Cameron Wenaus, one of our Centre’s senior students, sent us this poem and photo today, along with his love and this message: “Here is something I wrote on the plane flying over the Andes to visit my bro. The attached image is one I took at Machu Pichu.”

73 hour bodywoke
Stinging eyes wondered open
To Andean sunscraped razor peaks
Oh lha of lha is this your domain?

Mind pushed and pulled to awake
Heart softened by clouds and broken by
Shrinkwrap sugar and orange drink.
Oh lha of lha is this your domain?

Chest beats Ashe black
Snow lions trumpet clouds
Garuda cam soars through space-homeless happy
Alseep in his masters lap
Oh lha of lha how wonderful to arrive!

Machu Pichu • By Cameron Wenaus

it wasn’t slow.
it was quick
like how red bleeds to amber
after the match jumps
from its box.
free falling free
swimming in an ocean
of intertwined body-speech 
and mind.
falling 
so free
my heart touched 
your ground.

From April 17th to 19th, the Kootenay Shambhala Centre is presenting the program Gesar: Egoless Warriorship for Wrathful Times, with Acharya Jenny Warwick and Cameron Wenaus. You might (understandably) ask, “Who is Gesar and why should I care?” Here’s a response to that question.

Cameron Wenaus writes:

The Epic of Gesar is an ancient Central Asian tale―and one of the East’s longest and wildest stories! In Tibet, there are singing bards who, although they can neither read nor write, can somehow recall the story of Gesar in precise detail; their accounts can last for days. In the West, we have only recently had the good fortune to come across this magical story and its inner meaning.

Gesar was born in Ling, an area of Tibet, in 1038, at a time when the dharma was in great peril and was on the brink of being wiped out by materialistic forces. He was an emanation of Padmasambhava, who out of great compassion for humankind, took a rebirth in Tibet in order to subjugate four demonic kings who were intent on destroying the dharma altogether. He is associated with many miracles and is revered for overcoming all obstacles he faced, no matter what the odds. Read the rest of this entry »

This video features the Kootenay Shambhala Centre’s Membership Coordinator and Rusung wearing one of his other hats!