Good afternoon and
Tashi Deleg. I’ve written this introduction for the past fourteen years and it
has never been as difficult as it was today. What I would have written one week
ago would have been very different from what I have decided to share.
Early yesterday
evening, I was driving my two boys and their friends down Mockingbird toward
our home in East Dallas. It was about 70* in the sunset, we were listening to
Taylor Swift and Carly Rae Jepson (per my Goddaughter’s ability to use Spotify).
She’s 8. We had the sunroof open and all five of us were singing at the top of
our lungs. The traffic on Mockingbird forced a pause of slowing moving about 3-5 miles an
hour. I watched a couple walking their dog. I watched a man mowing the yard. I
watched a teenager head off for a fun Friday night out. And then I thought
about Boston. All day long, the residents of Boston were hiding in their
homes…only able to open the door to a police officer or FBI. Cell phones
weren’t working. Stores and businesses closed. Streets empty except for
officers and SWOT teams from across Massachusetts. And in one backyard, under a
tarp in a boat a boy was hiding. And then my mind wandered back to these
precious children singing off key in the sunshine with hope in their hearts and
joy in their smiles.
I think we all were
reminded this week what freedom means—the privilege of driving with your
children on warm spring afternoon with the windows down. We tried—but we can’t
imagine—what it must have felt like to be in lock-down in our own town. We
hugged each other a little tighter last night, and we while we will never have
the innocence of our lives just seven days ago, we can re-embrace the gifts of
peace of mind. Today, we have peace of mind. And the hope for peace tomorrow.
Like our neighbors just 90 miles away in West, we can rebuild, and we can
heal.
When the monks
wrote us a few weeks ago asking which mandala they would like for them to
construct this year, we considered several options: Amitayus Buddha,
Avalokitesvara, Yamantanka, White Tara. We chose White Tara, benevolent mother
goddess White Tara, who loves, protects and heals with the fierce compassion of
our own mothers and the mother in all of us. I suggested the White Tara for Eva
Kutscheid, the instructor of printmaking at Booker T Washington High School for
the performing arts, currently healing from her cancer treatments. But White
Tara comes this week not just for Eva. This mandala will be with us for the
families and aid workers in Boston, in West, and in Sichuan, China.
This morning, still
pondering this talk and how it would come together, I saw a bumper sticker: Art Heals. I’ve never seen it before. Art Heals. This will be my mantra over
the next seven days. I will meditate with these monks today that these sands,
your prayers, thoughts and most importantly your presence will be part of a
powerful message of healing and resiliency.
With our media overload over the
past week, I knew we needed to hear from a bright young person to lift our
spirits and help us focus on creating a more peaceful world for the generations
that will follow us. I asked Cyrus Stowe to help me introduce our friends from
the Mystical Arts of Tibet. Cyrus is a rising star as an aspiring film maker
who won (!) just one week ago the first place prize of the TXU Energy Light Up the Red Carpet Student Film
Contest 2013. Cyrus won $7500 to be split with Booker T.
Washington. Cyrus was about 4 when I met him. He has been attending the mandala
construction with his parents every year, and his mother, alongside Eva
Kutscheid is one of the founders of the Free Tibet club at the school. They
have also been integral in our partnership with the school, connecting the
living art of this mandala with young people. Cyrus and his family, and his
friends at Booker T are making a difference. Please welcome my friend Cyrus
Stowe.
