Brief report from the land of the Gyalwa Karmapa, conqueror of New York
Here follow just a few words about the activity and feeling that have been aroused as the visit progresses. It was written on Saturday night after the first day of teachings, and I am just updating it a bit before sending on Sunday night:
On Friday His Holiness the 17th Karmapa went sightseeing in the rain, visiting the World Trade Center site among other things. Saturday, was the third day of his visit and the first day of teachings. There were two talks after which His Holiness gave an evening talk to the Tibetan community in New York. There were so many old friends coming together today and the atmosphere was of pure delight in the teachings and in being together.
I would like to mention one thing that have I found so very moving: At every event a majority of the servers and of the people who create and hold the container have been Shambhala sangha. In particular, the Dorje Kasung are here in slim disguise (known as "Security" wearing new pins designed by the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, the official host of this visit) yet they are so completely the loyal Dorje Kasung, trained by and fulfilling their vows to the lineage of Sakyongs. Seeing these Warriors manifest so perfectly in protecting this mandala is truly inspiring. Also very present is Mr. Derek Kolleeny, who has been serving visiting lamas for many years: during the morning tea and rice offering his interplay with the Karmapa was just so gentle and clean. There are many such people popping up everywhere, manifesting the profound training that we have received through our wonderful teachers without calling attention to themselves in any way.
At the beginning of this morning's teachings His Holiness seemed genuinely awed by the audience: he said he hoped we would all take into consideration that he had just flown around the world a couple of days ago and was totally awed by addressing an entire ocean of people at once (well over 2,000). He asked his translator what the title of the talk was (Awakening the Heart of Enlightenment) and then seemed to swoon by the largeness of it.
And then he gave two lovely talks on view and practice of developing and actualizing an enlightened (i.e., compassionate) view. It was again very sweet, but also very clear, true dharma.
He described New York City perfectly: Everything is racing against everything else -- even the buildings seem to be striving to be taller than the next ones. People speed around until they come to a complete halt and when they can move again they speed until they have to stop again. And he also recognized the tremendous richness in the city -- that anything could happen here.
During the two talks he spoke of befriending our kleshas, since fighting them has never helped, and of the interdependence of self and other: "What characterized the Buddha's compassion was that what he felt about his himself, he felt about other: whatever he felt about other he felt about "I", and whatever he felt about "I" he felt about other. We can, if we wish, think of others as separate, or we can think of others as one with oneself." (please understand that despite the quotes, this and the following are from my notes, and most certainly not exact).
At the end of the morning talk he spoke about love, and his love of us. He said that he had been waiting to come to America since he was 8 years old and that he loves us all intensely (people remember this word variously, including "enormously"), concluding with "Many of you have not seen the Gyalwa Karmapa for several decades, but I can assure you that those of you who made a connection with the Gyalwa Karmapa have never been out of his mind."
On Sunday there were two more talks and a sangha gathering -- sangha meaning ALL of the various Nyingma and Kagyu communities in New York, and including westerners, Tibetans and Chinese. My impression on Sunday was that His Holiness was a bit more relaxed and the teachings were more complex, but at the same time, there was so much awe and warmth on Saturday that each day had it's own qualities. His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa is a splendid teacher, very eloquent with a powerful understanding of the differences between eastern and western cultures. He is going to continue to blossom as he gains confidence in his own English, which he promised to do before his next visit. At the same time, he had an absolutely wonderful translator in Yeshe Peter O'Hearn. There was real confidence that the teachings we heard were the teachings as given.
Even if you will not be able to see His Holiness this time around, please take a moment to visit the Shambhala website to contribute to the teaching gift. His teachings and activity will benefit all of us for many lifetimes. https://hhk.shambhala.org/ Also, please visit the www.KarmapaVisit.org website. The blog in the center of the page offers many ways to contribute to the victims of natural disasters in China, which was a specific request he mad on Saturday.
I offer my personal thanks everyone who sent such kind messages after my first post. This is perhaps not as poetic, but I offer it as a gesture to the larger sangha and hope that it will continue to inspire you on your path. As the visit in New York has now ended, this will be my last post.
Soaking in the rain of blessings of the lineages of Shambhala dharma,
Eric Spiegel
Ki Ki So So! Karmapa Khyen-no (Karmapa, hold me in mind)
On Friday His Holiness the 17th Karmapa went sightseeing in the rain, visiting the World Trade Center site among other things. Saturday, was the third day of his visit and the first day of teachings. There were two talks after which His Holiness gave an evening talk to the Tibetan community in New York. There were so many old friends coming together today and the atmosphere was of pure delight in the teachings and in being together.
I would like to mention one thing that have I found so very moving: At every event a majority of the servers and of the people who create and hold the container have been Shambhala sangha. In particular, the Dorje Kasung are here in slim disguise (known as "Security" wearing new pins designed by the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, the official host of this visit) yet they are so completely the loyal Dorje Kasung, trained by and fulfilling their vows to the lineage of Sakyongs. Seeing these Warriors manifest so perfectly in protecting this mandala is truly inspiring. Also very present is Mr. Derek Kolleeny, who has been serving visiting lamas for many years: during the morning tea and rice offering his interplay with the Karmapa was just so gentle and clean. There are many such people popping up everywhere, manifesting the profound training that we have received through our wonderful teachers without calling attention to themselves in any way.
At the beginning of this morning's teachings His Holiness seemed genuinely awed by the audience: he said he hoped we would all take into consideration that he had just flown around the world a couple of days ago and was totally awed by addressing an entire ocean of people at once (well over 2,000). He asked his translator what the title of the talk was (Awakening the Heart of Enlightenment) and then seemed to swoon by the largeness of it.
And then he gave two lovely talks on view and practice of developing and actualizing an enlightened (i.e., compassionate) view. It was again very sweet, but also very clear, true dharma.
He described New York City perfectly: Everything is racing against everything else -- even the buildings seem to be striving to be taller than the next ones. People speed around until they come to a complete halt and when they can move again they speed until they have to stop again. And he also recognized the tremendous richness in the city -- that anything could happen here.
During the two talks he spoke of befriending our kleshas, since fighting them has never helped, and of the interdependence of self and other: "What characterized the Buddha's compassion was that what he felt about his himself, he felt about other: whatever he felt about other he felt about "I", and whatever he felt about "I" he felt about other. We can, if we wish, think of others as separate, or we can think of others as one with oneself." (please understand that despite the quotes, this and the following are from my notes, and most certainly not exact).
At the end of the morning talk he spoke about love, and his love of us. He said that he had been waiting to come to America since he was 8 years old and that he loves us all intensely (people remember this word variously, including "enormously"), concluding with "Many of you have not seen the Gyalwa Karmapa for several decades, but I can assure you that those of you who made a connection with the Gyalwa Karmapa have never been out of his mind."
On Sunday there were two more talks and a sangha gathering -- sangha meaning ALL of the various Nyingma and Kagyu communities in New York, and including westerners, Tibetans and Chinese. My impression on Sunday was that His Holiness was a bit more relaxed and the teachings were more complex, but at the same time, there was so much awe and warmth on Saturday that each day had it's own qualities. His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa is a splendid teacher, very eloquent with a powerful understanding of the differences between eastern and western cultures. He is going to continue to blossom as he gains confidence in his own English, which he promised to do before his next visit. At the same time, he had an absolutely wonderful translator in Yeshe Peter O'Hearn. There was real confidence that the teachings we heard were the teachings as given.
Even if you will not be able to see His Holiness this time around, please take a moment to visit the Shambhala website to contribute to the teaching gift. His teachings and activity will benefit all of us for many lifetimes. https://hhk.shambhala.org/ Also, please visit the www.KarmapaVisit.org website. The blog in the center of the page offers many ways to contribute to the victims of natural disasters in China, which was a specific request he mad on Saturday.
I offer my personal thanks everyone who sent such kind messages after my first post. This is perhaps not as poetic, but I offer it as a gesture to the larger sangha and hope that it will continue to inspire you on your path. As the visit in New York has now ended, this will be my last post.
Soaking in the rain of blessings of the lineages of Shambhala dharma,
Eric Spiegel
Ki Ki So So! Karmapa Khyen-no (Karmapa, hold me in mind)
posted by Chronicles of CTR at 10:17 AM
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