Tashi Delek!
On September 7th, our team of artists, including filmmaker, photographer, choreographer, dancer, poetic writer and researcher, will begin a journey across four nations, following in the living footsteps of Padmasambhava, the Guru Rinpoche. We want you to join us on this remarkable journey by following our travels on our website (www.triptychjourney.org), spreading the word about our unique project, and if you can, making a donation.
What you are Supporting-
There are two phases to our project.
First, our artist journey will be shared in real-time on our map-embeded website. As we travel, we will be continuously uploading film, photographs, video diaries, poetry, dance, interviews and stories. In short, you can journey with us, following our progress through powerful landscapes and places.
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Upon return we will weave together the many threads of our journey into multiple interactive story-telling experiences, including documentary film, publications, installations and live performances. With these products, we will create many different portals to enter the unfolding story of Padmasambhava- the man who transformed the spiritual face of the Himalayan people and landscape.
Who is Padmasambhava?
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Padmasambhava appeared as an 8 year-old boy on a lotus in the middle of a Pakistani lake- happy, smiling and naked to the world. That's how the story begins, more than 1200 years ago.
In this story Padmasambhava grows to international renown, traveling across India and Nepal and into the Himalaya. His journey is nothing less than a series of spiritual accomplishments and conquests. Demons and spirits, evil ministers and jealous kings- none can resist his Tantric Buddhist powers. Slowly, surely, Padmasambhava cleared the way, pacifying the land and people and planting the seeds of Buddhism.
That's how the story goes, at least on paper. Guru Rinpoche's story, however, cannot be contained by linear narrative. Look beneath the surface, and the story deepens, merging myth with history, fact with legend, past and present with future. It includes spiritual teachings, or 'terma' ('treasures'), buried by Padmasambhava and his tantric consorts, which continue to be discovered to this day. It includes unbroken chains of reincarnated souls, rediscovering their place in the Padmasambhava story, adding new chapters of magic and revelation. It includes centuries of profound spiritual texts, dances, and poetry, which revitalize a people's connection to both Buddhism and Padmasambhava.
This story is alive, as alive as a soft, beating heart.
What we will do on our journey-
For seven weeks, we will travel across the breadth of the Himalaya, visiting sacred sites of the Guru Rinpoche. Along the way, each artist will document the journey in their own unique language, using dance, word, image and sound to share their experiences.
Throughout the journey, the team will also meet with local artists, historians, pilgrims, monks and lay people, as we explore together the central themes of the Padmasambhava story: landscape, transformation, mystery, power, and rebirth.
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The itinerary, themes and artist exchanges will inform the multiple story-lines of the Padmasambhava Project. These story-lines begin with Guru Rinpoche; the places that he transformed, the reincarnates who claim his legacy, and the continuous unfolding of his teachings. They include the story of the Himalayan people who the Guru touched and touches, and their embodiment of Himalayan Buddhism's fragile ecosystem. There is also the story of the artists' internal and external journey as they travel through landscapes of power and devotion. And finally, there is the story of artists' creative products, reaching into the unknown and using the language of the arts to share a story of mystery and magic.
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What we need-
Help us share this story, both on the journey and upon return. We still need a little over $47,000 for the travel phase of the project. Your donation will help pay for travel, film equipment and artist encounters (among a host of other things)! We've already secured nearly $100,000 and this final amount will put us over the top.
If we raise more than $47,000, the remaining amount will go towards the second phase of our project- the editing and creation of the film and the production of the multimedia installations, publications and performances.
Besides the good karma of making a donation, we have a number of perks to sweeten the deal. We're flexible- If you would like to make a special request, let us know. We're making a journey together...
Who we are-
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Ronen Schechner is the Cinematographer of the project, based in Burlington, Vermont
Padmasambhava appeared as an 8 year-old boy on a lotus in the middle of a Pakistani lake- happy, smiling and naked to the world. That's how the story begins, more than 1200 years ago.
The itinerary, themes and artist exchanges will inform the multiple story-lines of the Padmasambhava Project. These story-lines begin with Guru Rinpoche; the places that he transformed, the reincarnates who claim his legacy, and the continuous unfolding of his teachings. They include the story of the Himalayan people who the Guru touched and touches, and their embodiment of Himalayan Buddhism's fragile ecosystem. There is also the story of the artists' internal and external journey as they travel through landscapes of power and devotion. And finally, there is the story of artists' creative products, reaching into the unknown and using the language of the arts to share a story of mystery and magic.
What we need-
