ABOUT     I am a free-lance writer, including writing for Buddhist Portal. I also lead creative writing workshops and offer I Ching readings. Vertical Time yoga refers to a set of primarily standing yoga postures and meditations that I began developing in 2012, and is still a work in progress. Between 2004 and 2011, I devoted much time to being an artist/traveler; primarily a writer of essays, travel writing, poetry and memoir, but also as a documentary filmmaker and photographer. Travel was a time of writing, meditation and immersing myself in the daily life around me in countries including Cambodia, Turkey and France. From 2007 to 2010 I saw my parents through their last years of their life, and made a film about death and dying, Denise: Circle of Blessings. Between 1993 and 2004 I taught a creative writing workshop, Chance, Synchronicity and Mind-writing, in Boulder, Colorado and in many cities throughout the U.S. I have taught meditation retreats since 1980, including all levels of Shambhala Training. Between 1991 and 2004 I taught classes in meditation, poetry and creative writing at Naropa University, where I also received an MFA in Writing and Poetics. During the 1980s I worked variously as a computer consultant, technical writer and certified public accountant. I graduated from San Francisco State University in 1980 with a B.A. in business administation In 1976 I met my spiritual teacher, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who has been the inspiration for much of what's expressed on this website, including my film Cambodia: Lord Mukpo's Dream Time. I was born near San Francisco in 1954, and grew up in South Lake Tahoe, California, a resort town bordered by gambling casinos and built on the shores of one of the bluest, largest, purest, and deepest bodies of fresh water in the world.     Stray Dog Productions All writing and photographs by Bill Scheffel unless other- wise indicated.

WELCOME TO VERTICAL TIME YOGA


Detail fr. Allegory, by Piero De Cosima, c. 1500.
National Gallery of Art. Washington DC
 

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I Ching Readings with Bill
 

The I Ching, with its ancient history and numerous and influential modern translations, is a preeminent tool for shedding light on the issues and decisions we face. It is particularly useful for helping solve interpersonal issues, including conflict. I offer I Ching readings for people in person or over the phone. Read more...
 

CHANCE, SYNCHRONICITY &
MIND-WRITING

An Online Writing Community

Workshop may be entered on
the 1st of any month.
 

Through this online workshop be part of a creative and supportive writing community. Receive writing experiments to jump-start your creative writing process. Look at the work of known and unknown writers in order to see the art and craft of writing at work. Read more...

 

 

. . .
 

Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public; that's what the poet does. - Allen Ginsberg
 

Genius is the error in the system. - Paul Klee

 

Candor ends paranoia. - Allen Ginsberg

 

That's the mistake I made... to have wanted a story for myself, whereas life alone is enough. - Samuel Beckett

 

Awareness is without choice, without demand, without anxiety; in that state of mind there is perception. Perception alone will solve all our problems. - Bruce Lee

. . .

 

FILMS AND BOOKS BY
BILL SCHEFFEL
 

Denise: Circle of Blessing

 

Denise: Circle of Blessing is a 60 minute documentary about the last three months of Denise Thornton's life. At age 49, Denise was diagnosed with stage-four, metastasized cancer. During the remaining three years of her life, Denise not only defied her initial prognosis of six months to live, but embraced her illness as a spiritual path and as a way of sharing her life with others. A brave and charismatic woman, Denise was a unique individual with much to teach us about our own lives and death. Watch the entire film online.
 

Chögyam Trungpa Video Legacy

This page hosts video tributes to Chögyam Trungpa, interviews and short documentaries I've made on my travels, as I've had the opportunity to meet with teachers or fellow students who knew him and generously shared their time with me. Go to page ~

 

Cambodia: Lord Mukpo's
Dream Time.

I produced this film in 2007 following a series of life changing trips to Cambodia. It is an homage to the country and a devotional tribute to Chögyam Trungpa - or Lord Mukpo - whose Shambhala teachings I found reflected in the culture of Cambodia. View the entire film online.

Also, see my Cambodia writings.

 

Street Musicians of Istanbul

A homage to various street musicians I came upon during countless walks along Istiklal Cadessi, the historic and perpetually popular grand boulevard of Beyoğlu district, Istanbul.

See other films.
 

 

Loving-Kindness Meditation

I wrote this book in 2001. It is an essay on Buddhist - but also universal - practices of loving kindness. The publisher added the (stock) photographs. You can read some of the book on Amazon.