My mother made many paintings of sort of frightening images, sometimes as self-portraits, based on imagery from Indian art and also from Tibetan thangkas- of which there were several in the house, as well as statues and ritual objects. She was quite interested in the principles of energy, and talked about this quite a lot.
My father, Ted Denyer, on the other hand, had quite a different interest in spiritual matters. For him, that was part of art itself- the seeking of truths. So he sought to find the calm and spacious state in his paintings, creating a dimension on the canvas of color and form, a reality which reflected his felt sense of inner reality, which he also firmly believed had a valuable existence outside.
LM...I was fascinated by the saints- and painted images on the walls of my room at home of St Sebastian, full of arrows, and looking a bit like Mick Jagger, people tell me, and John the Baptist, based on a guy I knew, as well as lesser known saints- and one of Jesus of which only the head remains. What I was left with, from my parents’s interests, was a realization that somehow humans could embody something divine, despite the apparent complete craziness of the human condition, namely mine. I still believe this.
They sent me off to art school and the first thing I did was to try to meditate, sitting as instructed, on a folded blanket, referring to a yoga book that my father had been using to get the family to practice yoga with, some years before with little success. I found I was not very interested in art for art’s sake, very quickly. Actually I already knew that- I did not want to be in art school, I wanted to be a waitress so I could begin real life. But that never happened. Real life happened but I was not a waitress. It was all real life.
In the early seventies, we found the Gurdjieff work- Many of the artists and musicians in our Group were discouraged about pursuing their art form, and gave it up for many years. And they and others also used this creative energy to fuel their practice of awareness. That is what Mr Anderson told me, “Don’t make art- use this for your Work- it’s the same energy!” This could be useful but you have to know how to transform the energy and have very strong intention.
LD….The Game of Liberation was something I participated in through the kindness of Rinpoche, who allowed me to try. “You can try,” he said when I asked if I could work on it. Before me, a whole group of artists, some very very skilled ones like Glen Eddy and several Russians, had been working on the game board for some time, but all their work burned in a fire in Russia. So suddenly there was nothing left. And someone had to start again. I worked for about five years collecting information about various aspects of it and making sketches and little paintings ( I lost all my work too, at one point).
LM….I think art is a capacity of humans, and that everyone has it in them; they just have to find out how to do it. That was one of the gifts I saw artists have, when I interacted with my friends, growing up. They were always interested in a family of artists, and wanted to do it themselves - to work with color, to make things, to have a chance to invent a new dimension of reality and be in it that way. So some of them did take inspiration from being able to do that with my family and me. All my family’s friends at that time were artists also, so it seemed entirely normal to have a studio in the house and to do a lot of painting and individual work along those lines. Giving people a feeling that this is normal and quite easy was good.
May 1, 2013 - "Early Registration Deadline" for Retreat with Choegyal Namkhai Norbu - June 7-12, 2013 Tsegyalgar East, Conway, MA, USA The deadline for Early Registration for the retreat entitled "Khordas Rangdrol" from the Dra Thalgyur, is May 1, 2013. Retreat Fees are as follows: Pre-Registration-prior to May 1, 2013 Non-Members: $600 Members: $300 Meritorious Members: No Charge Registration after May 1, 2013 (including On-site Registration) Non-Members: $630 Members: $325 Meritorious Members: No Charge Reduced Fee for First Time Attendees (non-members only): If this is your first retreat, the first day is Free. Each additional day is $25/day. Please go to the online retreat registration page to register early: Register Online |
[Photo by JGens:: Joe Zurylo, Yuchen Namkkai, and Nary Mitchel]
The Khandroling Cooperative team would like to give credit to Yuchen Namkhai
for her enthusiastic vision to create sustainability at Khandroling. She has actively supported all efforts to bring to fruition projects that will benefit the well-being of the
community well into the future. She's a great inspiration!
Last Sunday we met to check out the used equipment we recently purchased to make sure it fits to the tractor. The farm is still snowed in which will soon morph into 'mud season' but as soon as we can we will start to planting process. For now we are in the planning stages and making preparations, purchasing seeds and concocting additives for soil nutrition.
To this aim we plan on cultivating about 2 acres on the farm at Khandroling.One acre will be devoted to an orchard primarily along the steeper slopes whichare not suitable for crops. The rest will be divided into 4 plots containing Flaxand flowers for the paper making project, barley for the eventual use in Chudlen along with our own honey, medicinal herbs for medicine program. The largest plot will containa community garden for vegetable production.
To this end we decided to purchase some real farm machinery to minimize our labor, we now own a set of second hand disk harrows which are used to level the furrows left after plowing, a hiller which constructs raised beds used for row crops and a tiller (picture below) which cultivates the soil between the rows keeping the weeds down. Once the veggies begin to come into season we will send ou notices to every one and folks can come and "pick your own" at a nominal cost per pound.
1. The pure essence of the elements emerged from the mouth of the turtle as vapour and transformed into the 'old father of existence' (Sipa yab rgen ), the first and most ancient trigram, Khen, symbol of the sky. He is described as a old man with white hair, dressed in yellow silk, riding a dog and holding a crystal wand in his hand.
2. The impure aspects of the elements emerged as the dung of the turtle and fell and became 'old mother of existence', (Sipe yum rge ma) Khon, the second trigram that symbolises the earth. She is represented as an old lady with white hair the colour of a conch-shell, with a hundred wrinkles on her face, dressed in white silk, holding a hoe in her right hand and a wooden stick in her left and riding a sheep.
3. The old father and mother of existence married and from their union came the eldest son, the third trigram, Ghin, who symbolises the mountain connecting sky and earth. The eldest son is represented by a figure resembling a monk, holding a sacred book in his hands and riding a rose-coloured ox.
4. Then the wind blowing through the stony mountain valleys gave rise to the fourth trigram called Zon. This trigram is symbolised by the eldest daughter represented as a young woman dressed in yellow silk, riding a dzo, and holding in her hands a balloon-like round bag made of skin.
5. The action of the wind produced the fire element symbolised by the trigram Li which is represented by the youngest daughter of the old father and mother of existence. She is rosy in colour, with a horse's head, dressed in red silk, holding a ladle full of blood in her right hand and a torch in her left.
6. From the encounter of air and fire arose the sixth trigram called Kham which is symbolised by the grandson of the old father and mother and represented as a black-coloured man, with long hair, dressed in black, holding a leather ball full of water in his hand and riding a black pig.
7. Then from the interaction of the fire and wind arose the rain which fell thus originating the trigram Zin symbolised by the tree. The trigram Zin is represented by the grand-daughter who is greenish in colour, dressed in green silk, riding a green donkey, with her hands crossed on her chest and holding a plant.
8. Through the function of the element fire which melted the earth, its pure essence, metal (gold, silver, copper, etc.), manifests, associated with the trigram Da. The trigram Da is the youngest son of the old father and the old mother and he is represented by a young warrior wearing a helmet and armour, holding a sword and a lance in his hands and riding a goat.Therefore making a brief summary - the first trigram, Khen, is the father, Khon is the mother, Ghin is the elder son, Zon is the elder daughter, Li is the younger daughter, Da is the younger son, Kham is the grand-son and Zin is the grand-daughter.
EG: Many, many (many) years ago I went to film school. Without much direction or self-confidence, I ended up painting houses with friends at Bennington College. Being with artists awakened my love of drawing, theater, and the arts in general. I created a performance piece that began a long path toward unveiling what I wanted to communicate and in what medium.
After indulging in degrees in Interactive Telecommunications and Social Work, I continued to tinker and at the turn of the century the first Catalysta went live. We brought together high school students from around the world online to consider social issues and create projects. Two sets of curricula were created, one on water and the other on globalization. Everyone enjoyed but we made not a penny.
EG: After putting far too much money on credit cards for Catalysta Number 1, the project folded. Paying off debt and brainstorming the next iteration of Catalysta highlighted the ensuing years. This time around the focus shifted to career, which expands the potential audience and provides a big pot for addressing anything.The mission has been a work in progress. We continue to refine the aim, but the basis is to inspire and assist the development of careers that can in some way be of benefit.
EG: Dzogchen has had the view of global community for a long time. Catalysta is an attempt to face the challenges of the Age and reach out to people who’d like to lessen suffering a little bit. The tools of tech make this particular project possible.
EG: Once you begin to dig, you find there are people in just about any career who are considerate of how their actions impact their specific community. It goes without saying that we have limited vision and nothing is certain as to how we affect others, but good intention seems to me to be a worthwhile place to start.We track articles in newspapers and magazines, and follow any and all threads to find subject matter for articles and upcoming programs.
EG: Currently, we don’t have much feedback, but we hope that will improve in future. The thought of working for the greater good is gaining traction. And research is catching up with the Teachings. Here’s a recent article in the NY Times about integrating the Bodhisattva Vow at work.
EG: Phase two of the site will include video, Podcast, and interactive programs. One issue of Catalysta will span two months and focus on a specific field, for instance, fashion, urban planning, agriculture, and government. Many of the programs will dovetail with the topic.Interview programs will highlight young people looking toward a first career, established professionals taking stock of their work, and spiritual teachers, psychologists, and philosophers addressing how personal development impacts our potential for ‘right livelihood’.There are also plans for a scripted series about a small dog by the name of Ralph Munch who runs a multi-national conglomerate. He pulls together a team who explore beneficial ways for MunchCo Industries to enter various fields in beneficial ways.
Phase two will be up and running this summer.
