part of the HOP celebration in sf was a wonderful talent show! as part of that talent show we had songs, poetry, comedy, and dance.
Claire Topher pulled togther some words which she asked Alice to read. as the words were read, in what was perhaps one of the most beautiful ways anyone there had heard them, claire danced to them.
(click the photos to see them larger)
with claire’s permission, below is a copy of what she danced to. at the end she’s cited where she found each piece.
thank you, claire, for your beautiful offering.
Harvest of Peace Offering
1. When we enter somebody’s room, when we sit by ourselves, when we meet someone, the background is partially made up of the sense of basic space that we carry around with us all the time and it is also colored by our particular mood of the moment. It is a kind of portable stage set that we carry around with us that enables us to operate as individuals. We constantly produce a display, a theatrical scene. For each situation we create the appropriate backdrop and the appropriate lighting. We also have the appropriate actors, mainly ourselves, who appear on the stage. We carry on this kind of play, this theatrical game, all the time and we are constantly using our antennae, so to speak, to feel out the total effect our stage set is having.
~ Pause (for few seconds) ~
2. Our deepest fears are like dragons guarding our deepest treasure. The fear that impermanence awakens in us, that nothing is real and nothing lasts, is, we come to discover, our greatest friend because it drives us to ask: if everything dies and changes, then what is really true? Is there something behind the appearances, something boundless and infinitely spacious, something in which the dance of change and impermanence takes place? Is there something in fact we can depend on, that does survive what we call death?
~ Pause (for few seconds) ~
3. We have to allow ourselves to realize that we are complete fools; otherwise, we have nowhere to begin. We have to be willing to be a fool and not always try to be a wise guy. We could almost say that being willing to be a fool is one of the first wisdoms.
4. A baby rubbing its face
Is in fact peeling off the dried scum of its tears.
The wisdom to exchange a scab for a caramel
may have its origin here.
Ecstasy comes to the child
When the dried surface cracks~ Pause (for few seconds) ~
5. …Smoke is coming out
from all your joints
There is a big plate of
Water on our head and
Razor blades under your feetYour eyes are open, but
They don’t see anything,
There is a big eye in the middle of your forehead
That mirrors a distant landscapeStrings are attached to
Your joints, your float
Above the earth, not
Moving yourself
Your spirit goes before
you- form follows behindYour sides are pieces
Of your body moving out into space.6. If this illusory body, which I cling to as mine, is sick – let it be sick!
This sickness enables me to exhaust
The bad karma I have accumulated in the past,
And the spiritual deeds I can then perform
Help me purify the two kinds of veils.If I am in good health, I am happy,
Because when my body and mind are well
I can enhance my spiritual practice,
And give real meaning to human existence
By turning my body, speech, and mind to virtue.If I am poor, I am happy,
Because I’ve no wealth to protect,
And I know that all feuds and animosity
Sprout from the seeds of greed and attachment.If I am rich, I am happy,
Because with my wealth I can do more positive actions
And both temporal and ultimate happiness
Are the result of meritorious deeds.If I die soon, that’s excellent,
Because, assisted by some good potential, I am
Confident that
I shall enter the unmistaken path
Before any obstacle can intervene.If I live long, I am happy,
Because without parting from the warm beneficial
rain of spiritual instructions
I can, over a long time, full ripen
The crop of inner experiences.Therefore, whatever happens, I shall be happy!
7…we may come along and actually want to find something out. And we may not find what we want, absolutely not. Our questions may not be answered one by one But something else is taking place. Maybe the question mark itself is beginning to rot, become disheveled, and turn into a period, full stop. Maybe that is happening. It’s a possibility. And that seems to be the process of the whole journey: dissolving the question mark into a full stop. The question mark becomes a statement or an exclamation, rather than a hollow line longing to be filled by answers.
~ THE END ~ Gong…..
Bibliography
1. from “The Path Is The Goal” by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
2. from “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” by Sogyal Rinpoche
3. from “Dharma Art” by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
4. from “Dancing Into Darkness” by Sondra Fraleigh
5. from “Dancing Into Darkness” by Sondra Fraleigh
6. from “The Heart of Compassion” by Dilgo Khyentse Rinphoche
7. from “from “Dharma Art” by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche