Sunday October 17
*
A glimpse toward
the rise up to the span
to the leading light of my long day
slight gentle beautiful determined bright one
patiently making her way
she 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 three hills that stand
twenty five miles
forty kilometres from whence
the shadows fall
beneath the towering rise of Zhara Lhatse
A mind in turmoil can come there
a heart in sadness can walk among
the waving grasses and fluttering leaves
and feel the peace and ease
of the trees that sway in the wind
that soothes the rage of the sore aggrieved
For the forces here are so aligned
that the pain of living beings suffering
ceases for a time
in these the quiet abodes
of the Bodhissatvas three
Avalokiteshvara
Manjushri
and Vajrapani
We stand here for a time
at the base of these foothills
and before our shamanic sight
a form comes into view
in raiment white
but what manner of being is this
eleven faces a thousand arms
fearsome it would be
but for the presence of infinite compassion
shining from each face
the thousand arms raised to be everywhere
the suffering are in need
Avalokiteshvara Chenrezik is this
Tibet’s patron deity
Beside him appears the familiar form
of whitish green Manjughosa
sits down then to appear
in orange with the sharpest sword
the world has ever known
that which cuts through the obscurity
of confusion in the mind
to reach for the book of awareness
the discriminates the true nature
of reality
then to stand again as Manjushri Jamyang
Tibetan deity
those given his name
infinite in kindness
though they move not one foot
from the threshold of their dwelling
can omniscient see for miles and miles
all that has transpired
Then in the stillness
in blue Vajrapani moves
from the shadows of the mountain light
he heard us coming from afar
his hearing infinitely keen
to hear the suffering of all that lives
that he transcended long ago
yet in whose presence he remains
for the torment
of all beings
he could not leave
From here it was that he easily heard
the shiftings of a statue
of the Jowo Shakyamuni
wrapped in travel worn
darkened cloth of yak hair
the heave of the bearers
of the Princess Wen Cheng
the sudden thump of falling ropes
from startled hands
as statue then said quietly
please leave me here
for Tibetans at a future time
will have need of my presence here
and when the dust covered PLA
soldiers marched across Chuzi Gangdruk
atrocity and heartbreak
grief of survivors that can not sleep
they to go in the darkness
to the candlelight about the form serene
to find some comfort
for Jowo Lhagang was still there
and stands there to this day
in the monastery of Lhagang
All this not so wonderful
to my straining eyes
as your determined beauty
and gentle patient dignity
this that I see in you
beneath the open sky
on this mid afternoon
of our fall of working and waiting
Lotus blossoms rest
upon the window sill
and so we wait
two as one
we our effort
real and lasting
slight gentle
beautiful one
October 12
* courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.
reference material for the poem is courtesy of the Footprint Tibet handbook by Gyurme Dorje.