The Dzogchen Summer Retreat is almost over. So much has happened. We’ve been preparing for and holding a Drupchen for the past few days. It’s been the most elaborate Drupchen that Khenpo has organized in the United States so far. The dancing and costumes are much more elaborate, and we have a better translation this time around. The entire text is over 300 pages. The teachings that Khen Rinpoche have been giving have been just phenomenal. It’s so amazing to watch him conduct the entire Drupchen. There are so many moving parts. It's like conducting a symphony.
I’ve had the privilege of leading the singing for the English portions of much of the Drupchen, which has been very joyful for me, yet daunting, since there were almost no singing rehearsals (there was one brief rehearsal for one short section). The English translations were written to get the meaning acros rather than to be lyrical. Poetry does not usually translate very gracefully from one language to another. So I’m spontaneously singing melodies that are inspired by the ones that Khenpo sings for the Tibetan source, but the phrases have awkward numbers of syllables and some pretty unusual words in them. It’s all good though and everyone is having a great time with all the dancing and music. Another lama is here helping Khenpo by leading a group of retreatants playing rolmos (Tibetan cymbals), drums and conchs.
There are a lot of people here interested in music so I think it will be a very musical retreat. I brought along quite a few musical instruments and much of my recording studio, so there is bound to be some great Dharma music created during the remainder of the retreat.
I've been helping people order any texts they need via Amazon and many arrived yesterday. I ordered a nice Oxford two volume dictionary as well as an Oxford thesaurus to help with translation questions.
On the summer solstice, just before I drove to Oregon for the retreat, I was able to go Whale Watching on Monterey Bay as part of a cruise organized by Laura Almada of Earthly Treasures. The cruise was on a Sanctuary Whale Watching Cruises boat. I edited most of the photos before the retreat, but just got a chance to upload the photos yesterday. Here's a gallery of 108 of the best shots.
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2 comments:
Hazlitt, life seems to have a number of strange interconnections which also being an author with Firefly (actually Boston Mills - a company they own)leaves me wondering if you are the same Hazlitt Krog who is mentioned as a co-surveyor of the fabled Gorkens Cave in an old North Eastern caver? If you are that Hazlitt Krog, (and exactly how many Hazlitt Krogs there might be leaves me believing that your namesakes are few and far between),Please e mail me at mickgord@gmail.com Thx Mick
Great photos of whales and sea life, Hazlitt. Also great to hear that you are making Dharma music. Tara and I are looking forward to hearing it someday.
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