For Dorje Tsering and Kusho Kalang Wangdu 2 - Bridge

 Social media was flooded with pictures of your smiling face, your ama la and pala holding tears, your family.  faces of mourning people. Video clips of the funeral and cremation. All I could do was to gaze them speechless in tears.

Such a loss. Such a pain. You could do many more things in your lives. But you are gone.  What do you think we can do for your sacrifices? 

Live well so as the world can be the better place. Build a bridge for all of you to go back.   

Tsering( Long life), Ama la and Pala in exile and in Tibet. Thousands of thoughts are with you and your sons.

 With wish of no other precious life gone like yours.   

For Dorge Tsering and Kusho Kalsang Wangdu - February 29 2016

For Dorge Tsering, a 16 years old Tibetan student in Manali, India, and Kalsang Wangdu, a 18 yrs old monk of Retsokha Aryaling Monstery in Ganze, Kham, Tibet, who both self immolated on February 29th 2016.

Dorje Tsering, 16, set himself ablaze near a housing complex for elderly Tibetans in Dehradun at about 8:30 am.  His body is 95 % burnt and he is struggling.  He said on his bed 'I have the will to do somehting for the Tibetan cause and thought that I would sacrifice this body for the Tibetan cause'.

Kusho Kalsang Wangdu self-immolated around 4 pm near his monastery in Kardze.
It is said while engulfed in flame, he called out for Tibet's complete independence.  The security force seemed to have taken his body away, however, he passed away on the way before reaching a hospital in Chengdu.

Tibetan in exile and Tibetans inside.   One incident in a 'free democratic country in exile' and another in a 'suppressed father land'.  Both are teenagers.

I pray sincerely that the day will come when these young spirits do not have to give up their lives this way.  I wish someday soon they and all other suppressed could live where they belong to freely with their values and beliefs.  May open heart and compassion permeate as far and deep as possible.

Prayers and wishes for Dorge Tsering's recorvery and thoughts are with him and his parents.
His mother rescued him to the tap water and burnt herself as well.

Note: Dorje Tsering la passed way on March 3rd 2016 and funeral and cremation took place in Dharamsala on March 6th.  Hundreds people attended.

Sketch - Impression on 'Ninjye' スケッチ・ニンジェー（共苦）

Ninjye - this  Tibetan word means 'compassion' or 'feel compassion'.  If you are with Tibetan people, you will hear this word quite often.  When there is a story of somebody's misfortune or somebody doing a compassionate work,  listeners will say 'Ninjye', often with 'e' stretched( Ninjyeeee).

The other day I saw a Japanese translation for it in different version. Instead of translating it 'compassion' (慈悲), one Japansese scholar translated it literally 'sharing suffering'（共苦).
This Japanese in Chinese character struck my heart.

ninjye - 共苦 - empathy - resonance - compassion - Sharing suffering of others like ours with compassion.

Such a beautiful translation that one image emerged.

note:  The scholar's name is:  Dr. Yasuhide Tujimura ' Philosophy of Ninjye and Dala Lama'

チベット語のニンジェーの日本語訳　’共苦’から浮かんできたイメージ（辻村優英さん訳）に 。　人の痛みを自分の痛みのように　慈悲を持って感じるのが　共苦

参考文献

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

辻村優英

ダライ・ラマ共苦ニンジェの思想

2016年3月23日刊行予定　本体定価2800円四六判・上製266頁

ISBN978-4-906791-55-2 C0015　

http://www.pneumasha.com/2016/02/22/%E3%83%80%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4-%E3%83%A9%E3%83%9E-%E5%85%B1%E8%8B%A6-%E3%83%8B%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B8%E3%82%A7-%E3%81%AE%E6%80%9D%E6%83%B3/

Form of Prayers 祈りのかたち

My dear friend offered an opportunity to draw a drawing.
His requested themes were prayer and votive lights.

I remembered countless memories of being among flickering flames of butter lamps and candles.
I remembered so many faces of people praying and shedding tears.
Their faces were illuminated by the light of the lamps and candles.

Ocean of lights. Form of prayer. These words came up while I was painting a red flame on each vessel and candle.

心友から　絵を描く機会をいただきました。
灯明と祈りが　感じられるイメージをと。

灯明と祈りという言葉で浮かんできたのは　数え切れぬ記憶、
薄暗い空間に無数にゆれているバターランプや蝋燭の灯
揺れる灯に照らされた涙を流す祈る人々の顔でした。

描いた　容器と蝋燭に、ひとつひとつ　赤い絵の具で灯を描きいれているとき、
言葉がうかんできました。

灯の大海　祈りの形

Performance and Art Video Screening in Vancouver March 5 2016

On Monkey Fire Losar, my prayers are with my near and far brothers and sisters who are in prison, in pain, and in suppression for their expression of human dignity.  My wishes are for all living beings to be released from pain and closed dark places to green pasture under the blue sky, where they can feel fresh air and drink pure water.  In another word, freedom. Peaceful wishes on Losar.

In the winter of 2015, I had worked on a short art video piece which is titled 'Eyes Water Fire'.  The first draft will be screened for the first time @NOT SENT LETTERS & GUESTS organised by Jeremy Todd( please see the detailed info below). 

Much gratitude to Jeremy for including me in his event, to Jose and Mona for editing the video, and my Tibetan art sister who agreed to perform for me in this event.

 I would like to share the poem that I composed for the video instead of describing the content. I hope once it is complete, I can share this with wider audience.

Eyes Water Fire

Thousands of Eyes

Shedding tears

Vessels floating

On rough water

 Legs crossing glaciers half frozen

In the snow mountains

Keep flames burning to show

That we are here and we have here to live

To reach the light

Tears of light

Note:The title ‘Eyes Water Fire” can be three nouns or water as a verb as if Eyes shedding tears to calm the flame.

________________________________________

NOT SENT LETTERS & GUESTS

interdisciplinary works by

STEPHANE BERNARD

TOMOYO IHAYA w/ KUNSANG CHOEKYI


AHMAD TABRIZI


DAMLA TAMER & JEREMY TODD

digital shorts by

LAURA BUCCI

FILIP GORECKI

GRAHAM MEISNER

RAFAEL ALBERTO ARGUELLO RUIZ

a not sent letters set by

JEREMY TODD, BEN WILSON, ERIN SIDDALL, SARAH SHAMASH & CYNTHIA FLEUR BRONAUGH

@ Dynamo Arts Association,

30 East 6th Avenue, Vancouver

Saturday Night, March 5, 2016

$5-$20 suggested sliding scale donation

(toward event production costs)

No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

The programme begins at 8pm 

"TOMOYO IHAYA (井早、智代), a Vancouver-based artist often working abroad, presents a letter written to a friend living in a politically sensitive place.  The letter can’t be sent without compromising the addressee’s safety and will be read aloud at NSL&G by KUNSANG CHOEKYI.  The first draft of a new animated short will be screened immediately following the reading, dedicated by the artist to everyone caught up in similar circumstances."

NOT SENT LETTERS & GUESTS form public constellations of engaged interdisciplinary practice, unmediated by the realpolitik conditions of contemporary art as a competitive professional sphere. The interrelatedness of art, society and everyday life is critically explored amongst a diverse plurality of artists and publics. Jeremy Todd instigates each event as an extension of his ongoing Not Sent Letters Project, an entanglement with the production of meaning, self and cultural memory, involving image/text epistolary detours online (since 2005), digital shorts, interdisciplinary performance works and cooperatively realized public events.  This is the twentieth NOT SENT LETTERS & GUESTS event.