Thursday, February 9, 2012

NECESSARY ANGEL




THE PLANET ON THE TABLE

Ariel was glad he had written his poems.
They were of a remembered time
Or of something seen that he liked.

Other makings of the sun
Were waste and welter
And the ripe shrub writhed.

His self and the sun were one
And his poems, although makings of his self,
Were no less makings of the sun.

It was not important that they survive.
What mattered was that they should bear
Some lineament or character,

Some affluence, if only half-perceived,
In the poverty of their words,
Of the planet of which they were part.

        - Wallace Stevens

.  .  .  .  .
 
A Video Interview with Henry Schaeffer



Henry Schaeffer - January 2012, San Francisco.

Henry Schaeffer studied with Suzuki-roshi before meeting Chögyam Trungpa and becoming the latter teacher's student in 1970. In this video, Henry describes the first and second time he encountered Chögyam Trungpa. 

Trungpa Rinpoche did not limit his teachings to Tibetan Buddhism or any spiritual idiom - even to "spirituality" itself. In a given talk, Trungpa Rinpoche might speak of farming, T.S. Eliot or the understanding of Christian monastics he conversed with in Great Britain. In this video, Henry describes how one of his own passions, the poetry of Wallace Stevens, coincidentally became a link to Chögyam Trungpa.






12 comments:

  1. Ah, thank you for posting this! I really enjoyed watching Mr. Schaeffer talk about his encounter with Trungpa Rinpoche. I also want to check out Wallace Stevens's poetry now too!

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  2. Even with my limited memory, I do remember Henry from the early days at Bay Area Dharma events; however, I never knew about the Wallace Steven connection. Really enjoyed seeing this and cherish the memories of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Thank you, Bill.

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  3. Henry has a gift for sharing the atmosphere of power and devotion that engulfed one in the presence of Chogyam Trungpa. I hope you will post more from his bank of memories. Thank you.

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  4. Hello. My name is Richard Schaeffer. I am Henry Schaeffer's nephew. I am sad to let you know that Henry passed away yesterday morning. I did not spend a lot of time with him. I enjoyed him when we visited. I feel that he was very involved with his spiritual family. Respectfully, Richard Schaeffer

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