Sunday March 21
*
A glimpse up
on the steep climb
to the leading 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 she I we two
our warm and bright
future day
and to her then to say
to tell of the rise
upon the cliff
of white limestone
the Shinjei Rolpei Podrang
glowing in the mountain light
To pause in chest heaving stillness
before us is a great cavern
carved through the eons
from the living rock
Look beautiful one there are carvings here
around the entrance
Buddha Padmasambhava Milarepa
and many other beings look out at us
from the rocky walls
as they have for nigh a thousand years
to pilgrim through the ages
Three caverns there are here
Shinje Drup-ne Zho where Nyingma
lineage practices still
into Shinje Rolpe Drubne in a climb
upon a ladder
then a haunting traverse through dark tunnel
with only rope pulley as the guide
to a ladder of sandalwood
down to a great cavern below
There are wondrous forms here
of Maitreya Buddha of a future age
and other deities
and retreat of Padmasambhava
then to Jang Rangjung Drupuk
with it’s water sculpted forms
wondrous in the darkness
a beyul hidden land filled with nectar
ambrosia of immortality and wisdom
Once great Lama of Dorje Drak lineage
saw within the depths of mind
the image of this sacred place
concealed from the earth above
a place of wonder
and brought others to this place
it is said that
the hidden land still exists
for those who endure the arduous way
of the training of the mind
in all it’s magnificent beauty
Thence to the sunlight
to make our way
to Dzong Kumbum with its cavern there
lofty entrance whose awesome height
strains our upturned sight
near a hundred feet up toward the sky
in its depths tunnels five
reach into the mountain’s depth
where once Padmasambhava made his way
Thence to the village of Drakda
and to a quiet place
to look upon the waters of Tsogyel Latso
in its glimmerings to see
the future and the past
wondrously reflected as we rest
beside it there
the talisman of Yeshe Tsogyel
glowing beneath the sky
to feel the warmth of this sheltered place
as the benificence of her smile
she that saw into the nature of things
All this not so wonderful
to my straining eyes
as your determined beauty
and uplifted patient dignity
this that I see in you
beneath the open sky
on this cold morn
late in our winter of necessity
Lotus blossoms rest
upon the window sill
and so we wait
two as one
we our effort
real and lasting
slight gentle
beautiful one
March 16
* courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.
reference material for the poem is courtesy of the Footprint Tibet handbook by Gyurme Dorje.