Death of Rob Burbea - Discussion
Death of Rob Burbea
Matt Perry Clark, modified 4 Years ago at 5/8/20 5:00 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/8/20 5:00 PM
Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 21 Join Date: 12/27/18 Recent Posts
I just wanted to let people know that sadly yesterday morning Rob Burbea passed away after a five year struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was the resident teacher at Gaia House in southern England and was much loved and respected. I met him on occasion down there while doing retreats and he always came across as authentic, caring and wise. I feel sad and angry that he had to suffer so much before his death, although he had a wonderful team of carers that helped him through his difficult journey. He will be greatly missed by the Gaia House Sangha and the broader dharma community.
Olivier S, modified 4 Years ago at 5/8/20 6:06 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/8/20 6:04 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 996 Join Date: 4/27/19 Recent Posts
I shed a few tears when I learned, but at the same time, it feels like he was totally prepared and that acceptance is an inspiration. I'm also very inspired by the fact that up until the last moments that he could, he kept wanting to finish his teachings, such passion. It's amazing that people can, through their dedication, inspire so many seemingly unconnected others, like myself, and I'm very thankful to have been touched by his influence. Finally, I feel it's normal to be sad, but it's also normal to die.
As Chris Marti would say :
As Chris Marti would say :
Linda ”Polly Ester” Ö, modified 4 Years ago at 5/8/20 11:05 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/8/20 11:05 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 7135 Join Date: 12/8/18 Recent Posts
It is a loss for the world that he died, but it is a blessing that he did live. I am currently on an online retreat with teachers from Gaia House. It is heartbreaking.
Richard Zen, modified 4 Years ago at 5/8/20 11:07 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/8/20 11:07 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 1676 Join Date: 5/18/10 Recent Posts
From the descriptions, I think Rob handled it about as well as any person can, and was surrounded by loving people.
Smiling Stone, modified 4 Years ago at 5/12/20 4:00 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/12/20 4:00 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 347 Join Date: 5/10/16 Recent Posts
Hello,
I wanted to say something here, but I came across this wonderful farewell to Rob Burbea by Christopher Titmuss, that touched me deeply. I don't have anything to add, really:
No matter how skilful, any way of looking at appearances which we employ is still in fact a relative view. Since for us, there is always some conceiving whenever there are appearances. Page 413.
Thank you, Christopher, for this
Thank you, Rob...
I wanted to say something here, but I came across this wonderful farewell to Rob Burbea by Christopher Titmuss, that touched me deeply. I don't have anything to add, really:
Rob Burbea, the insight meditation teacher, has inhaled his last breath. As the birds woke up on the Full Moon (7 May 2020) marking the Buddha’s full awakening …
May 7, 2020 7:26 pm 2
Today is the Full Moon of May. The Buddhist tradition marks the birth, death and enlightenment around 2600 years ago of Gautama the Buddha.
The facing of sickness, pain and death served as the trigger for Gotama, aged 29, to depart from the pleasures and privileges of the Royal Palace to explore the depth of experience.
Owing to this highly contagious, covid-19 virus, we live in time where sickness, pain and death seem never far away from our concerns. In the space of four months, nearly 4 million people have contracted the virus with 267,000 deaths.
Gotama made a quiet resolution to meditate through the night. During this night, he realised the essential truths of human existence – namely involving suffering, the causes/conditions for it, the resolution and the way to the resolution.
For around six years or so, Rob Burbea, a much-loved teacher in the Buddha-Dharma tradition, has engaged with facing sickness, pain and oncoming death. At 5 am this morning, this immense challenge came to closure. The body took its last breath in his rented cottage in South Devon, England with friends at his bedside.
A Statement on the Death of Rob Burbea
Beloved friends of Rob issued a touching statement this morning starting with the words:
“It is with tenderness and love that we are writing to inform you that dear Rob died this morning at around 5 am, just before sunrise and as the birds were waking up.”
Catherine, Kirsten, Nic, Sarah, Lea and Jane signed the statement.
In life and in death, Rob, aged around 54, remained exceptionally close to the heartwood of the Buddha -Dharma. The Buddha realised full awakening on the full moon of May at the end of the night -just as the birds were waking up.
I have known Rob longer than forever.
He sat on a retreat with me at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. He already had a wealth of experience with years of Dharma practice under his belt. We had precious exchanges on meditation, insights and the nature of liberation. He came across as exceptionally free of the so-called personal baggage. I knew nothing about him except he played the classical piano. He treated his personal history as irrelevant while maintaining a deep respect for the Jewish tradition,
Calm and composed, he loved the Dharma exchange. So did I. He sat with various Dharma teachers. He began long retreats at Gaia House meditation centre. With nearly 20 years of frequent formal practice, including long periods of solitary retreats at the centre, he finally agreed to offer teachings in 2004. He once told me that he had listened to 225 of my Dharma talks during the years of solitary retreat. I smiled. How on Earth did he know the number?
Word went around the international Sangha of the depth of his teachings. He offered directly the exploration of knowing emptiness and liberation. Meditators travelled from the five continents to listen to him. Gaia House would regularly put up times for inter-views with teachers. I heard that meditators would wait around the notice board to ensure they could get their name on his interview list.
Rob offered a remarkable vision, which included the expression of wisdom and compassion through service, environmental responsibilities and action.
In 2014, he wrote his celebrated book Seeing that Frees. Sub-title: Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising.
Among friends in the worldwide Sangha, his book became the most discussed Dharma book of the last decade. Joseph Goldstein, the respected US insight meditation teacher, wrote a forward and several of us teachers wrote words of appreciation for the back jacket. Groups met, read sections of the book and shared experiences.
Ron stopped flying years ago in his work for a sustainable environment. I encouraged him to fly to Israel to teach. I told him Tovana would immensely his appreciate his presence and teaching for the Sangha, and this would offset emissions. He eventually agreed but the severity of the cancer stopped such travel.
Rob participated in one of our 10-day Yatras (Pilgrimages) in the foothills of the Pyrenees in southern France. After the Yatra, I encouraged him to come one year and teach with Zohar, Nathan and I on the Yatra. He kindly agreed to make time away from his full schedule at Gaia House, where he lived as resident teacher. We could travel together on the train through France. Again, Rob could not travel but gave all his energy to minimising the impact of the cancer and maximising his teaching. He never stepped down from teaching. He displayed a truly remarkable devotion to the service of others regardless of impending death.
A Major Change in Healt
Around 2014-2015, he started experiencing a major change to his health. He experience tiredness, weakness and then a jaundiced look in his eyes. He took blood tests. The doctors diagnosed pancreatic cancer, one of the most severe forms of cancer with a low survival rate.
It was the start of a journey of facing daily sickness, ongoing pain and knowing that Lord Yama (Death) hovered close at hand.
He told me of the numerous nights of enduring pain. He told me he sat up in bed and meditated on body sensations with equanimity. He said he felt very grateful for the practice in these long nights. His close Dharma friends stayed with him day and night. He could only eat small portions of food that could be held in the palm of the hand.
Leading oncologists as well as respected alternative medical doctors treated him. He had to make major decisions. One senior oncologist would advise him to stop taking chemotherapy. He said Rob’s body could not handle any longer the impact while another senior oncologist told him he might die if he stopped the treatment.
Every few months, Rob would put an update on his condition. Here is an extract from April 2019.
“It is clear the chemotherapy treatment I have been on for the last three months is not working – most of the tumours have grown, and there are also new tumours all over. Although she said that this is “slow progression” of the disease, it means nevertheless that they will stop that treatment. There is a standard alternative chemotherapy to try but she does not favour it for me.
“I don’t want to die yet. But I am somehow at peace with that possibility if that is what is coming soon. Knowing the deep emptiness of self, of world, and of time; a sense, almost perplexing at times, that I have received so much inexplicable gift and grace in this life, pouring over me so that I can’t help but bow; a sense too that I have done, or at least tried my best to do, my ‘soul duty’ in this life.
I will try to write again as next steps become clearer. Until then, know that you live like Spring flowers in my heart and soul, the perfume and beauty of your kindness a blessing on my days.
With so much gratitude and love,
Rob Burbea.
He expressed constant appreciative joy (mudita) to those who devoted themselves to his personal support and many others of us, who cherished his presence in the world. People around the world constantly asked me about Rob.
Here is one example of Rob’s appreciation.
“I am so thankful that in a week off chemo I was recently able to teach (at least in part) a retreat with Catherine at Gaia House. I am very grateful to her for holding, because of my limited capacities, more than her fair share of the weight of the retreat. And it was profoundly nourishing for my soul to be with that beautiful sangha for a week.”
He had incredible powers of endurance despite losing much of his cancer ridden pancreas and intestines. He kept on teaching as much as possible. Rob discovered an immense passion and realisation about what he called the ‘Imaginal.’ He gave dozens of talks – radical, visionary and insightful. He used the word ‘soul’ and spoke of the power of consciousness, the creative mind and much more. This was the work of a visionary, a 21st century mystic, who had liberated the heart-mind into fresh dimensions.
His numerous talks were available at Gaia House and Dharma Seed in the US. He kept on speaking into a recorder until his voice faded away some days before his death. (The doctors and nurses were amazed that he lived for so long after major operations). Beneath the title of his talks on the Imaginal, he wrote:
CRUCIAL NOTE: It is highly unlikely that this talk will be properly or adequately understood without a prior very good working familiarity and competence – both in actual practice and conceptually – with Soulmaking Dharma teachings and practices, as well as with Insight Meditation. Without this background it may be that the talk will in fact be misunderstood, and it is unlikely that the talk will be helpful.
Quotes from Seeing that Frees
by Rob Burbea
ISBN 978 0992848 910
445 Pages
Hermes Amara Publications
Gaia House Meditation Centre
West Ogwell, Devon, TQ12 6EW. England
The book takes meditators on an exploration of Emptiness. From the first pages, meditators can relate to the range of experiences he describes and appreciate the specific practices he offers. He offers teachings on samadhi, awareness, expansiveness, non-self, dependent arising, emptiness and liberation.
The voice of first-hand experience shines through every chapter with regular quotes from the two Masters of Emptiness – the Buddha and Nagarjuna, the 2nd century Indian Buddhist monk, sage and scholar.
I offer a few quotes from Rob’s book,
Ultimately, it turns out we cannot say things are fabricated, nor that they are not fabricated. Page 19
A loose definition of insight: Any realisation, understanding, or way of seeing things brings about, to any degree, a dissolution of, or a decrease in, dukkha. Page 29
We come to know beyond doubt, that happiness is possible for us in this life. Page 41.
The whole area of social conventions is one in which we can experience all kinds of suffering. Yet, of with a little reflection, we can recognise the emptiness of some conventions that we have reified, and this realization can bring some freedom. Page 67
I need not conceive of myself as the Resident Teacher. I am at times friends to friends…I am musician, a poet, a writer, a citizen, a neighbour, a son, an uncle, a room cleaner, an activist, a cook…This seeing of the ‘holes’ in any role can be immensely helpful in exposing its lack of solidity. Page 73
Asking a friend or someone whose wisdom and care you trust, to help you see the wider conditions that you may be missing can be enormously supportive. Page 105
Notice if and how the sense of ownership is affected when the mindfulness is relatively strong and the mind is less taken by thoughts about the object. Page 185
Awareness is not ‘the Deathless,’ not unfabricated, that the space of awareness is not ‘Emptiness.’ and that the nature of awareness is neither separate from nor the same as objects. Page 207.
Through letting go of clinging more and more totally and deeply, the world of experience fades and ceases; and seeing and understand this is of great significance. Page 251.
For a ‘thing’ to be a ‘thing’ it depends on the mind’s relationship with it, on grasping and aversion. Page 279.
Mutual dependence entails mutual emptiness. Both the large image drawn and the individual dots are illusory constructions. Page 297.
If the object is void, attention is dependent on and inseparable from what is void. Then it too can only be void. Seeing this deepens the sense of emptiness of both attention and object. Page 361.
May 7, 2020 7:26 pm 2
Today is the Full Moon of May. The Buddhist tradition marks the birth, death and enlightenment around 2600 years ago of Gautama the Buddha.
The facing of sickness, pain and death served as the trigger for Gotama, aged 29, to depart from the pleasures and privileges of the Royal Palace to explore the depth of experience.
Owing to this highly contagious, covid-19 virus, we live in time where sickness, pain and death seem never far away from our concerns. In the space of four months, nearly 4 million people have contracted the virus with 267,000 deaths.
Gotama made a quiet resolution to meditate through the night. During this night, he realised the essential truths of human existence – namely involving suffering, the causes/conditions for it, the resolution and the way to the resolution.
For around six years or so, Rob Burbea, a much-loved teacher in the Buddha-Dharma tradition, has engaged with facing sickness, pain and oncoming death. At 5 am this morning, this immense challenge came to closure. The body took its last breath in his rented cottage in South Devon, England with friends at his bedside.
A Statement on the Death of Rob Burbea
Beloved friends of Rob issued a touching statement this morning starting with the words:
“It is with tenderness and love that we are writing to inform you that dear Rob died this morning at around 5 am, just before sunrise and as the birds were waking up.”
Catherine, Kirsten, Nic, Sarah, Lea and Jane signed the statement.
In life and in death, Rob, aged around 54, remained exceptionally close to the heartwood of the Buddha -Dharma. The Buddha realised full awakening on the full moon of May at the end of the night -just as the birds were waking up.
I have known Rob longer than forever.
He sat on a retreat with me at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. He already had a wealth of experience with years of Dharma practice under his belt. We had precious exchanges on meditation, insights and the nature of liberation. He came across as exceptionally free of the so-called personal baggage. I knew nothing about him except he played the classical piano. He treated his personal history as irrelevant while maintaining a deep respect for the Jewish tradition,
Calm and composed, he loved the Dharma exchange. So did I. He sat with various Dharma teachers. He began long retreats at Gaia House meditation centre. With nearly 20 years of frequent formal practice, including long periods of solitary retreats at the centre, he finally agreed to offer teachings in 2004. He once told me that he had listened to 225 of my Dharma talks during the years of solitary retreat. I smiled. How on Earth did he know the number?
Word went around the international Sangha of the depth of his teachings. He offered directly the exploration of knowing emptiness and liberation. Meditators travelled from the five continents to listen to him. Gaia House would regularly put up times for inter-views with teachers. I heard that meditators would wait around the notice board to ensure they could get their name on his interview list.
Rob offered a remarkable vision, which included the expression of wisdom and compassion through service, environmental responsibilities and action.
In 2014, he wrote his celebrated book Seeing that Frees. Sub-title: Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising.
Among friends in the worldwide Sangha, his book became the most discussed Dharma book of the last decade. Joseph Goldstein, the respected US insight meditation teacher, wrote a forward and several of us teachers wrote words of appreciation for the back jacket. Groups met, read sections of the book and shared experiences.
Ron stopped flying years ago in his work for a sustainable environment. I encouraged him to fly to Israel to teach. I told him Tovana would immensely his appreciate his presence and teaching for the Sangha, and this would offset emissions. He eventually agreed but the severity of the cancer stopped such travel.
Rob participated in one of our 10-day Yatras (Pilgrimages) in the foothills of the Pyrenees in southern France. After the Yatra, I encouraged him to come one year and teach with Zohar, Nathan and I on the Yatra. He kindly agreed to make time away from his full schedule at Gaia House, where he lived as resident teacher. We could travel together on the train through France. Again, Rob could not travel but gave all his energy to minimising the impact of the cancer and maximising his teaching. He never stepped down from teaching. He displayed a truly remarkable devotion to the service of others regardless of impending death.
A Major Change in Healt
Around 2014-2015, he started experiencing a major change to his health. He experience tiredness, weakness and then a jaundiced look in his eyes. He took blood tests. The doctors diagnosed pancreatic cancer, one of the most severe forms of cancer with a low survival rate.
It was the start of a journey of facing daily sickness, ongoing pain and knowing that Lord Yama (Death) hovered close at hand.
He told me of the numerous nights of enduring pain. He told me he sat up in bed and meditated on body sensations with equanimity. He said he felt very grateful for the practice in these long nights. His close Dharma friends stayed with him day and night. He could only eat small portions of food that could be held in the palm of the hand.
Leading oncologists as well as respected alternative medical doctors treated him. He had to make major decisions. One senior oncologist would advise him to stop taking chemotherapy. He said Rob’s body could not handle any longer the impact while another senior oncologist told him he might die if he stopped the treatment.
Every few months, Rob would put an update on his condition. Here is an extract from April 2019.
“It is clear the chemotherapy treatment I have been on for the last three months is not working – most of the tumours have grown, and there are also new tumours all over. Although she said that this is “slow progression” of the disease, it means nevertheless that they will stop that treatment. There is a standard alternative chemotherapy to try but she does not favour it for me.
“I don’t want to die yet. But I am somehow at peace with that possibility if that is what is coming soon. Knowing the deep emptiness of self, of world, and of time; a sense, almost perplexing at times, that I have received so much inexplicable gift and grace in this life, pouring over me so that I can’t help but bow; a sense too that I have done, or at least tried my best to do, my ‘soul duty’ in this life.
I will try to write again as next steps become clearer. Until then, know that you live like Spring flowers in my heart and soul, the perfume and beauty of your kindness a blessing on my days.
With so much gratitude and love,
Rob Burbea.
He expressed constant appreciative joy (mudita) to those who devoted themselves to his personal support and many others of us, who cherished his presence in the world. People around the world constantly asked me about Rob.
Here is one example of Rob’s appreciation.
“I am so thankful that in a week off chemo I was recently able to teach (at least in part) a retreat with Catherine at Gaia House. I am very grateful to her for holding, because of my limited capacities, more than her fair share of the weight of the retreat. And it was profoundly nourishing for my soul to be with that beautiful sangha for a week.”
He had incredible powers of endurance despite losing much of his cancer ridden pancreas and intestines. He kept on teaching as much as possible. Rob discovered an immense passion and realisation about what he called the ‘Imaginal.’ He gave dozens of talks – radical, visionary and insightful. He used the word ‘soul’ and spoke of the power of consciousness, the creative mind and much more. This was the work of a visionary, a 21st century mystic, who had liberated the heart-mind into fresh dimensions.
His numerous talks were available at Gaia House and Dharma Seed in the US. He kept on speaking into a recorder until his voice faded away some days before his death. (The doctors and nurses were amazed that he lived for so long after major operations). Beneath the title of his talks on the Imaginal, he wrote:
CRUCIAL NOTE: It is highly unlikely that this talk will be properly or adequately understood without a prior very good working familiarity and competence – both in actual practice and conceptually – with Soulmaking Dharma teachings and practices, as well as with Insight Meditation. Without this background it may be that the talk will in fact be misunderstood, and it is unlikely that the talk will be helpful.
Quotes from Seeing that Frees
by Rob Burbea
ISBN 978 0992848 910
445 Pages
Hermes Amara Publications
Gaia House Meditation Centre
West Ogwell, Devon, TQ12 6EW. England
The book takes meditators on an exploration of Emptiness. From the first pages, meditators can relate to the range of experiences he describes and appreciate the specific practices he offers. He offers teachings on samadhi, awareness, expansiveness, non-self, dependent arising, emptiness and liberation.
The voice of first-hand experience shines through every chapter with regular quotes from the two Masters of Emptiness – the Buddha and Nagarjuna, the 2nd century Indian Buddhist monk, sage and scholar.
I offer a few quotes from Rob’s book,
Ultimately, it turns out we cannot say things are fabricated, nor that they are not fabricated. Page 19
A loose definition of insight: Any realisation, understanding, or way of seeing things brings about, to any degree, a dissolution of, or a decrease in, dukkha. Page 29
We come to know beyond doubt, that happiness is possible for us in this life. Page 41.
The whole area of social conventions is one in which we can experience all kinds of suffering. Yet, of with a little reflection, we can recognise the emptiness of some conventions that we have reified, and this realization can bring some freedom. Page 67
I need not conceive of myself as the Resident Teacher. I am at times friends to friends…I am musician, a poet, a writer, a citizen, a neighbour, a son, an uncle, a room cleaner, an activist, a cook…This seeing of the ‘holes’ in any role can be immensely helpful in exposing its lack of solidity. Page 73
Asking a friend or someone whose wisdom and care you trust, to help you see the wider conditions that you may be missing can be enormously supportive. Page 105
Notice if and how the sense of ownership is affected when the mindfulness is relatively strong and the mind is less taken by thoughts about the object. Page 185
Awareness is not ‘the Deathless,’ not unfabricated, that the space of awareness is not ‘Emptiness.’ and that the nature of awareness is neither separate from nor the same as objects. Page 207.
Through letting go of clinging more and more totally and deeply, the world of experience fades and ceases; and seeing and understand this is of great significance. Page 251.
For a ‘thing’ to be a ‘thing’ it depends on the mind’s relationship with it, on grasping and aversion. Page 279.
Mutual dependence entails mutual emptiness. Both the large image drawn and the individual dots are illusory constructions. Page 297.
If the object is void, attention is dependent on and inseparable from what is void. Then it too can only be void. Seeing this deepens the sense of emptiness of both attention and object. Page 361.
The teachings of sunyata, as was stated in the beginning, exist only for the sake of this freedom. Page 413.
..conventional reality is merely pronounced to be whatever is the consensus of worldly view. Page 418.
Final words in the last chapter
In knowing fully the thorough voidness of this and that, of then and now, of there and here, this heart opens in joy, in awe and release. Free itself, it knows the essential freedom in everything. Page 421.
ROB BURBEA practised and studied the Dharma since 1985. He taught since 2004 and was a Guiding Teacher of Freely Given Retreats. He was a co-founder of SanghaSeva, an organisation dedicated to exploring the Dharma through service work internationally, and also a co-initiator of DANCE (Dharma Action Network for Climate Engagement). He is the author of Seeing that Frees: Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising.
THANK YOU. ROB,
FOR YOUR EXTRA-ORDINARY DEPTHS OF SHARING
You leave us all with a wealth of inspiration
and insights for present and future generations of the Sangha
(https://www.christophertitmussblog.org/)
..conventional reality is merely pronounced to be whatever is the consensus of worldly view. Page 418.
Final words in the last chapter
In knowing fully the thorough voidness of this and that, of then and now, of there and here, this heart opens in joy, in awe and release. Free itself, it knows the essential freedom in everything. Page 421.
ROB BURBEA practised and studied the Dharma since 1985. He taught since 2004 and was a Guiding Teacher of Freely Given Retreats. He was a co-founder of SanghaSeva, an organisation dedicated to exploring the Dharma through service work internationally, and also a co-initiator of DANCE (Dharma Action Network for Climate Engagement). He is the author of Seeing that Frees: Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising.
THANK YOU. ROB,
FOR YOUR EXTRA-ORDINARY DEPTHS OF SHARING
You leave us all with a wealth of inspiration
and insights for present and future generations of the Sangha
(https://www.christophertitmussblog.org/)
Thank you, Christopher, for this
Thank you, Rob...
Matt Perry Clark, modified 4 Years ago at 5/13/20 2:43 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/13/20 2:43 AM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 21 Join Date: 12/27/18 Recent PostsMatt Perry Clark, modified 4 Years ago at 5/13/20 7:09 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/13/20 7:09 AM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 21 Join Date: 12/27/18 Recent Posts
I wonder what Rob's view on death was at the end of his life? As a long term practitioner I'm always interested in what people's views are about the difficult subjects, and it seems views beyond the basic teachings on death still remains quite a taboo subject even in Dharma circles. It's easy to trot out beliefs about death but I wonder what he really thought about it, how he faced it and the attitude of those around him to his loss.
Perhaps people would see this as intrusive and a private matter, but it's really at the heart of what we do. Death is the great revealer where all the bullshit is swept aside, it seems like incredibly fertile ground to talk about. Even within Buddhism there seems a pretty diverse range of opinions about death, it feels like a subject we should really discuss more and be brutally honest with ourselves and each other about, not hiding behind concepts and ideas.
Perhaps people would see this as intrusive and a private matter, but it's really at the heart of what we do. Death is the great revealer where all the bullshit is swept aside, it seems like incredibly fertile ground to talk about. Even within Buddhism there seems a pretty diverse range of opinions about death, it feels like a subject we should really discuss more and be brutally honest with ourselves and each other about, not hiding behind concepts and ideas.
Olivier S, modified 4 Years ago at 5/13/20 8:24 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/13/20 8:19 AM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 996 Join Date: 4/27/19 Recent Posts
Hey, guess what ! here is his very last recorded talk, Practicing with death and dying
I'm listening to it, it's quite inspiring as usual. The casualness in his voice... Again, this talk makes me feel free, it gives me a profound sense of duty to do everything possible to live an authentic life aligned with my deepest inclinations, a duty to "refract my daimon", far far far away from mainstream institutions and worldviews...
The last part is completely mystical.
xox
I'm listening to it, it's quite inspiring as usual. The casualness in his voice... Again, this talk makes me feel free, it gives me a profound sense of duty to do everything possible to live an authentic life aligned with my deepest inclinations, a duty to "refract my daimon", far far far away from mainstream institutions and worldviews...
The last part is completely mystical.
xox
Olivier S, modified 4 Years ago at 9/22/20 11:48 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 9/22/20 11:48 AM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 996 Join Date: 4/27/19 Recent Posts
Hi guys,
Here is a poem someone wrote for Burbea, I saw it yesterday and thought it was a nice hommage. Also other texts in memoriam by people who were close to him : https://gaiahouse.co.uk/remembering-rob/
Sometimes the Great Souls die too soon - Andy Wimbush
for Rob Burbea
Here’s old man Shakyamuni, shaky now,
although, for sure,
unshackled
shuffling, shoved along, strapped up, he says,
like an old cart.
Thus come.
Thus gone.
Thus going, still.
But sometimes the great souls die too soon.
Maura soshin
Kannon of Toshoji
shattered
splintered
as busses collide
on a narrow road north.
Friedrich
madman of Turin
Dionysus against the Crucified
his dynamite dampened
by the refractory mare
in the Piazza Carignano.
Simone
who understood much more than something of
reversed thunder
a divine hunger artist
starved in solidarity.
Father Merton
on the bathroom floor
electric now for
paradise and
buddhafields —
charged
with dharmakaya.
Bahiya of the Bark-Cloth
impatient seeker of bliss before noon
who understood right then
where neither stars nor darkness shine
before mother cow
protects with her life
her only calf.
Etty of Auschwitz
who, in worldliness after all,
surveyed the empty plains of innermost being
and found there
love
with a spring
in her step
along the barbed wire
and left the camp
singing.
MLK
the dreamer
to whom
longevity
mattered much less than
the mountaintop.
And, of course, that sweet sweet fiery Nazarene
pinioned and
stretched
for daring to taste divinity.
And now, perhaps, you too, jazzman of Dharma
poet of perception
keeper of the mirrored gates
Hermes in red crocs
crosser of floods
prophet of pothos
shaman of the subtle body
alchemist of desire
soulmaker
ariya
shepherd on the razor’s edge of
real and
not.
I see a thousand Anandas
weeping on the doorframe
when your great light goes out.
So what else to say except
I bow
and
beg
that you remain
until samsara ends.
Andy Wimbush
Written July 2015 – January 2020
Here is a poem someone wrote for Burbea, I saw it yesterday and thought it was a nice hommage. Also other texts in memoriam by people who were close to him : https://gaiahouse.co.uk/remembering-rob/
Sometimes the Great Souls die too soon - Andy Wimbush
for Rob Burbea
Here’s old man Shakyamuni, shaky now,
although, for sure,
unshackled
shuffling, shoved along, strapped up, he says,
like an old cart.
Thus come.
Thus gone.
Thus going, still.
But sometimes the great souls die too soon.
Maura soshin
Kannon of Toshoji
shattered
splintered
as busses collide
on a narrow road north.
Friedrich
madman of Turin
Dionysus against the Crucified
his dynamite dampened
by the refractory mare
in the Piazza Carignano.
Simone
who understood much more than something of
reversed thunder
a divine hunger artist
starved in solidarity.
Father Merton
on the bathroom floor
electric now for
paradise and
buddhafields —
charged
with dharmakaya.
Bahiya of the Bark-Cloth
impatient seeker of bliss before noon
who understood right then
where neither stars nor darkness shine
before mother cow
protects with her life
her only calf.
Etty of Auschwitz
who, in worldliness after all,
surveyed the empty plains of innermost being
and found there
love
with a spring
in her step
along the barbed wire
and left the camp
singing.
MLK
the dreamer
to whom
longevity
mattered much less than
the mountaintop.
And, of course, that sweet sweet fiery Nazarene
pinioned and
stretched
for daring to taste divinity.
And now, perhaps, you too, jazzman of Dharma
poet of perception
keeper of the mirrored gates
Hermes in red crocs
crosser of floods
prophet of pothos
shaman of the subtle body
alchemist of desire
soulmaker
ariya
shepherd on the razor’s edge of
real and
not.
I see a thousand Anandas
weeping on the doorframe
when your great light goes out.
So what else to say except
I bow
and
beg
that you remain
until samsara ends.
Andy Wimbush
Written July 2015 – January 2020
Chris M, modified 4 Years ago at 9/22/20 1:54 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 9/22/20 1:54 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 5477 Join Date: 1/26/13 Recent PostsOlivier S, modified 4 Years ago at 9/22/20 4:12 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 9/22/20 4:12 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 996 Join Date: 4/27/19 Recent PostsLaurel Carrington, modified 4 Years ago at 9/22/20 5:49 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 9/22/20 5:49 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 439 Join Date: 4/7/14 Recent PostsNoah D, modified 4 Years ago at 9/22/20 10:57 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 9/22/20 10:57 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 1219 Join Date: 9/1/16 Recent PostsOlivier S, modified 3 Years ago at 1/8/21 4:50 PM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/8/21 4:50 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 996 Join Date: 4/27/19 Recent Poststerry, modified 3 Years ago at 1/9/21 3:39 PM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/9/21 3:39 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 2802 Join Date: 8/7/17 Recent PostsOlivier:
Hi guys,
Here is a poem someone wrote for Burbea, I saw it yesterday and thought it was a nice hommage. Also other texts in memoriam by people who were close to him : https://gaiahouse.co.uk/remembering-rob/
Sometimes the Great Souls die too soon - Andy Wimbush
for Rob Burbea
I see a thousand Anandas
weeping on the doorframe
when your great light goes out.
Here is a poem someone wrote for Burbea, I saw it yesterday and thought it was a nice hommage. Also other texts in memoriam by people who were close to him : https://gaiahouse.co.uk/remembering-rob/
Sometimes the Great Souls die too soon - Andy Wimbush
for Rob Burbea
I see a thousand Anandas
weeping on the doorframe
when your great light goes out.
I doubt ananda wept when the buddha died
buddha nature is alive and well
dust is ever dust
Tim Farrington, modified 3 Years ago at 1/10/21 3:26 AM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/10/21 3:26 AM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 2464 Join Date: 6/13/11 Recent PostsOlivier:
Hi guys,
Here is a poem someone wrote for Burbea, I saw it yesterday and thought it was a nice hommage. Also other texts in memoriam by people who were close to him : https://gaiahouse.co.uk/remembering-rob/
Sometimes the Great Souls die too soon - Andy Wimbush
for Rob Burbea
Here’s old man Shakyamuni, shaky now,
although, for sure,
unshackled
shuffling, shoved along, strapped up, he says,
like an old cart.
Thus come.
Thus gone.
Thus going, still.
But sometimes the great souls die too soon.
Maura soshin
Kannon of Toshoji
shattered
splintered
as busses collide
on a narrow road north.
Friedrich
madman of Turin
Dionysus against the Crucified
his dynamite dampened
by the refractory mare
in the Piazza Carignano.
Simone
who understood much more than something of
reversed thunder
a divine hunger artist
starved in solidarity.
Father Merton
on the bathroom floor
electric now for
paradise and
buddhafields —
charged
with dharmakaya.
Bahiya of the Bark-Cloth
impatient seeker of bliss before noon
who understood right then
where neither stars nor darkness shine
before mother cow
protects with her life
her only calf.
Etty of Auschwitz
who, in worldliness after all,
surveyed the empty plains of innermost being
and found there
love
with a spring
in her step
along the barbed wire
and left the camp
singing.
MLK
the dreamer
to whom
longevity
mattered much less than
the mountaintop.
And, of course, that sweet sweet fiery Nazarene
pinioned and
stretched
for daring to taste divinity.
And now, perhaps, you too, jazzman of Dharma
poet of perception
keeper of the mirrored gates
Hermes in red crocs
crosser of floods
prophet of pothos
shaman of the subtle body
alchemist of desire
soulmaker
ariya
shepherd on the razor’s edge of
real and
not.
I see a thousand Anandas
weeping on the doorframe
when your great light goes out.
So what else to say except
I bow
and
beg
that you remain
until samsara ends.
Andy Wimbush
Written July 2015 – January 2020
Here is a poem someone wrote for Burbea, I saw it yesterday and thought it was a nice hommage. Also other texts in memoriam by people who were close to him : https://gaiahouse.co.uk/remembering-rob/
Sometimes the Great Souls die too soon - Andy Wimbush
for Rob Burbea
Here’s old man Shakyamuni, shaky now,
although, for sure,
unshackled
shuffling, shoved along, strapped up, he says,
like an old cart.
Thus come.
Thus gone.
Thus going, still.
But sometimes the great souls die too soon.
Maura soshin
Kannon of Toshoji
shattered
splintered
as busses collide
on a narrow road north.
Friedrich
madman of Turin
Dionysus against the Crucified
his dynamite dampened
by the refractory mare
in the Piazza Carignano.
Simone
who understood much more than something of
reversed thunder
a divine hunger artist
starved in solidarity.
Father Merton
on the bathroom floor
electric now for
paradise and
buddhafields —
charged
with dharmakaya.
Bahiya of the Bark-Cloth
impatient seeker of bliss before noon
who understood right then
where neither stars nor darkness shine
before mother cow
protects with her life
her only calf.
Etty of Auschwitz
who, in worldliness after all,
surveyed the empty plains of innermost being
and found there
love
with a spring
in her step
along the barbed wire
and left the camp
singing.
MLK
the dreamer
to whom
longevity
mattered much less than
the mountaintop.
And, of course, that sweet sweet fiery Nazarene
pinioned and
stretched
for daring to taste divinity.
And now, perhaps, you too, jazzman of Dharma
poet of perception
keeper of the mirrored gates
Hermes in red crocs
crosser of floods
prophet of pothos
shaman of the subtle body
alchemist of desire
soulmaker
ariya
shepherd on the razor’s edge of
real and
not.
I see a thousand Anandas
weeping on the doorframe
when your great light goes out.
So what else to say except
I bow
and
beg
that you remain
until samsara ends.
Andy Wimbush
Written July 2015 – January 2020
Merci beaucoup, Olivier, for this beautiful poem. The range of great souls cited in it is itself a lovely tribute to the breadth and depth of Rob's teaching, human and humane, rooted in emptiness, and turning toward the world with love and generosity of soul. The range from Buddha to Jesus, with Nietzsche, Martin Luther King, Etty Hillesum, Thomas Merton, Simone Weil, Bahiya of the bark-cloth (I had to look up his sutta--- Bāhiya Sutta: Bāhiya (accesstoinsight.org) ), and Maura "Soshin" O'Halloran, whom I also had to look up and who is also worth the look --- Maura ‘Soshin’ O’Halloran, The Zen Saint – WomanScape --- is already an education in humanity and aspiration. Beautiful.
Olivier S, modified 3 Years ago at 1/10/21 6:31 AM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/10/21 6:31 AM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 996 Join Date: 4/27/19 Recent PostsTim Farrington, modified 3 Years ago at 1/10/21 7:22 AM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/10/21 7:22 AM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 2464 Join Date: 6/13/11 Recent PostsOlivier:
A
HERM E S
A
R
A
HERM E S
A
R
A
"Amāra (अमार)—Not dying, undying, immortal, imperishable"? + Hermes as psychopomp? as communicator?
terry, modified 3 Years ago at 1/11/21 12:09 PM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/11/21 12:09 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 2802 Join Date: 8/7/17 Recent PostsTim Farrington:
Olivier:
A
HERM E S
A
R
A
HERM E S
A
R
A
"Amāra (अमार)—Not dying, undying, immortal, imperishable"? + Hermes as psychopomp? as communicator?
from "the iron flute," trans senzaki, mccandless
36. WHERE TO MEET AFTER DEATH
Tao-wu paid a visit to his sick brother monk, Yün-yen. “Where can I see you again, if you die and leave only your corpse here?” asked the visitor. “I will meet you in the place where nothing is born and nothing dies,” answered the sick monk. Tao-wu was not satisfied with the answer and said, “What you should say is that there is no place in which nothing is born and nothing dies, and that we need not see each other at all.”
GENRŌ: Tao-wu loses everything and Yün-yen gains all. The latter
said, “I will meet you,” and the former said, “We need not
see each other at all.” They need not see each other, therefore,
they meet. They meet each other because there is no need to
see each other.
True friendship transcends intimacy or alienation:
Between meeting and not meeting, there is no difference.
On the old plum tree, fully blossomed,
The southern branch owns the whole spring,
As also does the northern branch.
Olivier S, modified 3 Years ago at 1/11/21 1:18 PM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/11/21 1:18 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 996 Join Date: 4/27/19 Recent PostsOlivier S, modified 3 Years ago at 1/11/21 1:18 PM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/11/21 1:18 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 996 Join Date: 4/27/19 Recent Poststerry, modified 3 Years ago at 1/11/21 1:47 PM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/11/21 1:47 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 2802 Join Date: 8/7/17 Recent PostsOlivier:
Wow.
gasshos
from wikipedia:
Noun. gassho (plural gasshos) A ritual gesture of Eastern origin, with hands pressed together in front of the chest. It can be used for prayer or as a sign of greeting, gratitude, reverence, or apology.
Olivier S, modified 3 Years ago at 1/11/21 4:04 PM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/11/21 4:04 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 996 Join Date: 4/27/19 Recent Posts
(Not to break the moment here, but man does that word have bad puns it it )
Pax
Lux aeterna luceat eis
Pax
Lux aeterna luceat eis
terry, modified 3 Years ago at 1/14/21 4:36 PM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/14/21 4:36 PM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 2802 Join Date: 8/7/17 Recent PostsOlivier:
(Not to break the moment here, but man does that word have bad puns it it )
Pax
Lux aeterna luceat eis
Pax
Lux aeterna luceat eis
yes, "gasshos" resonates with filling one's vehicle with fuel and eliminating prostitutes...that was implicit...
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine...
(bows)
terry, modified 3 Years ago at 1/15/21 2:12 AM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/15/21 2:12 AM
RE: Death of Rob Burbea
Posts: 2802 Join Date: 8/7/17 Recent Posts
from "zen antics; 100 stories of enlightenment" trans and ed thomas cleary
BIRTH AND DEATH
Goshi came to Zen master Yui-e and said, "I have been studying Zen for many years, but have not yet succeeded. Please give me some guidance."
Yui-e said, "There is no secret trick to Zen study, It's just a matter of freedom from birth and death."
Goshi asked, "How does one pass through birth and death to freedom"
Raising his voice, Yui-e said, "Your every passing thought is birth and death!"
At these words Goshi went into ecstasy, feeling as if he had put down a heavy burden.
BIRTH AND DEATH
Goshi came to Zen master Yui-e and said, "I have been studying Zen for many years, but have not yet succeeded. Please give me some guidance."
Yui-e said, "There is no secret trick to Zen study, It's just a matter of freedom from birth and death."
Goshi asked, "How does one pass through birth and death to freedom"
Raising his voice, Yui-e said, "Your every passing thought is birth and death!"
At these words Goshi went into ecstasy, feeling as if he had put down a heavy burden.