C r a z y w i s d o m
Documentary by Kate Linhardt; text by Helena Patsis-Bolduc
Crazy wisdom, first part of the documentary by Kate Linhardt (see below for the second part).
Crazy wisdom is a documentary by Kate Linhardt, about The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University, exploring the program’s history, the integration of Buddhism into the writing curriculum, and the changes the program has undergone over 35 years. It includes interviews with students and faculty members interspersed with archival audio material and footage from Fried Shoes, Cooked Diamonds, a documentary made about Naropa in 1978. Below, a text by Helena Patsis-Bolduc about that time, when she first met Allen Ginsberg and Chögyam Trungpa.
I like this! This is how I met Allen. In a Naropa summer program. It was 1981. I was coming from CalArts to spend the summer in Boulder. Both staff and students co-housed in the same apartment complex. The image of Allen walking around in his pajamas is remarkably special. He would go around, from one flat to the next (we used to leave the doors open) and remind us that was late and we should be going to bed! There were endless parties… Naropa was at 1111 Pear St., where nowadays is the Boulder Bookstore, owned by my husband and I. “Suspicious coincidence,” as the sangha was fond to say back then. I find it fascinating. These were the days when I also met Chögyam Trungpa.
During that summer of 1981, Chögyam Trungpa was giving a series of lectures entitled “Art and sanity: art in everyday life”. I was studying butoh dance with Eiko and Koma in the dance department. My first meditation instruction was with Jeremy Hayward in the third floor of the school, where now is my husband’s office. Rinpoche’s lecture was in the auditorium, the same place where the fiction, poetry, art, biography and performance sections of the Boulder Bookstore are nowadays. The ballroom, as we call it, is a very special place for those of us who were around Naropa and Rinpoche back then. And now, is where book signings happen. Still very interesting…
Allen used to tell us not to smoke cigarettes. If we had to smoke something, we should smoke pot! The tobacco industry was truly compromised back then. He also enjoyed getting people together. During a party, he asked me who among all the people there was interesting to me. I pointed to this one guy. I don’t know what Allen did, but the guy and I got together.
Also (very charming) Allen and Peter (Orlovsky) used to have a large plate of cherries left on the kitchen counter. It was most welcoming!
I was introduced to Chögyam Trungpa for the first time during a Bugaku performance. Just like the one in the video here. Arawana Hayashi was the main dancer that afternoon.
This is turning into a book… I better stop here.
As Daido Roshi used to say, we are better off keeping the intimacy with the present moment.
Crazy wisdom, second part of the documentary by Kate Linhardt.
Allen Ginsberg, Harry Smith’s birthday party, 1998. © Allen Ginsberg Estate.
Untitled. © Allen Ginsberg Estate.
The joy of living with Mingyur Rinpoche. Helena Patsis-Bolduc is a student of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and recommends The joy of living to everyone. Photo: personal archives.
Please: make your comments in the Portuguese version of this page: http://blog.dharma.art.br/2010/03/sabedoria_louca/#respond
Video: © 2010 Kate Linhardt. Visit Kate Linhardt’s page at Vimeo.com: http://vimeo.com/6822663
Text: © 2010 Helena Patsis-Bolduc. All rights reserved.
Drawing: Allen Ginsberg. © Allen Ginsberg Estate. All rights reserved. Visit Allen Ginsberg Estate’s sites: http://www.allenginsberg.org/ e http://ginsbergblog.blogspot.com/.
