[Buddha-l] crazy wisdom

[Stuart Lachs]

Curt wrote:
> >
> 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 do not recall the above being in the Sanders' version of the "Naropa
Poetry Wars," though I read it years ago. I do remember that it gave a
pretty complete picture of the affair giving a number of different views
along with some follow up. I have a little trouble with "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."  I believe
Merwin was around Zen for some time and was involved with Aitkin's group on
Maui.
>
> >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.

I think the discussion started with Trungpa handling alcohol well and
displaying "crazy wisdom."
Well rapping a car around a telephone pole at high speed, probably dying
from cirrhosis of the liver, and picking Osel Tendzin as his main heir among
other things seems less than displaying great wisdom. I would guess that the
alcohol controlled him more than he admitted.  I expect more than "batting
.500" from people presenting themselves as enlightened beings supposedly
wiser than all others and demanding absolute obediance.

Stuart

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