a little bit on emptiness i wrote a while back

The Buddha’s fundamental insight was that we experience a constant level of dissatisfaction and suffering (dukkha), primarily due to our strong habitual tendency to invest in limiting identities. This is the meaning of not-self (anatman): that the sense of personal identity is a limiting construct. It is a mere superimposition, which gives rise to the felt-sense of confinement and stress. The recognition that the imputed label of “self” to the endlessly fluctuating psycho-physical aggregates is a supposition, and a habituated assumption: this recognition is the beginning of insight into Emptiness (Skt. shunyata, Tib: tong-pa-nyid). This insight into the lack of any indepedent, inherently existent status as-such of the individual self, the personal identity, is then extended to all possible phenomena — any and all possible objects in one’s experience. All phenomena have timelessly had the nature of emptiness — a complete and utter freedom from any and all conceptual elaborations. Any object which arises in one’s experience is completely without any status as-such. Even as they arise in one’s experience, all phenomena are totally beyond any true arising, duration, or cessation. This realization brings openness and spaciousness, and a reversal of the felt sense of confinement which the strong habit of concretizing phenomena engenders — rather than confinement, insight into emptiness brings relaxation, humor, and the felt sense of freedom.

Japan Poems 3

WHAT EVERY SAMURAI WANTS

he rides tired through the narrow forest path
in winter snow in
expectation of
something to come home to
something better than a title
better than a slave, a diamond

a woman, better than a whore
someone who can see the blood
and listen to the murder

nurse the wounds and kiss
the gash to heal — if not,

then cry
as he shuts his eyes

Japan, 2005

***

WHAT EVERY PLUM-BLOSSOM WANTS

back and forth
the fan keeps turning
watching me as i
try to not think
about a fan.

–betsu-betsu?–

her body vibrates with perfume
like a plum-blossom
eager for earth.

Japan, 2005

***

these days it’s hard
to imagine another
these days.
now black magic
flutters from
the top floor.

that salamander with the rainbow body
do you think it
is trying to outdo
the deer?

why talk of fairness –
the buck turns around
and doesn’t notice as he crushes
the last heartbeat of
that rainbow salamander…

Japan, 2005

***

although we could not find the way
the deer just kept on
being still

although we could not stop the rain
i don’t think our hearts
were soaked

although we got angry and
i called you proud
we
remain…

although i cannot kill a thing
the mosquitos keep
on biting

Japan, 2005

***

i wouldn’t keep on saying it
if it didn’t
keep on being true.

Japan, 2005

***

where is the sun rising
when we put down our rifles
and change our underwear
for the last time?

where is the moon going
when we drop our presumptions
and let the mountains
raise themselves from the mist?

Japan, 2005

***

this kind of thing
is happening all over the world
– he says
and he does not turn away
from the bright computer screen.

Japan, 2005

***

when it was the time when
me, myself, had concepts
that were in a state of change
then after that, at that time,
i could become able to see
genuine articles.

As for the one who is called me
he is a genuine article
quite free from muddled concepts

(after the cryptic Engrish on the cover of the Japan-bought notebook I wrote this poem in, which reads:

When I changed concept, I could see
genuine articles. A reliable brand selected
by those with good taste.)

Japan, 2005

***

you have the choice
to say yes or no
to girls walking with their
knees together

Japan, 2005

***

no one to hear
your breath as it reverberates
inside yr. skull, no one to hear
your heart as it flashes in and
out of yr. chest, no rest
no one to hear it spark up at night
and connect with all the nerves, not now
not even,
this bed this moment
no waist for soft reflection
–no woman.

Japan, 2005

***

she and i were distantly bound
shooting up separate directions
face to face with reflections

discussing whether or not
the improbability was there
that all sentient
beings had a kind of
seedling
nested somewhere half-covered

primordial,
placid,
reflective,
visibly apprehensible in some facet
of substance and vision

bound for somewhere
without location

elevator stops and fades.

THE ELEVATOR?

Japan, 2005

sunny imprint

Sunlight streaming through

               an Indian

               partially underground

               restaurant

Illuminating like a host of Hindu deities

              light rays of effulgence

Insects you usually don’t see

              and the usual dust particles

Fading and then gaining

             more solidity

Pretending like it has some kind

            of primordial nature

But casting a constant sunny

            imprint on the jail-like

            walls

Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India

Japan Poems 2

Quitting the game of this

Moment is somehow not an option.

When the smoke rises and

The air conditioner blows

Its quiet song with the

                Power of its voice

                Extending, expressing what

                Hands do in their spare time: they pull

                And something pulls back, retracting from its game plan

Extracting the essence of you, somehow, me

Somehow, all of us: waiting for a bright amusement

That gratifies the six senses, convenient and

Not tiresome, drawn out over mountainsides

All of us like graffiti etched

onto some ancient wooden structure or oddly

         shaped rocks, scratches of a

         name: a sense of

         placement.

Iga-Ueno City, Mie  Prefecture, Japan, 2005

***

Crossed over? Gone beyond?

Too many moments

bedazzled by the charms

of the ferry.

Kyoto, Japan, 7.13.2005

***

Within the rolling wave

of thunder,

fireflies ignite.

 

In the mist of each drop

my dreams swim

for ages

–not to be communicated.

 

If you can listen carefully

the minutia of this world

unfolds — back, forward, sloshing

through a piercing collision

of space and attention:

if you listen carefully,

in each wave.

in each drop.

Kyoto, 7.15.2005

***

this poem writes itself out of a hole

and crawls bleeding out of the trenches

with a can of Campbell’s soup strapped

perpendicular to its waist

 

this poem gets itself out of a

shitty

situation

 

this poem is fluent in birdcries

knowledgable about the seasons

and takes tender care

not to step on cockroaches

 

this poem has a long list of

things  it needs to

get done.

 

this poem was written long ago

in the ten directions

and magically makes itself known

through modern technological

skillful expedient devices.

 

this poem can hold it in

stand it up

and sprinkle dewdrops

on your head.

 

this poem is tired of

the limits

of language

 

and so decides to enact

a diversification

program.

 

this poem changes into

music, dance, and film;

sculpture, art, and massage;

international corporate business transactions

and a drunk man

outside a Japanese bar

that is glued to the parking lot

 

this poem doesn’t feel like

it has to

prove itself

 

and so refused to call itself a poem

disregarding all such labels

and calls itself

a legend

instead.

 Japan, 2005

Shower of Blessings: A Guru Yoga Based on the Seven-Line Prayer by Mipham Rinpoche

Shower of Blessings: A Guru Yoga Based on the Seven-Line Prayer

by Ju Mipham Rinpoche

HUNG% OR GYEN YUL GYI NUB JANG TS’HAM %

HUNG % On the northwest border of the country of Orgyen, %

PAY MA GE SAR DONG PO LA %

In the pollen heart of a lotus, %

YA TS’HEN CHHOG GI NGO DRUB NYEY %

You attained marvelous, most excellent siddhi. %

PAY MA JUNG NAY ZHEY SU DRAG %

Reknowned as the Lotus Born, %

KHOR DU KHAN DRO MANG PO KHOR %

You are surrounded by a vast retinue of Dakinis. %

KHYED KYI JEY SU DAG DRUB KYI %

As I practice, following in your footsteps, %

JIN GYIY LOB CHHIR SHEG SU SOL %

I pray that you approach to confer your blessings! %

GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG %

GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG %

Refuge and Bodhichitta:

KYAB NAY KUN DU MA HA GURU LA

In the Mahaguru, the union of all sources of Refuge,

DI ZUNG JANG CHHUB BAR DU KYAB SU CHHI

I go for refuge from this moment until complete awakening.

KHA KHYAB DRO KUN SANG GYAY SAR GOD CHIR

So that I may place all beings pervading space on the level of buddhahood,

ZAB LAM LA MAY NAL JOR LA TSON JA

I shall exert myself on the profound path of Guru Yoga.

AH: RANG LU T’HA MAL NAY PAY DUN KHA RU

AH: I am in my ordinary form. In the space before me

OR GYEN DRI MEY DHA NA KO SHAY TS’HO

is the stainless Dhanakosha Lake of Orgyen,

TING ZAB YEN LAK GYAY DEN CHHU GANG WAY

its profound depths filled with water endowed with eight qualities.

U SU RIN CHHEN PAY DONG TAB GYAY TENG

In its center is the stem of a jewelline lotus, its petals spread and unfolded on the lake’s surface.

KYAB NAY KUN DU OR GYEN DOR JE CHHANG

Atop this is Orgyen Dorje Chhang, Oddiyana Vajradhara, in whom all sources of Refuge converge.

TS’HEN PAY PAL BAR TS’HO GYAL YUM DANG T’HRIL

Radiating with the splendor of the major and minor marks of perfection, he is embracing Tsogyal, the mother consort.

CHAG YAY DOR JE YON PAY T’HOD BUM NAM

In his right hand he holds a vajra, a vase within a skull-cup in his left.

DAR DANG RIN CHHEN RU GYEN GYIY DZEY

They are lustrous and charming in their ornaments of silks, jewels, and bone.

OD NGAY LONG NAY DE CHHEN ZI JIN BAR

Within a vast expanse of five-colored light, they blaze in the majesty and blessing of supreme bliss.

KHOR DU TSA SUM GYA TS’HO TRIN TAR TIB

Surrounding them are an ocean of the Three Roots, who gather like clouds as their retinue.

JIN LAB T’HUG JEY CHHAR BEB DAG LA ZIG

They gaze upon me, raining down a shower of blessings and great compassion.

GYAL KUN NGO WO CHHI MEY YE SHE KUR

To the exalted form of deathless pristine wakefulness, the true face of all Victorious Ones,

DUNG SHUG DRAG PO DAY CHAG TAG TU TS’HAL

I constantly offer homage and prostrations of faith, with powerful and intense yearning.

LU DANG LONG CHOD DU SEM GE WAY TS’HOG

My bodies, wealth, enjoyments, and virtue accumulated throughout the three times -

KUN ZANG CHHOD PAY TRIN DU MIG NAY BUL

Out of my imagination, I offer all these in the manner of Samantabhadra: vast clouds of offerings.

T’HOG MEY NAM SAG DIG TUNG MA LU SHAG

I confess, without exception, all destructive actions and ethical downfalls accumulated since beginningless time.

SRAY CHAY GYAL WA KUN GYI YON TEN GYI

Of the positive qualities of all the Victorious Ones and their heirs,

KHYAB DAG CHIG BU GON BUI NAM T’HAR LA

You are the sole and all-encompassing lord. Protector, in your life example

NYING NAY YI RANG DAY PAY SOL DEB SHING

I rejoice from my heart. To you I pray with faith,

ZAB GYAY CHHO KYI CHHAR CHHEN BEB PAR KUL

Beseeching you to shower down a great rain of vast and profound Dharma.

RANG ZHEN GE WAY NGO PO KUN DOM NAY

Through amassing all virtuous qualities of my own and others,

DRO KHAM GYA TS’HO JI SRID NAY KYI BAR

For as long as the oceanic realms of beings continue, until then,

GON PO KHYED KYI NAM THAR JEY NYEG TE

Protector, I will swiftly follow in the wake of your example.

KHA KHYAB DRO DREN PAY DON DU NGO

I dedicate all this for the guidance of beings pervading space.

KYAB NAY KUN DU KHYEN TS’HEY TER CHHEN PO

Great treasure of transcendent knowledge and love, in whom all sources of Refuge unite,

DU NGEN NYIG MAY KYAB CHHOG RIN PO CHHE

Precious One, you are the supreme refuge in these negative and defiled times.

NGA DOI GYUD PAY NAR SHING DUNG SHUG KYIY

I am tormented by the spread of the five degenerations. With intense longing,

SOL DEB BU LA TS’HE BU T’HUG KYIY GONG

I supplicate you: think lovingly of your child out of your innate compassion.

GONG PAY LONG NAY T’HUG JEY TSAL T’HRUNG LA

From the expanse of your enlightened intent, summon forth great compassion, and

MO DEN DAG GI NYING LA JIN GYIY LOB

Bestow your blessings into my devoted heart.

TAG DANG TS’HEN MA NYUR DU TON PA DANG

Swiftly reveal to me signs and indications,

CHHOG DANG T’HUN MONG NGO DRUB TSAL DU SOL

And grant me supreme and ordinary spiritual attainments!

HUNG% OR GYEN YUL GYI NUB JANG TS’HAM %

HUNG % On the northwest border of the country of Orgyen, %

PAY MA GE SAR DONG PO LA %

In the pollen heart of a lotus, %

YA TS’HEN CHHOG GI NGO DRUB NYEY %

You attained marvelous, most excellent siddhi. %

PAY MA JUNG NAY JE SU DRAG %

Reknowned as the Lotus Born, %

KHOR DU KHAN DRO MANG PO KHOR %

You are surrounded by a vast retinue of Dakinis. %

KHYED KYI JEY SU DAG DRUB KYI %

As I practice, following in your footsteps, %

JIN GYIY LAB CHHIR SHEG SU SOL %

I pray that you approach to confer your blessings! %

GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG %

GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG %

Thus, with these words, recite the Seven-Line Prayer as much as you are able.

Due to the devotion of your prayer, five-colored rays of the light of pristine wakefulness extend like filaments from the point of union and the heart-centers of the father and mother gurus.

As these filaments are absorbed into your own heart-center, reflect that the thread of your mindstream is being infused with blessings.

OM AH HUNG VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG %

Repeat the Vajra Guru mantra as much as is appropriate.

If you feel inclined to offer a tsok, do so here as set out clearly in the following text.

[Note: If you are not offering a tsok, proceed to the final part of the practice, which is marked with *** and begins with "At the Close of the Practice Session".]

***

The Noble Vase of Glory: A Tsok Offering Connected with the Vajra Seven-Line Prayer

Arrange whatever samaya substances, such as meat, alcohol, and so on, that you have available.

HUNG AH LAY CHHO YING DANG NYAM KA PA LAR

HUNG: From AH, a skullcup equal to the basic space of phenomena;

OM LAY NANG SRID DOD YON TS’HOG SU SHOM

From OM, the sense pleasures of the world of phenomenal experience arranged within as the tsok;

HUNG GIY DE CHHEN YE SHE ROL PAR GYUR

Through HUNG, these become the play of supremely blissful pristine wakefulness;

HRIH YIY TSA SUM LHA TS’HOG GYEY PA KANG

Through HRIH, the hosts of deities of the Three Roots are delighted and fulfilled.

OM AH HUNG HRIH:

This consecrates the tsok offerings.

Invitation of the Guests and Offering of the Tsok Substances:

HUNG OR GYEN YUL GYI NUB JANG TS’HAM %

HUNG On the northwest border of the country of Orgyen, %

PAY MA GE SAR DONG PO LA %

In the pollen heart of a lotus, %

YA TS’HEN CHHOG GI NGO DRUB NYEY %

You attained marvelous, most excellent siddhi. %

PAY MA JUNG NAY ZHEY SU DRAG %

Reknowned as the Lotus Born, %

KHOR DU KHAN DRO MANG PO KHOR %

You are surrounded by a vast retinue of Dakinis. %

DOD YON TS’HOG LA TREN DREN NA %

As I invite you to this feast of sense pleasures, %

JIN GYIY LAB CHHIR SHEG SU SOL %

I pray that you approach to confer your blessings! %

GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG %

GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG %

NAY TS’HOG DI RU JIN P’HOB LA %

Rain down your blessings on this unexcelled place! %

TS’HOG CHHOD YE SHE DUD TSIR GYUR %

Transform these tsok offerings into the deathless nectar of pristine wakefulness! %

DRUB CHHOG DAG LA WANG ZHI KUR %

Confer the Four Empowerments upon me, one who aspires to supreme accomplishment! %

GEG DANG LOG DREN BAR CHHAY SOL %

Dispel hindrances, those who lead us astray, and obstacles! %

CHHOG DANG T’HUNG MONG NGO DRUB TSOL %

And grant supreme and ordinary spiritual attainments! %

HUNG LA MA JE TSUN PAY MA T’HOD T’HRENG TSAL

HUNG: Holy Guru, Padma T’hod T’hreng Tsal,

RIG DZIN KHA DROI TS’HOG DANG CHAY PA YI

Together with your retinue of Holders of Intrinsic Awareness and Dakinis –

TSA SUM KUN DU GYAL WAY KYIL KHOR LA

To this mandala of Victorious Ones, in which all aspects of the Three Roots unite:

MO GU DUNG SHUG DRAG PO SOL WA DEB

I pray with devotion, and intense and powerful yearning.

DAG ZHEN GO SUM GE TS’HOG LONG CHOD CHA

All virtue accumulated by myself and others through body, speech and mind, together with all wealth and enjoyments,

NANG SRID DOD YONG GU MA TS’HANG MEY

The whole world of phenomenal experience, and all manner of delightful sense pleasures, with nothing left incomplete –

KUN ZANG DE CHHEN TS’HOG KYI KHOR LOR BUL

I offer all this as Samantabhadra’s ganachakra of supreme bliss.

T’HUG TSEY GYEY ZHEY T’HUG DAM KONG GYUR CHIG

Accept this out of your affectionate love, and be delighted! May it fulfill our sacred bond!

SOL WA DEB SO GU RU RIN PO CHHE

I supplicate you, Guru Rinpoche!

JIN GYIY LAB SHIG RIG DZING KHA DROI TS’HOG

Bestow your blessings, you hosts of Dakinis and Holders of Intrinsic Awareness.

MO DEN BU LA TS’HOG T’HUN NGO DRUB TSOL

Grant supreme and ordinary spiritual attainments to your devoted child.

DAM TS’HIG NYAM CHHAG T’HAM CHAY YANG DU DROL

Please purify all impairments of samaya commitment.

CHHI NANG SANG WAY BAR CHHAY YING SU DROL

Liberate outer, inner, and secret obstacles into basic space.

JANG CHHUB BAR DU DREL JEY DZIN ZHING

Hold me inseparable from you until my complete awakening.

TS’HE SO NYAM T’HOG YAR NGOI DA TAR P’HEL

Increase my longevity, merit, and meditative experiences and realization like the waxing moon,

SAM PA LHUN GYIY DRUB PAR JIN GYIY LOB

And grant your blessings that my wishes may be spontaneously accomplished!

OM AH HUNG VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG %

OM AH HUNG VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG %

***

At the close of the practice session:

LA MAY NAY SUM YI GE DRU SUM LAY

At the Guru’s three places are the three seed syllables, and from these

OD ZER KAR MAR T’HING SUM JUNG NAY SU

Emerge three rays of white, red, and dark blue light.

RANG GI NAY SUM TH’IM PAY GO SUM GI

As these are absorbed into my own three places, my three doors

DRIB JANG KU SUNG T’HUG KYI DOR JER GYUR

Are purified of obscurations, and transform into vajra body, vajra speech, and vajra mind.

T’HAR NI LA MA KHOR CHAY OD DU ZHU

Finally, the Guru together with his retinue

KAR MAR T’HIG LE HUNG GIY TS’HEN PA RU

Melts into a white sphere tinged with red and marked with HUNG.

RANG GI NYING GAR T’HIM PAY LA MAY T’HUG

As this is absorbed into my own heart-center, the Guru’s awakened mind

RANG SEM YER MEY LHEN KYEY CHHO KUR NAY

And my mind become inseparable. I rest in co-emergent Dharmakaya.

AH AH:

With these words, confront your own mind’s very nature, which is, from the beginning, beyond all artifice and contrivance, all acceptance and rejection. Primordially, it is supreme Dharmakaya — your own true face.

Then, once again, viewing all illusory appearances as being of the nature of the Guru, dedicate the virtue and formulate auspicious wishes.

On the eighth day of the waxing moon, in the month of Drozhin, in the year known as “Subduing Everything” [that is, the seventh month of the Fire Female Pig Year, 1887], this arose from the mind-lake of one who prays that he may serve the Lotus Guru in all lifetimes, Mipham Nampar Gyalwa. May there be virtue! Sarva Mangalam! May everything be auspicious!

Dedication:

DIY TS’HON DU SUM SAG PAY PAY GE TS’HOG KUN

All accumulations of virtue gathered throughout the three times:

MA LU DRO NAM SANG GYAY T’HOB CHHIR NGO

I dedicate these so that all beings without exception may attain buddhahood!

KEY KUN OR GYEN CHHEN PO JEY ZUNG NAY

In all lifetimes, through following the Great Orgyen,

RIM NYIY NGON GYUR DON NYIY T’HAR SHOG

May I actualize the two stages and bring the two benefits to culmination!

Auspicious Verses:

CHHOG SUM TSA SUM JIN LAB GE LEG PAL

The blessings, virtue, auspiciousness, and glory of the Three Jewels and the Three Roots:

CHHOG DU DRO KHAM KHYAB PAY TRA SHIY SHOG

May there be good fortune throughout the realms of beings, in all directions and times!

Dedication and Auspicious Verses composed by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.

Condensed Tsok Offering:

Set out the tsok offerings.

OM AH HUNG HO

This consecrates the tsok offerings.

TSA SUM LHA TS’HOG LA TREN DREN SHEG

Hosts of deities of the Three Roots, come! We invite you to this tsok gathering.

CHHI NANG SANG WAY DE CHHEN TS’HOG CHHOD BUL

We present these tsok offerings as outer, inner, and secret supreme bliss.

DAM TS’HIG NYAM CHHAG T’HAM CHAY THOL LO SHAG

We confess all impairments of samaya commitments.

NYIY DZIN DRA GEG CHHO KYI YING SU DROL

Liberate the enemies and hindrances caused by dualistic fixation into the basic space of phenomena.

NYAM NYID DE CHHEN PAY T’HUG DAM KANG

Fulfill the sacred bond of supremely blissful equanimity.

CHHOG DANG T’HUN MONG NGO DRUB TSAL SU SOL

I pray: grant supreme and ordinary spiritual attainments!

This abridged tsok offering, which is useful for accumulating numbers of repetitions [of tsok offering prayers], was composed by Jampal Dorje.

Translated by Erick Sherab Zangpo.

NOTES:

The last line of the Vajra Seven-Line Prayer, GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG, is generally pronounced GURU PAYMA SIDDHI HUNG by Tibetans.

Likewise, the Vajra Guru Mantra, OM AH HUNG VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG, is generally pronounced OM AH HUNG BENDZRA GURU PAYMA SIDDHI HUNG by Tibetans.

One is faced with the difficulty of presenting the Sanskrit as close as possible to how it should actually be pronounced, and how Sanskrit is generally pronounced by Tibetans, which is often (or usually) quite different.

For example, even the syllable HUNG is a tricky one. In transliteration of actual Sanskrit, it is spelt HUM (with a dot over it). It is almost always pronounced by Tibetan as HUNG. I have chosen to leave it as HUNG rather than the slightly more correct HUM, as according to the rules of Sanskrit, it is a nasalized “m” somewhere between our “m” and “ng”. Thus I am trying to render things as close as possible to actual Sanskrit, while at the same time presenting them the Tibetan way when allowable according to the pronunciation of Sanskrit.

I was faced with confusion when I first came to Tibetan Buddhism and noticed that the lamas pronounced things one way and the English translations of the texts pronounced things another way. It’s not easy to recite a mantra many thousands of times when you are not quite sure about the best way to say it — for me anyway. Right now I’m taking the approach of trying to remain close to the Sanskrit, while providing notes as to the popular Tibetan pronunciation. I hope that this provides a good bridge leading to some kind of harmonious middle-way between Sanskrit and Tibeto-Sanskrit.

Of course, everyone is free to pronounce things however they want, whether that be the Sanskrit way or the Tibetan way — or something in between.

May virtue increase!

3.17.08

Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India

Sitting in the green grass and dead brown leaves behind the infamous Bir Snooker Hall, where most of the less than totally wholesome, though still generally kind-hearted, members of Bir’s Tibetan rogue’s gallery spend a large portion of their time.

Despite its somewhat shady locale, this place is a wonderful one to sit, write, and contemplate. Gently sloping downwards and stretching out to what looks like infinitely cascading dark green hilly mountains, and peppered with delightful medium-sized light green trees — many of them fruit — it provides an arena where one can rest the mind in a sphere of naturalness.

Little Indian and Tibetan boys, the oldest not much more than four or five, run by playfully, shouting “hello!” and “goodbye!”. Two girls perhaps a little bit older follow suit, with “hello!” and “namaste!“. The sun sets in the east behind thousands of prayer flags spreading the blessings of the lung-ta, the Wind Horse, amongst other auspicious symbols. The sun, with its peachy rays magnetizing the world of appearances and possibilities; the flags blowing indestructible kisses to the limitless directions. Somewhere, clouds of fragrant incense must be wafting.

I had to move just before choosing this particular sitting-place on account of wandering, peaceful cows, with not-so-peaceful-looking broad pointy horns of intimidating breadth.

Another peaceful protest is happening at this very moment: truckloads of Tibetans racing their way to Baijnath packed like Himalayan sardines to proclaim the truth with the rosy cheeks, so much more rosy when they lived at 12,000 feet+ elevation. The truth that Beijing does not deserve to hold the Olympics; the truth that Tibetans have every right to protest the Chinese occupation, and that none of them deserve to be jailed or killed for doing so; and pre-eminently that Tibet must be free and always should have been.

Some energy is rising with all these events. It can be felt in this world-system’s veins. A prelude to change, a pressure that’s been worked up in the subtle channels that connect the Tibetans and Chinese — and if you reach down and touch the earth goddess, as Lord Buddha did to call witness to his complete awakening to the actualization of his mind’s utter freedom, you can feel it too: pumping, pressurizing.

And like Prince Siddhartha’s rising energy in the 49 days before his awakening, it is an energy building towards freedom, but in a different respect. To the 6 million Tibetans, and all who support their good cause, it is a freedom that is almost, and to some just as, important.

The solidarity that the Tibetans have in exile is inspiring and significant, and could serve as a noble and impressive example to all those working for justice, human rights, and equality, on all the world’s fronts.

Nearly everyone takes part.

Japan Poems 1

Composed in Iga-Ueno Shi and Kyoto, 2005.

it’s not as if
the scattered brick-chips
mind if they
trepass on the
stepping-stones

***

the moth
flies into the side of the bread bag and
turns back around, trying another way.

he hides
behind a box of Japanese hot cocoa mix
and veers once more toward the light.

the totality of moonlight
why must it be
beaming from her face?

***

a squeal of unclassified birds
alerts the rain frogs
rain is over

through one window
two
i look through three windows.

without eye glasses
the mountains could be
demons.

***

the place where i was born
has orchids
blooming with various impressions

the place where i was born
has an outstretched hand
tenderly pinching
bursting with exasperated sweat
crackling from voyages
to long destroyed forest
buildings
rough with the rubbing
of things that look like bones
veiny with death
realization
fresh with
hair of the past present
future.

the place where i was born
was demolished
by government land officials
in search of a better modality
of trans hyper national apple
transplantation

the place where i was born
was wild, swampy, stood still
amongst reptiles, boulders, 10,000 years
of land disagreements, family disputes
and moonlight interpersonal communications

the place where i was born is a prism
reflecting all the other
places i was born

the place where i was born
is truly not
the place where i was born

the place where i was born
was drenched with blood
was soaked with blood
was downright bloody
and the rivers, they say,
were like veins

the place where i was born defies all categories
the place where i was born might have
been called a hospital
the place where i was born was excellent,
reknowned, and intimidating

fierce and grassy, mildly entertaining:
worth visiting once every few years:
subtle and mysterious, humid with
childhood anxiety;
somehow present –

a brick house on a small town road.

***

raindrops keep falling on the roof
and there is a man who can’t go to sleep.

“what makes a person good or not
is how
he can
deal
with adversity.”

thousands of insects died in his room
some trampled by his feet
others just puttered out
from exhaustion. Some of them
had a lust for light
(too strong).

“thousands of mothers
are crying for their sons. Everyone

wants to get real close to the sun, steal some of its light,
bring it home
hide it under
some dry blankets, say it is
theirs.”

dewdrops keep sticking to
his bones, the rain
was going for seven hours or more, the

train was absent until
daybreak, but now it is
always sending out signals of
danger, a perverse alarm
in the rice paddies, letting the

rain frogs

know that it is
time to hide.

***

Oh travelers! oh wanderers
when you stop upon that road
remember where you came from:
no thunder in the valley.

Babies of this amusement park planet
please don’t forget the ticket
has a price:
the rain seeps through bricks.

When you look up, and if,
what do you pay attention to
and is it hard
or soft? a picnic with clouds:
no cows in the streets.

having seen the sky
you won’t have to see it again:
he walks away
stumbling
towards heaven.

more haiku composed in japanese

some more haiku poems I wrote when in Japan in 2005. In Japanese with English translations.

goko o kaite
sensei to itta
“itsutsu no ka?”

write five poems
the teacher said
“five?”

***

kokoro ni wa
taiyou nitte’ru
sonna koto

in my heartmind
it looks like the sun
– that kind of thing

***

onnanoko
niyaniya warau
nande kana

girl
with the broad grin, laughing
i wonder why

***

rafu tatami
shizuka kabe wa ne
shiroi heya

rough tatami mat!
as for the quiet wall
– white room

***

mado o mite
aozora ja nai
tsuyu, ame wa…

look through the window!
that’s not the blue sky:
rainy season, and the rain…?

(this poem was also translated into Spanish by Baxter, who produced two versions:

Mira afuera!
no es el cielo azul;
¿est Elluviendo?

Look outside!
It’s not the blue sky;
is it raining?

Mira por la ventana
Eso no es el cielo azul
estación de lluvias, y la lluvia

Look through the window
that is not the blue sky
rainy season, and the rain)

3.15.08

The end of a most interesting day. The Tibetan shops in town were closed due to the protests in Tibet and the Chinese military crackdown. Xinhua, the official government-controlled media unit, reported 10 people dead, but the Tibetans around town rumor numbers between 100 and 300. A day of mourning. Sometimes it seemed like only monks and the usual vigilant Indian taxicab drivers inhabited the central Bir market. Closed garage-like door and after closed garage-like door Indian shop door stood solemnly along the streets as reminders of over 50 years of Chinese brutality, cultural genocide, propoganda, and illegal occupation; the recent events being, in a sense, just upsurges, tidal waves, of a long-standing ocean of conflict.The Olympics being held in Beijing are the central sad figure in the mandala in which the protests and unrest are being arrayed — manifesting not only in Lhasa, but elsewhere in Tibet. In response to the typical iron-grip control tactics, and especially the deaths and arrests of protesters, most of them monks, protests are erupting around the larger mandala of the world — and especially in India and Nepal, the central hotspots of the Tibetan refugee community.

The hope is that the protests will bring the Tibet Issue to the entire world’s attention to a much greater degree, and that the Olympic games will be an arena in which a powerful catalyst can unfold; a catalyst that will eventually lead to greater autonomy for the Tibetans, and ultimately freedom from illegal Chinese rule.

It seems that it is already starting to work. The White House, according to CNN, has issued a statement that “Beijing must have a dialogue with the Dalai Lama”. Strong words coming from amounts to, arguably, World Super Power No. 1 to World Super Power No. 2. Europe and America say “Restrain yourself, China.” Chill out. At least they are saying that much, though it would be better if they said more.

If this does lead to greater freedom for Tibet, let’s hope that as few people as possible have to die in the process. The Indian police were on high alert today, with Majnu-ka-Tilla, the Tibet Town of Delhi, literally being sealed off. There were reports of Indian police beating Tibetans who tried to enter or leave the colony. In the words of many of Bir’s Tibetan locals, it is “a big issue”. India’s central police headquarters informed the police in all of India’s areas containing large Tibetan populations to be on high-alert, including, as local Mingyur Dorje put it, “all the way up north here in Himachal [Pradesh]“.

A candle-lit rally began in central Bir around 6 o’clock today, where participants walked to Chauntra, a village on the outskirts of Bir, an hour’s walk. They ended at Dzongsar Gompa, the very large monastery and shedra (Buddhist philosophical institute) of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.

Walking in the direction of Chauntra, I had the good fortune to see Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche drive by in his car. He smiled and waved at the three of us: myself, Mingyur, and Tharchin. A wonderful experience. I had seen DKR for the first time the previous day, at the end of the transmissions that HH Sakya Trizin Rinpoche was giving. Two beautiful spiritual masters, two beautiful men, two very high and influential lamas seen for the first time, at the same time. They walked by me as they exited the massive Dzongsar lha-khang (shineroom). A feeling of great blessing.

Blares of shrill, dramatic Tibetan horns followed Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, the supreme head of the Sakya sect, out of the marble halls; those horns being so much like Scottish bagpipes to me in their droning, harmonics, urgency, and ability to inspire emotion and a kind of nonconceptual contemplation.

3.11.08

Bir, Himachal Pradesh

My second day in Bir. I’m staying at Chokling Gonpa, currently in the guest house but soon the monastery, once they have my room painted. Today has been good. Last night I had a had a hard time sleeping due to what I thought was a lack of blankets — what do you know but at around 4 am or probably later I opened up the cabinet next to the bathroom and lo! a cabinet full of blankets — I should have known better than to think that they wouldn’t provide blankets! I woke up late, around 10:30 or later as I remember; went to the internet at Ramu’s — came back to the guest house a little late for check out time, packed my stuff to check out thinking that I’d be moving into a room in the monastery today, and went downstairs to the ground floor, only to be met with “Where are you going?!” by the young monk guest house manager — the monastery room won’t be ready for another day or so, he said, and I should just stay in the guest house until then — so Ok, took my stuff back to my room — I began to meet the monks around this time — one of them, Namgyal, asked me to teach him in the evenings and I agreed to do so — I first saw him with Lama Pema, the older lama who’s coordinating my lodging situation — I was offered lunch by Namgyal, and very shortly after I got back to my room a small Indian, probably Bihari, boy knocked on my door while I was reading ‘Ask and It is Given’, presenting yummy steamed masala-ish vegetables and plain rice — simple but excellent — after lunch I was craving caffeine — so I decided to go get a coffee at the nearby shop Buckstars which I’d never sampled my first time in Bir — on the way, I ran into Pema Jinpa on his motorcyle, presumably looking for me and Namgyal had told me before lunch that he’d come looking for me earlier — I got on his motorcycle for the short short ride to the coffee shop — and I had perhaps my first good coffee in India while talking with PJ about his recent marriage. Our talk was fairly short, he may have been on break from work. Not much seems to have changed for the people I know here; it makes me reflect on how most people’s lives are relatively uneventful compared to mine, and how I often seem to be on a very different rhythm, a different wave-structure life pattern, than most — I’m wondering whether dinner is ready or not — and I think I’ll go check –