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.