Okay, “Enlightenment or bust” might be a bit dramatic, but…
"Dang Zang" is an empty name. The blog has to do with the dharma; material related to Buddhist teachings (Tibetan style in particular, Kagyu in even more particular), meditation, gurus and lamas be they genuine or flaky, books and events.
I do have a more personal blog, Pica Pica, and a site for my work.
It turned out that the helicopters were not doing anything about a bridge, but were installing poles to restore some electricity supplies. Last week, however, we heard that the bridge to Castagnetoli had been reopened, so we went to take a look. As you will see, it is more a triumph of ingenuity than a triumph of Read more... The Road to Castagnetoli […]
Stuff has really been going on! A few days ago I walked up the hill and saw that the bridge to Castagnetoli was in exactly the same state (see earlier post), and the only activity was the harvesting of fallen trees. If and when there was going to be any attempt to replace this bridge, I Read more... Helicopters abound […]
The epicenter of the storm on 25 October was Brugnato, in the Val di Vara, which is just about 8 miles as the crow flies south-west of where we live. By road, it would be a great deal further, as there are mountains reaching up to 1000 m in between. They recorded what is described as Read more... A few figures about the rainfall […]
Picture above is near the bridge just down the road. I know that this has been on the national news in other countries, but probably not for long. In case anybody was worried, the first thing is that we are okay. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me just mention that after a very Read more... Flood disaster, but we ourselves are OK […]
I mentioned Chime Rinpoche recently, for instance here. His students are organising a celebration for his 70th birthday, which will be held on Saturday 17 October (2009). Unfortunately I am too far away to be able to get there. I did attend his 50th birthday party in Ashdon, and still feel grateful to Piet (who was once on the staff at Marpa House) for making sure that I was aware of it.
So if any of his old students are not in touch with Marpa House but feel they would like to go, you might like to get in touch with them sharpish to get on the list!
Best wishes to Rinpoche, and I hope you all have a good time!
Thanks to Lorraine Vost for this picture from Lama Pema Dorje’s course last month:
Submit your guesses in comments! (Oh, I had to change the setting for comments so that I have to approve them before they appear, as I was getting anything from a handful to a score of spam comments every day, but I will of course approve anything that is even 1/4-way reasonable.) You might need to click-to-enlarge to get the necessary detail.
I asked the same question about a different picture on Pica Pica, but the intervening years and the number of people make that one much more of a challenge.
Saturday last, at the Rigpa Centre in Sydney: Lama Pema Dorje gave the teachings on Lujong, for which I previously publicised a flyer.
On the Saturday morning there was a White Tara empowerment (from the pure vision of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo). It was explained that this was a valuable but not essential support for the practice. The practice itself is not too difficult (although some of the stretches are more than most of us could manage), and very invigorating. It seems there are some people who even make it their main practice.
I was impressed by the organisation. The event was not complicated, but the organisation was efficient and unobtrusive, and I got no sense that anybody was less welcome than anybody else. Buddhism is, of course, not free from cliques, but there was no sign of it here. Here is a picture of the Lama teaching:
And one of him with his wife (Kunzang, I believe):
The event was held in the Rigpa centre. Their shrine is a mass of prints and photos, with not so many actual statues, but I was very taken by one rather dark Guru Rinpoche. Unfortunately the photo below doesn’t quite capture the feeling that I got from it:
Anyway, one of the main reasons for this entry is that these teachings, and Lama Pema Dorje Rinpoche himself, have a close connection to Padampa Sangye. A year or so ago, a translation of a biography of Padampa Sangye was published by Snow Lion (1-55939-299-1) under the title “Lion of Siddhas”, which I would like to recommend. You can click the picture to go to Snow Lion, where you can read more about it, or even order it:
It is in two main parts. The first is the biography itself which is kind of nice, although so thickly larded with miracles it would not be to everybody’s taste – you have been warned! The second main part comprises a feast of mahamudra instructions from Padampa Sangye. Well, perhaps “feast” is not quite the right word, as it’s probably best appreciated by dipping in for a few lines or a paragraph at a time and savouring them well before going back, so perhaps it’s more like a large box of Belgian chocolates.
Whoopee! The catalog project for my dharma books is creeping forward. I passed the third shelf on the first book-case the other day. In terms of length of shelving, that is one quarter of the library, so I should be finished by the end of the year, with any luck! It looks like the total will be around 500 books.
Over 40-plus years I’ve collected something around 400 Buddhist books of one sort or another. It’s getting hard to sort them, and sometimes hard to find one that I know is there. Yesterday I took the bold step of opening an Excel file to make a catalogue.
It’s a tedious job – I guess it would take at least a few days if I worked at it full time, so the reality is that it will take a few months. But the bright spot is that I got some coloured tabs to help the job:
One has to keep ones chin up somehow, and these should do the trick!
Loud chanting of battle cries, lots of cameras – when people have suffered, it’s hardly surprising that younger demonstrators can get carried away by the urge to somehow, anyhow do something!
Woke up before the 4:00 a.m. alarm to catch the bus down to Central Station for 5:00. The Sydney contingent was two full coaches plus a minibus. Dozing on the 4-hour trip to Canberra was slightly successful. Arrived late.
There were speeches outside Parliament House, a march to the Chinese Embassy, a touch of rabble-rousing chant, just enough to get some young ones to try to rush the police line, which makes for more dramatic footage. Chants like “Shame, Shame – China Shame”, “Stop Killing – In Tibet”, “Stop Torture – In Tibet”, some silence, some songs.
And that was it really. What’s the point? I think just being there to be counted usually has a point, though it’s obviously very indirect.
