I humbly accept the garland of master in hopes that it may strengthen both my resolve to continue on the path with vigilance and vigor. And to honor my teacher who gave without complaint. Let me follow in her footsteps and in the footsteps of all the women and men who have gone before me, those ancestors who made it to the summit.
My great hope in accepting this master mantle is to know it as beautiful as spring flowers, as clouds in the sky, as rain pouring down, as winds picking up and dry air coming before the crisp cold. It is both a beauteous ornamentation and a form for communication of the Dharma. It is one expression of the path that I have walked for many years. It is a way to connect with others as well as a direction of growth. I have no idea what will show up or whom will come along.
In the Yi Ching the hexagram for Beauty is a fire below a mountain. The emblem of strength and solidity and yet, with a volcanic renewal underneath. Even mountains renew the old and are reshaped. I remember many years ago thinking of what I felt when I was with a master. In those that I was able to draw close to I experienced them as the sheer face of a cliff covered in a spectacular arrangement of ice. Impenetrable. Unmovable. I felt as though I needed to pound pitons into my life to give birth to such a climb; to climb the mountain of the Dharma sometimes embodied in another. It took great care and great fearlessness.
It is in this spirit, the spirit of gratitude, I bow to this gift given at this time by Fǎshī Yao Xin Shakya who calls me his Dear Old Moon which feels just right.
May the merit benefit all beings in the ten directions.
