Tribute to Lisa Hilliard

Thank you

2008-08-24T18:12:00.001-03:00

Thank you for establishing me in this unexcelled Dharma path, my vajra sister, Lisa. You took me to meet His Holiness Karmapa, in Bodhgaya. We have taken refuge together, you have taught me many things. I will forever be grateful for the wisdom you have shared. Goodbye for now Lisa, but I know we will meet again, of this I am certain…

your little vajra sister, Ananda Devi Karma Sangye Lhamo

One time in Kathmandu

2008-08-20T14:44:00.001-03:00

One time, in Kathmandu, Lisa and I and friends visited a cave where Tilopa and
Naropa had practiced. It was on a hillside overlooking a Hindu cremation site.
Each of us went into the cave to practice alone. It was cool and strangely
immaculate. Practicing there, it was difficult not to experience mahamudra.
Sitting with Lisa after she died was like that.

Here is a picture of Lisa emerging from the cave.

Love to you Joanne, LL

Dearest Lisa, Vajra Sister,

2008-08-17T11:23:00.001-03:00

August 17, 2008

We danced in the Buddha fields of Karme Choling

Together with our sweet Khenpo Rinpoche.

You were the Dorje Lopon at my KCL Vajrayogini

Four Karmas Fire Puja, bath in dignity and light.

You came to my dorm room and woke me

When we had a disagreement

So as not to create any further karma.

You had the sign of a Dakini

But never used it for self gain.

We met at the feet of Thrangu Rinpoche

In Woodstock, land of hippies and The Karmapas.

We talked about going to India while looking

at crystal malas in the KTD bookstore.

I massaged your feet in Halifax while you

convalesced on Eve's couch during a CK Abhisheka.

We laughed when I said you didn't need to tell anyone

About your 'procedure,' you thought that was outrageous.

My little vajra queen, so humble, always taking the last seat

Always spreading the dharma like star dust indiscriminately

You took the Buddha's teachings seriously --

You went beyond broken heartedness

Which you never quite recovered from.

You understood devotion and in the end

You understood bravery, your world was very large.

Released from the suffering of this confused dimension

You dance in the Buddhafields of a mind well trained.

We will miss you, we are sad, you left too soon

But we are not worried, if you don't do well

Who will?

This doha was sung in a cave in NYC by,

Your loving vajra sister,

Rochelle Weithorn

bon voyage, Lisa-La

2008-08-17T07:28:00.004-03:00

Stopping Along The Way

--for Lisa-La, who would laugh at this poem
and tell me to snap out of it!

You were always way out there
ahead of me, pointing, since early days in late 70s,
Serious flirtatious dharma sister with bird's eye view
of those wild times in "the scene," meeting
Our untamed guru as the dharma
flared up in every cafe.

Stopping along the way
I watched you sit in the shrine room sun,
Studied your still shoulders for clues
Your long elegant eyelids that never fluttered.
Who would have guessed (as you told me later)
You were dreaming of the umdze's lips.

We were the same age
I was mixed up and curious,
You already well on your way while I dawdled.
I admired your style, too shy
to ask good questions

Until 25 years later at Karme Choling
Vajra heart cauldron, boiling our bones
And testing our Kagyu mettle.
I was mixed up and curious.
You wrapped up in my orange pashmina
and quoting Nagarjuna.
We sat on my bed that filled the tiny room,
East wing nights, and laughed about pain &
disappointment, the beauty of heartbreak,
over green tea and cherries

Anyone could see your luminous spirit,
Your observant kindness, gentle Mahamudra lioness,
At one glance from those hooded, amused eyes.
But how many knew your wacky love stories
About your south seas lover
Who rocked you in treetops
Where you spilled your secrets
And climbed like a cheetah?

Ever adventurous sad heart, dakini wanderer
You set off so suddenly for the highest peaks!
Before I could say farewell and good luck!
For now I'll stay here, mixed up and curious.
May you find your way clearly through high bardo mists.
May we meet up before long, stopping along the way
to tell love stories
over green tea and cherries.

-Susan Noel

Dearest Lisa

2008-08-14T22:00:00.001-03:00

I send you much love,
may you recognize the guru of your own enlightened mind
may your journey through the bardo be swift and filled with encouragement from the lineage blessings
may your mind and the guru's never be parted, not even for a moment.
May you be completely blessed.

With love your vajra sister,
Mary Mendel

Au revoir Lisa

2008-08-13T19:01:00.001-03:00

Bon voyage !
Bernard Spiegeleer
14 August 2008

Straight up into the sky

2008-08-13T00:22:00.005-03:00

[This photo] was taken at a very remote Vajrayogini sacred site in Sikkim. The site is where Vajrayogini was said to have been seen, in a past time, bathing regularly at place the river there. There is a small cave with a shrine just above the place in the river where she bathed. Lisa and I bushwacked to the cave, performed the Vajrayogini Sadhana written by the Vidyadhara, the very short one, as a feast. Then I asked Lisa to show her face as if she were to suddenly arrive at this spot and see Vajrayogini in person, taking a bath in the river. Then she took one of me doing the same.

As I am sure we all will, I will really miss her. She was a genuine Kagyu yogini. As Marcia Usow observed to me last night at a Rain of Blessing feast during which we had a Sukhavati Ceremony for Lisa, Lisa went like a humming bird suddenly disappearing on a vertical ascent straight up into the sky.

Regards,
Clarke [Warren]

Lisa

2008-08-12T15:53:00.000-03:00

Lisa
Sitting directly behind me October dathun Karme Choling
Did we barely talk?
A little laughter
Dharma sisters since 1977
Years went by,
Seeing each other, and silence
In greetings, we never had anything to say to each other
But the greetings were always so friendly
And again years later, hello, with nothing to say
but warmth
and a knowing smile from you.
I will miss your simple quiet way
and not speaking with you together
-Irene Woodard

Lisa Yogini

2008-08-12T15:29:00.003-03:00

A year ago,
when we spoke of conventional things,
you wondered whether you should get a job
that could help provide a pension for your old age
or serve the dharma and live in poverty.
How obvious that choice seems now.

Though wounded by the knives of samsara
you were healed by the dharma.

You gave up everything unimportant for practice
and nourished everything important with practice.

I wanted to kiss you passionately;
you kissed me like a sister.

In April, when you taught us chandali practice
you apologized for your slight cough.
How poignant that apology seems now.

Last night sitting with your body lying cold
packed in ice
in an air-conditioned room

I touched your emptiness mind
one more time.

Oh sweet dharma sister,
oh yogini,
you always knew more than I do
and were always generous in sharing your prajna.
Now your experience is beyond concept.

Ah ha, All Joyful Enlightenment,
your life was free of frivolity.
Ah ho, it’s time to fly
in the expanse of sky
of spacious mother.

Jim Lowrey
August 11, 2008

For Lisa

2008-08-11T23:30:00.001-03:00

Jolly good luck, yogini.
See you soon.

-Mark Diamond

Diamond fire: Lisa Hilliard

2008-08-11T23:26:00.000-03:00

Diamond fire: her e-mail address.
Diamond fire: her eyes sparkling with joy and laughter.
Diamond fire: her dedication to practise.
Diamond fire: her devotion to our Teachers.
Diamond fire: her dance continues.

Happy trails, Lisa.
Thank you for your diamond fire.

-Jigme C Urbonas

Beautiful Lisa

2008-08-11T23:07:00.002-03:00

I would not be surprised if you have already escaped the bardo--
I always thought of you
As the best-practiced person I know,
The one who understood.
It seemed you never wavered from space,
Although occasionally you doubted something, in your spacious way.
We shared Thrangu Rinpoche as one of our root gurus--
What a blessing!--and another bond between us.
I will be silent for you every now and then,
And remember you a long long time.

With much love,
Bill [Karelis]

August 10th, 2008