Karmê Chöling Blog

Mindfulness in Practice: A Program for Psychotherapists

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:38:09 +0000

by Barbara Heffernan

Moving mindfully through one’s day is moving with heart-and-mindfulness, a sense of equanimity, compassion, and presence. It is possible to bring the power of mindfulness to contemplation of specific cases, especially those that present difficulties for the therapist.

When Patton and I offered this workshop in April at Karme Choling, the therapists formed groups of four, with one of them presenting a challenging client/case. The group practiced listening mindfully, taking in the speaker and the speaker’s words, without any immediate feedback, while noticing their own internal reactions. The group then sat in a state of mindful presence, aware in their own bodies and minds of what was coming up for them as they listened to the case. Without speaking, the group then sat briefly in compassion meditation. Following this pause, they began to discuss what came up for them while listening to the case and how their thoughts, insights, and feelings about the case shifted during this process.

The feedback was powerful, all speakers feeling that they had been listened to thoroughly, in a way that did not frequently happen during case conferences and consults. They also felt they had a new way of tapping into a sense of peace and confidence about their work, and felt increased compassion for their clients and themselves. As one of the participants wrote in her review, “[The best thing about this workshop was] I learned to access my own wisdom through the practices.”

Barbara Heffernan, LSCW, LADC, and Patton Hyman will present this workshop, “Mindfulness in Practice: A Program for Psychotherapists,” in Stamford, CT, on November 4 – 5, 2010. The program is accredited by NASW for continuing education credits. For details click here.

Phenomenal displays during the Assembly of Warriors

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:43:11 +0000

photos by Lisa Stanley

Exits and Entrances: Being in the Body

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:32:37 +0000

By Vicki Tansey

photo by Sol Lang

When it comes to being in one’s body with mindfulness, in some fundamental way, there is little difference between any of us. Dancer, athlete, mover, doer. All that we are – all that defines us – is a conglomeration of how we think, feel and act. It is easy to dismiss the body’s role; after all, we often focus on communication through words, when perhaps simple, embodied presence is better. We try to transcend – to override the signals our bodies are tuned to – convinced that our intellectual and emotional intelligences ‘know’ what’s going on and how to respond. Time after time, we allow this mind over body ‘take-over’ and wonder why we keep feeling overwhelmed, fatigued and off-centre. We misread situations because we are not including the body’s natural and innate ability to inform us.

Try this exercise, standing or sitting still:

Wait. Wait some more. Begin to notice – to pay attention to what you’re feeling and thinking. Relief at the stillness? Agitation? Nothing? This is the very place to start. You are in the process of returning ‘home’, beginning to let your body, breath, mind and heart arrive in the same place at the same time.

When mindfully present in your body – in all its unique quirkiness and beauty – you come back into your own skin. You soften to its reality, trusting the way it can and will guide you through the still and rushing waters of life itself. The hundreds of small and large gestures and movements we do everyday – every moment is one in which we can be present. This quality of consciousness is available to all of us, but requires that we are willing to investigate and take on the kind of practices that will nourish and support it.

Vicki Tansey will lead “Exits & Entrances: Explorations in Presence and Improvisation with Meditation,”
September 3 – 6, 2010.
Click here for more information.

Jack Niland’s Sun and Symbols Banners

Sue Gilman — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:30:34 +0000

For Karmê Chöling’s 40th anniversary celebration over Memorial Day weekend Jack Niland showered us with creative blessings of various kinds. Not only did he produce and direct two of Trungpa Rinpoche’s plays (more about those in a separate post) but he also created a series of banners that were hung throughout the house, the Pavilion and the dining tent – a brilliant display of the symbols of the Shambhala world.

Jack arrived at Karmê Chöling several days before the weekend celebration began with more than 40 banners that he had produced single-handedly in his apartment in New York. “For the 40th I wanted to create a new visual vision with the banners based on sunshine and I wanted to sum up Shambhala in 21 symbols – like the essence of Shambhala as Trungpa developed it.”

: Photo by Jeffrey Mann

From the very beginning of the Vidyadhara’s arrival in the U.S. Jack had a part in helping to bring that vision into forms. It was a very young Jack Niland who painted the front door of Karmê Chöling under painstakingly specific directions from Trungpa Rinpoche in 1970. Rinpoche referred to the front door as the gateway to dharma in the west. The door has been repainted by many artists through the years, most recently Peter Fried and Catherine Clark, and in each case they have tried to stay as true as possible to the original design.

Jack told us about an occasion, years ago, when Trungpa came to his banner studio in Boulder. He instructed Jack to print a big yellow sun on white satin, and while the ink was still wet Rinpoche took the garuda seal and silk screened it in red on the sun. When Rinpoche pulled the screen up he said, “Look. The ink has penetrated the yellow sun so it looks as though the seal is inside of the sun instead of on top of the sun. That’s how you should think of it.” ” That blew me away,” Jack said, “because I had never thought of printing wet on wet – it just wasn’t done.”

When the Sakyong appointed Jack an ‘Artist of the Kalapa Court’, he presented him with the image of a black Ashe on top of a gold sun. The image was on a shikishi board. Jack nailed the award very securely to the wall above his bed. As the time drew close to do the project for Karmê Chöling, Jack was having a hard time figuring out what the project should be. At 3 o’clock one morning he was sitting in his bed with a pad of paper, thoroughly stumped and becoming depressed, when suddenly the board popped off the wall, fell, and hit him on the head. “My first reaction was, ‘Oh, I’m a failure as an artist because I can’t think of anything and my award fell down’.” But as he picked it up from the floor he realized, “Oh my God, this is the project!” And that is how Karmê Chöling came to be filled with glorious banners each containing a gold sun and a symbol of Shambhala.

Photo by Tom Plucinski

Photo by Jeffrey Mann

June 20, 2010, Summer Solstice, Update From Retreats at Karmê Chöling

Cynther Greene — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:21:42 +0000

It’s been more than a year now that I’ve been Retreat Master here at Karmê Chöling, and what a rich experience it’s been. Holding the retreat container, being a protectress, is an honor and a joy, and very humbling. I thank all who’ve done retreat, anywhere, for your practice, courage, curiosity, trepidation, joy, and devotion in doing retreat.

So, what happened in 2009 in the world of Retreats? Alexander ‘t Hart, prior Retreat Master, returned home to Holland in April; major repairs were made to parts of the road to the Purkhang, around the wood pile, and the road to the Scorpion Seal retreat cabin; Nirmanakaya was picked up and moved to a new location; all the fields above the Upper Campground, except for that at Sambhogakaya, were mowed. 2009 also saw the departure of Shaun Nord, Retreats Assistant for two years. Samuel Allison arrived in June this year as the new Assistant.

For those of you who’ve done retreat here, I thought you might be interested to know about your favorite cabin(s), what was done in 2009 and what we aspire to get done in 2010. During 2009 I created a no-holds barred budget for the next two years. This isn’t a wish list. This is the nitty-gritty stuff!

Yeshe:

Early summer Jason Winchester and Greg McNally were pivotal in transplanting a number of fast-growing white pine volunteers and planting young balsam firs that will grow into an effective a screen a number of yards away from the cabin in about 7 years . The cabin was cleaned professionally mid-summer, and a new Jotul stove was installed in November.

The aspiration for 2010 is to see a new foundation put under the cabin, with insulation and skirting. I’d like to see the walls and ceiling reinsulated, the floor refinished, and the cracked window, kitchen counter, and the cupboards repaired. The shrine will be updated, and new insulated curtains installed. The price tag for this work varies, depending on where the professional help comes from, anywhere between $2,000 and $5,000.
A good amount of the woody debris from the 2005 down burst pulled away from the cabin in May.

Sambhogakaya:

We are following through on a recent retreatant’s brilliant idea to allow a 25-yard wide screen of trees and shrubbery to grow along the Purkhang edge of Sambhogakaya’s field, creating additional privacy and its own small meadow over time. Once this screen is well developed, a few select trees around the cabin can be removed to provide additional light into the area. Juniper trees and red dogwood will be planted to provide additional screen from the hill where the prayer flags wave.

Sambhogakaya’s foundation is also in need of fixing: this summer we hope to jack it up and give it a new foundation, with insulation and skirting. The hearth will get repaired and the floor refinished. New curtains are planned for the porch-side windows, and small venetian blinds for the kitchen windows. We’ll build a small closet for hanging clothes, and the window alignments will be addressed. The shrine will be updated. A new wood stove would be wonderful but we’ll have to wait a year or two more. The above remedies and repairs could range from $4,000 to $5,000, again, depending on the labor pool.

View from Sambhogakaya

Nirmanakaya:

Yes, Nirmanakaya! Nirmanakaya was picked up and moved to its new location, the former site of Vairudhaka, and placed on a new foundation (Vairudhaka’s old foundation was dug up). This new site has much good energy.

We are in the process of bringing this cabin back on line: so far the cabin’s foundation has been insulated and skirted, the porch reattached, and a lot of new exterior facing installed. In the last week of June new ceiling insulation and ceiling are going in, and the cabin will get a new roof.

Outside, landscaping and grading are needed, the wood shed needs to be attached, the outhouse relocated over a small septic tank, and the propane brought back on-line. In early July a new wood stove will be installed, the floor refinished, insulated curtains added, and the shrine renewed. This could all add up to close to $4,000.

Nirmanakaya, in progress, June 18

Nagarjuna:

This cabin is in overall very good condition, with only small repairs and remedies sought in 2010: a thorough cleaning inside along with a paint job; minor repairs to the inside of the cabinetry; a new outhouse; a new screen for the kitchen window; the shrine updated; insulated curtains. All this for about $2,000. Although this cabin too could stand to be insulated and skirted (the foundation is looking good), this will wait another year.

Dhritarashtra:

This cabin sees a good amount more sunlight than it did four years ago before the down burst and is in overall good condition. Small trees and shrubs were cut back behind the cabin last summer to allow more airflow and ambient northern light.

My main concerns are areas of rot, found primarily on the backside of the cabin, in particular the eaves, and some leaks in the porch roof. We hope to address the drafts around the bed platform, reinsulating where needed; add weather stripping, storm windows, and lined curtains; and repair the hearth, refinish the floor, and uplift the shrine. All this could run anywhere between $3,000 and $4,000. As with Nagarjuna, foundation insulation and skirting will wait for another year.

Looking south-west from the porch of Dhritarashtra

Great Eastern Sun:

Inside, this medium sized cabin is in line for a washing and a paint job. The transom window will be replaced, lined curtains added, the shrine upgraded, and cabinet facing repaired. I’d love to see storm windows installed in this cabin, and the floor refinished. Outside, both porch steps will be rebuilt, and the roof re-shingled. Foundation insulation and skirting are not a pressing matter for this cabin and will wait another year or two. The above work could come in around $3,000 to $4,500.

In early June we to cut down a few small trees close to the cabin to allow more light, a higher tree canopy, and more air circulation. I hope to create a shade garden of hasta, ferns, and other shade loving plants. The work of clearing away fallen branches and tree limbs began last summer and continues.

Retreats Equipment:

The noble, red, Toyota four-wheel drive pick-up truck was designated solely as a Retreats vehicle spring of 2009 and as such has been used only to carry cabin and retreatant supplies, and retreatants and their belongings up and down the hill. The truck is running very well. I’d like to thank our donor again for giving Karmê Chöling this truck!

The two snow mobiles we have are 1980’s models and are working well, though I use the late ‘80s model as it’s easier to start, less noisy, and more stable. We haven’t had as much snow this year as we’ve had in the past two years so the demand on the machines, the back and forth trips up and down the hill to groom roads, has been much less.

Retreats 2010 Budget:

Retreats’ budget for 2010 includes treating the Tori gate to help preserve the wood, the myriad of normal Retreats operating and supplies expenses – you know them, all those things you found in your cabin, like propane lamp mantles, paper towels, spare batteries, dish detergent, etc. – hopefully a few new wool blankets, a little flower garden uplifting at each cabin, and some possible additional road maintenance and/or repairs. In my dreams I’d like to be able to store all blankets in each cabin in cedar lined drawers or closets.

Bright on Retreats’ horizon is the necessity to replenish our wood pile with a two year supply of fire wood. We are looking to purchase approximately 28 cords of wood to supplement the wood we can find on Karmê Chöling’s land, not through a logging operation, but through the selective culling of trees around cabins, as done around Great Eastern Sun, and the good number of trees that just naturally come down in storms.

At the wood pile

Thank you

To Karmê Chöling’s retreatants, I extend a heart felt thank for taking such good care of your cabins this and prior years. Some of you have done work around the cabins, and some of you have physically contributed to their upkeep. Some of you have made donations. I thank you!

I also want to express much appreciation for the dathunees, other program participants, and the community volunteers who have helped in retreats over the years. You’ve made such a big difference!

Karmê Chöling’s retreat tradition is strong and well supported in heart and spirit, blessed by many great teachers – by the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the Sakyong, Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rinpoche, Tsultrim Gyamptso Rinpoche, His Holiness the 16th Galwang Karmapa, and His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche – and by the strength of practice, insight, and realization experienced by the many retreatants who have spent time in retreat here over the years.

Retreats needs your financial support. Please help sustain and strengthen Karmê Chöling’s retreat tradition today in conjunction with Karmê Chöling’s renewal and expansion aspirations. Help us provide the best possible container for your and others’ experience in the future by supporting the necessary infrastructure and the many much-needed repairs of 2010. Ten percent of any donation you give directly to the Retreats Department will go to supporting Retreats’ operational budget, and the rest to capital improvements.

Your tax deductible donation can be sent to the Retreats Office at Karmê Chöling, 369 Patneaude Lane, Barnet VT 05821.

Retreat: It is one of the major ways to gain stability in meditation and train to the benefit of others. I’m here for another year. I hope I can support you in retreat during this time.

Thank you for your generosity!

Cynther Greene
Retreat Master
retreats@karmecholing.org
802-633-2384 ext.122

Milkweed on the way to Yeshe

Turtle in the rock garden

Sue Gilman — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:32:41 +0000

Last year a snapping turtle laid eggs in the Karme Choling rock garden. At least that’s what everyone says. I can’t find anyone who actually saw any baby turtles but here are photos to prove that she was there. We put up turtle crossing signs along the driveway, since it cuts directly through her path between the rock garden and the pond. This event occurred during the first Scorpion Seal Assembly last June. Some of us felt certain there was a cosmic relationship between the amazing energy of the program and the appearance of the turtle. Others of us felt that Tom Plucinski did such a fine job tending the rock garden that she was seduced by its pristine form. Of course by the time these photos were taken the pristine part had begun to diminish.

Whatever the reason, it appears she has returned this year. The signs are there: a particular kind of disturbance of the rocks resembling a trail and something that looks distinctly like a smushed out little nest in an otherwise perfectly raked rock garden. In addition, the apparent causes and conditions have repeated themselves again this year. The garden was raked just before we began the second Scorpion Seal Assembly last week.

One thing is for sure. She’s in the pond. Acharyas Greenleaf, Hayashi and Ferguson were observed watching her float, very still, on the surface of the pond a couple of days ago. Completely motionless for a long time. The turtle, that is, not necessarily the Acharyas.

Launching the Cornerstone Campaign with champagne

Sue Gilman — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:39:30 +0000

We rolled out the Cornerstone Campaign at a High Tea on Saturday afternoon on the lawn outside the pavilion. Jane Arthur and Acharya Suzann Duquette (who is also the Chair of the Expansion Committee) gave a short presentation about Karmê Chöling’s plans to move us forward into the next 40 + years while people nibbled tea cakes and sipped champagne in the brilliant afternoon air. Katie Trautz and Julia Wayne played beautiful fiddle music and we were delighted by a surprise visit from poet Anne Waldman. Ms. Waldman, who lives in Colorado, was in the area for a brief residency at the Vermont Studio Center. She heard it was our birthday and came to visit for an afternoon. We were treated to a reading/dancing of a ritual performance-piece entitled “Neuralinguistically: This is the Writing Dance” and the reading of a transcript of an “archival” 1975 conversation between the Vidyadhara, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and others. The archival piece is now in a recent anthology that she co-edited with Laura Wright, entitled BEATS AT NAROPA.

Breaking Ground for the Scorpion Seal Retreat Cabin!

Sue Gilman — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:34:55 +0000

After two years of preparation, construction of the cabin will begin this month. The groundbreaking ceremony during the 40th Anniversary celebration was one of the highlights of the weekend. More than 100 people hiked up the road in a long stream passing through a lhasang of juniper (created by Ms. Cynther Greene, Karme Choling Retreat Master) as we entered into what, for years, has been called the Nirmanakaya meadow. The day was magnificent with clouds moving through a blue sky.

The celebration began with an offering of Genjoraku, a bugaku 7th century Japanese court dance, by Acharya Arawana Hayashi, powerful and magical amongst the tall trees of the meadow.

A special shovel was created for the actual groundbreaking by Ms. Catherine Clark. The shovel blade has a gold face marked with a black Ashe. Acharya Rockwell and Director Jane Arthur made the first cut tossing earth in the air with glee. They were followed by Acharyas Suzann Duquette, Michael Greenleaf and Arawana Hayashi then all former directors of Karme Choling who were present for the weekend: David Nichtern, Jude Robison, Roger Guest, Tom Bell and Bill Brauer as well as Dr. Stuart Lord, President of Naropa University.

After the gleeful shoveling Acharya Rockwell said a few words about the cabin then engaged in a lively and informative conversation with the assembly.

The design of the cabin is based on the Sakyong’s Scorpion Seal Retreat cabin in Kalapa Valley in Nova Scotia. The cabin being built at Karme Choling is a prototype for a series of cabins to be built at Shambhala Centers around the world.

Donations to the Scoripon Seal Retreat Cabin can be made here.

Karmê Chöling Poem

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:55:29 +0000

“Poem About Karme Choling” written by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
© The Sawang Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo
April 29, 1993
Used by permission

Ekajati Painting by Chogyam Trungpa
Used by permission

Weekend Celebration Highlights

admin — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:56:27 +0000