Sunday February 8
*
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 a small lake
ground from the flanks
of the great mount Kuhla Kangri
to sit in it’s shadows for untold millenia
then the scene of fierce combat
of energy force and mind
For it became the abode of demon Gara Nakpo
to be subdued by Padmasambhava
great shaman of the Buddhist faith
who sat in his cave across the lake
in Mount Damchen Gara Nakpo
with glaciers on three sides
in silent contemplation
to place his mind in readiness
for the conflict that made
the place of death and fear
into a place of wonder and grace
Look beautiful one see how
the magical lake sits
a turquoise jewel amongst the ice
to our ears come marvelous sounds and sights
the bellows of the phantom ox
and other such assorted apparitions
and the sound of a waterfall
the Lhachu no less strange
‘tis said that it’s the portal
to a wondrous hidden land
within Kuhla Kangri from whence it’s waters come
perhaps Gara Nakpo still reigns there
a guardian now benign
bestowing blessing upon
travellers passing by
Thence down the mountainside
to the river Kuru Chu
roaring through its course
through the land of Lhodrak
to Tamzhol Chu that here runs too
with ferocity to crowd the ears
with the rush of water’s sound
to the town of Khomting Lhakhang
and there upon the hill the Kharchu monastery
but for now we’ll leave this quiet place
to venture deep below on forested trail
to the obelisk of Khandro Dora
and just below in precipitious plunge
of the trail to a small swaying bridge
our heart jumps our stomach lurches
it’s our sacrifice to make our way
to a place where the mind becomes
pure and still
A cave they called Chakpurchen
carved with a single knife of iron
wielded by again the peerless
Padmasambhava again of undying fame
through the mountains depth he cut his way
to make a meditation cave
there he stayed for seven years
We’ll not stay this long
but in silence climb from Chakpurchen’s depths
back up to the meadow upon the hill
where the flowers bloom beneath the sky
at Kharchu monastery
seat of Kagyu and Nyingma heirs
to these noble Tibetan buddhist lineages
there’s a prayer wheel there that bestows its blessings
without the aid of mortal hands
impelled for peace by chaotic torrent
of the water flowing by
To look out over a nomad camp
we descend down there
to a quiet home amongst the group
of stone and adobe brick
covered with a yak tent
where humble gardens of flowers bloom
in warm and comforting peace
to rest for a time there
to think upon the mountains' grandeur
in shelter from their storms
All this not so wonderful
to my straining eyes
as your determined beauty
and uplifted patient dignity
this that I see in you
on this cold winter
afternoon
Lotus blossoms rest
upon the window sill
and so we wait
two as one
we our effort
real and lasting
slight gentle
beautiful one
February 5
* courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.
reference material for the poem is courtesy of the Footprint Tibet handbook by Gyurme Dorje.