And then15

Where Shall
I Sit?

Obi-Wan Moments

Rinpoche sitting on a bed crowded with bags, clothes and small objects.
The king and his things.

The King

Rinpoche sits in the middle of his things. Bags gape open, bottles and containers gather close, clothes spread out, and papers emerge between them. He looks this way. There is not much clear space beside his hands.

In November 2016 he gives himself the title King of pack rat. Among people who keep things, he will be king.

It is a miscellaneous kingdom. Large things take a patch, little things fit into the gaps. Each has a shape of its own, and each requires a little space. By the time the king is seated, his surroundings are full.

He has already owned up to it: Mess I managed to create everywhere. Cups, bags and boxes cover a desk, with cables bending between them. Only portions of the surface show through.

Everywhere is a word that dispenses with the dimensions of a room. Whatever the size of the desk, this is the scene his remark calls up.

Still Room at the Head

In one room, suitcases stand open on the floor and clothes cover the bed towards its foot. Rinpoche leans back at the head, his hands resting on his head, a lamp lit nearby. His belongings are spread out; for the moment he occupies this small patch.

He accounts for the situation with greedy and pack rat. Both descriptions land on himself, without much ceremony.

There are things inside the cases, and things outside them. A red garment has taken the chair; other clothes lie across the foot of the bed. The curtains still hang in their proper place. They may be the only things in the room that need no new position.

Open cases and clothes surrounding a bed, with Rinpoche leaning back at its head, his hands resting on his head.
A little space at the head.

Considered separately, none of these possessions makes so large an impression. A bottle, a packet, a small box. Gathered around him, they can surround a person.

Pockets

On his person he has another arrangement. Over dark red clothes is something tied at the waist with pockets: a phone, cables and small devices emerge from them. He stands with his hands at his hips, smiling this way.

Fashion v practical. In the spring of 2018 he wears the little argument for everyone to see.

Rinpoche with a pocketed cloth at his waist holding a phone and small devices, his hands at his hips.
Fashion v practical.

The pockets need not be so handsome that they serve no purpose. The small things each have a place, and he still has two hands free—enough for this pose.

Among Them

But the things can take over a bed again. On a white bed, hats lie beside clothes, rolled paper tubes rest at an angle, and a laptop stands open nearby. Boxes are there too, one above another.

By the winter of 2018 his words for the scene are Myself in the mess... Among the things, there is himself as well.

Himself among them.

The hat brims extend levelly, the boxes have lids, the paper tubes are hollow. Each thing has its own boundaries. An empty patch on the bed is harder to find.