[Buddha-l] crazy wisdom

[curt]

Stuart Lachs wrote:

>
>There is also the well-known  "Naropa
>poetry war" that took place at their Boulder Center during Shambala
>training. The well known poet W.S. Merwin and his girlfriend, refused
>Trungpa'a invitation to join a drunken party by barracading themsleves in
>their room.
>When Trungpa's guards finally broke in, Merwin cut one guard in the face
>with a broken bottle.  Trungpa being quite drunk had Merwin's Japanese
>girlfriend forcibly dragged down from their room and  stripped by his
>"guards" before a large crowd. Trungpa came on to her using racial language
>to try and separate her from Merwin. There is a pamphlet describing the
>affair.
>  
>
There is a minor detail concerning the poetry war incident that is worth 
mentioning. Merwin and his significant other were originally told that 
they could not attend the retreat because they had applied late. They 
were outraged at being expected to follow the same rules as everyone 
else and they raised a stink until an exception was made for them. At 
least that's what I heard. In case anyone doesn't get it - the 
implication is that the Merwins were quite eager to witness first hand 
Trungpa at his craziest - and that's exactly what they got. Like someone 
who goes out to live with Grizzly bears and then gets eaten. Why blame 
the bear? People thronged to Trungpa precisely because he put on a good 
show. The Merwin's found out the hard way the downside of having front 
row seats at that kind of performance.

>I think one should also consider Trungpa's choice of heir and what he taught
>or transmitted to him. His heir to the throne, Osel Tendzin, a guy from New
>Jersey, took what I assume, Trungpa had transmitted to him, at face value.
>Tendzin acted like spoiled entitled royalty complete with servants and
>unreasonable demands.  Tendzin knew he had AIDS, but continued to have
>unprotected sex with both male and female students. I believe at least one
>person became infected with AIDS from this. When later questioned about
>this, Tendzin replied that he thought the dakinis would protect people.
>
>  
>
On the other hand there is Pema Chodron - so one could say that Trungpa 
batted .500 . On the other other hand, one could also look at the whole 
the Shambhala Sangha as it is today - not exactly chopped liver. 
Actually, Trungpa turned out to be one of the most, perhaps the most, 
successful Asian teacher, so far, in terms or establishing a stable 
ongoing community of Buddhist practitioners in the west. Personally its 
not to my taste - the word "perky" makes me giggle, and flags and 
uniforms make me nervous.

On the other other other hand there is the Shambhala publishing empire 
and the Naropa Institute. By their fruits shall you know them.

- Curt