Miksang is a Tibetan word that translates as ‘Good Eye’, and is based on the Shambhala and Dharma Art teachings of the late meditation master, artist, and scholar Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

Skaters. Toronto City Hall. Toronto Canada © Michael Wood. 2012

To me the path of Miksang is about uncovering truth, the truth of pure perception in our moment to moment experience. We see something penetrating, something pure and self-existing, and then we have the opportunity to express that perception without making anything up. We can be totally honest about what we saw. In that moment of staying with the perception, we hang out in the push and pull of wanting to manipulate it. But that all dissolves and is cut when we press down and feel the shutter click. It is the joy of letting go.

Julie DuBose.

Co-Founder. Miksang Institute for Contemplative Photography
www.miksang.com

Michael in a Puddle. Boulder, Colorado. © Julie DuBose. 2012

By Chris Jay

Pat Armstrong died peacefully on the evening of July 10 in Seattle. Pat was a close student of Rinpoche for many years, and before that, she was a student of the Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Pat completed a 3-year retreat at Vajradhara Gonpa in Australia in 2008, and upon returning, led the development and implementation of the North American Dharma Gar.

Pat Armstrong

Pat was a practitioner’s practitioner. She was diagnosed with breast cancer during her 3-year retreat and went through a round of operations and chemotherapy. When she returned to the retreat, all of the retreatants made a big fuss about taking care of her, making her meals, so on and so on. But Pat told everyone to just calm down and leave her alone so she could get back to her practice. Steve Cline, the retreat master, told the retreatants take their cue from her; everyone should get back to their practice.

In the last few days of her life, her close Sangha friends practiced in her room 24 hours a day. Rinpoche visited her twice in the last month of her life. Pat died as she lived – practicing, without making a fuss. We all miss her very, very much, and remember her for her humor, her humility, and for her utter devotion to Rinpoche.