Jopoa mean grandma in my language....

Grandma means a lot to me, as many of you already know from reading my profile and the name of my musical project: The Jopoa Project. I basically spent my entire adult life til she died being in her amazing presence absorbing her naturally arising loving kindness. I devoted 3 decades of my life to taking care of this tiny little simple yogini who had no formal education at all and yet, became my greatest teacher. I only met her when she emigrated from China when she was in her 70's but I feel in love with her the fast time we met. The older grandma got, it seemed the more spiritual she became. She would help around the house doing whatever she could but she saw her main job as giving blessings. She would come to chant, say mantras and pray day and night...blessing myself, my family and everyone with her loving kindness. When we walked out together in the world, she was like a magnet, attracting people to her wherever she went. She was only 75 .lb and very tiny and lovable. Impish and like a little kurmudgeon. She radiated loving kindness but she was also very stubborn and determined. Grandma reminded everyone everywhere we went of the sacredness of this ordinary moment we occupy. Whenever she stepped out the door, she would look up, slowly look for the sun, then orient her body in that direction and begin completely immersed in prayer towards the sun. If the sun was hidden behind clouds and it suddenly shone through, she would stop and look straight towards it and begin praying and chanting. She did this no matter where she was: in the car, outside of a doorway, getting out of the car, in the middle of a parking lot, on the sidewalk...anywhere. The effect of this on people was that it reminded them to stop and take notice of how special, precious and wonderful it is to have this big ball of light suspended overhead and ultimately, of how precious and wonderful this life itself is. My entire life is intertwined with my grandmothers as I began writing songs to heal my own heart knowing that her death was drawing near. I began exploring songwriting and ultimately became a songwriter while she was still alive in order to prepare for a life without her in the world. I really didn't know if I could survive without her physical presence and this was a very scary thought for me so when I hit upon songwriting as a way to preserve her emotion, her heart and her blessings, I invested huge energy in it. Then when grandma did died, I wrote the song 7:28, what I know as the most profound song of my entire life simply because I wrote in 3 hours after she died and I knew it had to be written as part of my healing journey. 7:28 the moment had arrived when you couldn't stay any longer and you said your last goodbye Looked like you were sleeping like so many times before but I knew that from this point on you would sleep forevermore copyright july 31/02 Gien. Jopoa productions I took care of grandma for so many years, tucking her in at night and in the last few years of her life, adapting to her sleep cycle of broken sleep of only 3 hrs at a time every night because I had to make sure she wouldn't wake up and go to the bathroom alone because of the risk of falling. When she died, the healing journey began in earnest and I began to sing all the songs i wrote for her and became my own music therapist. It worked and I did not sink into a black hole of despair. Rather, it really hit home what this life is really all about. That's why in my song BEAUTIFUL SPIRITS I have the lyric Half of this life is learning learning how to love how to love the other half is learning how to let go letting go copyright Nov 2003 Gien. Jopoa Productions. We spend half our life looking for deep, connection love but all love must end and if we are alive after a death of a loved one or a failed relationship (which is also a death) we begin the journey of learning the greater lessen ...how to let go of that love I also wrote many songs during this time including JOURNEY THRU THE BARDO which is an operatic song with about 10 movements which describe my reading of Bardo Thodul (Tibetan Book of the Dead) to grandmother at this time. This was another very healing practice as it empowers the loved ones to contribute something proactively to the deceased. In fact, we become their greatests support in the 49 days after death in the Bardo where confusion can reign supreme if the deceased being is not highly, highly realized or if they have never meditated much in their normal life. It's just an extra insurance policy to guarantee the best outcome. Now, I've fully integrated Jopoa into my heart and aspire to use it in this musical project to bring about self transformation...to continue the job of blessing all beings and giving them kindness unconditionally so that they may unfold their own love. To teach that the love we now possess is not ours, but is the cummulative result of all those beings who've loved us and to pass this flame onwards to all beings we meet. The icon of my grandmother is very natural as the name or figurehead for this project since grandma's image now, as when she was alive, immediately dissolves any distance. To try to heal the deep separation and isolation in the world today, it is important to make this connection immediately. The music of awareness that follows this project is also appealing to the fundamental humanity in us all. Using a figurehead like Jopoa or someone like Ghandi who is equally revered by all, or getting grandmothers, grandfathers and elders of aborigiinal cultures to teach and sing along with us, these songs written by loving kindness aspire to rekindle and reawaken the sleeping giant of loving kindness throughout the world. BFJG (Blessings From Jopoa Gien)