When I started teaching the art of Tibetan appliqué, I made it clear to everyone who would listen that I was not a spiritual teacher. “I’m not a lama and not an iconographer either,” I kept saying. “I just make pretty things that happen to be connected to a rich spiritual culture and to profound teachings on the nature of experience and existence . . . I can teach you to make pretty things with fabric and thread. I can’t show you the way to enlightenment or tell you what any of it means.”
My art teachers in Dharamsala didn’t teach philosophy. I had other teachers for that. But it was in the air we breathed there. I didn’t know if there was enough of that air hanging around me, or if any of it would travel through cyberspace to meet my students as they stitched.
I just knew I had a responsibility to carry the tradition forward as best I could.
Then something magical happened that increased my faith in lineage: participants in the Stitching Buddhas program began reporting profound experiences. They were deeply moved. As they wrapped a horsehair, as they stitched a lotus, as they strove for perfection and got stuck, as they got frustrated and resisted the urge to give up, wide-ranging habitual patterns became visible and workable. They felt calm. They felt more connected. They felt the power of lineage, of immersion in a flowing river of beneficial activity. And I felt that too.
Most women I teach have never been to India or Tibet. Many will never go. But something in them calls out for a craft connected with their spiritual practice, for meditation in action, creating beauty that radiates timeless wisdom and touches their heart. I’m continually surprised to learn how meaningful this work feels to my students, how deeply it captivates them, nourishes them, wakes up sleeping aspects of themselves.
As one student wrote, “It is so much more than stitching. It is a meditation practice of its own, a connection with one’s own spirituality – an opportunity learn about oneself in the process.”
However far apart my students may live, I strive to replicate the traditional apprenticeship experience for them, sitting beside them on a virtual cushion, sharing a cup of steaming tea as we plunge the needle through our fabric to take the next stitch.
In the process, we meet ourselves, we make something beautiful, and we may even glimpse the buddha we’re becoming.
Margaret, Maine, USA
“I have always found sewing and needlework to be profoundly therapeutic.
“Stumbling upon Stitching Buddhas was an answered prayer. It not only offered the chance to learn an ancient spiritual art form but to share that experience with others similarly drawn. The process is intense but satisfyingly successful once you begin to “get” its unique and ancient methods. Now, every time I walk by my appliqué project I feel a swelling in my heart. It is waiting patiently for me to pick up the needle once again and guide me, with each stitch, into the freedom of present moment awareness.
Leslie’s story and experience are also a huge draw for me. Her initial lack of sewing experience seemed to be no obstacle to the profound skill and beauty she ultimately manifested. It gives me courage to keep on with the projects. Her sincere interest and caring for her students is rare.”
Click here if you’d like to join the apprenticeship or email me to ask me a question. Please share with any friends who may be interested.
