Saturday
That would be yesterday.
I've been pretty bad about leaving some record of the last week, because there's been so much to record. That's the way it has always gone with me and journalling. Pity - the walk (if that's what you call it) up Shadow Canyon to (almost) South Boulder Peak deserves some attention, and certainly the story of the lives and doings of a community of (alas, now dead, I think) ferrets (involving eagles, crashing planes, and maybe a tornado, I'm not sure about that part), as related by the ferrets' half-princess, deserves some mention, too.
But today I'll talk about yesterday.
Short version: north to Fort Collins, west through half of the Cache la Poudre canyon, a little jog north to the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya. Spent a long time there. Back to Fort Collins (not through the canyon, though), south to Loveland, then west, up the Big Thompson canyon, to Estes Park, a little shopping (including a stop at Fudgeworks for Tiger Butter!!!), a truly fine meal, then east following part of the Little Thompson and part of the (mighty!) St. Vrain back to Lyons, Boulder, and home.
Long version: there isn't any long version (ha! had you scared, didn't I!). However...
Did you know "one of the most significant examples of Buddhist sacred architecture in the world" is parked in a breath-takingly lovely valley ("park", in Colorado parlance) in the Colorado Rockies? That quote is from the web site. I think the literature at the physical site generally qualifies it with "outside of Asia". Be that as it may, there is a stupa, The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya Which Liberates Upon Seeing, reliquary of Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, meditation center, "an expression of the aspiration for peace, harmony and equanimity for all beings". This is the same Rinpoche who founded Naropa University in Boulder.
The setting is beautiful, and the day was perfect. There is a sense of peace and calm that pervades the place. We spent a long time, because I liked that feeling, I found myself walking slowly, even thinking slowly. There is a part of me that could settle in there and be very happy.
And yet... Bex didn't seem to like it much. I haven't asked her (yet) about that. My intuition seemed to be in overdrive, and seemed to like the place, but her intuition is better than mine. She has better tools than I do, although I don't think she has been using them much for the last several years.
The Great Stupa is not, to my way of seeing and thinking, beautiful. The colors are gaudy and garish, the patterns unfamiliar and jarring. Except for the floor inside, which is absolutely gorgeous inlaid stone. But in general, not my style. The same is true for Buddhism in general. I think they're closer to the truth than most organized religion, but they are still organized religion, with centuries of history, tradition, rules and regulations -- all kinds of unnecessary baggage. So you look at Zen and things Zen in a Zen way. (No, "Zen" is not equivalent to "Buddhist", but it's easier to type, and you know what I mean.)
And yet... The volunteer artists painting panels for the still-unfinished Stupa talked loudly while we tried to watch the video they had seen a thousand times while tourists learned the history and construction techniques of the Stupa. They talked about how one of them caught her lover (husband?) lying about an affair, how another had to leave early to get in uniform for the parade at 5:00. Parade? The greeter at the entrance to the Shambhala Center grounds explained that it was not as busy as usual because a large group program had just ended and everybody had left -- except there was still one program still going on, over near the Stupa, just ignore it, don't disturb it, and why did she seem to be suddenly nervous, almost giggly, when she mentioned it? And over near the Stupa, a little ways off by those tents over there, who are those guys, shouting and moving around -- not marching exactly -- in groups -- not really formations -- in drab-tan black-booted uniforms?
Okay, don't go reading things into things, everyone has a story and I mostly don't know what they are. Besides, it's none of my business.
Free Tibet?
I've been pretty bad about leaving some record of the last week, because there's been so much to record. That's the way it has always gone with me and journalling. Pity - the walk (if that's what you call it) up Shadow Canyon to (almost) South Boulder Peak deserves some attention, and certainly the story of the lives and doings of a community of (alas, now dead, I think) ferrets (involving eagles, crashing planes, and maybe a tornado, I'm not sure about that part), as related by the ferrets' half-princess, deserves some mention, too.
But today I'll talk about yesterday.
Short version: north to Fort Collins, west through half of the Cache la Poudre canyon, a little jog north to the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya. Spent a long time there. Back to Fort Collins (not through the canyon, though), south to Loveland, then west, up the Big Thompson canyon, to Estes Park, a little shopping (including a stop at Fudgeworks for Tiger Butter!!!), a truly fine meal, then east following part of the Little Thompson and part of the (mighty!) St. Vrain back to Lyons, Boulder, and home.
Long version: there isn't any long version (ha! had you scared, didn't I!). However...
Did you know "one of the most significant examples of Buddhist sacred architecture in the world" is parked in a breath-takingly lovely valley ("park", in Colorado parlance) in the Colorado Rockies? That quote is from the web site. I think the literature at the physical site generally qualifies it with "outside of Asia". Be that as it may, there is a stupa, The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya Which Liberates Upon Seeing, reliquary of Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, meditation center, "an expression of the aspiration for peace, harmony and equanimity for all beings". This is the same Rinpoche who founded Naropa University in Boulder.
The setting is beautiful, and the day was perfect. There is a sense of peace and calm that pervades the place. We spent a long time, because I liked that feeling, I found myself walking slowly, even thinking slowly. There is a part of me that could settle in there and be very happy.
And yet... Bex didn't seem to like it much. I haven't asked her (yet) about that. My intuition seemed to be in overdrive, and seemed to like the place, but her intuition is better than mine. She has better tools than I do, although I don't think she has been using them much for the last several years.
The Great Stupa is not, to my way of seeing and thinking, beautiful. The colors are gaudy and garish, the patterns unfamiliar and jarring. Except for the floor inside, which is absolutely gorgeous inlaid stone. But in general, not my style. The same is true for Buddhism in general. I think they're closer to the truth than most organized religion, but they are still organized religion, with centuries of history, tradition, rules and regulations -- all kinds of unnecessary baggage. So you look at Zen and things Zen in a Zen way. (No, "Zen" is not equivalent to "Buddhist", but it's easier to type, and you know what I mean.)
And yet... The volunteer artists painting panels for the still-unfinished Stupa talked loudly while we tried to watch the video they had seen a thousand times while tourists learned the history and construction techniques of the Stupa. They talked about how one of them caught her lover (husband?) lying about an affair, how another had to leave early to get in uniform for the parade at 5:00. Parade? The greeter at the entrance to the Shambhala Center grounds explained that it was not as busy as usual because a large group program had just ended and everybody had left -- except there was still one program still going on, over near the Stupa, just ignore it, don't disturb it, and why did she seem to be suddenly nervous, almost giggly, when she mentioned it? And over near the Stupa, a little ways off by those tents over there, who are those guys, shouting and moving around -- not marching exactly -- in groups -- not really formations -- in drab-tan black-booted uniforms?
Okay, don't go reading things into things, everyone has a story and I mostly don't know what they are. Besides, it's none of my business.
Free Tibet?