This article is a part of a
series on my three literary mentors: Karen Blixen, J.R.R. Tolkien and Antoine
de Saint-Exupéry.
The series could be said to
follow Kierkegaard´s three stages on the way to becoming a true self: the
aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious. Each of these “stages on life’s way”
represents competing views on life and as such potentially conflicts with one
another. In my interpretation Karen Blixen belongs to the aesthetic stage. Tolkien
and Saint-Exupéry belong to the ethical and religious stage, though this
doesn´t mean that aesthetics not is a part of their work. It certainly is.
After all: their works are of a high literary quality, and the concept of
beauty is quite central.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of
the beast, or the number of his name.
(Revelation 13:16-17) After my two kundalini cycles
I moved to Rold Forest in order to go totally into the spiritual practice. I have
described the whole philosophical implication of the two kundalini cycles in my
Ebook Karen Blixen – The Devil´s Mistress.
In this blog post I will describe a certain aspect of kundalini awakening.
my friend lives in the deep woods
she follows the white moon
streams, sleeps in the cloud mists.
some say she sits alone without a friend:
milky way great joy pillow bed of pine
cricket song companions,
oak tree friendships.
the white moon flowers
its, light
fills her cup. drunk again. and
butterfly dreams.
down in the valley men build fires
up here on the dragon’s back
she dances spring breeze
My Friend, by Just a Tourist
Appearance as enchantment.
In 1990 Sangchen Tsomo walked away from the brick a
brack world of conventional world job, family, politics, entertainments,
internet and wandered into the woods to live a life of retreat as a Tantric
Buddhist yogini. She spent the next 20 years accomplishing every stage and
method of the Tantric path.
What Sangchen practices is what I call Inner Tantra.
Inner Tantra means the processes that unfold between
conscious energy polarities within one person's personality system. These inner
tantric processes consist of a combination of energy and meditative exercises,
spontaneous events, and experiences of the most intense character that
encompass both energy states, love states and states of extended and higher
consciousness.
Inner Tantra
apparently evolves naturally from an outer tantric love relationship between
two. A transformation experience often means harmonization
in a three-pronged process: inner exchange between the woman's two poles
(feminine and masculine); inner exchange between the man's two poles (masculine
and feminine); and these two inner tantric phenomena linked to a common
auric-energetic sensation and consciousness experience.
However, inner tantra can also be developed in a single living human being for one reason or another. This may be due to either an
involuntary interruption of a common but deep and strong love relationship; or
it may be due to a conscious, often religiously determined decision to live in
celibacy.
Having accomplished the goals of the path Sangchen
lives like a cloud, carefree, wandering about in aesthetic spontaneity. Her
magical configurations utilize cast off cigar boxes, toys, wire, found objects,
paint, to create vast canvases and tiny worlds that are a dialogue between the
expanse of emptiness and the magic of appearing.
Kilometer
19, Mexico Highway 2: A sea of red on the map of death. - Magical Box 497,
magics to benefit the life spirits of those dying crossing the desert in the
United States.
May I
become at all times, both now and forever: a protector for those without
protection; a guide for those who have lost their way; a ship for those with
oceans to cross; a bridge for those with rivers to cross; a sanctuary for those
in danger; a lamp for those without light; a place of refuge for those who lack
shelter; and a servant to all in need. - Shantideva
If you
would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide into the
body of life. For life and death are one, even as the river and the
sea are one. - Kahlil Gibran
So, in the
tradition of the great female Tantric mystics like Mandarava,Yeshe Tsogyel or
polymaths of European mystical history such as Hildegard of Bingen, Sangchen Tsomo is a yogini who has lived many years in
solitary mountain retreat. She is a
living example of profound spiritual awakening combined with being a painter,
maker of magical boxes and healing amulets, master conga player and music
producer.
Sangchen
photo
”I have never
met another being like Sangchen. Her realization, the power and mystery of her Tantric
practices and abilities. She is a story from the 84 Mahasiddhas come to life in
modern times." - t.k.
Sangchen´s enlightened
realization and practical understanding of the Tantric Buddhist path flowered
in an explosion of creativity and compassionate work to benefit beings. She does not “teach” or “have students” and lives
primarily in retreat but her wisdom bliss overflows in works of art, music (she
is the force behind Just a Tourist music), healing work and sorcery for the
benefit and protection of beings.
Using
mantra, tantra, yantra, sadhana, substances made from nature she crafts healing
amulets, protection amulets, empowers sacred sites deep in the woods of West
Virginia and Michigan and helps other long term solitary retreatants who have
reached the completion phases of practice.
Emerging
from several years of writing mantra in every free moment a secret Dakini
script spontaneously emerged and Sangchen filled notebooks with secret
writings. From this a style of making Magical Boxes developed and these boxes,
each one a tiny magical world effectuating different intentions, are found in 9
countries and Hawaii. One day Sangchen picked up a paint brush and thus
began a tremendous outflow of paintings.
The back of each of Sangchen’s
paintings is blessed with diagrams of the sun or moon and/or bits of secret
script and/or English.
The
secret script is a form of the Dakini writing which spontaneously emerged from
years of writing mantra during every free moment, between formal sessions in
solitary retreat.
All of Sangchen’s art and painting are part and parcel
of her Tantric spiritual work.
At the repeated requests of
her Lama Sangchen has agreed to allow a Tumblr page to be created so that her
art and healing work might be shared:
Related
blog posts: Seiðr Shamanism and the Art of Song Healing(In this post I describe how I in my dreams began to get in contact with female spirits called Disir, very similar to Dakinis)
