Compassionate Rebel

By: Gwendolyn Alley aka Art Predator

Sep 27 2012

Tags: 14th dalai lama, Audre Lorde, autumn monarch butterflies, Buddhist art, mid autumn festival, thangka

Category: Fiber Arts, Poetry Broadside, thangkas

3 Comments

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
~ Audre Lorde in The Cancer Journals, Special Edition, Aunt Lute Books, San Francisco, CA, 1997, p. 13.

AUTUMN!

Monarch butterflies float in the barranca,
grapes harvested and crushed for wine,
pumpkins getting bigger on the vine,
sun, lower on the horizon,
pours light into my living room by day;
by night I watch the harvest moon grow large.

Celebrate this time of change by joining the MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL “Moon Festival of Children” SATURDAY (9/29/2012) at the An Lac Mission 901 S. Saticoy at Darling Road in east Ventura, CA 93004.

From 2-pm, enjoy lion dances, music by The Together Band, a magic show, and vegetarian Vietnamese food including tofu pancakes, fresh banana cakes, sugarcane juice, and fried rice. Children will sing and walk around with a candle lit lanterns. Free admission; donations will go to the An Lac Garden Fund.

Thanks to Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo for the beautiful thangka that graces this post. One of the only westerners trained in the rare Buddhist art of silk applique thangkas, Leslie is passionate about the preservation and evolution of this Tibetan cultural tradition. His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave his blessings to Leslie’s work and encouraged her to make images that speak to the spiritual aspirations of people across religions and cultures. Leslie’s fascinating story is the subject of the acclaimed documentary film, Creating Buddhas: the Making and Meaning of Fabric Thangkas. Leslie mentors a select group of students around the world through her Stitching Buddhas Virtual Apprentice Program, and her Weekly Wake-ups provide a thread of inspiration to set your week on the path to awakening.

Related articles

• How To Cultivate Joy & Loving Kindness (compassionaterebel.wordpress.com)
• These Words That Rise In Me (blacknativejewel.wordpress.com)