***
Regarding these talks, Dennis Morbin writes:
22 August 2018
I was at that seminar in Vancouver and had just moved into the Dharmadhatu centre a month before so there was big spin to get everything ready for him. A short while back I wrote the poem below, “On Meeting a True Friend”, on my interview with Rinpoche at that seminar. These talks were great to listen to again. They were very pivotal ones as they soon appeared in print form for dathuns etc.
On Meeting a True Friend
Vancouver, February 1975
With great trepidation
I met you face-to-face
Mountain like —
you sat in your chair so still
On hearing my multi-towered stories
of sorted meditation practices
from Christian to somewhat buddhist
— an utter embodiment of spiritual materialism
embraced by total bewilderment
You laughed — in fact howled with laughter
Great belly-filled roars
On catching your breath
You peered over your glasses
and simply said
‘Oh, you’ve been very busy’
Head spinning, body shaking, face sweating
I heard his instructions
Keep to shamatha as daily practice
Do a 10 day retreat
Come to Naropa in summer
And you should also come along to Seminary
I was a babe in the woods
A country bumpkin if not a pumpkin
Only a month residing in the Dharmadhatu center
His guidance embraced me
His love enveloped me
Though even with beating heart of vast panic
I knew I had found a friend
A true friend
Someone who could see through
all my blemishes
all my darknesses
all my fears
And I felt my booming heart go out
to a new place
to a new space
to new possibilities
Knowing that I had found a friend
— a great friend
— a master friend
From that moment to this day
an irrevocable bond
was cemented
not just for that moment but for all moments
for endless times
Knowing I had found a true friend