Working with Obstacles - Dön Season

If you have been around the Shambhala community in the earlier part of any year, you likely have heard talk about Dön Season (pronounce the ‘ö,’ like ‘could’). 

This is the period of time that leads up to the Tibetan New Year -- referred to by the community as Shambhala Day -- which marks the end of the lunar calendar and opens a new energetic cycle.

While Shambhala Day is an occasion to celebrate, rejoice, and be merry, Dön Season traditionally is seen as a time to hide in the house, not travel, and walk on eggshells, so as not to incur any really bad juju.

But, as non-theistic warriors of awakenment, we are invited to take a more fearless approach. Let’s look at what Dön Season actually is about.

First of all, what in the world is a dön?

Döns are expressions of confusion, sickness, and discord that appear in our daily life.
They refer to the various obstacles and blockages that manifest in our body, speech, and mind, that infiltrate any aspect of our experience.  

In a 2008 talk on döns, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche teaches there are outer obstacles, which include the four elements, other individuals, and unseen forces; inner obstacles, which include heavy discursive concepts and emotions that plague the mind; and secret obstacles – those which “impede the progress of our [Buddhist] path.”

Döns can manifest anywhere from stubbing our toe on the way to the bathroom, fighting with our partner over nothing, getting a migraine, or locking our keys in the car . . . while it’s running, and our cell phone is sitting on the front seat, ringing, with our boss on the line.

On a more subtle level, dons are the emotional upheavals that disrupt our meditation practice, our spiritual development, and our sense of delight in life.

"Fundamentally, döns are anything that distract us from engaging with the present moment in the most clear, precise, and authentic manner possible."

What is Dön Season?

Dön Season refers to the ten most congested days of the lunar year, when karmic accumulation is at its ripest, and negativities are gathered into a mad crescendo.
It is the time when obscurations are the most thick, and calamities roam wild.
Dön Season is seen as a time when there is greater disagreement in relationships, more intense emotional turmoil, more physical disease, and more, overall, cosmic and domestic imbalance.

Basically, it is like mercury in retrograde -- on steroids.

This does not sound fun, does it?

"In our tradition of warriorship, we do not see these occurrences as insults or punishments, but, rather, messages and powerful invitations to wake up."

As warriors, we ‘bring our obstacles to the path,’ and delight in the challenge. In fact, the greater the challenge, the greater the payoff. Therefore, Dön Season can be seen as the most wonderful week and a half of the year!

How do we work with döns?

When we encounter an attack of döns, we slow down, soften our heart, and heighten our mindfulness and awareness. We pay close attention to the döns, and listen to them.

"What is the phenomenal world trying to tell us? How can we receive the feedback, and see the obstacles as our spiritual allies?"

First of all, we need to establish a relationship with all the elements of our outer and inner environment.  We can communicate with the phenomenal world by invoking drala (the awake energy of goodness). Döns are totally overwhelmed by drala, which literally means ‘above the enemy.’

How do we invoke drala -- by purifying our space. This refers to our physical space -- by cleaning, performing lhasang (smoke offering), and appreciating the details of our environment -- as well as our mental space, by simplifying, organizing, and focusing our intentions and aspirations.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche teaches that Dön Season is a time to reflect upon our actions, regroup, and look closely at the obstacles that have manifested throughout the year. In particular, during Dön Season we are called to strengthen our relationship with the protector principle -- the aspect of wisdom that transmutes and overcomes negative energy. There are formal practices that activate the protector principle (such as making tea-offering), but fundamentally we are talking about focusing, deepening, and stabilizing the inherent power of our awareness, and applying it gently and fearlessly to every dimension of our life.
Also, during Dön Season it is important to gather with our fellow warriors and practice together. One example of this -- and a shameless plug for an upcoming weekend retreat --
is the Dön Season Dorje Kasung Gathering of the Clan, which will take place at Karmê Chöling from February 16 through19. But anything as simple as gathering together with your fellow practitioners to practice mindfulness awareness meditation will do.

Yours in dancing with delight in the display,

Karme Choling Rusung

Pablo Coddou, Kadö

More information:

To learn more about working with döns and the protector principle, check out these links:

·      Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche 2008 Online Address: Meeting Don Season with Mindfulness:

·      Dorje Loppön: Averting the Negativity of the Old Year 

More information about the Dorje Kasung Gathering of the Clan retreat 

To learn more about the Dorje Kasung

Typically, the ‘Rusung’ leads and coordinates activities that protect the ‘dharma,’ or Buddhist teachings, at a Shambhala meditation center. The Rusung provides overall leadership to protect the community, as well as visiting and residential teachers.

Be-My-Valentine Heart Cookies

(The cookies in the photo were part of a triple batch of Valentine cookies made by a small group of Vermont children who donated them to their local soup kitchen. Share the love!)

By Anne-Marie Keppel

Ingredients

Will make approximately 34 cookies - 17 sandwich cookies and 17 small cookie cutouts. For this recipe, pick out one or more of your favorite flavored jams. You will need pink frosting and sprinkles.

Cookies

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Frosting

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon water

2 drops food coloring

Directions

1. For frosting: blend sugar, salt, and flavoring. Add just enough water to make it easy to spread. Add food coloring and mix well. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and confectioners' sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix well.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; blend into the butter mixture. Divide dough into thirds and shape into balls.
4. Working with 1/3 of the dough at a time, roll out dough into desired thickness on a slightly floured surface. For each heart sandwich cookie, cut out two three-inch hearts. Cut out the center of ONE of the 3-inch hearts about one inch (save smaller heart shapes).
5. Place each piece separately on an ungreased cookie sheet, 1 - 2 inches apart. Bake in a preheated, 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven until lightly browned (7-8 minutes for 1/4 inch thick cookies). Cool completely on wire rack.
6. Spread your choice of jam on the large whole cookies.  Frost the open centered cookies with Pink Valentine Frosting, cover with sprinkles and place on top of the jam covered cookie to form the sandwich.
7. Frost the small "insides" of the hearts and serve as separate cookies.

 Bon appetit! 

* Frosting recipe from allrecipes.com.

Valentine Flowers - Ikebana Style

By Anne-Marie Keppel

Don't order flowers for your loved one this Valentine's Day. Instead, make your gift more intimate by creating an Ikebana arrangement!  

Ikebana, traditional Japanese flower arrangement, has its origins in Shinto where arrangements are a part of shrine offerings.  

What sets ikebana apart is the asymmetry in design - open spaces create harmony between the flower stems and the container.  

This contemplative art form is meant to bring beauty, vividness, and wisdom into our lives and environment. The practice of ikebana, combined with contemplative meditation, is art in action.  Although this is a very specific practice, you can try your hand at it with some beginner instructions  (if you cannot attend an ikebana class or find a friend to help you before Valentine's Day).  Simple instructions can be found at:  Ikebana Instructions eHow.com

For more information on other Shambhala Arts visit:  Shambhala Arts

*Karmê Chöling will be hosting Shambhala Art this April 6-13 with Arawana Hayashi and Laura Simms.

Winter Haiku

By Anne-Marie Keppel

Photo take by Anne-Marie Keppel at Karmê Chöling

First month

Bone deep cold.

Visible breath forms air bodies.

Through icicles water

Still flows.  

Seaweed Soup

By Anne-Marie Keppel

This is a very simple, highly nutritious, and delicious recipe.  It’s perfect to boost your immune system and detoxify your body.  It is vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free.  Of course, it's best if you can use an onion and scallion from your own garden or your neighbor's garden! 

Seaweed soup is delicious on it’s own as a light meal or can be a perfect appetizer, especially as a prelude or accompaniment to a rice dish.

Ingredients:

- One yellow onion

- Wakame seaweed

- Miso brown rice paste

- Sea salt

- One bunch of scallions

- Olive oil

- Tofu (sprouted tofu is best)

Preparation and cooking instructions:

- In a large pot, gently sauté the onion in olive oil until the onion is slightly transparent, but remains crunchy.

- Create broth by adding desired amount of hot water and brown rice paste to the sautéed onion.  Start with a half-gallon of water and 3/4 cup of paste and add more water or paste as needed.  Add sea salt to preferred taste.  Mix well until all the brown rice paste has dissolved into the water.

- Drain and cut the tofu into bite-sized pieces and add to broth.

- Add two cups of dried wakame seaweed. The seaweed will expand and soften in the water.  More seaweed may be added if desired.

- Chop the scallions and add to broth.

Since all these ingredients essentially can be eaten raw, cooking time is minimal. Make sure all the brown rice paste has dissolved, the seaweed has expanded to full size, and the tofu is warm all the way through. It's easy to reheat this soup and add fresh seaweed, so making a large quantity is a good idea. 

*Nutritional note: seaweed contains all of the minerals and many of the vitamins the human body requires for restoring and maintaining supreme health!  Seaweed is known to prevent diseases and enhance the healing process for cancer, heart disease, and immune deficiency disorders.

Dathün Creativity and Aspiration

Reflecting on her recent dathün, Jenny Bruce was inspired to create a message. During the retreat, she watched a video featuring Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, titled "Building Enlightened Society."


At the end of the video, Rinpoche said, "This world needs your help very badly."  Jenny says, "Those words came to mind a number of times during my trip back to Buffalo and as I returned to work."


Jenny set to work on creating a poster: "The words remind me to engage wholeheartedly in whatever I am doing." With regards to the poster, Jenny aspires the words inspire others to engage in this world.

Jenny Bruce lives in Buffalo, New York, and works at the food co-op on the corner of her street. She first encountered Shambhala in January 2007. The Buffalo Shambhala Group had two members at the time and has since grown to 15-20 meditators who practice every week. This past fall she began to explore the art of letterpress printmaking.


About Dathün: Dathün, Tibetan for "month session," is a one-month group meditation retreat, and one of the most important training programs in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition. The program is open to anyone and is a very powerful introduction to and deepening of mindfulness-awareness meditation (learn more). Karmê Chöling hosts 3-4 full dathüns each year and also offers half-dathüns.

Hospice Work and the Art of Meditation - An Interview with Arthur Jennings

Interviewed by Anne-Marie Keppel


Arthur Jennings is a registered nurse and hospice worker and has been helping families, friends and patients with end of life transition for more than twenty years.  For more than 35 years, he has been a part of the Shambhala Buddhist community. In a recent interview with Karmê Chöling, Arthur offers his experiences assisting the dying, as well as how death has influenced his Buddhist practice and career.

* For italicized terms, please refer to 'Key Terms' below.

~

Karmê Chöling:  What were your impressions and feelings surrounding the first death you were present for?

Jennings:  The first time I saw someone die it blew me away and affected me for weeks. It really put things into perspective.  We can go any day and it really drives home the preciousness of life.  That has been really good for my [Buddhist] practice.

One thing about death I had not realized until I saw it – most people die after being in a coma-like state for at least a day or two.  They are pretty unresponsive, and at the very end the breaths become slower and slower - maybe even a minute or more between breaths. You think, “That’s it!” -- and then there’s another breath.  There is definitely a bardo period.

Karmê Chöling:  What do the family and friends of hospice patients expect or need from you?

Jennings:  Often, my job is to be a rock in the house and just let them fall apart.  Most of the families have not seen death up close and they are looking for someone who knows what he or she is doing. I help patients, who, oftentimes, are in pain or have wounds that need to be tended.  I help tidy the space and uplift the room a little or put on soft music . . . if there are people in another room talking or working, I invite them in to be with their loved one. There often is a lot of confusion in these situations, so I reassure everyone, “This is normal.”

Part of my job is to soak up blame.  It’s a perfect time to practice “Drive All Blames into One."  Sometimes people think that, if Hospice is involved, death should be painless and a lovely spiritual experience.  But often it is not so pretty.  Even with good care, the person dying may be throwing up, in pain and questioning whey he or she is still alive.

“For me, it’s an honor to be there at a time when families are in such need and to get to know them so quickly in their rawness.”

Karmê Chöling:  How does your Buddhist practice influence you hospice work and vice versa?

Jennings: Buddhist practice affects my work because mindfulness affects my work.  Buddhism is all about working with speed and distraction and cutting through to be present, even amidst chaos. The medical world is so speedy - this is getting worse all the time. So if you can go into the situation being present and efficient, but slowed-down, people really notice.

I do Tonglen, as well as mindfulness awareness practice to remain a steady presence. Sometimes families and friends, or the patient, are really struggling and I just want to do something. Tonglen helps in these situations . . . it really would be helpful for any medical practitioner.  Also, sometimes I do Phowa in my mind. Most families are not Buddhist. If the person dying is Christian, I visualize Jesus above his or her head and I visualize him or her moving towards Jesus.

Karmê Chöling:  Is there anything special or unique you have noticed being present with the dying?

Jennings:  More often than not, the dying see Jesus, or their grandmother or a childhood friend, and I try to warn the families about this.  I bring it up because a lot of time the patient does not want to be the first to talk about it. I’ll ask patients,  “Have you seen any angels?” -- and their faces will light up. They start using a lot of symbolic communication and they are confused.  They’ll say things like, “I need the key,” or “I have to go home, do you know the way home?”  I tell the families and friends to say empowering things, like “You know the way home,” or “Go the usual way,” or, “You have the key.” 

Karmê Chöling:  You were present for a death at Karmê Chöling, would you like to tell the story?

Jennings:  At Karmê Chöling, Ruthie Aster was head of practice and study and she also was my meditation instructor.  She was living at Ashoka Bavhan and I became her visiting nurse. Today, the Aster Suite is named after her. Towards the end of her life, I moved into the house, taking time off from work.

It was a perfect hospice situation- it’s the kind of situation you would want for everyone.  The Karmê Chöling community really rallied around her.  People would come to clean her up and take her to appointments and bring her lunch.  We had a scrabble day once a week and, even when she couldn’t play anymore, people would come and she would be there in the middle of this little, weekly party.

When she passed we already had talked to her doctor about performing a Sukhāvatī.  Lady Kunchok (the mother of Sakyong Mipham Rinphoche) was living on the property at the time and guided everyone through the three-day period. As Ruthie was dying, Lady Kunchok encouraged us to whisper in her ear and remind her about her practice and to remember Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

The unusual thing was that Ruthie was in samadhi after death. Lady Kunchok advised us to leave her body totally undisturbed until this was over. Lady Kunchok felt Ruthie’s heart every day - she was really happy, because samadhi is a sign a person is a very good practitioner. Most people do not go through a samadhi state and heat leaves the heart center more quickly. Lady Kunchok showed a few of us where to put our hands at Ruthie’s heart center, to feel the heat. On the third day the heat was finally gone and we bathed the body and moved it into a casket.

The casket was made simply of plywood by a local community member, who installed a dry ice compartment underneath. Ruthie’s body was washed, lotioned and perfumed and it stayed at Ashoka Bavhan, in a shrine room for people to come to sit until we held the Sukhāvatī ceremony. There is nothing like meditating next to a corpse to drive home the reality of death, impermanence and precious human life.

~

Key Terms

Ashoka Bavhan - a house for practitioners near Karmê Chöling.

Bardo period - a state of transition.

Drive All Blames into One - a Buddhist practice for working with blame to reduce harm to self and others.

Phowa - a practice to help another attain enlightenment.

Sukhāvatī - a traditional Buddhist death ceremony which involves cremating the body three days after death.

Tonglen - a practice of sending compassion and love to others and taking in their suffering.

~ 

To learn more about Hospice, please visit: http://www.hospicenet.org/index.html

Rebirth in the Garden: Composting at Karmê Chöling

By Aaron Delong

Why Do We Compost?

Managing fertility is a key component of long-term success in any garden. At Karmê Chöling, we rely on our compost as a primary source of achieving this goal. Compost acts as both a slow release fertilizer in our beds, as well as an organic matter builder in our soil. It also helps to reduce the waste stream produced by the center.

What Do We Compost?


The answer is: what have we got? Our compost is primarily composed of kitchen scraps (excluding meat, dairy, and some cooked foods), garden residues (plant debris), and cow manure (supplied by the farmer who hays our fields). Kitchen scraps and fresh plant debris are considered 'green' materials: materials rich in nitrogen. Older garden residues, such as woodier plant debris, straw and leaves, are considered 'brown' materials. Brown materials are rich in carbon. By striking the proper balance between brown materials and greens (about 20:1, carbon to nitrogen), we can create a compost pile that is both nutrient-rich and structurally sound. Cow manure is a vital component for us, intrinsically providing nearly the ideal balance of carbon and nitrogen, as well as being a good microbial activator in the pile.

Often, we chop up our compost ingredients before putting them in the pile. Sometimes we use a machete, sometimes we use a chipper-shredder machine. Chopping up materials reduces particle size and gives microbes and bacteria more access to their food source, speeding up the composting process.

How Do We Compost?

We build our piles in a layering method: a layer of brown materials is followed by a layer of greens, followed by a layer of manure. The sequence is then repeated. Our piles, when finished, are about ten feet by five feet by three. It is important for any pile being made to be sufficiently large enough to create an internal environment where bacteria and microbes can thrive. Three feet by three feet by three is considered a minimum requirement for this goal. At Karmê Chöling, we build bigger, hoping to attain internal temperatures between 130 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit. This ensures weed seeds will be killed and any potential diseases will be sterilized. Over 160 F, however, and harmful bacteria can enter the pile; bacteria that might negatively affect plants were the compost to be applied to a garden bed.

Turning the Pile

Compost happens, whether we tend the pile or not, but how fast the process occurs depends in large part on how much effort we put in to facilitating the decomposition process. Probably the hardest part of making compost is turning compost, but this action is critical towards speeding the breakdown of the organic materials in a pile. Turning introduces oxygen into the pile, allowing the bacteria inside to breathe and helping to elevate temperature. It also keeps the pile from turning towards anaerobic respiration in the absence of oxygen, a development that can slow down decomposition and lead to the buildup of toxic components in a pile. Often, when a pile 'stinks,’ it stinks of anaerobic respiration.

To turn our piles, we simply move the contents with a pitchfork from one place to another, hopefully nearby! We try and put the parts that were on the outside of the pile to the inside, and the parts that were on the bottom on top. This maintains an even rate of decomposition throughout the pile.

Water

In addition to size, oxygen, and carbon and nitrogen-rich materials, water is a crucial factor in the composting process. Too little water slows everything down, too much cuts off oxygen flow. The general guideline is that a compost pile should have the moisture content of a wrung out sponge. Occasionally, we will add water to a pile if it seems to dry. Often, we will cover our piles with cloths or tarps to prevent them from becoming too wet in the rain. We build our piles on old pallets, as well, to aid with drainage and aeration. Excessive moisture is one of our principal composting challenges at Karmê Chöling.

The Finished Product

The length of time it takes to create finished compost depends on time of year, time spent managing the pile, and quality of materials used. Generally, in peak season, we manage a finished pile in eight weeks. The original pile can be expected to diminish to half its original volume during the composting process. The finished compost itself should be a black, crumbly soil with a slightly greasy texture, high in organic matter content, holding a good supply of nutrients that will be gradually released over a long period of time.

We apply finished compost at a rate of about one wheelbarrow to every eighty square feet, lightly working the fertilizer into our garden beds with a rake. We can plant immediately thereafter.

Composting can be a lot of fun. There is an art to the process, a mixture of chemistry, alchemy, and common sense that changes with each pile we build. There is also a satisfaction in taking our 'waste' materials and using them as a foundation for future growth. In that sense, composting is a metaphor any meditator can relate with.

Buying Local and Organic with Vermont Fresh Network

By Greg Garner, Director of Planning and Major Projects, Karmê Chöling

Since its inception, Karmê Chöling has paid a great deal of attention to how food is prepared and eaten. For years, our meditation retreat center has offered month-long retreats where oryoki, a Japanese monastic way of eating and appreciating food, is practiced.

Our kitchen staff practices mindfulness and awareness when it prepares and offers food to practitioners, teachers, staff and guests. Food is made from scratch using local and/or organic ingredients.

For the last several years, we have taken a fresh look at what we serve and where it comes from. Being in Vermont, we are fortunate to have many local growers and producers. Karmê Chöling has made a heartfelt effort to purchase more ingredients from local sources, in addition to our own organic garden.

Currently, we use more than fifty percent organic and/or local products!  Our leadership and kitchen staff are committed to increasing this percentage and sourcing directly from farmers and producers whenever possible.

One key way we have been able to buy local ingredients and eat healthy organic produce is through our partnership with Vermont Fresh Network (VFN).

Since 2007, VFN has opened doors for us, helping us meet local growers and producers. It has been a joy getting to know more folks that really care about the local food scene and how and what we feed ourselves. We look forward to making more relationships as we continue our goal of creating a sane, enlightened environment where wholesome, nutritious, local and minimally processed food can be offered to staff and guests.

~

Vermont Fresh Network (VFN), founded in 1995, is a statewide organization that encourages farmers, food producers and chefs to work directly with each other to build partnerships. Building strong regional connections contributes to stronger local communities and their economies.


VFN is dedicated to promoting and publicizing Vermont chefs and restaurants that use Vermont grown and produced foods. Chefs that purchase the products of Vermont's working landscape help maintain her agricultural heritage and contribute to the future of Vermont's farm economy.


VFN also educates consumers. Through its website and links VFN hopes to educate the dining public of the wholesomeness, nutritional value, freshness, and safety of Vermont-grown foods, as well as the economic impact of supporting local businesses. 

It Is My Home

Practitioner, John Godwin, writes about his connection to Karmê Chöling:

It is my Home. 

I really have no other home, even though, physically, I am rarely at Karmê Chöling. So the idea of home for me is, that place, where I have the most genuine experiences of my life, both of myself, and of others, whether it is joy, sadness, anger, humor or anything else. 

Having had these experiences, I go out into the world and try to extend this truth of genuineness to everybody I meet, usually with just a look, a gesture, or a tone of voice. What often comes back to me is genuineness, from 'total strangers.' People are genuine right off the bat, or they are not genuine, and the pain of that is obvious in their faces. 

So everybody naturally understands genuineness, and in his or her heart wants to express it. 

Genuineness is home. It becomes a matter of creating a container, an atmosphere, an environment, which promotes that inherent openness, which leads to expressions of genuineness. 

Karmê Chöling is, of course, such a place, and, in some sense, we are all such a place.

Vermont Maple Ginger Tofu

This recipe is easy to make and delicious.  It is even well received by meat eaters!

You will need: 

 - tofu or *tempe 

 - Vermont maple syrup 

   (or raw Vermont honey)

 - diced fresh ginger

   (or diced fresh garlic)

Dice the tofu into cubes and put into a skillet (be sure to drain the tofu first). 

Thin out the maple syrup, or honey, with enough warm water to cover the tofu or tempe in the pan while still retaining the flavor of the syrup or honey. This is a very thin watery sauce.   

Add garlic or ginger to taste, and simmer for 1/2  hour. Be sure not to boil. Serve warm over rice with your favorite vegetables.  

So simple but so good!
 

*Tempe can be substituted for the tofu as long as you steam it until tender to remove some of the "footy" taste and odor.  Then, follow the recipe as above.