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THE MIRRORNewspaperof the International DzogchenCommunity March2001/AprH2001 IssueNo. 56

FEBRUARY2001

CHGYALNAMKHAINORBUmakesan

HistoricVisit to Chile

DECEMBER-JANUARY,2000-2001

T H E M A N Y F R U I T S O F O N E T A S T E ,

M E E T I N G THE ELE ME NT S :

T A S H I G A R C H R I S T M A S RETREAT

by Jacqueline Gens

An historievisitwasmadeto our country dur

ing the first week of February by our

beloved Master, Chgyal Namkhai Norbu.

It was the first time that a large and lucky group of

Chileans could benefit from the extraordinaryDzogchen teachings given by the most outstanding

teacherofDzogchenof modem times.

The point of contact for the Teacher and the

Chileans,who had waited for years for his presencein

our country, was thecapital,Santiago.Luckily,Santiago

was less congested than normal due to vacation time.

The first public activity was on January 31st; Rin-

poche gave a talk entitled "Introduction to the

Dzogchen",and spoke to a very respectful group of two

hundred people-

On the 3rd, 4th and 5th of February, theretreattook

place in the Center of Exercises of the Jesuit Order of

the Catholic Church on the edgeof Santiago. Eighty

people - including some visitors from New Zealand,

NorthAmerica,Austria, Argentina,Italy and Germany -attendedthe teachings i n a largehalli n the mfddle-of the

natureand in anatmosphereofrespect and admiration.

Theretreat was complemented with the practice of

YantraYogataughtbyFabioAndricowhere we focused

on the Nine Purification Breathings and The Eight

Movements.

Recentlywe received an invitation from Tashigar to

celebrate Losar. This brought much joy to the Chilean

group managing the birth of the Dzogchen Community

in Chile!

CHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU- INTERNATIONALPROGRAM2001-2002

2 0 0 1

MARGARITA ISLAND

Easter Retreat

March 30th-April3rd

USA,WESTCOAST

April27th

Leave for San Francisco

May 1st

Public Talk:Introduction to Dzogchen

May 2nd-6th

West Coast Retreat

May 8th

Leave for Seattle

May 9th

Publictalk: Introduction toDzogchen,Seattle

May 10th

Leavefor Portland

May 13th-16thH.H. theDalaiLama's teaching, Portland

May 18th-20th

PortlandRetreat

RUSSIA, KUNSANGAR

SANTIMAHASANCHA

May 27th-29th

SM S BaseLevelExam

May 30th-June 5th

SM S ILevelTraining

June6th-8th

SM S ILevelExam

June 9th-13thSM S LevelIITraining

June 15th-21st

Kunsangar Retreat

SantiMahaSangha

June 22nd-23rd

SMS OLevelExam

June 24th-28th

SM S IIILevelTraining

ITALY, M ERIG A R

July6th-10th MerigarRetreat

July17th-August6th

PersonalretreatofChgyalNamkhaiNorbu

August 10th-19th

Merigar Retreat

SantiMahaSangha

August21st-23rd

SM S BaseLevelExamAugust24th-28th

SM S ILevelTraining

September 7th-17th

Vacationin Sardegna

SantiMahaSangha

September 23rd-25th

SM S IIlevel Exam

September 26th- 30th

SM S l uLevelTraining

October 7th

Leave forMargaritaIsland

continuedonpage6

SEE CONTACTS IN COMMUNITY NEWS page I3

Argentina seems a compelling country filledwithmagical beauty and

gigantic contradictions. Its naturaltreasures have been extolled asamong the world's finest - places

like Terra del Fuego, Patagonia.

Thenthereare the haunting culturalimages -Evita,the legacy of the los

Disaparades, from the all too recentmilitaryjuntasof 1977-1983, tango,the world monetary market in theinternational news. Once last year, I

read in the New York Times thatArgentina has the world's highestconcentration of psychologists percapita. But walking down the

street, it seems most everyone

looks like a moviestar.With suchbeauty what need istherefor therapy. For me, one of thegreatculturalrevelations invisitingArgentinaforthe first time, was the experience ofsummer in winter, not just weather-wise but seasonally. Foruntil then,itnever occurred to methathalf the

world live s in a different seasonal

reality south of the equator. One

thinks of the seasons as indelibleand fixed but apparently thatis notthe case.

Al l of these somewhat superficial

observations melted quickly awayonce in the tangible embrace of ourTashigar Community with theirgenuine hospitality and endlessovertures of friendlinesswithmuchkissingat every opportunity - this Inoticed, a universal custom inArgentina. So ubiquitous is thiscustom, it amused me, when even

at airline counters, all businessstopped as girls returning from alunch break went around to everyone down the line behind thecounter for kisses and more kisses.Argentinaseemsthe ultimate Padmaenergyi ntermsofnational styles.Tashigar is nestled in the hills outside Tanti, a small town whichsome of usjokingly referred to as

the town time forgot. Everything

about this place reminded me of myrural California childhood in the1950's with its dusty roads andsmall rancheros surrounding itsoutskirts, early model BigAmerican made cars, with scatteredhorse, cattle and crowing roosterswandering about without bound

aries or from the vantage ofTashigar itself higher up - theAmericanSouth West region of theFourComers with vast unpopulated vistas. Artistically, this area tooseemed rich in stories, as yetunwritten, magnificent paintings ofsky - forhereon the higher groundofTashigar,all is space.

The landitself is a spectacular bio-

region of wild life; exotic plantsand startlingly vivid elementswherewind iswind,hailand lightening can flash in aheartbeat.Handcarved into a rock is the wordZergnamadeby Rinpoche. A storywas toldone day, as we passed the

rock on our way up the hill, that

Rinpochewh ile carving it sat on an

anthill. When people pointed this

out tohim, he saidthatwas all rightbecausetheywouldsomeday be hisstudents.This is a place, no doubt,empowered for realization and oneinwhichthe elements seem to manifest so dramatically. It is also aslightly dangerous environmentwith spiders, poisonous snakes,iguanas andabundantinsect life.Terrified of snakes, I must say, Ihad unusually greater presence ofmind than usual in regard to whereIput myfeetandhands- just as theTashigar retreatguidelines recommended. Duringthe actualretreat,Ishared a house with an Argentineman and his Spanish wife, Anita,down the road from Tashigar. Anative from Cordoba, this man,

Ruben, was particularly concernedthat Tashigar did not have an anti-

continued on page 3

C O N T E N T S

TEACHING:Awarenessas

I PracticeinDaily Life

I ChgyalNamkhai Norbu

f l Santi Maha Sangha

I and Karma Yoga

I ChgyalNamkhai Norbu

R H RespectingOthers

I Chgyal Namkhai Norbu

im,-m Milarepa,

I The

Great MagicianI JuliaLawlessandJudy Allen

Briga BookReviews

H p g j Tormas atTashigar

I RitaBizzotto

B r J V Practice Calendar

I InternationalContacts

feti] International

I CommunityNews

H M B Reflections

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Chgyal Namkhai Norbu

Inalifetime,most importantishowwe dodailypractice,so the most important thing I can doisto informyou how to dodailypractices.

Evenifwe have learned different methodsofpractice,we can't apply everythingdaily.Sincethis is the case,it's very importantthatwe integrate practice into ourlives.Integrating practice intodaily lifedoesn't meanwe dedicate one hour or a few hours of practice into aday. That is good, butstillwe have many hours. Weknowthatinone day we have twenty-four hours, so tointegrate means we integrate in the practice for twenty-four hours. If we don't understand thatprinciplethen we can'thaverealization.Because we arelivingwithdualisticvisionand we arealwaysdistracted, we make many kinds of actionsand produce negative karma.Evenif we do four orfivehours of practice a day, it can't compare to howdistracted we are and how many negative actions wemake.Alreadywe have so much negative karma; topurify is not so easy. Therefore it's most importantthatweknowhow to integrate practice intodailylife.

Firstofall,when you are thinking of what practicemeans, you need to have a precise idea.Manypeopleconsiderpractice chanting mantras or sitting; doingsome rituals, etc.Thisis practice, but not the mainpractice.Themainpractice isthat,firstofall,we discover our instant presence and then we integrate in

thatstatein any moment. It is not so easy for us toalwaysbe in instant presence, but when we have thepossibilitywe try. We try to be aware and not distracted and try to be aware of our life andcircumstance.

Sotheseare the most important practices; if we areaware andweknowhow the circumstanceis,wehaveless problems. Our practices become more concrete.Tobe aware means we also know what our possibilities are. Some people have a very nice idea and theysay, "Oh I want to dedicate all mylifeto practice".Thisis a good idea, but not so easy, particularly forpeople who have the idea to escape fromour societyorordinarycondition.That means they are not learning or training how to integrate life into practice.Theyare alwaysthinking, "Thissituation is samsara,veryheavy, I want to escape."Butthatisnot thesolution,you can escapefromthis situation but whenyouarrivesomewhere else youcreatethe same situation.Maybeyou have the idea,"I don't want tocreatethissituationanymore. I wantonlyto be a practitioner ona mountain,livingin a cave, etc."Firstofall,thatisnot so easyinour modem society becauseyouhave aphysical body and you are dependent on food andyour situation,and evenifthereare somepossibilitiesand you think, "Now I have peace", it's not true. Ifyoudo notfindpeaceinside,youcan'tfindpeace outside.Maybe youhave no problems whereyouare, butyouarrive in a cave on a mountain, and maybe youhave a problem there.

Iremember once when I was thirteen years old, Ireceiveda very important teachingfromone of myDzogchenteachers. When I finished this teaching Iwent to doaretreatofNzndzogGyalpoofDzogchenLongde,and I was in a very isolatedretreatplace; averynice place in the forest under arock.It was reallya verynicehousethatbelonged to one ofmy relations,and it isa verysacredplace.Theywanted me tolivethereand do service for me.'Doingservice'did

n't mean someonelivedthereand always cooked anddid service everyday; someone came and broughtfoodeverythreedays or so. So I livedthere, and onthefirstdayIfelt fantastic and it wasreallyvery silentandvery nice,butwhennighttimestartedIfelt afraid.Thishouse was under rock and on top of the rock tenor fifteen wolves gathered and howled and madenoise.When I wassmallI already felt afraid of thissound;and this time I also felt alittleafraid anddidn't feel really peaceful. The next day when Ididpracticetherewas not as much noise as at night, but thenhundreds of monkeys arrived. When I did practicesilentlythe monkeys came in thewindowand tried toopen the window. The whole time I couldn't findpeace. In the day and night time,therewere alwayssome problems and, of course, then I didn't knowverymuch about integrating. I always felt distractedwiththis practice.Later I met my teacher ChangchubDorjeand the Dzogchen teaching, and then I understoodthesolutionis not escape but integration.

Whenwe are disturbed it is mainly related to ourtensions.Forexample,ifIamsittingheretryingto dopractice and someone comesfromoutside and makesnoise,then Ifeel, "Oh,thereis someoneheremakingnoise and I amherepeacefullydoingpractice andthatperson is not paying respect to me and my practiceand now I feel disturbed". IfIfeelthat, thatismytension.If I have this tension today, tomorrow I feelmore than yesterday and I think,"Stillthis person istheremaking noise". Day after day tensions develop.Then,in the end, I decide to escape fromthis place.Soyou see, where the root of the problem is and towhat the tensions arerelated. Ifwe are integrating andwe arereallyininstant presence and integrated;ifweare on a mountain in a cave in silence or we are in arailwaystation, forexample,thereis not much difference because noise and movement,everything,is partofour energy. We do not remain in a dualistic wayand we integrate and integration means in a non dualway.Our tensions disappear, this is the method ofhowwe integrate indaily life.It is something very,

C H G Y A L N A M K H A I N O R B U

NEW YEAR'S DAYTEACHING

AWARENESSASPRACTICE IN DAILYLIFE

TASHIGAR, ARGENTINA,JANUARY1ST2001

veryimportantintheDzogchen teaching.Ourlifeismovement, not peaceful, but we knowthatmovement is part of our energy. We do not think, "I amhereandthereis movement, and movementcreatesproblems for me"; we do not fall into a dualisticviewand movement does notcreateproblems.

Forexample,when weflyin an airplane, sometimeswe feel the airplane ismakinga lot ofnoise.Ifyouhavethatidea, "There is noise and I am disturbed",youalwaysfeel more disturbed. Butifyouintegrateyoudon't feel disturbed atall.Yousee, for example,the airplane soundslikeAh.Sometimes the airplaneis singingHum.Whenyou are inside you areinthesoundofHumandAh;youdon'talwaysneed to sayAhandHum,the airplane helpsyou.So you are inthat statein an integrated way instead of creatingproblems;youreallyhave benefit. Thatisanexampleofhowwecanintegrateeverything intoourlives. Forthat reason we don't need to change anything, wedon't need to change our dress, our attitude, our way

ofbeing; howitis,weremainthatwayand we accepthowlifeis.

Somepeople, for example, have a business or ashop, they spend many years working to earnmoney and then they feel more interestedinpracticeand teaching. They don't feel to dothatwork anymore. The work becomes negative or an obstaclefortheir practice. That is not true.Youmustliveinsociety.Youhave done this workuntilnow and areearning money; you are living.Of course if youfindabetterway to earn money, you can change.Otherwise, thatIS your condition andthat,is notnegative at all.So you can integrate your job andworkin the practice.Youthink, "How can I integrateworkingin a shop?', but it can be anykindofworkwhichwe can integrate. Evenif we have nopossibilityto chant or workwithmantras, we canalways workwithawareness.Wecan alwaysbe presentinsteadofdistracted;thatisthe practice ofintegration.If we have a business or work in a shop, i fwe use awareness and are not distracted, then ourworkgoesbetter.When you have tensions younotice them and don't give too much importance to them; then also your work doesn'tbecome very heavy. That's anexample;thereis always thepossibilityto integrate.

Sowe must know how ourconditioninlifeis, firstofall.Forexample,weliveinsociety andinsocietyeveryone does something. If we don't, we can't earnmoney andlive.Weknowwe can integrate anykindofpractice inthatjob.For example, what do we doearlyinthemorning?Wewake up and immediatelythinkof breakfast, we go in the shop, in theschool,orwork in theoffice,etc.Lookat what we do, weworkcontinuously,atmidday we eat, maybethereisalittlespace of time and we work again, then wereturn home and feel tired, welookat alittleTVtoknowwhat the news is, even if we don't have very

muchenergy tolookattelevision,etc., everyday we

workand feel tired, so what do we do? We go tobed.Andtomorrow what do we do? The same. Wedo the same as we did today, and the day aftertomorrow,the same, and inthatway we go aheadandthatiscalledsamsara. Then we go ahead andthink,"Oh,herecomes the weekend!", and we waitforthe weekend.Whenthe weekend arrives we arehappy, but in the real sense it means we havealready spent seven days in ourlife,seven days arealreadyfinished;seven days less in ourlife.Thisisnot really a happy circumstance, but we are happybecause we think we have more free time and weshoulddo something, we think,"Ohnow I do practice,I have the idea to do some practice ortraining,etc.", and we think the weekend is free, but nextweekend is also not free, for example,thereis thebirthdayof parents, of friends, someone is gettingmarried,orthereare important things to do, peopleto meet or we must go somewhere. Most of thetime,the weekend is also occupied, so our idea ofdoingpractice is verydifficult.When wefinishthe

weekend what do we do? The same. Werepeatanother weekend, we are waiting for the weekend.Thenwe wait for another weekend and have passedfourteen days of our life, and inthatway we aregoingon for months, years and then wefinishourlife.It is not sufficient toonlyhave agoodidea, butitis importantthatwe deal concretelywithpracticeinalifetime.

So,how do westartto do practice?Whenwe wakeup we immediately remember Guruyoga. Weremember thewhiteAandthigle.It is also possibleifwe sleep alone we can alsosoundAh.If we soundAhwe can have more ofthatpresence ofvisualization.If we sleepwithourfriend,husband,wife,etc.,then we can't make sound, because when you wakeup your friend might stillbe asleep and you mustrespect your friend. You can't sing, but it's alsoenough when you exhale and are in the presenceofAh. In this presence you relax and try to be in

instant presence, evenifyouareonlyinthat stateforafew seconds.ThisisGuruyoga.Afterthatyou goto the toilet, the bathroom, you wash and have contact withthe water element, and then you can usethe mantra ofpurification: "Eho Shudde Shudde"and ifyoudopurificationof the water element in avery short way you do "Om Bamho ShuddeShodanayeSvaha".Ifyouchant this mantra and usewater or have contactwithwater, then it becomespurification.So you don't need preparation withaceremony orritual. Naturally,when you have contactwithelements you always usewhich elementcorrespondswiththatmantra.When yougo outsideandthereiswind,air element, you go"OmYamhoShudde Shodanaye Svaha".With the heatof sunshine orwith fire,etc., you useOmRamho ShuddeShodanaye Svaha. When you chant this mantra, ofcourse, you must also be awarethatifyouarewithmany people,particularlyif they are not practitioners and you chant mantras, or you do somethingamong people you don'tknow,it is not good. Youmust keep mantra secret. Ifyoukeep it secret it has

more function. Ifyoudo not keep the mantra secret,then the mantra has no function forYOU,it doesn'tmean the mantra loses function in general. So it'sveryimportant to keep secret. Of course, it is notnecessary to keep secret among practitioners.Sometimes when we use mantra of prayer or some

thingpubliclyinfrontof people who are not practitioners, then it becomes a kind of exhibition.Thefirst thingisthatitisnotgoodfor our samaya, and thesecond thing isthatthe mantra can lose its function.Thethirdreasonisthatpeoplewillconsiderthatyouare astrangeperson. Ifyousay something, forexample, in arestaurant,and you think, "I am eating. Ishould do a Ganapuja", and you say "Ram YamKam,OmAh Hum",etc., at your table and peoplelookatyouand think you areabnormal.Ifyouare apractitioner you must not show anything outside.Showingtoo much outside means thereis nothinginside.It is not necessarythatwe showanything,butwe keep itinourselves and dopractice.Weintegrate.

Alsoit is very important indaily lifeto try and beaware and not distracted. I alreadytoldyouthat thatisnot instant presence; being in presence means wehave a kind of attention. Instant presence has noattention, it is beyond attention; but if you are presentwithattention in general then it is very easy tointegrateininstant presence.Youshould learn this indaily life. Sometimes, for example, you are livingalone in your a house andthereis no one andthereisnothing very much to do and you observe whatyouarethinking,for exampleyouthink,"Oh,I wantto gointhe kitchen and take a bottleofbeer orwine,and sitinthe sunshine and Idrink".That is a way torelax.Butthen you are not doing this in a distractedway; you notice you are thinking to go in thekitchen, then you take a kindof commitment, "Idon't want to be distracteduntilI arrive in the sunshinewitha beer". Thenyounotice,now I am goinginthe kitchen and then you get up and you notice, Iamwalkingand now I amlookingwhere the beer isand where the glass is, now I am taking the beer,nowI'mreturning,and you arrivetherein the sunshine, now I amsitting,now Idrink,now I'm enjoying,soyoualwayshave presence.Youcan learn this,itisnot sodifficultatall. Ofcourseifpeople haven'tlearned this it can bedifficult, buteverything,once

youhave learned, becomes very easy.

Forexample, when you started to drive a car, was iteasy or not? It was not easy atall!Butonce we leamhow,we develop presence fordrivinga car and intheend,we can leam to be presentwhiledriving.Wedrivethe car, we talkwith friends, welookto theright and leftside,but we are always present and wedrivethe car on the road. If we are distracted, thenwe have an accident. But this presence isonlyfordrivinga car;thereare many things in our life tolearn,so we canleam.Thisis a very important practice.To do this practice you don't need a specificplace,time or condition.If you go in a shop, youthink," I am going in a shop, now I open the door, Ihavearrived inside,someoneis coming,Iamtalkingwiththatperson";youdon't need to be distracted andthereis always thepossibilityofhavingpresence.

In a lifetime if you are not distracted and havepresence, you won't have any problems. You see,whenwe do many thingsindailylifewe make manymistakes. We have so many problems, particularlywhenwe are charged, and wecreatemore problems.That means we are totally distracted or charged;otherwise if we are present there is noreasonwhywewouldbe chargedthatway.Whenweare cutting meat or vegetables to prepare food,instead ofcuttingfoodwe cut our finger. That is anaspect of distraction and that is created by ourtensions.So,thatiswhyitisvery important we leampresence and in our lifetime we dealwiththis.

This is presence and practice. We can't say,"Ican't do practice". When we finish theretreat,some people write letters and email to me and say,"Iwas very happywiththisretreat,I learned somepractice,etc., butnowI can't do anypractice.There isnopossibility,no time, etc." So, I am not saying youshould alwaysdo practice bysittingandchantinganddoing visualizations. How can you say, "I

can't do practice ofbeingaware" ?Youcan be awareinany moment, it isbetterforyou.Ifyoudon't wantto do this practice, or you don't considerthatit is apractice,thatis anotherquestion.Butifyouconsiderthisispractice,thenyoucando itinany moment, anycircumstance.Whenyouarewalking,sittingorworking;inany moment when you try to be aware, this ispractice.Beingaware is somethinglikeakey,also todiscoveringyour tensions, your attachments and alltheseproblems.Ofcourse, ifyouhave tensions andallthesekinds ofproblems,then you know what theroot of the problem is and you liberate.

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A M E S S A G E TO ALL GARS, GAKYILS ANDPRACTITIONERS OF DZOGCHEN COMMUNITY OF THEWORLD

SantiMaha Sangha

andKarmaYogaf r o m C h g y a l N a m k h a i N o r b u

venomkit on hand in the event ofsnakebite. So wasI.Thi s wasall themore unsettling since a few weeksprevious to the retreat, I had heardfrom Melissa, ingreatdetail abouta viper, which had found its wayinto the main dorm space and hercapture ofit.I hesitated to say anythinglest people think I was beingproblematical and 'typically' anAmerican but given the amount of

children around, it seemed prudentnot to waituntilsomeone one day isactuallybitten. But Ruben carefullyinstructed me to keep the doors tothe little casa closed, which I diddiligently, lest one of these snakes(by now looming large in myimagination)make its way into ourhouse. On the other hand, not beingparticularly afraid of spiders, theywere ever-present and interesting towatch. Little baby scorpions scuttledbrisklyacross our kitchen flooreach morning with their littlepinchers held open as in anembrace as they rushed toward one.Thinking of the associationbetween Padmasambhava andscorpions, I was slightly more

accommodating to their presencethan say the hairy tarantulas andbrown recluse creeping along theroof rafters outside and simplyswept them gently out the dooreach morning.

Summer being at its height, eachnighttherewere flashes of what wecallhere, 'June Bugs', whose phosphorescent lights danced to soundsofnightcreatures and sometimes abackground of lightening flashes.The night sky, too, was incandescent with marvelous constellationsI had never before observed firsthand from south of the Equator.Fruit trees heaved with abundantfruits -plums, peaches, figs fromwhichevery morning for breakfast

therewere a variety of homemadejams - to go with toasted bread.Several species of birds soundedcontinuously - especially one birdwho over and over sounded threedistinct syllables - a real Vajracuckoo.Agrapearbor loaded withclusters of still unripened grapeslent a charming rustic quality to thelittlecasitas, whichI was told, wasbuilt by an elderly couple - eachmarriedto others, as their romantichideaway. I was intrigued one daybyGlenEddy's story (my neighborin this compound), of rescuing anold iguana of about four feet longwhom we affectionately called"Pepe" from the intent Tashigardogs and the heart-breaking storyofPepe's cries - so human sounding-as the dogs were tormenting him.After tellingmethatiguana feed onfallen fruit attwilight,I waited andwatched but never got a glimpse ofold "Pepe" at dusk among the fruitorchard or any other iguana.After a dream on the night beforemy departure for Tashigar, I wasnot surprised when my trip beganwitha series of major mishaps andminor annoyances - lost luggagefor fivedays, a fluwith adeliriumlasting three days, endless boughtand borrowed flashlightswhichdidnot work long enough down thelong treacherous dirt path to "my "house - no matter how manybatteriesI fed it, a canceled departure flight and a missed flight

between Cordoba and BuenosAires when cab driver got lost inCordoba,an airport robbery initiatedby a moment's lapse in myattentionand, last but not least - infectedspider bites whose scabs I couldonlyweeks later remove. And yet,my "enforced vacation" as Fabiocalled it, resulted in a rich experience of inner connections, meaningful insights and perhaps someripening of karma. It was also awake up experience to meetRinpoche one day in the lowerorchard near the vegetable gardenofTashigar,walkingalone from thedance mandala to the Gonpa, as Iwalked up the path unaware of his

continuedfrompagei

presence - myminddistracted in ajunky ard of petty resentments justat that moment - an al l toodepressing recognition that aftertwenty years of following theteachings this is what it comes downto - meetingone'steacherwhilein ahighlydistractedstate.For fivedays, Rinpochetaughton aterma received from his master,Changchub Dorje, in a dream

called "Opening the Gate of At iYoga." As always his teachingproved to be clear, essential andpowerful. We also did collectivepractice of the Purification of SixLokas during the retreat whichRinpoche gave an extended commentary on. Aswith everyretreat,there were many opportunities tolearn and refresh the differentcollectedpractices, theVajraDanceand Yantra Yoga. As everyonealready knows, one can not hearenough of Rinpoche teaching overand over again these essentialteachings on the meaning of GuruYoga.Hearingwith newearsand afresh mind, one can only try andkeep alive the heightened retreat

experience upon returning toone'severydaypatternsand hectic schedule. Meetingone's teacher again isalways likedrawing from thedeepwell of refreshment. A s they say,with agreatmaster, the well neverruns dry andal lmay take what theyneed. So it is, with our dearRinpoche,who continuously givesover and over to us whether he isfeeling wellor not.One of the highlights associatedwith this retreat was the first everlive Internet audio broadcast byRinpoche. Because this live audiobroadcast was conducted via telephone, some people thought it wasanother teleconference such as theone last year from Namgyalgar,unaware that it was broadcasted

around the world on the Internet.Behind the scenes for severalmonths, a number of peoplelabored to coordinate this effortinternationallyLoekJehee,FabioAndrico,EdGoldberg,DianeSiev-ers, SergioOlivia,and myself.Andeverything went smoothly! Initially, it seemed Rinpoche was goingto give a public talk but then helaunched energetically into theteachings on thethree statementsofGarab Dorje with the pointing outtransmission. He seemed so veryhappy to give this teaching - thefirst ever cyberspace transmission.At the conclusion,asRickymovedto disconnect the phone, Rinpochebrushed him aside to continuewith

a few words ofwellwishes for allof us around theworld in the NewYear.Thus bringing us back to thecybercast itself and the amazingopportunity to connect altogetherin the moment.

Severaldays later, after theInternetbroadcast and during my threedaydelirium withgrippe, I tried to practice continuous presence withO MA H H U M using this opportunityfor purificationpractice.Beingableto recognize just how difficult it isto maintain one's presence in themidst of sickness was extremelyvaluable. And it was VERYdifficult. As a dress rehearsal forperhaps more serious situations,this inspired to me to make somelong awaited changes in my dailypriorities because, for the moment,I failed miserably and insteadfound myself locked in the sameweirdnightmare over and over, inan airless room keeping everythingclosed from the intrusion ofimagined snakes and bats. I wasespeciallythankful for the kindnessof my neighbor and old friend.Glen Eddy,who checked up on meduring this time and kept me supplied with drinkingwater and othernecessities for the few days I wassick.

A truefocus or distraction (dependingon your view) for many peopleduringthe retreatwas Tashi Bar. It

continuedonpage6

According to the Santi Maha

Sangha Base examination,

for people who are

interested and participate in Santi

MahaSangha, first ofal l they must

be interestedi nthe DzogchenCom

munity.The training of Santi Maha

Sangha is not only something

learned in an intellectual way, but

this knowledge should be totallyintegrated into one's condition. If

someone is not interested in the

Dzogchen Community,there is no

way they can be totally integrated.

TheDzogchen Community islikea

boat; we are traveling by boat in

order to arrive beyond a very big

river anduntilwe arrive beyond the

very big river we should be

interested in that boat. Therefore,

we can understand how important

the Dzogchen Community is for the

trainee.

If people are interested in anykind

of Karma Yoga activity related to

the Dzogchen Community itmeans

those people are interested in the

Dzogchen Co mmunity. For

example, ifsomeone is a member of

a family then that person is

interested in everything related to

thatfamily.In thesameway,ifthere

issomething to do for the Dzogchen

Community, one who is interested

in the Dzogchen Community is

alwaysready to participate.

The main subject of the examina

tionfor the SantiMahaSangha Base

is not only the ten questions; they

are only one of the ThreeMainSub

jects. As we know very well, we

have Three Gates and these Gates

are body, voice and mind; so we

also have Three Main Subjects of

the examination related with theseThree Gates.

Relativeto the body, we should con

tribute physically to any kind of

Karma Yoga activities for the

Dzogchen Community. One who

participates inKarma Yoga for the

DzogchenCommunity indicates or

shows clearly one's interest in the

Dzogchen Communityin a concrete

way. According to the voice, one

shouldlearn the book ofSantiMaha

Sangha Base, and during the

examination one should reply cor

rectly to the ten questions.

According to the mind, one should

apply all practices which are

indicatedin the book of SantiMaha

Sangha Base.

Regardingthe firstMain Subject of

Santi Maha Sangha Base training,

since the beginning ofMerigar we

started developing Karma Yoga

there.Merigaris the number one or

primordial Gar of the Dzogchen

Community, and recently we also

started to register the names of

people, how they contribute Karma

Yoga activities in the Dzogchen

Community, how many hours they

have contributed, and so on.

Many people ask me how many

hours ofKarma Yoga they should

contribute for the Santi Maha

Sangha Base examination and for

the second level and so on.

Registeringhow many hours people

dedicate for Karma Yoga is not to

realizelimitedhours in order to take

the examination of Santi Maha

Sangha Base; the registr-ation of

how many times and how many

hours someone dedicated to Karma

Yoga is relative, it is not the mainpoint. The registration of the

number of hours dedicated to

KarmaYogais in order to know who

and how they have dedicatedKarma

Yoga to the Dzogchen Community

and if we didn't register the Karma

Yoga we couldn't know that. The

registration of Karma Yoga is very

useful in general for the Dzogchen

Community to know who is

seriouslyinvolved,andparticularlyit

isvery important to know how it is

related to thosepeople who partici

pateinthe SantiMahaSanghaExam

inations.

Some people feel that it is enough

thatwe ask people to do theirbest

fordedicatingKarmaYoga,thatit is

not necessary to do a registration of

it.I think it is only enough for a few

honest people, but not for most

people. Ifyouask people during the

examinationno one will say, "I am

not interested in the Dzogchen

Community" or "I didn't dedicate

Karma Yoga". They will say,

"I am interested in the Dzogchen

Community",and "I did mybestfor

dedicatingKarmaYoga".These are

the common replies we could

receive. In general, these words

become a kind of ritual thing, not

something serious. We don't really

need any ritualized words; we need

something concrete. Therefore weneed a registration book of Karma

Yoga in order to see who has

seriouslydedicated toKarmaYoga.

Of course, the intention is not that

Karma Yoga is only work like

cleaning the bush, etc. There are

many forms of Karma Yoga. For

example, whenguestsofDzogchen

Community arrive and someone

voluntarilygoesto takethese guests

and accompany them when and

where it is necessary at the request

of Dzogchen Community

responsibles, that is collaboration

withthe Dzogchen Community and

isvalidKarmaYoga.

I am using the example of the first

Gar of Dzogchen Community[Merigar ], but we know very well

that the situation of the Gars is not

thesame- we can findmany differ

ent situations in the Gars and

Gakyils of different countries - but

even though, in any part of the

world, if someone contributes

voluntarily some good and useful

things for the DzogchenCommuni

ty,the Gakyilofthatplace shouldn't

view that participation with

indifference. The Gakyil should

register all the good things con

tributed by that person and when

they go to do the examination of

Santi Maha Sangha the Gakyil can

presenthis or her situation of con

duct with the list of all the good

things they have contributed to the

Dzogchen Community. When we

have thiskind of presentation from

the local Gakyils, we can finally

understand how the conduct ofthat

person is, and his or her first of the

Three Main Subjects for theexamination can be seriously

applied.

We also know there are many

people living in isolated places and

in those places there is no Gakyil.

For whoever has this kind of

situation, if they have some

possibility, they should try to con

nect to a Gakyil which is close to

their place. Otherwise, they try to

make contact witha Gar to receive

more information about the Santi

MahaSangha examination, training

and so on. For people who are in this

kindofsituation,wewilltry to help

somehow and directly check their

possibilities.

Pleasedo notcometo theexamina

tionofSantiMahaSanghawithout

having thepreparations of Three

MainSubjectsfor theSanti Malia

Sangliaexaminations. Santi Maha

Sangha training is a very important

thing in our Dzogchen Community

and therefore it is very important

that we participate seriously, not

only running to get to the higher

levels. If you don't participate

seriously, even if you arrive at a

higher level you won't have any

benefit. If you are going calmly

ahead and seriously, even if you

arrive at the first level, you can

really get great benefit and at the

sametime you are getting qualifiedto be a Dzogchenpa.

With many greetings to all our

Dzogchenpractitioners,

ChgyalNamkhaiNorbu

SantiMahaSangha Supervisors

AdrianoClemente

110124.3403@compuserve.com

Jim Valby

JimValby@compuserve.com

SantiMahaSangha CoordinatorsMerigar:IgorLegati

edizss@tiscalinet.it

Tsegyalgar: Jim Valby

JimValby@compuserve.com

Tashigar.RicardoSued

rsued@onenet.com.ar

Namgyalgar:Elisabeth Stutchbury

eUse@dynamite.com.au

Kunsangar:GrishaMokhin

mokhin@rain.bog.msu.su

THE MIRROR MARCH 200 1 ATRIL 2 001

M E E T I N G T H E ELEMENTS

3

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5/20/2018 mirror 56

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Rome,November 21,2000

CHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU

RESPECTING OTHERS

Knowing how to respect the

value and character of each

thing is part of our aware

ness. First of all, a practitioner

should know how to respect the

individual and, above all, other

practitioners, because each

individualhas his or her dimension.

We have a great many problems

withthis. We are constantly forget

ting to respect the dimension of

others, particularly people who are

couples.

Whenboth people in the couple are

young and lovely then everything

goes wonderfully. They are blinded

by their passion and think they are

like one individual and see all

aspectsof things in thesameway. A

year later it's a little less like that,

and after a few more years they area little disillusioned and discover

that they don't exactly see eye to

eye. At the beginning [of their

relationship] they want to be seated

on the same chair when they are

eating even if they break the chair!

After two or three years they

definitelywant two different chairs,

and after a few more years they

want two different beds. After a

while one house isn't big enough

and they want two.

After all this time, all they have

really discovered is that they are

two individuals, each with their

own dimension. If, from the begin

ning, they had acknowledged that

they were twoindividuals withtheir

own dimensions, their own ways of

seeing and being but wanted to

collaborate and be together, then

they would have respected each

other - especially if they are people

who are following a spiritual path

and have some sense of these

values.In this way if they livelong

enough to become old people, then

they will be two old people who

will be sweet to each other and

respect each other. But today that's

veryhard to do.

Evenif it's not inthatway, it's very

important that we understand that

each person is anindividual withhis

or her own dimension and way ofseeing and being.

INDIVIDUALEVOLUTION

Today when people want to show

themselves to be a bit spiritual they

talk about peace; peace in the

world. Butpeacedoes not come if

there is no evolution of the

individual. Evolution of the

individual means understanding

that other people have their

dimensions andneedsjust likeI do.

As the Buddha said, "Take your

own example and don'tcreateprob

lems for other people." Certainly if

one works radically in this way

then, yes, peace can come about.

Every day you see appeals for

peace; a General or President

invitesanother President in order to

try to make contact. But peace

doesn't come about from these

meetings. If we really want and

need peace, we need to work indi

vidual by individual. One may

think, "Well, how isthatpossible?

When will we ever have peace?"

But welivein time.Eveni f welive

a longtime, a hundred years, we are

goingto die. But our whole genera

tion willnot die together. There are

younger people,thereare children,

thereare people who, in the future,

Firstof all,

a practitionershouldknow

how torespect

the individual

and,aboveall,

other practi

tioners,

because each

individual has

his orher

dimension.

will continue this civilization. If I

have an evolution, a development,

and I have understood something, I

can helpothers who come after to

understand. Thus, even if it doesn't

multiply instantly, after centuries a

real development can come about.

So evolutionis truly possible.

SOCIETY

When I arrived in Italy for the first

time I had alittlesuitcase. I had no

notion of teaching Dzogchenhere

or anything of the kind. But after

wards, having contact with people,talking to them, communicating

with them, gradually something

developed and grew.

Today we have something called

the Dzogchen Community in all

parts of the world and great num

bers of people who have actually

understood something. Moreover, I

am one part, one person in society.

I'm not something special. A l l

people are the same in this regard.

So if each of us understands,

develops, has an evolution, then

thathas an impact and we can grad

ually have an effect on society in

general.This is part of our aware

ness.

This is important because each

individualcounts, it'slikea number.

Whenwe say society it'slikesaying

numbers and numbers can be

infinite. But if you go to the con

crete level, numbers must always

start with number one. If number

one doesn't exist then there's no

hundred, there's no thousand,

there'snothing.

For me the first number in society is

me.Every individualis number one

for society so if we want to do

something significant and real, we

have to start with ourselves. If we

have difficulty in observing our

selves then we have to resolvethat

difficulty. But our habitual systemis not that, it's just the opposite.

When some problem arises we

alwayssay, "Who'sguilty?Who did

it?". In some sense we're always

part of the problem, we're always

guilty but instead we are always

lookingfor someone else who is the

guiltyone.An d this is how tensions

develop and problems arise. So we

have to observe ourselves, we have

to try to understand and become

aware of ourselves and what we do.

MASTEROFONESELF

So the Dzogchen teaching has to be

more or less learnedlikethis. I have

talked and alsogivena transmission

today to connect us with the prac

tice of Dzogchen. Those who have

received this transmission and areinterested in the Dzogchen teaching

should read something and get

some notions about how to practice

it,how to apply it. Butthosepeople

who are interested can't just think

that they alway have to have a

master beside them. They have to

become their own teachers, their

own masters. So you read a few

books, you begin to understand

something about how this is

applied, and if you don't under

stand, yes, there are other

practitioners, you can collaborate

withthem.

COMPLETELY FREE

You can participate in thecollective

practices with other practitioners.

Many people have a limitation

thinkingthatif they go and practice

witha group, people willjudge how

spiritualthey are. In modem society

you may not want to be identified as

somebody who follows religion or

isinvolved witha spiritualteaching.

Thismeans that in practice you are

limiting yourself. Why should we

limit ourselves? Better we should

always be completely free. If we

want to practice with a group of

people, if we want to follow

religion,why not? Why should we

be slaves of the ideology of modemsociety? But if you likeit, you can

apply the whole modem outlook.

WORKINGWITHCIRCUMSTANCES

I'm not a person who was bom in

this modem society. When I was

bom in my country, there was no

suchthing as an automobile. When

I studied at college when I was

young, we didn't even have a

match! So I am, so to speak, like a

primitive. But it's not true. I like a

lot ofmodem things, aboveal lcom

puters. For example, computers

have only been around for a little

while- 1remember verywellwhenthey started. What emerges incircumstances must be accepted

and made use of without limits.

When one becomes the slave of

limitations then whatever limits is

negative. But neither do you

struggle against and fightwiththese

limits.You are free to choose what

you likeandyou enjoy it.

ENJOYYOURSELF

One ofmy teachings is, 'enjoy your

self. We knowthat samsara is full

of suffering,thatis itsnatureand we

are immersed in it, but at the same

timethereare many things to enjoy

and we should enjoy them. We have

no idea how many more years we

will live. For these years that we

will livewhy not do ourbestenjoy

ing ourselves, not only suffering.

This is how you live and integrate

yourselfinto society. Andthatway

you have fewer problems.

My hope isthatyouwill all try to do

abit likethis.

Immediately spokentranslationbyBarrieSimmons

TranscriptionbyLi zGranger

2 0 0 1 W E S T C O A S T R E T R E A T S

May 2-6,2001

DZOGCHEN COMMUNITYIN NORTH AMERICA

2001 CALIFORNIARETREAT

WITHCHGYALNAMKHAI NORBUMAY 2-6,2001

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ON THEWESTCOAST:-CALIFOR NIA

PUBLICTALK WITHCHGYALNAMKHAINORBU RINPOCHE

MAY 1,2001TuESDAY7:30PMAN INTRODUCTION TOTHE DZOGCHEN TEACHINGS WITH

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NORTHBRAECOMMUNITYCHURCH,941THEALAMEDA,

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T H E C R Y S T A L A N D

T H E W A Y O F L I Q H T

S u t r a , T a n t r a a n d D z o g c h e n

byChogyal Namkhai Norbu,compiledand ed. byJohnShane

176 pp., 23linedrawings , 30 b& w photos, #CRWALI$16.95

ChogyalNamkhaiNorbuexam

ines the spiritual path from the

viewpointof Dzogchen. He inter

weaveshis lifestorywithDzogchenteachings, making them accessible

through hislivingexample. He dis

cusses his education and how he

met his principal master whoshowed him the real meaning of

"directintroduction to Dzogchen."

Also available: The Supreme

Source, Yantra Yoga, Dream Yoga

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5/20/2018 mirror 56

5/19

MlLAREPA

T h e G r e a t M a g i c i a n

by JuliaLawlessand JudyAllen

Icome from the village of Tsa in

southern Tibet. My father was a

great landowner from a rich and

noble family.As an only son, I was

spoiledand my early childhood was

happy and carefree. Sadly though,

whenI was only seven years old, my

fatherdied.

From that point on, everything

changed. In his will, my father had

entrusted the care of hisestateto myuncle andauntuntilI reached the age

offifteen.Yet in spite ofhisbestinten

tions,my relations seized our property

for themselves. While they enjoyed a

life of luxury,we were forced to live

likeservantsinourown home!

WhenI reached the age of fifteen, my

mother reminded my uncle andauntof

her late husband's will.But over the

years they had become accustomed to

their position of power and my

mother's pleas were hopeless. The

villagers felt sorry for us but were

afraid to help.And we, of course, had

nomeansto challenge our relat ives.

When my mother realized that her

familywas now destitute, she waspoisonedwithbitterness. "Now our only

hope of avenging our enemies" she

wailed,"is through magic. I want you,

my beloved son, to learn the art of sor

cery.Apprentice yourself to the magi

cianYungton.If you are not successful,

I willkillmyself."

Itherefore had no choice but to leave

our village and study magic with

Yungton of Ngak, the 'Great and

Terrifying Magician of Evil Spells'.

Unfortunately althoughIspentawhole

yearwithhim, I learntnothing. Know

ing I couldnot return home without

having mastered the art of black

magic,indesperation I sought the help

of another sorcerer. This time, as an

apprentice toKhulungpa,the'Oceanof

Virtue', my perseverance was

rewarded and I made rapid progress in

mastery over thespellofdeath.

Once I was truly confident of my

capacity,I set out to avengemy family.

Mymagic was indeedpowerful!After

only fourteen days of practice, my

teacher toldmethatIwouldsee signs

ofsuccess. Sure enough,thatnight the

guardian spirits that I had invoked,

appeared before me, bringing with

them the bleedingheadsandheartsof

thirty five corpses which they piled

upon my altar.

Ilater found outthatmy magicalritual

had coincidedwiththe death of thirty

five guests at my cousin's wedding

feast.Duringthe meal,strangethings

had happened. The courtyard of our

house was filledwitha writhingmass

of snakes, lizards, spiders and frogs.

The horses tethered in the stables went

wild with panic. Rearing up they

kickeddown the stablewalls,causing

the wholebuildingto collapse.A llthe

guestsinside were killed... but unfor

tunately myunclcandauntescaped.My mother was overjoyed when she

heard of the disaster.Tyinga rag to the

end of a long stick, she paraded it

through the village shouting, "How

happy I am to see this day! Through

my son's power we have at last taken

our revenge." The villagers were

furiousat her display ofheartlessness

and plotted to murder our whole

family. Knowing this, my mother

craftily sent me a message with a

pilgrim, warning me of the danger.

Evendeath threatshad not restrained

my mother's wishfor revenge for in

her letter she now asked me to destroy

the entirevillage!

Once again, I had no choice but toreturn to my previousteacher,Yungton

ofNgak.Ibeggedhim to teach me how

to gain power over hailstorms for in

this way I could ruin the villagers'

crops. When the harvest was almost

ripe Isetoff for my village.Onceinthe

hillsabove thevalley,I began to per

formthe magical rite. A t first acloud

no bigger than a sparrow drifted by.

Nothing seemed to beworking.Sud

denly a huge, menacing blackcloud

began to overshadow thevalley.Giant

hailstones smothered the housesand

completely destroyed the crops, the

verylivelihoodofthevillage.

On my return to Nyak, my teacher

Yungton congratulated me on my

success, but I feltno joy. Instead I wasfilled with a deep senseof remorse.

Mymindwas tormentedwithguiltand

Ilongedfora way inwhichIcouldfind

relief from my suffering. Seeing my

distress, Yungton also feltdeep regret

for his lifeo f black magic. As I was

stillyoung,he offered to help meinmy

search for redemption.

He sent me to a famous Dzogchen

master, whose teachings could give

instant liberation. But I was too

arrogant and lazy to realize what a

valuable opportunity this was and

spentmost of my time sleeping! In a

matter of days, the Dzogchen master

was fed upwithme, "I seethat thereis

nothingI can do to helpyou," he said.

"You should go to the great master

Marpa, withwhom you have a natural

connectionthroughpastlives."As soon as I heard the name "Marpa",

a shiver went through my spine and

my hair stood on end. I was filledwith

asudden longing tomeethim face-to-

face.Unableto thinkofanythingelse,I

immediately set off for the southern

Wheat Valley where he lived,taking

onlya few provisions and my book of

spells.

As I entered thevalley,I asked every

one I passed whether they knew where

I could find Marpa the translator.

Nobodyseemed to have heard of him

untilImet an attractive young boy who

said, "You must mean my father.

Usually he doesn't work on the farm

but today heisoutplowingthefieldby

the roadside."

Thisstruck me as strangefor Icould

not believe that such a renowned

master wouldneed to be out plowing

his fields.Just then I caught sight of a

tall, well-builtman in a nearby field.

As I approached, Icould see thathe

had penetrating eyes and a fearsome

expression. Hesitantly I asked him

whereMarpalived.

For what seemed likea long time he

just glared at me. Then he asked, "And

who areyou?"Ireplied,"I amadeeply

troubled man who has come to beg

Marpafor help.""Very well",he said,

"I will arrangean introduction. In the

meantime,plowthisfield."

Aftera while the young boy whom Ihad met on the road, came to show me

the way to Mama's home. I had not yet

finished plowing, however, and

resolved to complete my work before I

wentwith him.

Whenwefinallyreached themaster's

house, I was shocked to see the same

man I had met earlier in the fields.

Althoughhe wasseatedhigh on apile

of cushionslikeateacher,hestillhad

tracesofsoilin his hair and dustinhis

beard. I quickly glanced around the

roomto makesure therewas no other

masterpresent. Then the man spoke,

"Don't you recognize me? I am the

translator Marpa. You may present

yourself!"Ibowed down at once and,placinghis

feet upon my headinrespect,Icried,"I

offeryou mybody,speech andmindin

exchange for food, clothing and

instructions by which I can gain

redemption for myevildeeds." "I can

not offeryou both teachings andprovi

sions"Marpareplied, "and I warn you

that if you should choose the teach

ings,your successwilldepend entirely

onyourown effort."

Having agreed tofindmy ownprovi

sions, I was accepted into Marpa's

household where I began sorting out

my meager possessions. I was about to

place my treasured book of magical

spellsin his shrine room when hebel

lowed at me, "Take your filthybookawayfrommysacredaltar.Idon't want

it defiled with such rubbish!" I

removeditat once and

quietly withdrew to my own room.

SinceI had undertaken to feed myself,

I took to begging. In the course of a

few days I hadcollectedenough to buy

a large copper cooking pot with four

handles, as well as beer, meat and

barley to offer as gifts toMarpaI was

soexhausted when IarrivedhomethatI

droppedmyheavyloadonthe doorstep.

Marpa was startled by the noise and

shoutedangrily,"You'realready getting

on my nerves! Get out!"With thathe

strode overand shovedme outside.

FEBRUARY9TH-11TH,2001

THREEDAYSOF PEACE,MUSICANDLOVEWITH

CHGYALNAMKHAINORBUINPERU

byJuanBustamante

Peace, for sure. Rinpoche is a good provider; of course you should take it

with yourbare handsor an openheart.The music for ourearswas many

people chanting the Song of theVajraand many for the first time.Lovewas

an interactive flow,circulating freely.A l l this happened in "E l Remanso"

(smooth water), west ofLima, Peru, from February 9th to the 11th, 2001,

among mountains, in the middle of a beautiful park which was an ideal

environment for retreat. Some one hundred sixty of us gathered with the

ideaof learning how to integrate contemplation with daily life.Rinpoche

gave us transmission and how to get the experience.After all, the way of

knowingthetrue natureof the mirror is through its own reflections.

I realized now my master was very

short-tempered but I was not put off.

Picking up the empty cooking pot, I

offered it to him again. For a moment

Marpa just looked at me, then tearswelledup in his eyes and he took the

pot, saying,"Yourgift is auspicious. I

inturn, offerittomy teacherNaropa."

He lifted the pot above his head and

shook it so that its handles rang out

across the valley.Then he carried it

intohis shrine room where he filledit

with meltedbutterfrom the lamps. I

was so overcomewith emotionthatI

beggedhim togiveme teachings.

"Passingon meditation instruction is

veryslow work."Marpaexplained. "

FirstI wantyou tobuildaroundtower

on the eastern ridge of the nearby

mountain. Once you've finished it,

thenIUgiveyou teachings."

Immediately,withraised spirits, I set

about buildingthe round tower. When

the structure was only half-complete

Marpa suddenly changed his mind!

"Holdon!" he said. "Since I instructed

you to build this round tower, I have

had second thoughts. Now I want you

topull it down! Instead I would like

you tobuilda tower shapedlikea cres

cent moon on the mountain's western

ridge."

Onceagain, just before the work was

completed, he came to see me. "I must

have been completely drunk when I

gave you the instructions forbuilding

this tower!" he said. "Demolish it at

once." Next he took me to the northern

ridge of the mountain where he

ordered me tobuilda triangular house.Thistime I asked him if he wassure

that this was what he wanted. I was

now utterly dejected and exhausted.

When I had scarcely completed one

thirdof thebuilding, Marpapaid me a

visit. He shouted at me, "GreatMagi

cian, who told you to build this

house?" He alwayscalledme by this

name to remind meof my terriblepast.

Totally bewildered now, I replied,

"You ordered it and swore that it

wouldnot be torn down." "Are you

challenging me?" Marpa growled.

'Tear the walls down at once." I felt

completely disheartened and had no

choiceexcept todoashebid.

Bynow I had developed runningsores

onmy back. Persuaded by his compas

sionatewifeDagmema who felt sorry

for me, Marpa finally consented to

giveme the most basic instructions. He

then told me about his own ordealsunder his teacher Naropa and how, he

too, had to show unceasing persever

ance. As he spoke of his struggles, I

inwardly vowed to do anything in

order to understand the realnatureof

existence.

The next morning Marpa told me to

start building a square tower. I was

beyond knowing what to believe.

Despite my resolution to endure any

thing,I was close tosuicide.I was still

workingon the tower when hesentfor

me. "Do youhateme for refusing to

teach you?" he asked. "No. I have

complete faith in you," 1 replied. "I

alone amresponsibleformymisery."

Wavesofsadnesssuddenlywelledup

insideme and I broke down intears.

Mama's reaction was to rebuke me

harshly yet again. Something inside

me broke and Icouldnot take it any

more.Withouttellinganyone, I left.

WhenDagmemadiscoveredthatI was

missing, she chastised Marpa, "The

GreatMagicianhas gone.Now are you

satisfied? " Atthis news, Marpa's eyes

filled withtears."Oh please bring me

back my destined spiritual son," he

prayed.

I,meanwhile,hadrealizedthatIhad no

optionbut to return toMarpa.When I

arrivedhome, he was furiouswithme

for havingleft "If you are so impatient

for the truth," he admonished" then

you must be ready to give your very

lifeforit." Iwasintotal despair.

Just as I had given upallhope,Marpa

summoned me to be theprincipalguest

ataceremony.Fearfully,Itookmyseat

among the otherdisciples. "AlthoughI

may have appeared unreasonable,"

Marpabegan, "I am not to blame for

the GreatMagician'ssuffering. I actu

allyused myrageas askillfultool to

testhim thoroughly and purify him of

hispastill-deeds."

Turningto me he continued, "Now I

will give you the essential teachings

thatare as dear to me as my own heart.

I willalsoprovideyou witheverything

thatyou need. Let us be happy!" Ashe

spoke, I couldn't helpwondering, "Amcontinuedonpage6

THE MIRROR MARCH 2001 /APRIL 2001

E

5/20/2018 mirror 56

6/19

S U M M E R AT M E R I G A R

2 0 0 1RETREATSWITHCHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU

JULY 6-10

S H O R T D Z O C C H E N T E A C H I N C R E T RE A T

WITH CHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU

The retreat startsonJuly6at4 pm.

The costoftheretreatwillbeLit.400.000 withdiscounts for paid-up members.Payment can be made by installments (see below).

It is advisable to book early since many people are expected.

AUCUSTIO-19

L O N G D Z O G C H E N T E A C H I N G R E T RE A T

WITH CHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU

The retreat startson August10at 4 pm.

The cost of theretreatwillbeLit.900.000withdiscounts for paid-up members.

Payment can be made by installments (see below).

It is advisable to book early since many people are expected.

SANTI M A H A S A N G H A

AUGUST 21-23

BASE EXAM

BookingrequiredatMerigar

AUGUST 2 4 - 2 8

FIRSTLEVELTRAINING

with ChgyalNamkhaiNorbu

startsAugust 24 at 4 pm.

CostLit.400.000without discounts

SEPTEMBER 23 -25

SECOND LEVEL EXAM

Booking requiredatMerigar

SEPTEMBER 2 6 - 3 0

THIRDLEVELTRAINING

with Chgyal Namkhai Norbu

startsSeptember 26 at 4 pm.

CostLit.400.000without discounts

Milarepa

continued frompages

Iawake or am I dreaming? Ifit'sjust a

dream,IhopeIneverwakeup."

That very eveningMarnacut offalock

of my hairas asignofmy commit

ment. He offered me acupofconse

crated wine,which Idrained in one

draught. Finally,dressing me in robes,

he gave me my new name "Milarepa"

meaning the Cotton-CladOne. The

next day,Marna explainedthetheory

and practiceofmeditation. Placinghis

hand on my head, hesaid,"Myspiritu

alson,Iknew from the very beginning

that youwould be a most worthy

disciple. Both Dagmema and I had

prophetic dreams the night before your

arrival.""I dreamt that my teacher Naropa

gave meafive-prongedVajraof lapis

lazuli, symbolizing diamond-like

indestructibility. He told me to

cleanse itwith nectar froma golden

vase and mount it on top of a

magnificent Banner ofVictory.Its radi

ance blazed forth and lit upthewhole

universe, subduingallnegative forces."

"Dagmema also had an auspicious

dream, inwhichtwo beautiful women

appeared before herholdingacrystal

container,whichI cleansedwithnectar

before placing it onamountain top.It

shonewitha brilliantlight, more daz

zlingthan the sun and moon."

"Thiswas whyI set out tomeetyou

disguisedasafarm laborer. When youdrankallthe beerIoffered and finished

plowing the field,I knewforcertain

thatyouwouldbeabletotake in and

understand the full meaning of the

teaching and transmission."Hecontin

ued, "The copper potwithits four han

dleswhichyou offered me foretold the

comingofmy fourgreatestdisciples.

Its smooth surface meant that your

mindwillbecome completely pure but

its emptinesssignifiedthatyouwillbe

close to starvation whileyou are in

retreatFor this reasonI filleditwith

meltedbutterto provide foryou inlater

years and made its handlesringoutto

announce your future acclaim.I put

you through a series of grueling

ordeals yet you never lost faith or had

illthoughts about me. Thismeans that

your owndisciples will be able to

endure terrible hardships. Through

you, theprecious teachings willgrow

andflourishlikethewaxingmoon. Let

usall rejoice!"

This was the beginning of my

happiness. Now that I had been

accepted byMarpa,hewas verykind

and provided mewith everything I

needed. He askedme toremainnear

him andsentme to practice meditation

inan isolated cave, known as theTiger

Cave. Later that year Mama'sson,

Dharma Dhoday, unexpectedly died.Marpa wasdevastated. Looking for

signs to indicate the future of his

lineage,heinstructed his followersto

watch their dreamsclosely.That night

allMarpa's foremostdiscipleshad out

standing dreams but none of them

related to the lineage. I, however, had a

dream of a huge mountainlikeMount

Meni.Itwasatthe center of theworld

and was encircled by four great

pillars...."Upon the Eastern pillar

crouched a great snow lion with a

flowing maneofturquoise; Fromthe

southern pillaratigress roared spread

ing her claws through the dense

forests; Above the western pillar a

giant eagle soared gazing upward

toward heaven;While in thenorthavulture spread itswings abovea nest

and fledgling, whilethe skybecame

fulloflittlebirds."WhenIhad finished

relating the dream infull, Marpawas

overjoyed. He sang a song which

interpreted my dream andrevealedthe

futureofthe lineage.

"Mila islike thevulture whose out

spread wingssignifyhis realization of

thesecretinstruction.

Itseyrieinthesteepcliffmeans'thathis

life will be as hard as a rock.The

vulture's fledgling shows thathewill

havea peerless spiritual son,and the

smallbirds scattered inspacerepresent

his many disciplesand thespreadof

histeachings far andwide.

His gaze andflight towards heaven

showshewill leave theworldofbirth

and death andarrive in therealm of

perfect freedom. If thewordso fthis

old man areprophetic it is a most

favorable dream forus all."It wasallas

my dream hadpredicted. Meditating

on thefireof'Inner Heat' in solitary

places became my main practice,the

one best suitedto mynature. Marpa

also conferred on me the hat of

Maitripaandthe garmentsofNaropa.

My lifeas ayogiwas very tough and

mypath not without obstacles forIwas

challenged both by non-human and

human adversaries. Through mymaster'sblessings, however,Ieventu

allygainedfullrealization. Later I had

manydisciples.Myfirst, the wayward

Rechungpa always remained closeto

my heart,whilemyfemale disciple,

the beautiful young girl Paldarbom,

embodied allthequalitiesof aliving

Dakiniand became enlightened.

Towards the end of my life, I had

another dream aboutthefuture of the

lineage:Idreamtthatan eagle flewto

CentralTibet landing uponaprecious

jewel. Manygeeseflockedaroundit.

After awhile they dispersed and then

returned, each bringing five hundred

more companions. Soona ll the sur

roundingplainsandvalleyswere filled

withgeese.This dream indicatedthatalthough I wasalayyogi,many of my

followerswouldbecomemonks.Fore

most amongstthesewouldbemy spiri

tual successor, the physician-monk

Gampopa.

Iwas happy beyond words for thecon

tinuation of the tradition was now

ensured. Myown servicetothe Dhar

mawas completed.

M E E T I N G T H EELE MENTS

continuedfrompages

is hardto imagine sucha placeat,say Tsegyalgar, or any ordinaryBuddhist retreat, but inTashigarwhere dinner was routinely servedas late as 10:30PM , TashiBarappeared so perfectly natural whereitoffered an earlier hour servingthetraditional Argentine sandwich. Imyselfwas partial toavodka tonic,

a raretreatIindulgei nduringthesummer, buttherewas also wine,beer,and soda and cafe co n leche.For usclandestine smokers, it wasalsoaplace to relax somewhat guiltfree withour addiction.Young andnot so young danced away. Andnaturally our ownMichael Katzunabashedly sangh isrepertoireoffolk and popular tunes whileotherspresented their own culturaltalents. M eeting many people fromaround the world is really avery

special part of attending retreatsand Tashi Bar washost to manystimulating conversations. I can'tsay much about the New Year's fes

tivities except thatthedinner musthave been wonderful,butby 11:00P M,I foundmyselffallingasleep atthe table soIreturned home l eavingthe festivities to theyoungerandmore awake to ring in the NewYear.

During thecourse of mystay atTashigar,Iwas very happyatlasttovisittheremaining lots of TashigarMandala, including theNe w Yorklotpurchased acouple of yearsagowhich Iparticipa ted in . One afternoon, Kathy O'Connor, Adolphofrom Cordoba,Glen, Michael Katzand I set out for atourof thelandand tovisitGlen's house.Itseemedto me after we have worked outtheroughly designated boundariesofthe NewYork landthatthis pieceisindeed quite beautiful withspectacular viewsto theNorthandWest.At the highest point nearamakeshift sputa ofpiled rocks,itseemed to be aplace which might

be nice to have a practice retreatcabin rather than a large house -something which can be usedbypractitioners, although there isalready a portionof the landsetasidefo rretreatcabinso n theEastslopeo fTashigar's land. A t Glen'sbehest, I spent a couple of dayssketching out different

possibilities.Althoughthe TashigarMandala seemsa bitdisorganizedwithout any over al l plans,fundamentally the idea tomake acommunityofinternational practitioners hasgreatappeal.Itwas also

apleasure to see Naomi's house riselike Georgia O'Keefe's loomingchurchinTaos, hugging the land,asit were, and also Anne Dankoffslittle cottage down below nestledamongalush meadowatthe river'sedge. Glen gave us awalking tour

of his house, brick walls now raisedwhich hedesigned and built himself. A s usually the case inCommunity projects, itsjump infeet first with out much forethought. Buttheresult of seeingsomany houses and their distinctcharacter was delightful.Eachonereflecting something ofthe energy

of its inhabitant. Now, it seemsthings aredeveloping further in amore organized fashion as TashigarMandala begins to implementissues aroundelectricity,water, androads.

In the Principlesof theDzogchenCommunity, Rinpoche writes aboutagricultural cooperatives. Thisplace, Tashigar, is so rich andabundant - anislandofsanityandprotection for allbeings to enjoy

for many generations. I sincerelywishall ourVajra brothers and sisters can visit and restore theirenergy while they relax in this

lovely paradise

and, if even

temporarily, liveoff the fruits of the

landwhich fallupon one withsuchbounty.

CHGYALNAMKHAINORBUSCHEDULE continuedfrompagei

V EN EZU ELA , M A RG A RITA

ISLAND

December 26th-January1st

Margarita Island Retreat

2002Feb.l5th-24th

MARGARITA ISLAND

Teacher'sTraining

March 30th-April3rd

MargaritaIsland Easter Retreat

April 9th-23rd

Margarita IslandLongselTeaching

USAJSEGYALGAR

May 3rd-7th

DzogchenRetreat

SantiMalia Sangha

May 10th-14th

SMS BaseLevelExam

May 15th-19th

SM S ILevelTraining

May21st-23rd

SM S ILevelExam

May24th-28th

SM S IILevelTraining

May30th-31st

SM SnLevelExamJune lst-5th

SMS IIILevelTrainingJune 14th-28th

Personal Retreat of

ChgyalNamkhai Norbu

July5th-14th

Dzogchen Retreat

ITALY,MERIGAR

July18th

LeaveforMerigar

SantiManaSangha

July23rd-25th

SM S BaseLevelExam

July26th-3oth

SM S ILevelTraining

August 10th-18th

DzogchenRetreat

SEE CONTACTS IN COMMUNITY NEWS page I3

6

August22nd-23rd

SMS fflLevelExam

August24th-28th

SMS IVLevelTraining

August 30th-31st

SMS IVLevelExam

September lst-5th

SMS VLevelTraining

September 8th-22nd

Vacationin Sardegna

AUSTRIA, KALACHAKRA

October 10thLeavefor Austria

October 11th

H.H.theDalaiLamaarrives

October 23rd

H.H.theDalaiLamadeparts

ITALY.MERIGAR

October 28th

ReturntoMerigar

THAILAND

November 4th

Leavefor Thailand

November 15th-17th

ThailandDzogchen Retreat

SINGAPORE

November22nd-24thSingapore Retreat

AUSTRALIA,

NAMGYALGAR

November 25th

Leave for Brisbane

December 26th-January1st

Namgyalgar Retreat

5/20/2018 mirror 56

7/19

BOOK REVIEWSCHGYALNAMKHAI NORBURINPOCHE

INPORTLAND,OREGON,USA

PUBLIC Lecture

ChgyalNamkhaiNorbuwilllectureon:"What is SpiritualityintheTibetan

GreatPerfection"

Tradition"

Wednesday, Mayi6th,2001

THE DALAILAMA'S SECRET

TEMPLE:

Tantric WallPaintingsfrom Tibet,

BYIANBAKER&THOMASLAIRD,THAMES&HUDSON,LONDON2000.

The Lukhangis a three-storied

temple or on a romantic island in

the lake behind the Potala; this is

indicated by its longer name

Dzong Gyab Lukhang (rDzong

rgyab klukhang) literally the

"Water-SpiritHouseBehindThe

Fortress". Following thecon

struction of the Potala in the sec

ond halfofthe 17th century,a

lake was left behinddue to the

extraction ofbuilding material.

For pacifyingthe disturbednagas

theFifthDalaiLamapromised to

satisfy them bybuildinga temple

asaplaceforregularpujas.It is

saidthatthesmallartificialisland

in thelake was frequented as a

retreatby theGreat Fifth Dalai

Lama.Latera temple dedicated

to thenagaswasbuilt onthis

island.The Lukhang wasaper

sonalretreatplace of the various

DalaiLamas.

Not manyofthe murals ofthe

ground floor arepreserved. The

first floorcontains beautiful narrative paintings,mainlyofthelife

of thebodhisattva Pema bar

andofthe Indian KingGyalpo

Legkye.In the topfloorone finds

in a small room ofsix by six

meters extraordinary muralsof

Tantric and Dzogchen related

topics. The Eastern wall shows

forty-two Mahasiddha and

Padmasambhava and his twenty-

fiveclosestudents.The Western

wallis decorated withDzogchen

practices and thenorthern wall

shows various Tantric and

Dzogchen themes:thecontents

of Dzogchen tantras, thecom

plete one hundred Shitro deities,

Yantra yoga andTsalung prac

tices, and scenes of Gum

Rinpoche subduing hostile

forces. Besides these three big

wall paintings inthecomers we

canfindbiographical episodes of

masters (SE), protective deities

(NE)andscenesshowingvarious

waysofintroducingthe student

to the naturalstate(NW).

Unfortunately, not allthemurals

are in such a good shapeas

appearinthe book,mainlydue to

continual leaking water through

the roof sincethemid eighties,

caused by "renovation". This

ongoing damage threatens this

unique artistic and spiritual

heritage.

Since I saw the magnificent

murals of theLukhangin The

CrystalAnd The Way OfLight

(plate 12- 17 and 27)in1986,

the wish to see them inrealhaunted me. Tenyears later I

made it to Lhasa andwhile

initiatingan ad hocroof repair

job of the Lukhang with an

active NGO under consultation

ofanASIAarchitect, we had the

chanceoftakingsome pictures as

a by-product. This was thestart

ingpoint for my research onthe

Lukhangand itsDzogchenpaint

ings.A year laterIreturned, this

timeIwasnoteven allowed to

write down the words of the

inscriptions,not tomentionthe

makingofphotos. So Ispelled

the captions into my walkman

recorder and wrote them down at

night in the hotel. The next dayIcompared mynotes with the

wordson thewall. Since I am

workingonthesemurals myself,

I might be more critical than

many other readers about this

beautiful book.

ChgyalNamkhai Norbuwas the

first to publish pictures of the

murals in 1986.Nowacopiously

illustratedbook ispublished.The

work gave birth to a bookof

inspirationand beautyratherthan

ofacademic research. The won

derful pictures were takenby

Thomas Laird andthetextwas

written by IanBaker.The quality

ofthe pictures are incredible andof outstanding quality, whoever

tried to take pictures in the

Lukhangknows how difficultit

is.The book contains 136 color

images inlarge format and 80

pagesoftext and beautiful draw

ings. Itstartswithan introduction

by theDalai Lama. IanBaker

presents the history of the

Lukhang,the connection of itto

the Dalai Lamas and the

interesting sectionon therela

tionship of theDalaiLamas and

the Dzogchen teachings. Ian

madeuse of his good fortuneto

be abletoconsult His Holiness

the Dalai Lama about these

topics. In connection with the

depictions, background

information to thepaintingsare

presented - for example the

Buddhistvisionofart, the path of

Tantra, the world of the

Mahasiddhas andtheDzogchen

teachings. In the introduction the

author investigates the history of

thebuildingand it's context,but

without getting real historical

evidence on theoriginationofthe

Lukhangan its murals (a difficult

research topic not solvedyet

whichI am actuallyworkingon).

The authorfollowed inpreparing

the book the advice of the Dalai

Lama.The murals disclose very

openlytheinnermost Dzogchen

instructions by illustrating all the

practices like Rushen,Tregchd

andThgal.Baker's commentary

describe the principles of the

illustrated practices without

giving practical instruction in away that an "uninitiated"

practitionercoulduseit as"how

todo it book". Forsomebody

familiar with these teachings

thereisalot to discover between

the lines andespecially in the

pictures. WhenIaskedNamkhai

Norbu Rinpocheforadvicefor

my plans on carrying out an

academic study and/orwritinga

book about the Dzogchen paint

ings of the Lukhang he said,"It

wouldbeO.K.tomakeacoffee

table book with more general

explanations. Even atranslation

of the inscription would be

acceptable, but a precise

explanationofthecontentsofthe

pictures relating theDzogchen

practice should notbeundertak

en." This Rinpoche stressed

especially because theWestern

wall shows the complete

Dzogchen path with itsThgal

practices and the resulting

visions.

Iwould liketo seeabook show

ing pictures of the complete

paintings, even if itwouldbe in

small scale only. Probablythe

authors decided toreproduce

onlypicturesofexcellent quality.

continuedon page8

ChgyalNamkhai Norbu

PUBLICLECTURE

7-9 pm- MARYLHURST UNIVERSITY,

St. Anne'sChapelPortland, Oregon

Pre-registration:$10

OnsiteRegistration:$15

Please send and make checks payable to:

MarylhurstUniversity

ReligiousStudies andPhilosophy

Department

P.O. Box261Marylhurst,

OR97036-0261

DZOCCHENTEACHINGS

WITHCHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU

May18th, 19th&20th-Portland, Oregon

WORLD FORESTRYCENTER.MILLERHALI

4033SWCanyonRoad-Portland,Ore

gonThis beautifulfacilityisnear downtown, onaMAXlight

railstop,andthereisplentyofeasyparking.

Registration fees:

$148 byMarch15th

$165byApril15th

$180afterApril15th

DZOCCHENTEACHINGS

FridayMay18th, 7:00-9:00pm,

Saturday May 19th,

8:30-10:00amYantraYoga

10:30-12:30amDzogchenTeachings

2:00- 3:30pmYantraYoga

4:00- 6:00pm

DZOGCHEN TEACHINGS

Sunday-May20th,

8:30 -10:00 amYantraYoga

10:30-1:00pm

DzogchenTeachings and Ganapuja

Retreat phone number: 503-240-8707

Email:chnnpdx@teleport.com

R E G I S T R A T I O N F O R M

Name(s):...

Street Address:

City:. State:.

Z ip : .

Haveyou everattendedateaching by Rinpoche? Yes No_

.childreno f the followingChi ld care is request ed for_

ages:

Makecheck payable to: "NamkhaiNorbu Portland Retreat"

M ai lwithcopyof registration to:

DIANEHYDE,2725 NE17TH.97212

PORTLAND,O R. 97212, USA

Please use thislinkto printamap to theWorld Forestry Center:

http://maps.yahc-o.com/py/maps.py?BFCat^

33+SW+Canyon+Road&city=Portland&state--OR&slt--45.510400

&sln=l22.717800&zip=972212760&country=us&mag=9&cs=9&

BFClient=&poi=&poititle=&map.x=46&map.y=6

Accommodation List:

LodgingneartheWorldForestry Center

MALLORYHOTEL729SW15thAve.,Portland,OR97205

Tel:(503)223-6311 or (800) 228-8657Large,traditional downtownhotelwith

lightrailpassinginfront,about3stops

fromtheWashingtonParkForestry Cen-

ter.

Restaurantonpremises

Rates: $85 -$140.

THEMARKSPENCERHOTEL409SW11thAve.,Portland,

OR97205-2633

Tel:(503) 224-3293or(800)548-3934.

Complementary breakfast.

Rates $89-$109 .

THEIMPERIALHOTEL400SWBroadway,Portland,

OR97205-3579

Tel:(503)228-7221 or (800)452-2323.

Restaurantonpremises, close tolightrail.

Rates $75-$90.

AMERICANHOSPITALITYINNS2221SWSixthAve.,Portland,OR97201

Tel:(503)226-2979.

Rates $50-$70.

CARAVANMOTORHOTEL2401SW4thAve.,Portland,OR97201

Tel:(503)226-1121 or (800)992-2401.

Restaurant, airport shuttle,pool.

Rates $60-$70.

DaysInnCityCenter

1414 SW 6thAve.,Portland, OR 97201-

3497

Tel:(503)221-1611or (800)899-0248.Restaurantonpremises.

Rates $99-$125.

NWPORTLANDINTERNATIONALHOSTEL

1818NWGlisan

Tel:(503)241-2783.

Rates:$20-$48/ membervs.non-member

AY HHostelingInternational/Portland

INTERNATIONALHOSTEL3031SEHawthorneBlvd.,Portland,ORTel:(505)236-3380.

Located onPortland's East side.

Rates $20-$46/membervs.non-member

Thereisarestaurantattheentryplaza for

theOregon Zoo,which liesacrossthepark

ing lotfromtheWorldForestryCenter.

Thereisnozooentrycostsfortherestau-

rant.Menupricesarereasonable.Cafeteria

style,children'smenu,appetizers,andbev

erages. Itistheonlyeatingestablishment

withinwalkingdistance.

Directionsto thezoo:

FromWashington: Take 1-5 south to 1-405

south. Take 1-405 southtoHwy 26 west.

TakeHwy26west to thezoo exit#72.

Fromthe South (Salem. Eugene,Corval-

lis):Take 1-5 north to 1-405 north. Take I-

405 north toHwy26 west. Take Hwy 26

westtothezoo exit#72.

FromtheEast (TheDalles, Hood River,

Pendelton): Take 1-84 westto 1-5south.

Take 1-5 south to 1-405 north. Take 1-405

north toHwy26 west. TakeHwy26 west

tothe zoo exit #72.

FromtheSouthcoast:TakeHwy101north

toHwy6east.TakeHwy6easttoHwy26

east.TakeHwy26easttothezoo exit#72.

From the North coast: Take Hwy101

south toHwy26east.TakeHwy26eastto

the zoo exit #72.

THE MIRROR MARCH 2001 /APRIL 2001 7

BOOKREVIEWBYJAKOBWINKLER

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BOOK REVIEWS Th e D a la i Lama' s Secret Tem ple continuedfrompage7

CAVEINTHE SNOWBLOOMSBURY PRESS, 1998

by Vkki Mackenzie

Ifirst metTenzinPalmoin 1980 on a dusty roadside atTashi

Jong, India where shemadeadeepimpression on me. She

was already a legend in the Himalayas and acknowledged

as a woman who had gone more deeply into her spiritualprac

tice than any other Westerner. It was notuntil 1989, however,thatIwas able to spend manylongand memorable hourswith

her when she stayedwithme as myguestinLondon.

Anoutstanding Englishwoman in the tradition of hardy and

intrepid early explorers, shehad lived inretreat for over

twelve years