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.
