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Turtle Recallby Joel Kreger It may be merely my imagination or expectations, but I have noticed what seems to me to be an uplifting quality in the air at Tsogyel Gar - and also at the Flaming Jewel Center in Ann Arbor. The land seems to be charged with energy, and it seems to affect me. That is one good reason I was eager to return. Also, each time I receive teachings from Traktung Rinpoche or A'dzom Rinpoche, besides learn something new - my point of view shifts; it is more than learning new facts. Several days before driving from Chicago to Ann Arbor, I bought a turtle to be released in the pond. By researching on the Internet, I quickly became an expert on turtles. They have natural enemies - such as dogs and raccoons - and they tend to crawl away into danger unless somehow contained by fences. They are not affectionate creatures. I contemplated the permanent change in destiny in store for this turtle. It was clearly a living being, and I became attached to it. I was worried what would happen to it. Because I had selected it from a group of about 30 turtles, it would have its life transformed from that of a cared-for pet to that of a wild animal on its own. But it would also gain a spiritual advantage. Perhaps it would feel more alive through living on the charged land of Tsogyel Gar. I imagined that I was the turtle and had the thought: `The chance for freedom is worth the risk.' After living on a diet of grapes and bananas for several days, the actual turtle's thought may have been: `The chance for some real grub is worth the risk.' My traveling companion Martha had also brought a box turtle. We kept them both in a large box for the trip. Both were males. After an amazingly real lhasang ceremony performed by Traktung Rinpoche and A'dzom Rinpoche, in which a horizontal spoke of billowing juniper smoke rotated around by shifting wind blessed everyone present repeatedly, Traktung Rinpoche carried the turtles to a remote part of the pond shore. After the turtles were in their new habitat, I immediately dropped my worries about them. Will the two male turtles be able to find mates? Mine was only eight years old - as denoted by the rings on its back. Box turtles can live to be over 100 years old, so they have time. |
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