Shabkar - Shaped by the excellence of the path
Ivan M. Granger September 5th, 2008
See how, shaped by the excellence of the path,
by Shabkar (Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol)
English version by Matthieu Ricard
See how, shaped by the excellence of the path,
I walk now without effort
toward the Buddha state.
I dance, I sing, I play!
— from Rainbows Appear: Tibetan Poems of Shabkar, Translated by Matthieu Ricard
/ Photo by Digital Sophia /
I don’t want to weigh this delightful verse down with many words.
Instead, I invite you to, effortlessly, dance! sing! play!
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Shabkar (Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol) |
Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol, often referred to simply as Shabkar (sometimes transliterated as Shapkar), was born in the Amdo province of northeastern Tibet.
He entered monastic studies at the age of eight. As a youth, he resisted pressure from his family to marry and devoted himself fully to spiritual practice and took full ordination at age 21. While still a young man, he became respected for his scholarship. When Shabkar was 25, he took up the life of a wandering pilgrim and hermit, traveling for the next thirty years to sacred sites and pilgrimage destinations. His life as a wandering ascetic and his songs of spiritual insight became widely known, earning him comparisons with the great wandering Buddhist yogi-poet Milarepa.
Shabkar was a renowned teacher and lineage holder of the Dzogchen tradition.
He was also a nature mystic, conversing with sky and mountain and tree, seeing in them embodiments of teachers and fundamental truths. Like St. Francis of Assisi, he is particularly famous for his love of animals. One of his most widely read works is a treatise on vegetarianism.
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… and the Stellar sea lions
in the Alexander Archipelago
of Southeastern Alaska sing,
“Sea cow, shaped by the excess size and number
of fish in my path, you do the math and wonder;
I waddle now, with effort of late,
toward my buttocks - a great weight of slate.
I still dance, sing, snort and prate”
- Zhou Khan Ali, b. 1949, Irish-American humorist, mist hick, who lived for years on a remote island in the fourteen million acre South Tongass National Forest, which is located in the Panhandle region of Alaska - also known as the Alexander Archipelago.
dear Ivan,
Years back,
He said,he knew,
to think , fast and wait;
but took him, ages to reach the state,
here are many,on the path,
in the mountains,forests and the deserts,
living in, no past nor beyond;
but the present.
which is in the presance, of beloved.
regards,
salam
Excellent commentary - as usual. And the accompanying photographs are so apropriate.
Thanks…
a soul with a physical embodiement.
becoming the infinite unlimited self,
learning/teaching the physical body to mirror the abundance of Spirit.
dance, sing,play is the fabric of the
Self
forever woven anew.
Dear Ian
i have read the life of Shabkar rinpoche and have been moved to tears with devotion and inspiration and determination to practice. But have forgotten all that. So, your poem reminded me of these great treasures of the world and I am going to read his life stories again.
thank you
Lynn