thank you for sharing an astonishing summer camp 2011. i feel very grateful to have been part of it. thank you for all the hard work and compassion put into making it happen. once again this year i would like to make mention of the special artistic care put into mowing paths through the gomde landscape.
i wrote the following field notes while in my tent at gomde last night, and rather than just saving them on my computer, where they serve absolutely no purpose, i send them along as a contribution toward sharing the beautiful event that it was, yet is no more.
all the best,
chris campau
gomde summer 2011
1.
lying in this tiny tent
moskitos are buzzing everywhere.
a clear warm sky dazzles
over gomde,
so bright that one
would think it was real.
2.
forgot my bag
in the lama house library tonight
and upon returning to collect it
rinpoche was standing in the dark
with his head bent down close
trying to read the headlines on a magazine.
afraid of what i see,
and leaving without even entering,
until a dharma friend
assures me it is alright to go in.
upon entering
rinpoche is long gone.
i had been to the library
to find a definition
of samaya.
3.
the strong brown laughing tibetan
dribbles easily
past his quick young opponent.
mistakingly thinking
lama tenzin does not take the game seriously
i watch him raise his árms in the air
as he kicks the octagonal sphere
a little too hard directly on target.
so as not to crush red ants under his wise feet
he is as swift and fragile as a deer.
4.
having tasted
the heart of dharma
there can be no turning back.
5.
i will not die,
on this i will not compromise.
the few things that I reveal
they are my only vehicle,
in this dance that keeps me alive
trying to stay devoted to all i believed,
before the final night
and if there is a stage between
let me use all my might to remove the screen
of all that is seen,
of all that has been.
6.
moving past concepts
about endless universes
and metaphors of
hope , fear, bliss and thought
for the complete liberation
of all living beings.
7.
one of the most enjoyable evenings
of my life
was spent listening to erik
sing dharma songs
about his compassionate masters.
8.
to realize that everything
is emptiness.
to sustain the liberation
of thoughts without fixating.
to perform at all times
according to the dharma.
this natural state is itself the fruition.
9.
if there is any real gratitude
to be shown
for receiving the precious teachings,
let it be to pass them on.
10.
boddhicitta the privilege,
letting go of nothing.
enlightenment the answer,
bewilderment the question.
looking here and there
finding only dust.
not returning empty-handed
from an island of jewels.
11.
all this meditation
is getting you nowhere,
but getting you rich quickly.
12.
the sun does not go away
when your heart is in the sky.
13.
looking everywhere to find a recipe,
only to discover that the proof is in the pudding.
14.
from every street corner,
emotional obscuration
and foreign destination,
practicioners arrive
to touch the hearing lineage,
as if a rare gathering of hermitaged mountain boddhisattvas
