Dear Tara and Charles,
You have both been on my mind for a week now. I took a drive with my young son, Ray, to San Jose to see Lamasang (who you refer, in more negative terms, to as Kusum Lingpa - the Bandit Lama). Lamasang is quite ill with liver, and possibly lung problems, these days and I am extremely concerned for his welfare. And, without one moment of cynicism, I am concerned about your welfare.
I tried, in the beginning, to have a conversation with you. I experienced an extreme lashing out and great assumptions on your part about me. And yet, you do not know me at all. I am not part of a sangha here in Los Angeles. Lamasang's reputation was fairly well destroyed here a while back although he is a great and profound teacher and I have absolute and utter faith in him. Unshakeable, profound samaya. The Buddha himself could not walk into this room and convince me otherwise. This is based on a simple connection and a man that has been so kind to me that I am unable to explain the many things he has assisted me with. I have tried to "serve" him in as many ways as possible. This has been my great honor. Trungpa Rinpoche was my guru from the time I was 13 and I have raised his son, Gesar Mukpo. It is so hurtful to read what you have said. He was a good, wonderful, kind man and great teacher.
I made a mistake permitting my young son to write on your website, although I believe he had some insights that were valid - about computers and being bored. I pleaded with Gesar Mukpo "not" to write on your website but you treated him fairly decently. You were extremely mean to his brother, Ashoka. I wrote to Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and asked why he would "disparage" lamas in any manner whatsoever - particularly on a website where his father, a lama of awesome and "amazing" capacities (as I have been told by his friends and students) is being degraded. Kalu Rinpoche has passed from this world and yet you are more than willing to permit a woman that may have had sex with him to take center stage. It is my firm opinion, as a woman, that when we get into bed with a man - that is "our" decision. We are not coerced, we do not need to be deceived by "magic." That is a decision between a man and a woman. If a "monk" gives some "exposition" that is harmful to that woman, he should be brought in front of his guru and asked to explain exactly what he means. The blame is not to be placed on the guru. Judith Campbell should feel great shame for "harming" that great lama, that simple and wonderful man who helped so many people.
What do I actually want to say to you? Ray and I drove to Half Moon Bay from San Jose to visit with Gyaltrul Rinpoche. We loved that drive up that windy, rather dangerous road. Ray said "All we need is a deer" in order to be killed. We drove up, saw the prayer flags, were greeted warmly and kindly by Mimi, had tea with Lama Jigme, and looked at a lovely and wonderfully simple shrine with a great statue of Vajrasattva that I will always recall in my mind, and, we had an absolutely delightful visit with your teacher, Gyaltrul Rinpoche. A wonderful man. A loyal man. A decent man. And, a great lama. Ray loved Gyaltrul Rinpoche and our visit "sparked" the dharma in his mind. In the car, on that Great Coast Highway, so filled with drala, Ray read the Tsik Sum Nye Dik and explained to me - in a child's manner - that those three words are how one manifests enlightenment. This is so much more helpful to us in this lifetime, Charles and Tara. Your great guru is getting old. Time is passing so quickly. Sangha still complains. This is not the sangha of historical bodhisattvas, but as Trungpa Rinpoche (whom you also "trash" so undeservingly on your website said) - sangha that also deserves your attention.
And, that is why I am paying attention to you and that is why I have had you in my mind and have hoped that we could become friends and you would ultimately find a means, some way, to drop your resentment and hurt at whatever it is that you feel has happened to you at the "hands" of the Three Jewels - the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. I have nearly had my life destroyed recently, by a poet that was my friend for over 20 years - and is trying to "ask" me to lie for his past tax evasion - and, I have no one to turn to other than my kind gurus, spiritual guides and friends, sangha, and my family.
Tara and Charles, please try to reconsider your anger and resentment. There are people that love you. I am one of those people. I know that we could be friends. I love Frida Kahlo, Shenpen Dawa's great talks, Thinley Norbu's wonderful (and true) article in Tricycle, and you. Nothing will ever come of this endless cynical attempt to cut through all logic. It's impossible to do, in any event. Your guru, Gyaltrul Rinpoche, his faithful attendant and greatest friend, Sangye Khandro, and their great friend, Lama Chonam, will all be moving to Tashi Choling. My son, Ray, will attend camp there this summer. I would like to come visit at that time and have a drink or tea with you. I have been hurt in this lifetime as well. In fact, my life has been put in harm's way. And, I am a mother.
Please reconsider your anger and resentment. With great wishes that you and your teacher, Gyaltrul Rinpoche, will be able to meet again in this lifetime and experience nothing other than great faith and devotion - in one another. In you, as the students, and, in Rinpoche as the guru. It's simple. And it's true. Lamasang told me this: You cannot break your samaya to me if, when thoughts of negativity arise, you never solidify them. I never have and I know this is true for you as well.
I love you both, wish you well, and will visit you this summer. Please do call your great teacher, and his wonderful and never angry and always kind student, Mimi, and that great monk, Jigme. This is where you will find the assistance you need.