Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

Golden Highways Revisited: 1998lasted about ten minutes. Then I began to see the faces of the other guys who I hadbeaten, glowering at me from the front row. They had ‘Next year…!’ written allover them and immediately I was worried that I had to succeed all over again.”Fear of failure and the seductive power of success are a deadly duo – mostof the folks seemed to resonate with what was said and, for once, the night endedearly with everyone gone well before 10:00. A long out-breath and the silence ofthe night to merge into – The Story of the Stone reaches its dénouement and I sleepwith only a couple of chapters to go.June 19 thAnother deep slumber – these have been long hard days, 18 hours on the job at atime. There is little more to do on The Pilgrim Kāmanīta right now and every intuitionI have says “be alone – do nothing.” The last pieces of the Stone drop silentlyand sweetly into place – the hero and heroine, Bao-yu and Dai-yu, have returned totheir original natures and the Twelve Beauties of Jinling have been duly honored.Waves of poignancy leap into my throat for the loss of the lovely – and the tragicvision of The Story of the Stone’s wine-soaked author, Cao Xueqin (aka Tsao Shuechin),running out of tears before reaching even the age of 50.Nevertheless, the legacy was left and his heart’s desire was fulfilled: his belovedpure beauties will live on and be revered for as long as there is a China and humanhearts to love, grieve and awaken:“The blessed end of all things eternal,do you know how I attained it?Grieving love’s deepest suffering opened my eyesI saw the world end.”How fitting a match are Kāmanīta and Vāsitthī for stone and blossom, PreciousJade and Crimson Pearl Flower.•Richard and I pack up and take to the road with Sulipon, heading a few milesnorth to the retreat center at Ortonville for the weekend. There is a real heat in theair and, once we reach the place, I am glad to see the cool shade of the woods allaround us. Weeping willows flow in the gentle breezes and, outside my window,some kind of small-leafed maple flimmers its fingers in the late afternoon light. Allis peaceful and the light is green and gold.This is only the second retreat this group has held (Guy Armstrong led theirfirst) so many are somewhat new to the teaching and practice. We shall see howthings proceed, but the setting alone should make for a calm and delightful session.It’s some kind of Jewish conference center (named after a certain Henry Butzel) andthus is very well-maintained and fitted out – the rooms even have air-conditioningand private bathrooms.Glenn Burdick, Sandra Berman and Richard have been the putters-together ofthis event and all seems to have been done to a refined perfection. Our first gath-95