[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: The Boy without a Name, Part Two

[Carolyn Gimian]

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

December  26, 2007

[Part One was sent out on Christmas Eve. The story appears to be 
unfinished. If you find yourself with extra time in the next week and 
you'd like to finish the story -- or at least a chapter of it -- 
please send me your work. I'll post all the endings to the Chogyam 
Trungpa Legacy Project blog in the new year. Let me know if I can use 
your name or if you want to remain anonymous. Carolyn Gimian, Moderator]

THE BOY WITHOUT A NAME, Part Two

....I don't really have a home and I never spend more than ten days 
in one place. Originally I came from East Tibet and I traveled 
westwards to the lands of Lho and Mon. Grown-ups tend to stay in the 
same place for a long time and when they do travel they're so busy 
they never have time to look at the valleys and mountains around 
them. They don't even notice the interesting stones on the road, or 
the flowers, but just trample over them.
Of course they never have time to play and all they talk about is how 
many silver coins they've got and how many yaks their neighbor has. 
If you ask them to tell you about Lhasa they only know about the big 
shops in the Barko Market and things like that. They don't seem to 
know about the birds' nests under the edge of the roofs and the 
millions of insects that live in the city, beside themselves. So the 
only way I can see them is by going there myself.
         Tibet is such a beautiful country and each part of it has 
its own particular quality. There are lots of mountains and lakes and 
trees and things. There are so many things to see that my journey may 
take me a hundred years. The grown-ups race and fight against time, 
but for me time is a friend and I have no need to hurry.
             Today is the first day of my journey, so here I am, 
playing in the road.  I've only traveled 50 yards or so, but it would 
take the grown-ups ten years to learn what I've learned in this one 
day. When I looked up and saw the snow'mountain on the other side of 
the river, I composed the following song:
O pillar of the sky, you high-peaked mountain of Tibet,
You're surrounded by hills with flowering shrubs and many kinds
       of herbs,
But your all-aloneness and your stillness still show through
As you wrap your peaceful cloud around your neck.

             The peak of this mountain pierces the sky and his 
snowcap glitters in the sun. The clouds move slowly across his 
shoulders, and when you see him, it's as though you see the whole of 
Tibet in one glance. I spent the whole morning looking at the 
mountain, but it's
impossible to understand it all. Sometimes he seems to be smiling in 
the brilliant sunlight, and sometimes he stands solemn and aloof 
while snow storms rage around him. Occasionally he shows himself in 
all simplicity, without adornments, and at times like those, one sees 
him directly and feels very close to him. His stillness and dignity 
are always there and remain untouched by the changing seasons. The 
days and months of the year don't really affect him. This mountain 
seems to have a kind and compassionate nature, as he allows all kinds 
of birds and animals to live on him and to feed off his body. But I 
felt I should know more about him, so I stopped to ask a magpie who 
was perching
on a rock.
                 "Tashi delly," I said. (That's how we greet people in Tibet.)
                 "Tashi delly," said the magpie in a rather 
suspicious tone of voice.
                 "I wonder if you'd be very kind,"" said I, "and 
answer some questions for me."
                 "I haven't time to waste on chattering with you," 
said the magpie, "I'm busy looking for food. And in any case you 
humans are usually full of trickery and you might be planning to kill me...."


 From the archive of the unpublished poetry of Chogyam Trungpa.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used 
by permission.

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Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of 
his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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