There is so much to say about our very dear friend Chris and all that we shared. We were the closest of vajra brothers, as well as being Deadheads from the late ‘60s, another kind of deep, enduring bond. We stayed in touch fairly regularly, mostly by phone, albeit with long occasional gaps, and we stayed in each others’ homes more than a few times, not to mention dozens of dharma gatherings. For now, I’d just like to offer something especially for his musician & piano-tech friends. By auspicious coincidence, I learned that Chris was a piano student of the legendary master teacher and musician Charlie Banacos from Boston. My stumbling upon this was due to a series of conversations with an old high-school friend, Terre Roche (founding member of the wonderful Roches), who surprisingly had been a member of the NY Dharmadhatu, unbeknownst to me for a very long time. Terre and her partner Garry Dial were students of Charlie, so I learned a little about this most amazing teacher. I mentioned Charlie to Chris, curious to know whether he knew of him. Chris was shocked to hear his name coming from me, and he launched into his remembrances of being his student. Most notably, Chris told me that his being a student or disciple of both Charlie and the Vidyadhara came to some kind of painful point. Both were “vajra masters,” and Chris felt that he had to choose to follow only one of them. We all know his choice. However, most of us probably don’t know how difficult a choice that was. I asked Terre if she could send me a link to something about Charlie, for those of us who did not know of him. She replied quickly with the following: "I'm sorry to hear you lost your friend. I remember the story of how he was asked to choose between Charlie Banacos and Chogyam Trungpa. I think of his story from time to time. Coincidentally, Garry put out a beautiful tribute album, which is also a book about Charlie last year. It's called "Keep Swingin'" and it's arrangements played by many of Charlie's students over the years. "Here's a link to Garry's website where you'll find the project available and featured. https://www.garrydial.com/ "That's the best possible thing I can think of to gift to anyone who was touched by Charlie. It's a beautiful tribute from many of his students. Garry took Charlie's series of blues lessons and contacted all of these students to see if they wanted to contribute arrangements of them. Every one of his students was very happy to contribute from their various places around the globe. Many of them are well-known in the jazz world and attribute their musical journeys to Charlie. There is a wide variety of interpretations on the album." I am so sad not to have been able to share this link with Chris, only learning of it today. So sad for Chris’s passing and not being able to share our continuing journey, at least in the way we have. May we continue in future lives with our root guru! With much love, Larry