Dang Zang

The famous Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is in Australia, and started his tour with a week-end “transmission” in Sydney – I won’t go into details here, but if you are interested they have an effective web presence. I’ve had a few of his books for many years, but this was the first time I saw him or took teachings. I’m impressed, both by himself and by the organization.

But one thing was quite bizarre, though entirely personal. If you had known him, you might see a certain resemblance, surprisingly enough, to my father. In the flesh, in the right light and at the right distance – I was sitting a little off-centre at a distance of perhaps twelve paces – the resemblance is uncanny. For about half the time it seemed like my father was up there, having somehow grown a grey pigtail, acquired the accent of a Mafioso and gained a profound knowledge of dzogchen which he was now imparting. I don’t want to suggest anything mystical by this – but it did feel weird!