In Memory of Dear Robin

As I write Lama Chonam is visiting the Gesar palace just outside of Darlag Golog eastern Tibet and he is having many prayers and wind horses raised on behalf of Robin and his life's work. This area is considered by many to be the site of King Gesar's actual palace and the fortress for the launching of his enlightened activities. Robin's passing was in many ways indicative of the way he lived his life and it seems as though divinely orchestrated in terms of the way the positive signs have manifested. It is not so surprising since it is said that whatever one believes will become evident at their passing. Lama Chonam and I are sorry that we did not get to see Robin these last several years but we know that the time we did spend with him was the most important for our purpose together. I first got to know Robin in Nova Scotia when I went there to translate at the enthronement of the Sayong Mipham Rinpoche. We had an immediate connection and soon discovered our mutual interest in the epic of Gesar of Ling. (Later I was told that Robin was trying to seduce me with little british tea sweets in his room!) I had just finished traveling with and translating for the Ven. Yangthang Tulku Rinpoche whom Robin had received empowerments from on the east coast. YTR always carried the epic of Gesar with him and this would be the first thing that he would place in the highest corner of any room he was to reside in. Then he would begin to recite the Gesar Guru Yoga, dharmapala practices and make many offerings on a daily basis. He also gave the empowerment on numerous occasions. This was fuel to the fire of my interest to know more about this manifestation of Guru Padmasambhava. After lengthy discussions I came to know that Robin needed an expert in Golog culture and literature to work with in order to continue the work he had begun on the epic. As karma would have it knew Lama Chonam who had recently come to the states and was relatively free to get involved in this and also had a keen interest. Everything happens according to timing! One thing led to another and one summer day Lama Chonam and I found ourselves driving from California to Milwaukee to live with Robin and begin translating the epic together. That I would just pick up and go to do this came as a shock to almost everyone that knew me. To this day I really cannot figure out exactly how it all happened. The logistics of our living situation were rather humorous, especially when you think of the three of us living together. Back then Lama Chonam was still a monk and not nearly as accustomed to our culture as he is now. We all piled in together on the first floor of Robin's house with LC in the back room, me in between and Robin in the front. I was used to living with Rinpoche's so this took some adjusting but we were all very willing to rough it, so to speak, in order to work together. We had to walk through each other's rooms to get anywhere. We had very little money so we were always penny pinching and every other day Robin's Mom would call and talk to all of us. This was the beginning of six years of working together to finally finish the first three books of the epic! That first year was the most memorable as everything was new and fresh. The three of us were excited like children on their own for the first time. Sometimes we would get into our antiquated mercedes that Robin loved, put on the oldies station and drive around singing at the top of our lungs. Lama Chonam would laugh and laugh. Sometimes we would go to the fancy new mens' clothing store and Lama Chonam would dress Robin in outfits that were nothing short of dashing on him. I think this was when Robin's fascination with nice clothes began and LC was truly his mentor. Whenever I could not find Lama Chonam and Robin I would go to that store and there they would be with Perry, their favorite salesman.I have so many stories from our years with Robin. The time we spent together as colleagues at the round table was unforgettably rich. We cracked the secret code of this timeless epic together as a dynamic team. With piles of dictionaries and grammar books we would read together and Lama Chonam would explain. I would translate what he said and Robin would write it down in a way that only he could do. We would work without regard for time and so enjoyed our own company. The Milwaukee sangha would help to take care of us. Each year that we met it was like that when we worked. My only regret is that we were only able to finish three books which brought the epic up to the point where young Joru (as he was known before he became Gesar) won the horse race and assumed his position as the King of the land of Ling. Nevertheless some day the rest of the epic will be translated and most importantly the first three books are done and readers will be able to finally know how this great manifestation of enlightened activity came into this world and engaged with sentient beings. On behalf of our dear brother Robin, and forever dedicated to his memory and mark in this world, Lama Chonam and will do whatever we can to help speed along the process of publishing these books so that Robin's life's work can bear it's fruit for countless generations to come. I find myself thinking of Robin many times each day with mixed emotions to be sure. When colorful characters come into our lives they leave the strongest impression. Whenever I pray to Gesar I will think of Robin too. KYI KYI SO SO LHA GALO TAG SANG GYUNG DRUG YARGYAY!!! Sangye Khandro (or Sonjay as Robin would always refer to me) Tashi Choling Oregon