Triptych Journey

Triptych Journey will be hosting a “Fund-Organizing” event at Maglianero Cafe, 47 Maple Street, on Saturday, November 17th. The free event runs from 7-9 PM and is being billed as a “Walking Tour of the Padmasambhava Project”.

I hope you can join us as we take you through a tour of the 2013 journey. In addition to the tour, we also will have Tibetan food and ‘presentations’ from two of the project’s participating artists: Tamin Totzke and Ronen Schechner. Several of the tour’s photos will be on sale at the event. (Thanks to Green Mountain Camera of Waterbury and South Burlington for their generous donation of prints!)

Stay tuned for more information and see you on the 17th!

I presented the Triptych Journey Project at the Fleming Museum last month. The presentation, which provides a good synopsis of the story and vision for the project, was part of the 8th Edition of Burlington’s Pecha Kucha Series. The video is after the jump. Let me know what you think. Read more

Marc Wennberg is the Founder and Director of Triptych Journey. Marc is working with the Triptych Journey Board of Directors to bring the Padmasambhava Project to fruition. Once the journey is launched, he will be doing a little bit of everything.

When he is not working on the project, Marc is the Director of the St. Albans Community Justice Center. He also is a lover of dance, a lapsed writer, and a resident of Burlington, Vermont. Marc’s responses to the board’s questions and a short video can be viewed after the jump. Read more

Ronen Schechner is a resident of Burlington, father, filmmaker, and Camp Director of Kids for Peace, Vermont. Ronen has also been informally consulting on the Padmasambhava Project for nearly three years and his persistent questions (based upon years of film-making) have helped to clarify the direction of the project. He will be working closely with fellow filmmaker Jan Cannon on the Padmasambhava Project (Jan will be profiled in a later post). They will be the eyes behind the cameras,  capturing the many moments of the journey, both mystical and mundane.

Ronen’s responses to the board’s questions and a short video sample of his work can be viewed after the jump. Read more

As part of project development, the Triptych Journey board circulated a list of questions to the collaborating artists. The goal was to gain insight of the participants both as travelers and artists. Over the course of the next month, Triptych Journey will be posting selected portions of their answers along with supporting videos (when available). These are the storytellers of the Padmasambhava Project. Their vision and experiences will be the vehicle for sharing the complex and unfolding revelation of Padmasambhava, the Guru Rinpoche.

First up, Tamin Totzke- dancer, choreographer, and graduate student at the University of Illinois. A video sample of Tamin’s work can be viewed after the jump. Read more

In a land steeped with spiritual intention, the word treasure takes on a new meaning. Riches become something other than gold or jewels. The mountains, lakes, and skies speak in a spiritual code which only a select few code-breakers (with the right karma) can understand. True wealth is not coveted; it’s real value blossoms when shared. Tibet’s most revered ‘hidden treasures’ (termas), endowed with the highest spiritual and public value, are Padmasambhava’s lasting legacy. Read more

It is said that Padmasambhava was born at eight years old, perched on a lotus in the middle of a lake, somewhere deep in Swat Valley (current day Pakistan). That he was raised by a childless king, who carried regal aspirations for his miraculous son. That he killed the son of the King’s minister, sending a spear through his heart., and thus freeing himself from the chains of his father’s ambitions. That he spent his exile meditating in the “charnal grounds” of the kingdom, residence of the dead and undead, moving from realization to realization. Read more

Devotion (noun)- Ardent, often selfless affection and dedication, as to a person or principle. See Synonyms at love.

On my sole trip to Tibet, I made a pilgrimage with three others to Mount Kailash in the northwestern reaches of the mountainous country. It took us four days to reach the mountain. Four days of jostling, jolting travel across a barren ethereal landscape, picking up dusty trails that passed as roads in our late-model Land Cruiser. Four days of high altitude travails; headaches, appetite loss, forgotten words, and sleepless nights. Four long tedious days and nights amidst stark, pristine beauty. Read more

Where shall we go? There are literally thousands of relevant sites in the life of Padmasambhava; caves with his bodily imprints, lakes where he withstood flames, monasteries consecrated by his dance, and pilgrimages that hold not one, but dozens of sites. In fact, it is said that within Tibet there is not a square foot of land that hasn’t been touched by the Guru’s presence. With such a bounty, how shall we choose our itinerary? Read more

“Guru Rinpoche’s story began at the ‘Ocean of Milk’ or Lake Danakosha in the Land of Odiyana on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where according to legend, in the reign of king Indrabodhi, he appeared miraculously in a beautiful red lotus blossom, as an eight-year-old child holding a dorje and a lotus. He immediately began giving teachings to those around. (Shaman of the Copper Coloured Glorious Mountain, Nicholas Breeze Wood)” Read more