~

~

The Boulder Buddhist community hosts a live-broadcast vigil for The Tibet Quake

We’ve been covering the whole tragic, political and occasionally inspiring (in the way that tragedies so often are) Tibet Earthquake, called the China Earthquake by worldwide media, since it happened only a few days back.

Our columnist Jon Pappas and I have published updates and how to help and photos and the Dalai Lama’s request to visit getting rejected and an article about the politics of what it’s called…so it was a sorry relief, personally, to attend my Buddhist sangha community’s vigil for the Tibet Quake in person last night—a relief to make three-dimensional, in-the-flesh contact with those similarly touched by this quake.

Much of the Tibetan refugee community came out for the event, and much of the Shambhala Buddhist community. Having just come from a big ol’BBQ meet and greet for my visiting-from-Halifax mom at my home, I was an hour late, but my mom herself left her own party an hour early, and so I sat down by her in the historic Shambhala shrine room toward the end.

Here’s a few poor iPhotos I snapped.

After the event at the Boulder Shambhala Center, we walked to the Boulder Courthouse and, wind blowing out our candles (except for mine and a few others who studiously figured out how to keep ’em lit ‘gainst the wind) we listened to speeches, we practiced tonglen, and many of us, particularly our Tibetan friends with friends and family effected directly, cried.

[slide]