'll probably post a few miscellaneous photographs; here's one, above—a view of my favorite table for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at KTD.

I like to sit here because I then have a view of the mountains. We don't have mountains in Florida, so I really appreciate being here, with the lovely views and what has been, at least for this trip, refreshingly cool weather.

The "Gift Shop" sign actually refers to Namse Bangdzo, one of the best Buddhist bookstores ever.

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Coming Down

I'm down off the mountain today, to spend a couple of days holed up in Woodstock to do some writing and finish this section of my blog. I have needed to find some quiet time to put my thoughts together and write in some depth about the actual teachings, and about Machik Labdron; there really wasn't time to do any of this while in the thick of the teachings.

I found a great, quiet (at least today) place with wi-fi where I can get coffee and snacks. I am at tree level in "downtown" (really more like "downvillage") Woodstock; the picture, above, gives you an idea of my bird's-eye view.

I took my last final exam in a job retraining program the night before I traveled to the 10-day teachings; this last year has been full of study, with no real time for reading, writing, or really doing anything beyond the essentials. So in addition to writing more for the blog, I'm also looking forward to maybe going swimming, sharing some good meals with friends old and new, and listening to the new Levon Helm CD I picked up at The Golden Notebook, a local independent bookstore.

How precious to enter the gate of dharma. And how precious to have a couple of days to relax and just BE.

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Entering the Dharma Gate

Entering the Dharma Gate

---

Though grief in the Ocean of Samsara
Is preached, and its renunciation is urged,
Few people are really convinced
And renounce it with determination.
Though knowing that life will ever turn to death,
Few feel uneasy, or think that it will end.
Though their life is blessed with good prospects,
Few can practice abstention for a day.
Though the Bliss of Liberation is expounded
And Samsara's pains are stressed,
Few can really enter the Dharma Gate.
Though the profound Pith-Instructions
Of the Whispered Lineage are given without stint, few
Without fail can practice them.
Though the teaching of Mahamudra is expounded
And the Pointing-out demonstration is exercised,
Few can really understand the Essence of Mind.
To the hermit's life and the Guru's wish
One can always aspire, but few
Can put them into practice.
The perfect, skillful path of Naropa
May be shown, without concealment,
But those who can really follow it
Are very few. My dear lad,
You should follow in my footsteps
If in this life you want to do
Something that is worthwhile.

-- Jetsun Milarepa

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Googly Eyes

I mentioned an impromptu celebration for Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche's birthday; it happened this way.

Before the morning teachings yesterday, several people walked around handing out "googly eyes." You can see what they look like in the picture above. One of the folks explained that we were to put them on after Khenpo took his seat, before beginning the morning prayers. Then, at a signal, we were to release the "stalks" of the eyeballs so they would spring out and bounce around.

All went as planned, to everyone's delight including Khenpo, who found a set of "googlies" at his seat and put them on to google back at us.

One of the things I love about my teachers is that they have a wonderful sense of humor!

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Changes in KTD's Bylaws

Yesterday, Lama Yeshe Gyamtso read a letter from His Holiness Karmapa that clarifies the terms of office for the appointees to KTD's Board of Directors. (Note from A Word Witch: I am not absolutely sure whether the correct name is "Board of Directors" or "Board of Trustees," so I will try to find out.)

There were several resolutions to change KTD's bylaws that were adopted unanimously by the current board, so the bylaws have been amended and signed by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, as follows:

1. Kunzang-la, Lama Kathy Wesley, and Lama David Bole have been appointed to the board.

2. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche's term of office on the board is infinite (yes, you read that correctly—infinite).

3. Every other trustee, including Tenzin Chonyi or Tenzin-la—who is currently on the board—will serve for five years.

4. A new staff position of Executive Director has been created. When this job is filled, the person who holds it will report to the president of KTD, Tenzin-la, and to the board. All KTD managers will report to the Executive Director.

The letter making this announcement was signed on June 13, 2009.

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche's Birthday

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche's birthday is celebrated on July 4 every year. Today, his birthday luncheon-and-cake party was held in the dining room in the new building, parts of which are still under construction.

The dining room is lovely—a long, big room with banks of windows that look out onto the beautiful trees that surround the monastery.

I was part of the cleanup crew for the event, so after I had finished doing my part sweeping the floor, I was able to achieve one of my goals for the day—getting the picture, above, that gives a glimpse of the spaciousness and beauty of the room. Having Karmapa's picture there, along with birthday decorations, makes an even better photo.

I will post more about a spontaneous celebration of Khenpo's birthday before this morning's teachings after I can get some new batteries for my camera (again!).

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Double Rainbow Over the Moon

Today's rainbow was a double for part of the time. If you look closely in this picture, you can see the moon underneath the rainbow.

Remember to click on the picture to make it bigger.

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Another Auspicious Day

Back on June 4, we had a "rain of flowers" in Florida and a rainbow over the moon. That was the same day that I found out that Gainesville Karma Thegsum Choling's resident lama, Lama David Bole, was going to be appointed to the KTD Board of Directors—but I was sworn to secrecy.

Today, almost exactly a month later, we had the same phenomena here in Woodstock. A shower started falling while I was sitting at the front gate with my friend Sandra. "Look, it's a rain of flowers," I said, "the rain is falling while the sun is shining."

"Maybe there will be a rainbow," Sandra responded.

Then, on my way into the shrine building to get a jacket for what is becoming a regular night walk down to the pond, there it was—one of the biggest rainbows I've ever seen! Look for another view of the rainbow right over the moon in the next post.

Make sure you click on this picture for a bigger view!

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Guru Rinpoche Day

Today is Guru Rinpoche day, according to the Tibetan calendar, and it was an eventful one for several reasons.

There was a beautiful ceremony tonight called “Shower of Blessings” that honored Guru Rinpoche (Sanskrit: Padmasambhava), who was responsible for solidifying the practice of Buddhism in Tibet and who is responsible for ensuring the spread of Buddhism to any borderland—like the USA.

There were, of course, the magnificent teachings about Machik Labdron—no, I have not forgotten about her—being given by KTD’s abbot, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche.

There was my own interview with Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche this morning, an auspicious day for that since I have always felt drawn to Guru Rinpoche.

But the loveliest part of the day was an impromptu talk given by Khenpo at the end of the afternoon’s question-and-answer session, which he cut short by saying, “Now I am going to tell you a little bit of truth.”

Rinpoche talked (in Tibetan) for a long time. He wept; he laughed; he wept and laughed again. At the end of his talk, his translator—the gifted Lama Yeshe Gyamtso—asked Rinpoche for clarification for parts of the translation. This back-and-forth went on for a while; Lama Yeshe apologized to us, saying he wasn’t sure that his translation could capture the emotion that Khenpo had conveyed.

Khenpo began by giving some history of the founding of KTD. In 1959-60, His Holiness the 16^th Karmapa (hereinafter referred to as HHK 16) fled Tibet and settled in Sikkim. Since he was a refugee, he did not have means of survival; he had a hard time. Many of the Sikkimese people had faith, however, and one family in particular has served both HHK 16 and HHK 17 well.

This family “did the best service” by taking in HHK 16 and other lamas, giving them a place to live and making sure the lamas got better food than the family did. This is the family of Kunzang-la, newly appointed to KTD’s Board of Directors; her brother was responsible for the successful restoration of Rumtek, Karmapa’s monastery in Sikkim, after it had fallen into disrepair. This family “remained steady, and their samaya is pure,” according to Rinpoche.

Rinpoche then announced that HHK 17 had recently made some announcements with regard to the administration of KTD. Tenzin Chonyi, who has been president of the organization for many years, will remain president for five years. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche will remain on the board, and Kunzang-la is a new trustee.

“I have no qualities to remain on the board,” Rinpoche said, but added that he had agreed to stay on at Karmapa’s request. No qualities. Hmmmm. I would debate that.

Khenpo also announced that he had chosen Lama Kathy Wesley and Lama David Bole to be new board members. He said that he trusts Lama Kathy “as much as I trust my own heart,” and mentioned Lama David’s administrative abilities and even-tempered disposition while in retreat.

Khenpo then gave some background on Bardor Tulku Rinpoche (hereinafter referred to as BTR), who has for many years been the primary teacher who travels to teach at KTD’s affiliated centers. When BTR was only 12 years old, he was on his own in India after escaping from Tibet. Because he prayed one-pointedly, he was able to reach Rumtek, where he was adopted by HHK 16 as “the son of his heart.” There were two other young men who had that same close relationship with HHK 16; these were Tenzin Chonyi or Tenzin-la, and Shamar Rinpoche’s brother, Jigme-la. The training and lives of these three young men were closely supervised by HHK 16.

When HHK 16 was gifted with the land that became KTD, he chose Tenzin-la to stay in America to oversee that center. Jigme-la went to a center in France. “It is like sending away my eyes and heart,” HHK 16 said, but the young men were sent for the dharma, “not for ordinary purposes,” according to Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche.

Later, when BTR came to KTD, “he wore a tool belt for almost 15 years” while the monastery was being built. While construction was ongoing, Khenpo traveled and taught and founded 30 dharma centers throughout the country.

Khenpo had received three commands from HHK 16: to build a monastery, to start a three-year retreat, and to “take care of Tenzin-la if he has problems in the future.” Khenpo said that the 16^th Karmapa made this last statement with tears in his eyes.

This year, Bardor Tulku Rinpoche has resigned as a director of KTD (though he still teaches at the monastery). Khenpo explained that BTR is now 60 years old and has his own terma (treasure text) lineage to preserve, and that he has a lot to do and not much time to waste.

Note from A Word Witch: BTR also has his own new center, Kunzang Palchen Ling, across the river in Red Hook, New York.

“Now about my nephew,” Khenpo said. His nephew is Lama Karma Drodul, who is three people in one—teacher, translator (since he teaches in English), and attendant. Khenpo remarked that because of these skills, the affiliate centers “could save money” by inviting Lama Karma to teach.

Note from A Word Witch: Lama Karma is a shining presence at these teachings, always friendly and approachable when seen out and about, competent and clear when leading Mahakala or other practices, and compassionate in his translations during interviews. KTD is fortunate to have him.

Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin will continue to travel and teach, accompanied by his translator, Jigme Nyima.

KKR then said that he will continue to ask Lama Yeshe Gyamtso to translate for him when he can; everyone clapped enthusiastically.

Note from A Word Witch: I had heard a rumor earlier in the week that this was Lama Yeshe’s last year to translate for the 10-day teachings, so I asked him; that rumor is not true.

Khenpo closed his talk by saying, “We need to remember what we are about.”

We are not involved in the dharma to acquire position or rank, Khenpo said, but to fulfill His Holiness Karmapa’s aspirations and vision. That is our only purpose—to implement Karmapa’s vision.

Many people, myself included, were very moved by Rinpoche’s wise words. He said what needed to be said, and on an auspicious day to boot. This is a talk I will remember for a long, long time.

KTD 10-Day Teachings/The Great Black One

I have become quite fond of sitting in on Mahakala practice from 5-6 p.m. every day. Mahakala, the Great Black One, is a being who is the protector of the Karma Kagyu lineage. The practice is filled with the sounds of drums, horns, and cymbals, and has a mesmerizing cadence; on the days when there are two drummers, the drums sound like two hearts beating together.

There was another great black visitor tonight on the hill behind the shrine building—a large black bear who came to eat the leftover offerings from the Guru Rinpoche tsok (sacred feast). She (I have decided the bear is female) is very beautiful, and did not seem disturbed by the many people watching her or taking pictures.

I think folks need to remember that bears are really wild animals, and can be very dangerous; some people were getting closer to her than I thought safe. I was glad I had a zoom feature on my camera.

KTD 10-Day Teachings/Animal Food

Right behind the shrine building is a steep hill with a large outcrop of rock where people have hung prayer flags. This is the place where the tormas and other food items are put outside after sacred ceremonies, so the neighborhood animals can benefit from the blessings.

The first day I was here, I saw the butt end of a large, brownish raccoon, headed up the hill. Squirrels prowl this area constantly; today, they were attracted to a small birthday cake left over from Saturday’s celebration. The squirrels here are pretty fat.

I saw a large hawk land near the birthday cake, but he flew away when I tried to take his picture. It’s hard to get pictures of birds.

There are quite a few stories about the neighborhood bears. Several people have seen them over the past few days. I haven’t seen them, but I did spot one of them last year, down by the pond.

One day near dusk, I plan to hang out on the back porch, be very quiet, and see what creatures might reveal themselves.

KTD 10-Day Teachings/People Food

Several years ago, His Holiness Karmapa ordered that all his affiliated centers serve only vegetarian food. So we’re eating meatless at this event, thereby relieving the suffering of quite a few cows, chickens, turkeys, and fish (there are quite a lot of us here).

Mealtime is announced with the blowing of a conch shell. Usually folks form two long lines that snake through the bookstore and merge right before the food serving area; this is, of course, a great opportunity to do some browsing and maybe even decide what to purchase!

The main dining room is where the Rinpoches and lamas eat, as well as those other folks who can find room. This time of year, though, my favorite place to eat is on the patio, where you can often feed the local birds and watch chipmunks scurry about, looking for crumbs.

We’ve been lucky this year because we have been spared (so far) any really hot weather. Nights are definitely cool, and days are—for a person from Florida—dang near perfect, with temperatures in the 70s.

So far this week, we’ve had Ethiopian food, Mexican food, spaghetti with some delicious walnut meatballs, and an odd-sounding but yummy lentil apricot soup, among other things.

Like at any other place that has to serve food to lots of people, the kitchen is usually humming with activity. I’m glad my assignment is shrine building maintenance. For the past couple of days, I’ve been reassembling texts that got disorganized last Saturday, on Karmapa’s birthday. Working on documents—right up my alley. I’d be a nervous wreck in the kitchen, but I certainly do enjoy the results of all that kitchen activity.