bentenlaughing

Some years back, whilst confronting a major illness, I was introduced to Tibetan Buddhism, through a fortuitous & timely introduction to my teacher (the late) Gyalsey Tulku Rinpoche (Sakya lineage). I remain in gratitude. In the lovely  harbour side suburb of Balmain, Rinpoche would give teachings on Chenrezig practise. Chenrezig is the Buddha of Compassion. I have to admit that I found the practise challenging, beautiful and obscure and a lot of other gradations in between! I was suffering the effects of illness and my stamina was almost non existent and we would recite the practise several times in Tibetan, finally completing it in English!  Although I was eager to traverse the nuances of a language that was completely foreign to me , the practises were lengthy and tiring.   Along with this the framework of the practise was outside anything I'd encountered. Here I was, ill with an uncertain  future, being asked to develop a compassion that reached far...

Jan.s: Jack, 'Pale Imperfect Diamond' the CD you and John Carter Cash co-wrote/produced for your first Cedar Hills Refugees project,  was a standout.   You brought together musicians from the USA and Uzbekistan and now I believe you've completed a second CD. Could you tell us a about it?     James Shelton (Ralph's guitarist and manager), Chuck Turner (engineer), Jack Clift, JCC, Dr. Ralph Stanley  Jack:  I spent three months in Uzbekistan this past winter working on the material. I'm actually about halfway through the next -as yet untitled- Cedar Hill Refugees album. John brings a definite presence to the music. In addition to his wonderful crew of talented folks, he's also just a very sweet guy and I value his creative instincts. We've co-written a new ballad that we're very proud of called Jayne Hill. We wrote it early in the year out at Mother Maybelle Carter's house, which JCC keeps up as a sort of writers retreat. It's a...