Dear Nick

 

    I was very glad to see your letter.  It's caused me to have to think.  Your four numbered paragraphs make it easier to answer.

 

    (1)  Agreed, except for your assumptive "It is still one person's take on things..."  Although I'm just an amateur and faraway sleuth, this message has all the earmarks of a collaboration of some pretty savvy people asking some questions, or a question, which is very poignant.  Barbara Blouin's study of court finances and procedures would suggest her as a source, but she denies involvement.  Who then?  Perhaps others sharing her concerns who have commissioned a cartoon artist (likely from Europe judging by the quality) to visually frame their own allegory?  As to the anonymity of the whole thing, how else could the issue be put without feeding the dichotomy, the us versus the them?  Are we not all practitioners of the same dharma as best we can?

 

    (2)  But of course the cartoon was ambiguous.  My own passion is for good detective stories.  Hence our exchange.  If I interpret correctly, your question the validity of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's teachings as interpreted by "those who sat at his feet" but still can't agree about what he was saying.  I'm not getting your meaning in the rest of this paragraph.  Is your implication that there is a new order that whisks away ambiguities?

 

    (3)  I totally agree, each of us being responsible for our own knockings down, and no, you're not boring.

 

    (4)  I agree that the second panel of the cartoon, with it's *pop* is pivotal.  The dedicated practitioners'meditations are exploded by a passing parade, leaving connective tissue and one of the meditators tearing his hair.  The other poses an unstated question.  Can your labeling of the *POP* as emergence from "conceptual dwelling" be backward?  A 190 degree obverse view?  Do you think there's no chance that the patrons of a parade with balloons and elephants might be the conceptual dwellers?

    Just comments and questions.  I'm very glad of our exchange and hope you'll stay in touch with any further developments/comments re.  TinTin in Shambhala.

Dear Dan,

I confess, a few things led me to drop the thread:

1.       It’s a cartoon;  and although it is very well drawn and realized, it is still one person’s take on things. But what is that take?
2.       It seems to be deliberately ambiguous, as exemplified by the range of interpretations. I think this may be a metaphor for how we treat the Vidyadhara’s teachings, in that those who sat at his feet seem to have so many different interpretations of what he actually said and meant, never mind about what he intended for the future of the Shambhala and Buddhist teachings in our community and the world after his departure from this realm. Personally, I am constantly amazed by how categorical people can be about both, but especially the latter.
3.       Given the ambiguity, I don’t see much point in arguing about what each of us sees in the cartoon. As I mentioned earlier, it is in some sense a canvas for our projections; I think the point there is to examine our own projections rather than daring others to knock them down (sorry to be so boring…).
4.       I think the “Pop”ping of conceptual dwelling (on emptiness) in the second panel was the essential message of the whole cartoon.

Best wishes,

Nick

Hey Nick and Gabrielle,

This is my attempt at goosing a response from you to my letters from late December posing my questions to your own letters re. the TinTin cartoon.  Has anything been solved that I don't know about.  I'm in Oregon.

I used to have pretty good sources in the Halifax sangha, but don't now, when somebody there (or where) produces this altogether engaging allegory saying what?  Or asking what?  Surely the author or authors of the thing have been sleuthed out by now and the riddle busted.  What have I missed? 

Meanwhile, my letters to you still await an answer, unless somehow you never got them.  If so, I hope this corrects whatever glitch happened, and I'll hope for your responses. 

Your sangha brother, Dan Taylor.

Guilty as charged

Hello Gabrielle E.

    You say:  "my take on your interpretation of the frames of that comic is that you (I) offer a highly personal response to and interpretation of the cartoon".  Indeed.  Dead right.  Guilty as charged.  But what have we got to work with other than that?  When I first saw it, the whole analogy slammed home with me with great clarity, or so it seemed (and still does)to me.  Personally.  That said, I loved your letter, and have no quibble with anything in it, with the possible exception of your "better" judgment between practitioners and the parade.  I really liked your note:"Things are as they are.  The rest is interpretation.  The trick is seeing the difference...if there is one."  I bet you like detective fiction as much as I do. 

                                                                                                                        

Appreciatively, Dan

TinTin Cartoon

Hello

Interesting to note what comments you chose to not include. 

Kristine McCutcheon

TinTin Cartoon

Hello Dan,

I'm not on Sangha Talk, but since you inadvertently posted your ongoing interpretation of the TinTin-like Shambhala cartoon to Announce,

thought I'd throw in a comment, surely worth no more than a few cents (no one seems to want to deal with pennies anymore, anyway ....).

My take on your interpretation of the frames of that comic is that you offer a highly personal response to and interpretation of the cartoon.

What are as much -- if not more -- interesting to me than the cartoon itself are the various interpretations that have been posted. 

That's all they are ... clearly the cartoon leaves room for a wide range of interpretations, and most of these seem to reflect the viewers 

mind more than any actual "reality". Since there are virtually no words in the strip, clearly, any thoughts put into the "minds" of the characters is our projection. Don't you think?

So, it seems some are taking the opportunity of the arising of this appearance, the cartoon, to voice their various opinions of Shambhala world,

the old school and the new school. And, if we return to the Prajñaparamita mantra, "Om gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha," then

everything that appears within the cartoon, and in response to it, is in the same boat, is subject to the same truth: "gone, gone, completely gone,

gone beyond." None of it is real, has origins, or will cease to be. It's all appearance-emptiness, isn't it? The begging practitioners actually are no

better than the colorful display of the parade. The onlookers of the parade don't look at all bewildered to me ... just coming out to see what is going on.

Things are as they are. The rest is interpretation. The trick is seeing the difference ... if there is one. 

So, thanks for the colorful display of your mind as you have shared your analyses of a few images!

Best regards,

Gabrielle E

Tintin in Shambhala

Clever, and nice vision. Cheers. dejvid mejl

Tintin in Shambhala

Tintin in Shambhala

Here's my shot: It's a satire on the difference between mahayana and mahamudra.

Two European meditators are chanting the heart sutra mantra of emptiness, feeling simple and serene. The procession of Shambhala pops their mantra bubble, which dissipates into letters, and shows them a grand display of luminosity-emptiness. The old man has a heart attack, like the arhats when Avalokiteshvara preached emptiness for the first time. The young man, his mind completely stopped, glimpses ground mahamudra.

It's quite a witty cartoon-- thanks for sharing it!

Jeff Grygny

Dear Nick

Many thanks for your thoughtful response to my pre-holiday take on the panels of the TinTin cartoon, challenging in several ways my interpretation.  I'm now back home, and have a comment or two and a couple of questions for you.

I note there are only about ten locals who have turned out to gawk at the parade, all of which seems totally caught up in its own imaginative importance. Is there really any reason for this display? Is it called for at the moment? These people almost seem to be in a dreamlike trance, self absorbed, putting nothing in the begging bowl of the two committed practitioners, or even noticing them. 

Isn't Haddock (by inference long-time meditator) dismayed because of the missing connection between the outer display and the inner understanding of those involved in the big parade?  They look happy but kind of vacuous, an empty display without much inner meaning.  TinTin seems to be exhorting him towards compassion.  "How can we help?"

Branded by some as aging hippies, are the meditators the ones who are living in the past here?  Are the people who want to keep parading around in the same way they did thirty years ago not ignoring the current realities of stretched economies of the world, climate change, poverty, destitution, lethal pollution?  Refer to the chant "Fulfilling the Aspirations of the Vidyadhara."

In the story of Rudra, a tantric teacher tells his students to eat meat, sleep with women, and enjoy sensual pleasures. One uncomprehending student thinks this means to indulge literally.  The other realizes he needs inner experience to bring these things to the path.  The one who follows the external pleasures ends up murdering his teacher.  So who is who in this cartoon?

                                                                                                                                  

Yours, Dan Taylor

no connection

Dear Mr. Szpaskowski;
   
I'm very much aware about Herge, who died many years ago, and that he was a Remi, although with no connection to the famous artist.  According to my aunt, our genologist, there are Remis in six or maybe seven countries, and many more in America, and neither of us have to do with this cartoon except finding out about it.  That is our interest, and no more involvement because there is no thing more we can say.  Good luck.

Gordi (christened Gordon) Remi

More than we knew

Dear Friends,

We have very much thanks to all in the Nova Scotia sangha who have been writing letters to us.  We now see that our simple question was not more simple to you than to us, and goes into things that we do not know about.  It will be very informative to follow this site, but we beg that you all should not any more send your letters to us personally because we do not understand these issues, except we will from our interest follow Sangha Talk.  All of this cartoon is very interesting.  More than we knew.  We wish we could be of more help.  With wishes of good luck - Gordi and Lyske Remi

Dear Bill,

Dear Bill,

I am dismayed to learn that I was not the first to ascribe such insightful, artistically accomplished and delightfully provocative work to you; on the other hand, you have to admit the resemblances and clues are there (maybe a skilful mimic set you up as the “perp”?. . . perhaps one man’s perp can be another’s heroic warrior artist?)

Nevertheless, I am genuinely disappointed—for a number of reasons—to acknowledge your denial as “categorical,” but I hope you didn’t say so for reasons of shallow politics (as the Vidyadhara used to say, “CCL”).

But who else would have included the Spanish Morion helmet  and the detailed period military costumes . . .?

And I think you protest too much about panel cartoons; you could do something truly wonderful in such a medium. It would speak to young children as well as those “over 10 years old” . . .

For instance, your book “Pirate’s Passage” (Trumpeter Press, 2006) with its wonderful allegory of the Vidyadhara, would come even more to life in an illustrated version (don’t knock “comics”; I discovered H.G. Wells through the Classics Illustrated version of “War of the Worlds”, a truly inspired envisioning of the story).

With best wishes for a long and even more fruitful life,

Nick

Dear Nick:

    You are not the first person attributing to me the Tin Tin panel-cartoon rip-off with whatever its provocative, underlying message.  To you and the others who have come up with the same thought, my categorical response is that I have never in my 50-plus professional career as a working artist done any kind of panel cartoon, including this one.  Period.  Nor have I ever been afflicted with any interest at all in sangha politics, as anyone who is (or who knows me) will readily attest.  Look elsewhere for your perp,  Bill.

Rob,

Rob,

I found it a bit disturbing too.

I wonder if it was for the same reasons as you did..

-Judy Schenk

The teachings are there for everyone

The teachings are there for everyone, but for many of us (below a garbage man in pay) it is almost impossible to find the money to attend all the required programs in Shambhala (Dathun, 12 weekends ( I think that is what it is upto now) of Shambhala Training, Both Seminaries, Warrior Assembly, Rigden Abisheka, Scorpian Seal Assembly ) And more if you want to continue in the Kagyu tradition (Kagyu Ngondro, etc. )

somewhat disturbing

Karl Don't worry about the non resiting part. I have definitely heard funny stories about his His Holiness the 16th from monk attendants. There was no harm intended. It does make us re evaluate our controversial Karma Kaygu history. The Kaygu lineage had many hardships, plus it's history of having everybody from buggers on the street to Kings and Queens. As Chogyam Trunggpa Rinpoche said, even garbage men to top level people can be Shambalians. I did find that cartoon somewhat disturbing though. There was some truth in it. Rob.

Actually, it is neither.

Actually, it is neither.

This story should be in one of the Kalapa assemblies transcripts.

The Vidyadara himself told the story. It was commentary on the Golden text.

It goes something like this. The Vidyadara saw that the Karmapa had a gold rolex with a gold face and the Vidyadara kidded the Karmapa that only Mexicans would go for something like that.

The Karmapa replied well I am going to get some gold shoes too. What do you think about that?

Then the Vidyadara commented that the Karmapa had actually jumped in the gold lake
(I assume he meant this metaphorically).

Now this is all from memory - I am too lazy to look it up - but I am pretty sure its in one of the transcripts.

Well Gary,

Well Gary,

If we were in a court of law, I was the judge, and you objected on the grounds of hearsay, I would defenitely rule in your favor; that said, there were always kasung and other people up in A suite, and the Dorje Dradul probably told the people what was being said himself, in English. I heard the tale on the parade ground from a kasung friend of mine. He probably heard it from someone who was up in the suite. Take the death penalty off the table, and I'll consider turning state's evidence against the poor bastard. I'm gone tomorrow so this is my tomorrow's post.-Karl

Gary Kellam

No . . . that's not anecdotal, that's hearsay. Now, who spoke the Tibetan dialect that Rinpoche and HH communicated in and would have "told us" what the Karmapa "purportedly replied"? As a life-long teller of tall tales, sounds/smells fishy to me.

sky writing

Nick
I very much remember that sky writing on mid Summers day. The Sky diver said to Rinpoche "The sky gives you greetings". It was something like that. Rinpoche replied he gives greetings to the sky.
I do have a photo Nick somewhere of Rinpoche and the 16th Karmapa together at mid summers day in my computer on that day.. It was on an old web sight I had. .
If you egg me enough, I will try to dig it up and send it to you.
Greetings to Nova Scotia. Phey!
Rob Graffis

Hello,

Hello,

This is in part anecdotal but I can't resist,

I was in charge of the parade that year, and someone told us that the Dorje Dradul had informed the Karmapa, who was wearing a gold watch with a gold-colored watchface, that in the US, poor Mexicans and poor unsophisticated folks in general wore that kind of combination, and that His Holiness should get a watch with a dark-colored watch face, to which His Holiness purportedly replied that he didn't give a damn what other people wore, he liked his watch just fine. Now you know Nick, that Rinpoche had a thing about gold watches and the face color of said watches. I thought it was funny as hell at the time, and I still do; they were often testy with one another, no disrespect to either man intended,

Karl

Dear Dan,

Dear Dan,

You’re welcome. I note your disapproval of the pageantry displayed as “frivolous” and expensive. It reminded me of the Dorje Dradul’s love of display as an expression of inherent richness. He was frequently criticised for it, but he always pushed us further—and, by all conventional measures, beyond our means. Money was even tighter in Shambhala in his era, and the appeals for cash were endless and urgent. Of course he knew—as we know today—that compared with many other spiritual communities around the world, Shambhalians generally give proportionally less of their personal wealth to the organization (thank goodness for the exceptions).

As to display, in the late 70s and early 80s we held an annual Midsummer’s Festival on a mesa just south of Boulder. They were our big chance as a society to put on a show, and we did. The Dorje Dradul and his family would enter on horseback in their finery and sit on a high platform, with satin backdrop, and banners and flags all around. The entire community would parade before them, in their deleks and various organizations, with their banners. A huge lhasang brought down the dralas; there were cultural arts performances; and the delegs barbecued and generally feasted all afternoon under colourful canopies.

In 1981, with the Sixteenth Karmapa and entourage also on the platform, we pulled out all the stops (Minister of Internal Affairs Ken Green was Festival Director). At one point, five skydivers plunged from a barely visible aircraft above us, with The Ride of the Valkyries blasting from large speakers. One skydiver landed right in front of the platform and rushed forward with a scroll honouring Karmapa; the others landed all around us. It was a thrilling display, and the Dorje Dradul and the Karmapa clearly revelled in it. I think the Dorje Dradul could easily have designed the parade in the Tintin comic—only it would have been even more resplendent.

Best wishes,

Nick Wright

PS. I notice that you sent your “projection” to sangha-announce instead of sangha-talk; unfortunately, sangha-announce subscribers wouldn’t have known what you were referring to in response to my previous post.

From Barbara

Barbara Blouin is not on sangha-talk, so she asked me to forward this:

> Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Mark. Here is my response. Basically, I find the whole thing very funny. I am indeed becoming notorious.
>
> "I do not receive sangha-talk (too much talking for me), but someone forwarded Dan Taylor's guess that I am behind the Tintin cartoon that is causing such a stir.
>
> I feel honoured for being thought such a creative troublemaker, but alas, 'tis not I. Guess again, Dan.
>
> Barbara

Standing ovation!

Extremely astute observation, Julie!! Standing ovation! -Judith Smth

I would only add that

I have enjoyed this discussion, and the cartoon itself.

I would only add that after the parade has passed by, Tin-Tin and the Captain's begging bowl is still empty. This might be the source of the Captain's frustration.

Ah, samsara...

Julie Benson

TinTin cartoon: frame by frame

Dear Nick Wright

Thanks for your interpretation of the anonymous TinTin cartoon, copy attached; it drags me out of my lethargy to offer my own view. Frame by frame:

FRAME 1

From the famous TinTin cartoon series drawn by the Belgian artist Herge (long dead), we find his title character TinTin accompanied by his sidekick Captain Haddock, in the present (a pastoral setting) now with white hair, obviously wizened, but still on the road. TinTin's faithful terrier "Snowy" is gone (likely from old age), but his dog dish has become the iconic begging bowl of renunciates.The ground for their meditation is the prajnaparamita mantra of the Heart Sutra.

FRAME 2

Their meditation is popped by something surprising to their left.

FRAME 3

A panoramic view evokes a rural Nova Scotia scene inexplicably invaded by an outlandish procession preceded by a flashing police car, and equestrians, military, a band, a limousine, busses, ultimately a hot-air balloon. A handful of surprised locals turn out to watch what's coming their way.

FRAME 4

The focus of the parade is an exotic royal couple, pretty obviously the current Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo, riding on a ceremonial elephant. They are surrounded by kasung marching with banners, playing pipes and drums. He is waving from his canopied howdah; she is throwing flowers. Their mahout is androgynous. A helicopter with news cameras hovers.

FRAME 5

The end of the parade passes with as much pomp and frivolity as it began, with a last limo followed by a white horse ridden by the former Sakyong Wangmo (?) in dressage costume. She is accompanied by exotically-mounted soldiery with a bugler. All of the parade's dust has assaulted the nostrils of Haddock and TinTin.

FRAME 6

The entire Fellini-like parade has left Captain Haddock tearing his hair in apparent frustration, with his face buried in the grass. TinTin asks him something not recorded in the empty (except for a question mark) caption box, suggesting the cartoonist has left space inviting readers to fill it in when they have penetrated the riddle.

My own caption choice would be:"I understand how you feel, but how can we help?" or something like that. And if I was this cartoonist's art director, the elephant-driver would be Richard Rioch, and at the end of the procession I would have inserted staff in business suits, with huge begging bowls, much bigger than Snowy's, hustling the meditators to finance the cost of the extravaganza.

As to the identity of the artist, it would not surprise me to learn that she, he, or they were commissioned by Barbara Blouin to illustrate her sharp examination of the Shambhala court's current affairs. (Nov.26 www.radiofreeshambhala.org).

In any event, thanks for hauling me out of the bad mystery novel I've been reading, and into something that is a lot more engaging.

Yours, with gratitude, Dan Taylor.

Great fun

Great fun. It’s interesting to see how we project our minds when interpreting the cartoon. Here is another unabashed projection.

In the first panel we see Tintin and Capt. Haddock in a most austere situation of worldly renunciation. Although they may indeed be at Karme Choling as has been suggested, they are sitting on their bedrolls, implying homelessness. Their expressions are of joyless inward concentration, and their meditation is on a mantra of emptiness. Their shared begging bowl speaks of voluntary poverty and dependence on the goodness of others.

In the second panel, the meditators appear to have a genuine experience of emptiness (“POP”)—better-known as shunyata in the Mahayana tradition they seemed to be practising, a usually disconcerting experience of conceptual dwelling suddenly falling apart.

In the third panel we see why. They gaze in awe upon a scene of fully realized worldly society, with a cheering crowd welcoming a regal procession led by a police escort, elegant equestrians, and a full-blown military. The procession curls out of sight in the distance, implying a multitude—indeed perhaps the whole—of humanity.

The fourth panel shows us the heart of the procession: a beneficent Sakyong Mipham and Sakyong Wangmo Tseyang Palmo atop an elephant, smiling and dispensing blessings upon all—he with hand gestures, she with flowers. The male and female Dorje Kasung—with collars unbuttoned and sleeves rolled the regulation two fingers, or one inch, above the elbow (definitely at least a Kasung influence on the artist)— march proudly on either side of the elephant, carrying the flag of Shambhala with a stylized trident on the tip of the flagpole (the prominent bagpiper in full regalia may be a clue to the identity of the artist—as is the similarity between the Kasung in front of the piper and Major John Perks. More later…). A helicopter escort implies an air force, or is further indication of the society’s full development. The calligraphy on the side of the elephant’s howdah appears to be Tibetan cursive script (right-way up)—perhaps saying “Shambhala” or “Great Eastern Sun” or something similar.

The fifth panel shows three different kinds of steeds—camels, horses and an ostrich—and a variety of historical military headdress, all implying the worldwide inclusiveness of the Shambhala kingdom, and its reflection through the ages (there even seems to be a 17th-Century Spanish Morion helmet—or maybe it’s a cowboy hat—under a Sun banner). The white horse could be the Dorje Dradul’s horse “Drala”, and the rider Lady Diana Mukpo. The limousine license plate could have a sideways HUM as suggested, but it might also be Tibetan cursive script for something Shambhalian. Tintin and Capt. Haddock may simply be reacting to the copious dust raised by the procession—or they are being left in the dust (which seems a somewhat harsh interpretation, but…).

In the final panel, Capt. Haddock--a famous if not notorious tippler and bon vivant, who must have been persuaded by someone as righteous as Tintin to give up worldliness in order to follow the path of renunciation—seems overcome with chagrin, and Tintin seems to be saying something self-exculpatory, such as, “How was I to know we could travel the path of Dharma without giving up the world and all its splendours?”

Thanks to Mr. Gilkerson (?), or whoever the clever person is, for the insightful riddle,

Nick Wright

the Dalai Lama's Truth of Light award

To clear up and exacerbate mystery, you might want to look at Wikipedia's entry on Tintin in Tibet to reference the characters of Tin Tin and Capt. Haddock:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_in_Tibet

From that entry (under "awards" near the bottom): "On June 1, 2006, Tintin became the first fictional character to be awarded the Dalai Lama's Truth of Light award. “For many people around the world Tintin in Tibet was their first introduction to Tibet, the beauty of its landscape and its culture..."

peace,

Hello,

This appears to be a page from one of the books of the Tintin series. I thought it was probably from "Tintin in Tibet", but I just looked at my son's copy and it is not from that one. I do not recall seeing this page. My son has every single Tintin book ever printed. There are about 25 as I recall. I am not inclined to scan every page of every book right now. If it is NOT from a Tintin book, it is a very good imitation!

seems a bit cryptic

Yes, it seems a bit cryptic to me, as well. Great drawing/cartooning, though. All I get is something about appearances and emptiness, but not sure what the last frame indicates, exactly. I wonder if it has something to do with "Enlightened Society", the Shambhala mandala, and all of it being appearance-emptiness ...?

If you got some helpful insights from others, I would like to read what they have sent in response to your query.

Thank you,

Thank you for forwarding the cartoon

I enjoyed it very much. The cartoon seems to be poking fun at the elaborate processions and rituals that accompany the Sakyong, as Shambhala king, and contrasting it with the quiet meditation practice that is at the heart of Buddhism.

probably TinTin in Tibet

These characters are from the TinTin comic books...probably TinTin in Tibet. My children and I used to read them quite a lot, as did the Vidyadhara. Perhaps you could find the book online. Or maybe an artist made up her/his own cartoon in the TinTin style. What I see is that the TinTin (character on the right) and the other character whose name I cannot remember but I think he’s a sea captain had their meditation disturbed by a royal wedding procession (perhaps representing samsara), and we’re being asked to fill in the blank.

If I find my copy of TinTin in Tibet, I will let you know what I find out.

Hi,

I had a look at the posting. It looks like a play on the Tintin Series of cartoons by Hergé. Tintin (on the right) and Captain Haddock (on the left) are reciting the mantra from the Heart Sutra, which concerns emptiness. Their meditation is disturbed by a large parade that is anything but “empty” – much fanfare, many people and a revered “lama” (may be hinting at the Karmapa, here). In the end, I think they are confused and can’t see how the two work together – emptiness and such a manifestation (the parade).

Don’t know if this helps, but that’s what I got from the cartoon.

Cheers,

Hello friends,

I am at Denver Shambhala Center. To me, it is only about the mind and our distraction, even when it is the ancient ever present Shambhala community, all dressed up, like so many of our other thoughts which take us on a ride and away from our seat during practice. (like this run on sentence) They catch themselves in the last scene. Only my take.

Mindfully,

Elephant cartoon - the comic continues

Hi,

Looking at the images revealed a couple of details apparent but more noticeable after so many more comments about comic.

At the end of the procession, both TinTin and Capt Haddock are holding their noses. That says something of their feelings.

Another detail the artist deliberately drew in, on the license tag of the limo it has a Tibetan script turned sideways.

Likewise, on the chariot of the elephant throne there is another Tibetan syllable, again tuned on its side.

The limo has a HRI sideways on the license tag. The side of elephant throne has a very clear HUNG.

Since HUNG is used in Vajrasattva mantra of Nyingma, and we use HUM, it seemed to indicate a Nyimgma person.

But, the mantra OM MANI PADME HUNG HRI has both syllables so it is a more likely source.

Coincidently, OM MANI PADME HUNG HRI is used in that form by students of Lama Zopa and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Teachings at www.fpmt.org.

This was a conceivable inspiration for the comic. It is a rebuke of the pageantry of Kalapa not just an acknowledgement of emptiness as form.

There are lots of dharma's appropriate for different beings, so it's not really a big deal either way. It is wonderful set of drawings.

We love Tin Tin in our community. And in some places they were passed around in lieu of having any TV or Nero Wolf to read.

Possibly Jan DD. the artist, lived at Karme Choling for some period of time and remembers the now missing red barn.

What appears in the last scene is very similar to the view of the old barn from the west wing door.

If Jan DD was a Kasung at KCL, they would have exited that door each night and seen the barn in view just like the last panel every time they did final rounds. So maybe it is appropriate that they would draw it to appear that way in the last panel.

It all took a lot of effort to draw. Alas, the copy writing is always even harder. They intended to say more when they made the space

for it in the last panel well in advance of the actual text.

And like a lot of blank paper, it is hard to start the dot without taking a risk. So better to leave it blank when not sure of the outcome.

In appreciation of how difficult and time consuming it was to draw the comic,

Whoever you are, thanks for the mystery.

Best wishes,

Steve Todd

Please drive all blame for my own comments into Stevetech@sc.rr.com.

white elephant

A white elephant is any object that must be maintained at great expense and cannot be disposed of. It comes from a special punishment from an Oriental king to a nobleman. Given an albino elephant, they cannot sell it and it requires so much care, that the nobleman is bankrupt.

Fun! with respect for the elephant, ilsa

Hergé Yangsi

Dear George Remi (gremi@mail.com),

We cannot help but notice that your name is none other than that of the creator of Tintin, who used the nom-de-plume of Hergé.

We are delighted to make the acquaintance of the Hergé Yangsi, and look forward to more fun in the comic realm.

Chao chao,
Mark

Cartoon Question

Dear Friends,

We have sent to following email to Shambhala International. We will let you know what they tell us.

Gordi and Lyske Remi

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Dear Shambhala International;

In searching for something explaining in text what is meant by the attached cartoon we have had the the advice that perhaps it can be part of one of your publications? If that is true, we are grateful if you can provide the entire story for which we will of course pay in Canadian dollars, if you will tell us how much is the cost. We cannot find it on your website, maybe because we are in Europe. Is it a page from a booklet with more Tin Tin cartoons? Thanks for any way in which you can enlighten us and our small group of Shamatha meditators out of our confusion about this.

With dharma regards, Gordi and Lyske Remi

Here is the site where we found it: http://lambda.lunariffic.com/~jandd0/

Well, let's see what the visuals say.

First frame: You've got two guys who look like father and son sitting in meditation by a dirt road. They are wearing loose clothing and what look like Birkinstock sandals, all of which is usally code for "out-of-date hippie." The older man also has a beard which adds to that designation. They are alone with a barn and a country scene in the background.

They are praciticing the prajnaparamita mantra from the Heart Sutra, which may signify that their main practice is sitting meditation and, more generally, the mahayana. They have a bowl in front of them, which may mean that they are engaged in the sutrayana practice of begging for their sustenance as well. All of this is code for a practice based in renunciation. In the context of what follows, it may also be code for "out-of-date hippies" as well.

Second frame: mantra practice vanishes with a pop and attention turns to something to the two characters' left.

Third frame: The scene shifts to what is across the road from the father and son. It shows a house nearby, other houses, and a lake. The road extends into the distance and is full of a large parade of people, cars, horses, busses, and an elephant. The parade is passing the two men and approaching the nearby house, where people are waving in welcome. The two men look puzzled.

Fourth frame: The elephant passes close by carrying two royal figures who look very much like the Sakyong and the Sakyong Wangmo, with the latter scattering flowers. People who look like kasung are marching on either side, along with a bagpiper.

Fifth frame: The parade passes by the father and son, leaving them in a cloud of dust, covering their noses.

Sixth frame: Background returns to frames one and two. The father is seen crouched down, covering his head. The son gestures in the direction from which the parade came, looking toward his father with an empty dialog balloon containing just a question mark.

If this cartoon is really from someone at Shambhala International, then I would suggest that the father is an old Trungpa Rinpoche student who has devoted his life to meditation but really doesn't understand what he is doing. The son is a young practitioner who has been taught by the father and so also does not understand. I say this because of the way their mantra disappears with a pop in the second frame. The parade is the current activity of Shambhala, full of color and sound and activity, being welcomed into a home full of happy people. It passes by the father and son and leaves them in the dust. This causes the old Trungpa Rinpoche student to to collapse in a fetal position and leave the student/son with nothing.

Any questions? There should not be--this view of the situation is very, very old news. Who drew this cartoon?

Zer-me

Still Puzzle

We apologize for my previous letter that was not very clear. We had just gotten back from our travels, and everything was very in haste. I will try to be more understandable. When Lyske found this cartoon attaching, it was from friends in our sangha, but it had no note or text with it which we expect comes from the Nova Scotia head offices and we would like to get the missing part. It is our curiosity, but may be important. (?)

We much appreciate the notes from Ms. Vincent and Mr. or Ms. Binny speaking of the teachings, and very well know the prajnaparamita mantra, and we can see the elephant with the king and queen and people on camels and other, but we are hoping this can be explained by something in writing that we somehow have missed, which can be more enlightening.

FROM GORDI & LYSKE REMI

umm....

I don't know anything about a captain or Tin Tin, but that man is, without a doubt, Jon Ohm of SMC.

-

nick profaizer

Reminds me of a cartoon by R. Crumb.

Mister Natural goes to meditate in the desert. Nothing anywhere around, throws out his blanket and begins. Slowly an entire world builds around him. First someone walks by with plans in their hands. Then you see surveyors measuring things out. Then you see a road get built, houses, buildings being built, shops being opened. Then all kinds of people walking by: businessmen, mothers, kids, hippies, drugs dealers, pimps and bodacious women (R. Crumb signature characters). Finally a uniformed policeman comes up to Mister Natural, taps him on the shoulder and says "Hey buddy, no loitering, you have to move along, you can't just sit in the middle of the road, ya bum!"

Mister Natural, without even glancing up, no hint of irritation or aggression, inhales deeply and then chants a long "OOOoooooooommmm" and the entire world built up around him crumbles back into nothing. He finds himself once again in the open desert, folds up his blanket, gets up and walk off the page.

In this cartoon, both characters look to be a bit less in control than Moster Natural, a little more uncertain, nonplussed or chagrined about what they just witnessed (real or otherwise) but I somehow suspect the two cartoons are in some unspecific but significant way related.

Maybe encounters with sunyathata?

It's so hard to grok non-verbal teachings if you weren't actually there....

James Elliott

Extraordinary

Extraordinary. Are you sure this is samsara that is evoked by the mantra that so explicitly goes beyond?

Following the police escort, a load of kasung, one seemingly riding on an ostrich, banners, drums and what looks like Lady Diana on a white horse behind the limo, and the Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo riding on an elephant. Householders come out and greet them.

Ah well, clearly one person’s samsara is another person’s enlightened society. Indeed samsara and nirvana are not two.

Susanne Vincent

Dear Gordi and Lyske

Dear Gordi and Lyske

I suspect you are teasing your North American cousins a bit. Herge was French, n'est-ce pas?

In any case, it's a very clever cartoon. Here's my exegesis:

Captain Haddock and Tin Tin have grown old gracefully, retired to the country and taken up the practice of Buddhism. Their meditation on complete liberation is interrupted when the parade of samsara in its full display comes to their doorstep. Haddock is abashed; Tin Tin in the final panel reminds him that samsara and nirvana are not two.

Thanks for posting the cartoon!

Binny

Need help with puzzles!

Dear Friends,

My wife and myself are back home, and are so much appreciative of the North American Sangha contributes to Europe, where we study and do Shambhala dharma practices.

We hope you will tell us what is the meaning of this cartoon that we also got from the internet and want to know if we did not receive something written down explaining. What is the message please?

Here is the cartoon: http://lambda.lunariffic.com/~jandd0/

What does this mean?

Yours, Gordi and Lyske Remi