NALANDABODHI MEMO: June 21, 2004 PARAMITA OF THE MONTH: prajna
Calendar of Events
Treasury of Knowledge Retreat, Rigpe Dorje Center San Antonio, TX
Boerne, TX: June 18 – 25 in progress
June birthdays: HH17Karmapa and The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
“Wild Awakening: The Heart of Mahamudra and Dzogchen”
Nalandabodhi Halifax & Shambhala Center: July 10-11
Nitartha Institute 2004 Program
Sackville, New Brunswick: July10 – Aug 8 www.nitarthainstitute.org
Open Retreat with The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
Connecticut: August 13-19 www.nbconnecticut.org/dzogchen.htm
Nalanda West Inauguration Event
Lhabab Duchen, November 2004
NOTEWORTHY
DPR Articles in Buddhadharma and the Shambhala Sun
This spring, Rinpoche was invited by the editors of both Buddhadharma and the Shambhala Sun to write articles for their publications. Rinpoche accepted and has written two interesting and thought provoking articles.
See the Summer 2004 issue of Buddhadharma (on newsstands now) for Rinpoche's review of the Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa, called "Chogyam Trungpa's Legacy." (p. 61)
See the forthcoming August-September 2004 issue of the Shambhala Sun for Rinpoche's article, "The Wisdom of the Body and the Search for the Self," which is the lead article for this issue's "Mind - Body" feature section.
An Invitation to All Nalandabodhi Members and Friends
Birthday Remembrances for
His Holiness the 17th Karmapa (June 26th)
and
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche (June 24th)
Cards and gifts may be sent to Rinpoche this week (to be received by June 25th), c/o Jan Puckett 28 Eton Green Circle, San Antonio Texas 78257.
Contact info@nalandabodhi.org for addressing materials to HH Karmapa.
Long life prayers gratefully accepted!
Bay Area News: JULY PRACTICE INTENSIVE WEEKEND
We will host our first practice intensive weekend on July 24-25 in San Francisco. The purpose of this weekend is to give people a chance to devote two full days to their personal practice. We will have two shrine rooms available; one for Ngondro practitioners and one for Shamatha / Vipashyana Mahamudra. Plans are underway to integrate our study and practice topics as well.
Birthday Celebrations
Every year in recent years the Vancouver and Seattle sangha have celebrated the birthdays of HH Karmapa and The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. Some of the activities that have been done in the past and are planned this year include the Life Release, sitting practice, Guru Rinpoche Feast, and potluck dinners or Bar-B-Q. This year the students at Treasury of Knowledge retreat in Texas are fortunate to be able to celebrate with Rinpoche during the program banquet on Thursday evening. We hope your group is also able to celebrate together. May our teachers live long and have excellent health!
The “FUN” in Fundraising at Nalandabodhi
As many of you know, every year at the annual Nalandabodhi sangha retreat, there is a fundraising presentation called “the annual appeal” and pledge forms are distributed to all attendees. The purpose of the presentation is to update the sangha on various projects, activities, and the financial status of Nalandabodhi. Students are given the opportunity to consider how, during the coming year, they can financially support and volunteer for the growing mandala of activities of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.
This year our playing field has shifted because we now own a building complex in Seattle -- Nalanda West -- and have the largest financial needs we have ever experienced including monthly expenses that average $18,000 to $20,000 including mortgage and personal loan repayments. This financial challenge is also a source of great joy because we now have a permanent home for the activities of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. Ask anyone who attended this year's sangha retreat at Nalanda West and they can tell you how happy, playful and relaxed Rinpoche was in his new home. Some of the sangha had to depart before our closing ceremonies at retreat and for those of you who were not in attendance, I also want you to know that we received pledges totaling $27,000, which is more than we have ever raised in pledges at retreat by almost $10,000! I want to thank the sangha for their incredible generosity and amazing volunteer activities that take so many manifestations all over the world -- center management, practice instruction, editing, transcribing, publishing, hosting teachers, study curriculum, etc. We are a talented, generous, compassionate sangha. I thank you for all you do for Rinpoche, Nalandabodhi and all sentient beings!
We need support from all of the sangha like never before! If you were not at sangha retreat, I want to encourage you to make a pledge of annual support. No gift is too small or too large! We will gladly accept credit card donations or payment by check payable to Nalandabodhi. All contributions are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law. Please consider Nalanda West your home and come home soon! Witness history in the making as we renovate, refine, purify, create, and enjoy our new home. I will be writing more updates more often this year to keep you better informed of our fundraising and financial situation. If you have any questions, please contact me, Lynne Conrad Marvet, Director of Finance and Fundraising at lcmarvet@nalandabodhi.org or by phone at 206-985-8887. Nalandabodhi is a non-profit 501(C) (3) religious organization incorporated in 1997 in Washington State. U.S. address: 3902 Woodland Park Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103. Nalandabodhi Foundation is a registered charity under paragraph 149 (1) (f) of the Canadian Income Tax Act. Canadian address: Attn: Heidi Ng, P.O. Box 2355, Vancouver, BC V6B 3W5.
Thank you! As Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche says again and again: Sarva Mangalam! May all be auspicious!
Saga Dawa Anniversary : Thursday, June 3rd
celebrating Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana
“Without wavering he shined his awareness on his mind. He saw that living beings suffer because they do not understand that they share one common ground with all beings.. When we learn to calm our minds in order to look deeply at the true nature of things, we can arrive at full understanding which dissolves every sorrow and anxiety and gives rise to acceptance and love.” (from Old Path White Clouds, by Thich Nhat Hanh, as a reading offered to the Nalandabodhi Sangha)
“Live from Nalanda West”: Nalandabodhi Sangha Retreat
Students from Nalandabodhi Sangha Retreat would like to report some auspicious events from the past 24 hours. Within an hour after closing the Konchok Chidu Guru Rinpoche empowerment and feast, a magnificent meteor lit the skies of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. During the morning program, the assembly recited “In Praise of the Twelve Deeds of the Buddha.” Rinpoche addressed the sangha about this special holiday, and at lunch the lifestory of the Buddha was read aloud. During lunch and into the afternoon, the high midday sun was surrounded by a large, completely circular rainbow in remarkably clear Seattle skies.
Download printable file with Current Calendar (pdf)