Sunday January 18
*
A glimpse up
out across the open sky
to the light of my long day
slight gentle beautiful determined bright one
firmly alone firmly herself
to quietly remind me
that not so far away
for we two
our warm and bright
future day
and to her then to say
to tell of the sound of the saw
and of the birds
that call from our spirit trees
beside the stream
as I cut our precious gift from the Tenger
fashioning into those shapes
that once dried can be made
into your loom gentle beautiful one
upon which we will weave our destiny together
And of how long ago the upon the marshy plain
beneath forbidding Gephel Utse Ridge
on the north bank of the Kyi Chu river
tearing throuugh it’s course
Three queens stood quietly before the tent
of King Songsten Gampo in the days
when Tibet was new
Wise were they beyond compare
steeped in all the lore their cultures knew
with their own refined nature
from patient contemplation
Looking upon this wild place
where human life held so tenuously on
against great forces harsh
They knew
that as the King began Potala
wondrous palace upon Mount Marpori
and bridged the Kyi Chu’s fury
That something would be needed
to blend human life into this land
something to make it safe
for every Tibetan
It was Chinese Queen Wen Chen
skilled in the sacred art
of shaping landscapes to control
energies flow and force
that would find in her contemplations
a small lake that must needs be filled
it’s water to flow beneath the ground
to hold down a force harmful
to the mortal human frame
With white goats carrying baskets
harnessed with darkened heavy earth
As the winds blew down from the ridge above
as an ancient malefic force stirred and then was stilled
Upon it then she stood and quietly indicated
the place where edifice must stand
to complete this confining task
the temple of Jokhang
Queen Bhirkuti of Nepal
then oversaw construction
with four gates entering four walls
with columns round about
each to represent a section
of the scripture of sacred Vinaya wisdom
and five chapels of divine beings
whose kindness is felt still
over millenia to this day
by those who lie themselves upon the earth
prostrate in humble prayer for
enlightened peace
in this tumultuous world
As the three queens had stood
so she placed Aksobhya
with Amitaba
and the future buddha Maitreya
To north and south Shakyamuni and
Mahakarunika.
The King placed then the protector shrines
of water spirit kings great nagas
who kept the temple safe from ice and cold
wind rain and quake and fiery destruction
and within in the columns carefully hid
the precious scriptures from his travels
for another to discover one day
And without upon the hill
to hold firm this place
Queen Monza Tricham of Tibet
built the temple of Dra Yerpa
and with buildings these souls raised here and there
the whole was sacred space
from whence Tibetan land
through sacred means became
a much more peaceful place
Much more was added in future generations
in this place beneath the enormous ridge
where the Kyi Chu valley opens wide
and the craggy heights yield to human ease
And to this place Tibetans came
and do come still
It knew it’s time of defilement
from invasions and stife
of slaughter of man and beast
of hideous misuse
but when the carnage finally stilled
and upon it’s threshold
the pilgrim lying upon the earth
in humble reverence returned it’s sanctity
prayer wheels were made to spin
and bells to ring
for Tibetans never forgot
of this gift of love
from three queens and a king
Even still gentle one
All this not this so wonderful
to my straining eyes
as your determined beauty
and swift uplifted grace
that endures with patient dignity
this that I see in you
on this cold and
wintry day
Lotus blossoms rest
upon the window sill
and so we wait
two as one
we our effort
real and lasting
slight gentle
beautiful one
January 14
* courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.
reference material for the poem is courtesy of the Footprint Tibet handbook by Gyurme Dorje.