The Passing of Kidder Smith

aha! I have been tripping out on somebody's vast gorgeous mind these last couple of weeks and had not 'officially' heard that he had passed. I suspected it was him and scrawled notes to that effect. Plenty plenty trippy all-love fun--thanks my dear!

Love to all, and that necklace I sent him truly contains HH16th Karmapa blood, so use it wisely, whoever winds up with it!

best wishes
Donnalee D-M

I am grateful that Barbara McEntee added to Douglas Penick's elegant and succinct a summary of Kidder's activity as a scholar and translator. Barbara shared some of the impacts Kidder had on dharma students in Brunswick Maine during the decades he taught at Bowdoin College. She noted that he was playful , spirited, and loved dancing. In one early gathering of what became the Brunswick Dhamra Study Group he said with certainty that "you can't control your mind" -- which by now might be obvious but for the assembled early practitioners seemed heretical as some of us thought we ere still trying to do just that. In his Tricycle article on "Transmuting Blood and Guts:My expereinces in the Buddhist Military" he recalled the Kasung slogan " If you can maintain your sense of humor and a distrust of the rules laid down around you, there will be success." It was hard to know which part of the slogan he was guided by when he brought over the years visiting teachers Pema Chodron, Lama Surya Das, Seonaidh Perks, and Tratung Rinpoche to Bowdoin and/or the Brunswick Dharma Study Group. In the midst of an awkward dinner party he cut tension with demonstrating the art of hanging a spoon from his nose. At a Vajrayogini feast of students earnestly trying to learn the rituals we regarded
as"sacred" asnd arcane he arrived without text or instruments dressed in a slinky purple dress, and "davenned" as we practiced. He communicated complete confidence when he led discussions of such texts as Tashi Natsok Rangdrol's Lamp of Mahamudra, that we had everything we needed to read, understand, and practice the texts. We were touched by his untamed confidence and goodwill, wish him the good next chapter he deserves, and hope to emulate his example on the way to freedom

nearly 40 years ago, there was a piece in the Orient about some students I knew who had gone to China for their Junior year. The pieces were astonishingly different. I went over to Kidder's office and knowing that he'd have seen the piece, asked him if they had gone to the same place. He tilted back in his chair and looked at the ceiling before replying, "No, not really." And what followed was less a fairly long discussion and more an extended discourse on perspective and expectations and perception. Kidder-answers to just about any question other than "what time are we meeting to play squash" were never short, never what you'd call direct, and always, always, interesting.
Requiescat in pace, Scholāris quondam, scholārisque futūrus.

In a meandering way, through finding The Myth of Freedom in a small chain bookstore in central Maine, going to a weekend program at KCL where i meet another person from Maine, i learned of the Dharma Study Group (as i recall its name at that time, 1990) in Brunswick, ME, and began the hour drives to and from there 2, 3 and sometimes more each week. This is where I met Kidder who was my MI for the next 12(ish) years until he retired from Bowdoin and left Maine. Reflecting on those years, i am continually amazed at the fortune of having him as an MI. His kindness, wisdom, openness, clarity and one pointed attention as an MI was invaluable and yet, he was also playful/spirited and the last time i saw him was at an event where there was dancing before a dharma talk. In the past few days, in talking to friends who also had him as their MI, they remember his impact as being life changing for them. Recently, in a couple of Zoom classes I had been remembering him and his answer to a question i had about one line in the Supplication to the Takpo Kagyu, and on Sept. 29-30-Oct 1 he had especially come to mind and i was remembering this one question regarding the line asking for blessings that my: ..."meditation be free from conception"....did this mean NO thoughts? I asked and he replied no, just that you are not caught up/distracted by them (my paraphrase).....such a seemingly small detail and yet, a valuable one, and it has stayed with me above all others for all these years.......so: Thank you Kidder for all that you gave to so many of us...so. much. love for you....from so many of us.

I first met Kidder in Tibet at the Karmapa's monastery. He caught me meditating at the sky burial site...... Come to find out decades later I would learn that he grew up with my family and these were just some of the coincidences that marked our many decade friendship. Ten years ago we got a pair of matching cats with no pre-planning just identical kittens from different litters and what a symbol of our friendship. Kidder was the guy I shared my writings with and passed along music, fart jokes and Dharma gossip. In my life he seemed to always just be there, a part of the same Sangha or at the same retreat. He was someone I included on emails and corresponded with throughout many life changes......then these past ten years there was still the same humour and general nonsense between us but during various trials and dark nights of the soul work for me, he soon became a beacon of light and intimate friendship. He supported me when no one else would or could; he saw my at times crazy-ness as a part of my wisdom and we shared a deep admiration for Chogyam Trungpa........
But it was his heart that drew me to him for support------as I told him many times this past year he is/was a warrior for love......Due to my trials I wanted to forsake all talk of love but he was unyielding and made it so I could never completely dismiss the world (and many times I wanted to)-----He listened to my nonsense and helped me say "no"----he shared his own struggles and would offer me genuine love and understanding those times I felt completely lost. In one example in the midst of my world falling apart he just said well you could just label it thinking and let it go---he reminded me to bring it back to practice and run through all the stages until I released it and surrendered.........
He was my best friend, my best Dharma brother......for the past ten years in particular there weren't many days that we didn't have at least some communication back and forth------I already miss that.........He told me as he was in the process of dying that he was sorry to leave me in the lurch........but his wild awakened heart still carries on in me and in others------I may miss our correspondence but I still talk to him............I will have to find other people now to send my fart jokes and pranks to........we loved each other and supported each other......I don't know if I will ever have that kind of friendship again........but at least my heart is open to love, without him it wouldn't be and that is just one of the many gifts he left me..............Too many daytime stars have departed, the world grows dark---he told me recently; "you are one of the elders now..." I can only hope I can love the world and its confused beings as well as he did.......

I didn't know Kidder Smith directly and yet I did know him through my study and engagement of Sun Tzu: The Art of War (Shambhala Publications) in my teaching of Taijiquan at Naropa University. That translation, by the Denma Translation Group, led by Kidder Smith and James Gimian, has been invaluable and indispensable in introducing students to the practice of "taking whole" for many years. That translation has woven beautifully and powerfully supporting the view and teachings of Taiji, that is rooted in the Sun Tzu, joined with the teachings of the Dao De Jing and Zhongyong. The down to earth translation and teaching on how to apply such precious teachings in day to day life have touched many, many students at Naropa University. Rooted in the Vidyadhara's profound teachings on the Buddha Dharma of kindness and compassion and so much more, I am truly indebted to Kidder Smith (and Jim Gimian) for his compassionate activity of translation. He threw a pebble in the pond of human existence creating circular ripples reaching out to many students teaching them how to transform the aggression of ego, of the war within and without, into deeply rooted kindness. With a deep bow to Kidder, my heart goes out to you Kidder and those you have said goodbye to. Thank you!

Your spontaneous whirling dervish dance
in the corridor outside the main shrine room
twirling to the pulsating tropes
of the Great Blood-Drinker's freshly composed Vajrayogini Sadhana
dripping with undying passionate fervour:
a teaching of spontaneous, ever-youthful, self-liberating ecstasy
which got you into and out of so many troubles
in this our delightfully entangling world.

This realm has lost a precious Dharma Gem
doubtless adorning wherever its presence now graces.
Say Hello to Johnny for me!