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Produced by
'Jam
Tse Dhargyey Ling'
Charitable Trust
Tibetan Buddhist Centre of
Love &
Compassion
159 Parakiore Road, Kamo, Whangarei, New
Zealand
Phone 09 435
4444 Email:
dharma@igrin.co.nz
www.mandala.org.nz
Dear Dharma News friends May 2008
Kia Ora and warm greetings to you - especially new subscribers to Dharma News, welcome.
In this edition of Dharma News we present the final perfection of the Six Perfections: the Perfection of Wisdom. The development of love and compassion is paramount in Tibetan Buddhism - however compassion without Wisdom can cause problems! To have the wisdom to understand how things really exist, to have a deeper understanding of how situations arise, to know how best to respond, how to tame our minds, etc would go a long way in having a more peaceful and happier life.
The "Centre News" section in this edition is huge! Sorry about that! There has just been so much going on…and lots of events and news coming up, worth having a look at. This includes a special offer to attend the Teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Australia next month, and invitation to come and celebrate the shops 3rd birthday next week; plus a longish story about the Stupa opening… and much more.
Happy reading. J
Best wishes and yours in Dharma
Kaari Schlebach
Editor - Dharma News (NZ)
Contents
In this edition of Dharma News (NZ) you will find:
1. Teaching by Ven. Geshe Sangey Thinley - The Perfection of Generosity
2. Your Questions - Answered by Ruth Sonam
3. Buddhist Basics - Practise of Wisdom
4. Tibetan Recipes - Tibetan Barley Soup
5. Jam Tse Dhargyey Ling News (JTDL) - by Kaari Schlebach
6. Dharma News (NZ) Information
1. TEACHING - ' THE PERFECTION OF GENEROSITY ', Taught by Ven. Geshe Sangey Thinley at Jam Tse Dhargyey Ling on Sunday 8th May 2005, translated by Tsering Samdup, transcribed by Ven. Ani Jampa Tsekyi, typed by Yvette Phillips.
THE PERFECTION OF GENEROSITY
When we practice the teachings, or Dharma, it’s really important to generate a positive motivation. This is because once we have a positive motivation; all our actions become virtuous and powerful, and will bring positive results. So try and determine strongly that you will try to benefit all living beings as much as you can, or at least try not to harm them or commit any negative actions. This kind of determination is really beneficial and gradually you will be able to benefit all living beings. It’s very important to generate loving kindness in our daily life, which will be beneficial both to ourselves and others. This is like planting a good medicinal seed, which will produce good and beneficial results.
Buddha Shakyamuni gave many different teachings, all of which are very profound. As we have busy lives we don’t have time to analyse all of them in detail, but to summarise, they are all designed to tame or discipline our mental attitude. To do this is crucial not only for this life, but for future lives also.
We
would all like to have a peaceful world,
But if we don’t have pacified minds,
Then there will be wars and conflict.
If everyone’s mind was pacified there’d be no space for conflict and war. And there’s no doubt that kindness and a pacified mind bring happiness in this life. However, most of us do not have pacified and disciplined minds because we are overwhelmed by disturbing emotions and defilements. But we can all train ourselves to minimise these, and eventually to eradicate them entirely. To do this we need to check ourselves and become aware of when the 10 non-virtuous feelings and activities arise within ourselves and try to abandon them, then our minds will become familiar with virtuous or positive actions and we can minimise the negative ones. In this way, we can gradually eliminate all negative thoughts and actions. The end result is that we will be happier and better able to benefit others.
All living beings wish to experience happiness and to be free from suffering, but the problem is that we don’t know the causes of happiness and the causes of suffering. We are all suffering from ignorance and make mistakes, but if we can learn to identify and distinguish between the causes of happiness and the causes of suffering, then we can adopt one and abandon the other. Thinking logically, do you think this makes sense?
We also need to recognise what a wonderful and opportune life we have, and not to waste it. If we are reborn in the unfortunate realms it becomes very difficult. We can see that animals don’t have the wisdom or capacity to distinguish between good and bad causes. They suffer from ignorance and are unable to cultivate the causes for happiness and abandon the causes for suffering. As humans we have the intelligence and ability to do this. However, most people have no interest in spiritual practice as they are too engrossed in this life’s happiness and don’t think about future lives. So it’s really important to think about these things carefully; train ourselves on the spiritual path, to become a better person and to be of benefit to others.
So now we will look at the text, which is Pabongka Rinpoche’s “Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand”, the Lam Rim, p 629. This is the section on The Six Perfections, and today’s topic is The Perfection of Generosity. To practice generosity or giving is really important on a spiritual and a worldly level. The worldly result of practicing generosity is to be well off in future lives; lack of generosity will lead to poverty in future lives.
In
Buddhist terms the meaning of generosity is
The attitude of wanting to give.
How much we give is not important,
It is the intention to give that is the real generosity.
There are three types of generosity: giving material things, giving protection and giving Dharma. The text says: “Being generous with the Dharma. This form of generosity could even be teaching a single four line verse of Dharma to someone who wishes to listen, if done with that persons benefit in mind. Even giving our pupils a lesson on how to read books is being generous with the Dharma. To do this you do not have to be called a lama and give discourses from the heights of a meditation throne. Generosity with the Dharma is better than the other forms of generosity.”
Also, your memorisation, recitation or study of texts will become an act of generosity with the Dharma if you imagine yourself to be surrounded by gods who uphold virtue and by all sentient beings who are listening in. For example, when we recite prayers and mantras as we did this morning, we can imagine that there are countless living beings surrounding us and that we are reciting for them. This is very beneficial and is also practicing generosity with the Dharma. When earthworms etc. hear the words of Dharma it puts virtuous imprints on their mind streams. So if we can read or recite with positive motivation, knowing that there are creatures who can hear us, this is very beneficial. As the text says, “Think in this way, even when just performing a reading in the home of your benefactor.
You have to be particularly careful when going into the village to perform a ritual. Our compassionate Teacher taught the secret Tantras, the means of gaining enlightenment in one rebirth. If you exchange this for the gifts received for performing these rituals, you have sold the Dharma for material goods. This is like dragging a king off his throne and forcing him to sweep the floor. So do these rituals with the right motive.
Being generous with the Dharma does not just mean teaching it formerly. It could also mean using your conversation and so forth as a direct or indirect means of leading others to the Dharma.” When we come together to discuss the Dharma, this is also practicing generosity of giving Dharma, so it’s important to do it with the right motivation, then it becomes very beneficial. We can also do this kind of activity when meeting our friends for a coffee and discussing Dharma.
Those who are ordained should practice generosity mainly by giving Dharma; but they ought to also be generous with material goods if it’s not too much trouble. This is what Khadampa Geshe Sharawa had in mind when he said to a group of the ordained: “I am not going to speak about the benefits of giving things away for I have already told you the drawbacks of grasping.” The text continues with: “The generosity of giving fearlessness (or protection). This could be, for example, liberating prisoners from jail or rescuing the drowning. Even saving creatures such as earthworms from heat in summer or cold in winter is a form of this kind of generosity. You do not have to go far to practice this generosity of bestowing a fearlessness – you can do it with the lice on your body! Saving insects from drowning, for example, is very easy to do. It only involves moving one of your hands. The visualisation of giving found in the section dealing with the practice of mind training is a practice of generosity too”
We usually practice giving and taking (tong-len). In this practice we concentrate on the breath, giving all our good qualities and merits to others as we breath out and taking away all their suffering as we breath in. This is very easy as it doesn’t involve anything material, but doing it only with our mind.
“Engaging in the Deeds of Bodhisattvas” tells us:
If
the perfection of generosity were ridding all beings of poverty,
How could Buddha the Protector have perfected it,
When even now there are still beings with thirst.
In other words, generosity cannot be merely ridding sentient beings of poverty; neither do Shravakas, Pratyeka Buddhas nor Arhats have this perfection, though they are utterly without miserliness.
Generosity is more than this. “Engaging in the Deeds of Bodhisattvas” says:
They say the perfection
of generosity
Is mentally giving to all beings
All your possessions and all your karmic trusts.
This generosity must be in the mind.
This says that the perfection of generosity comes through familiarity with the thought of giving your body, possessions, root merits and all their (karmic) results to others, and it means giving these things from the very depths of your heart without any miserliness, while thinking about the various benefits (of giving sincerely) and drawbacks of not doing so”
So, to practice generosity sincerely we need to think about its benefits and dedicate this for the benefit of others. This is one of the highest forms of practice. If we give something with the hope of receiving something in return, this is not good. We should be as generous as possible, but take care not to give for the cause of wrong livelihood. In Tibet we say it is wrong to catch fish to give to a dog as this is harming other living beings and regarded as wrong livelihood.
There is another form of giving, which is called complete or utterly giving. This is a very high form of practicing generosity, which we ordinary beings are not capable of. This is done by Buddhas and highly realised beings like Nagarjuna who gave away his head; there is no hesitation in giving beings whatever they ask. There are many Indian masters, like Aryadeva who gave away his eyes, who have willingly given parts of their bodies. We should not practice like this as we have not reached that level. Please think about these things and read other texts – don’t just leave it here.
Now we will do some meditation. Try and think about giving whatever we can to others, giving them our merits, good qualities and so on.
2. YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY RUTH SONAM in consultation with Ven. Geshe Sonam Rinchen
Hey everyone, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY, send in any questions you may have, and this will be forwarded on to Ruth Sonam and Geshe Sonam Rinchen for a response. If sent in time, both your question and answer will be included in the next edition of Dharma News. Send your questions to: dharma@igrin.co.nz and place ’Question’ in the Subject line.
3. BUDDHIST BASICS - Perfection of Concentration and Wisdom
The Six Perfections
To become a Buddha, a bodhisattva has to practice the Six Perfections:
1. the perfection of giving
2. the perfection of morality
3. the perfection of patience
4. the perfection of energy
5. the perfection of concentration
6. the perfection of wisdom
The Perfection of Wisdom
Mindfulness and awareness consciousness are the antidotes to scattered attention and torpor respectively. The drawing here represents an aspiring meditator, who is following the path of meditative stages that ends in the accomplishment of calm abiding and the beginning of the practice of insight meditation. At the bottom of the page we see the practitioner, who holds a rope in one hand and a hook in the other, chasing after an elephant led by a monkey. The elephant represents the meditators mind; a wild or untrained elephant can be dangerous and wreak enormous destruction, but once trained will obey commands and do hard work. The same holds true for the mind. Any suffering that we have now is due to the mind being like a wild, untrained elephant. The elephant also has very big footprints; these symbolize the mental defilements. If we work hard at improving our mind it will be able to do very great work for us in return. From the suffering of the hells to the happiness of the Buddhas, all states are caused by the behaviour of the mind.
At the start of the path the elephant is black, which represents torpor or sinking of the mind. The monkey leading the elephant represents scattering of the mind. A monkey cannot keep quiet for a moment—it is always chattering or fiddling with something and finds everything attractive. In the same way that the monkey is in front leading the elephant, our attention is scattered by the sense objects of taste, touch, sound, smell, and vision. These are symbolized by food, cloth, musical instruments, perfume, and a mirror. Behind the elephant is a person, who represents the meditator trying to train the mind. The rope in the meditators hand is mindfulness and the hook is awareness. Using these two tools the meditator will try to tame and control his mind. Fire is shown at different points along the path to represent the energy necessary for concentration. Notice that the fire gradually decreases at each of the ten stages of zhi. nay, as less energy is needed to concentrate. It will flare up again at the eleventh stage, when we start practising insight meditation.
In the beginning, just as the elephant following the monkey pays no attention to the person chasing behind, the practitioner has no control over his or her mind. In the second stage, the practitioner, who has almost caught up with the elephant, is able to throw the rope around the elephant's neck. It looks back; this is the third stage, where the mind can be restrained a little by mindfulness. Here a rabbit is on the elephant's back, symbolizing subtle torpor, which previously might have seemed to be a state of concentration, but now can be recognized for the harmful factor that it is. In these early stages we have to use mindfulness more than awareness.
At the fourth stage the elephant mind is more obedient, so less pulling with the rope of mindfulness is necessary. By the fifth stage the elephant is being led by the rope and hook and the monkey is following behind. At this point we are not much disturbed by scattering or distracted attention; mostly we have to use awareness instead of mindfulness. In the drawing, the sixth stage of practice is depicted with the elephant and the monkey both following obediently behind the practitioner, who does not have to look back at them. This means that the practitioner does not have to focus continually on controlling the mind, and the absence of the rabbit shows that the subtle torpor, which appeared at the third stage, has now disappeared.
Upon reaching the seventh stage, the elephant can be left to follow of its own accord and the monkey takes leave; the practitioner has no more need to use the rope and hook - scattered attention and torpor occur only mildly and occasionally. At the eighth stage the elephant has turned completely white and follows behind the practitioner; this shows that the mind is obedient and there is no sinking or scattering, although some energy is still needed to concentrate. At the ninth stage the practitioner can actually sit in meditation while the elephant sleeps peacefully nearby; at this point the mind can concentrate without effort for long periods of time-days, weeks, or even months. The tenth stage, where we see the meditator sitting on top of the elephant, signifies the real attainment of calm abiding. At the last, eleventh, stage, the meditator is sitting on the elephant's back holding a sword. At this point the practitioner begins a new kind of meditation called "higher vision," or insight meditation.
If we practise the calm abiding type of meditation, we might use an image of Buddha as our object of concentration. The first thing we do is look at it very thoroughly. Then we start meditating. In meditation we do not look at the object with our physical eyes but focus with the mind's eye. At first our memory of it will not be at all clear, but even so, we should not try to force it to become clear - this is impossible at the start. The important point is to keep our attention focused on it, clear or otherwise. The clarity will eventually come naturally.
At the beginning, concentration is very difficult; the mind always turns this way and that. When we persist in the practice, however, we shall find that we are able to keep our mind on the object for one or two minutes, then three or four minutes, and so on. Each time the mind leaves the object, mindfulness has to bring it back. Awareness has to be used to see if disturbances are coming or not. If we carry a bowl full of hot water alone a rough road, part of our mind has to watch the water and part has to watch the road. Mindfulness has to keep the concentration steady, and awareness has to watch out for disturbances that may come. As we saw in the drawing, we need progressively less mindfulness after the initial stages, but then our mind, tired from fighting the scattering of attention, produces torpor.
After a while
there comes a stage where the meditator feels much happiness and relaxation,
which is often mistaken for the true state of calm abiding; in fact, however, it
is subtle torpor, which makes the mind weak. If we continue our practice with
energy, this subtle torpor will also disappear. When we have removed this
disturbance,
our mind becomes clearer and more awake, and thus the object of our meditation
is seen more clearly.
As our perception of the
meditation object increases in clearness
and freshness, our body will be sustained by our peace of mind,
and we shall not have hunger or thirst.
Eventually, a meditator can continue like this for months at a time. The feeling experienced in the mind at this stage cannot be described.
If we look at a piece of cloth with our eyes we can see it, bur not in great detail. But a person who has concentrated on it well with the mind's eye can see it very clearly in all details. When we die our mind becomes weaker, but if we practise meditation then our mind, at this time, will actually become fresher and clearer. Normally, dying people experience delusions and fears which lead to a bad rebirth. If, however, we have meditated well, then during the death process our mind will be concentrated on Buddha, Dharma and so forth; this helps very much for the next birth.
The scriptures say that in the ninth stage of the practice of calm abiding, even if a wall crashes down next to the meditator, he will not be disturbed. As the meditator continues to practise, his body and mind experience a special pleasure; this feeling marks the attainment of the final goal of calm abiding. The meditators body feels light and tireless, symbolized in the drawing by the person flying. His body has become very supple, and his mind can be turned to any meditation, just as a thin copper wire can be turned in any direction without breaking. The meditator feels as though the object and his mind have become one.
Although at the ninth stage of calm abiding we feel very happy and peaceful, this is not the real end of meditation. Firm concentration on the object is still not the complete achievement. Now the meditator can combine concentration with an examination into the real nature of the object of meditation. After continuing the simultaneous practice of both types of meditation, a special pleasure arises from the seeing into the object. "Seeing the object" involves seeing whether an object is suffering, seeing if it is permanent or changeable, and looking for the highest truth to be found about the real nature of the object. In Tibetan, the name for this meditation with insight is lhag.thong; lhag means more, or higher, and thong to understand or realize. Through this kind of meditation the mind obtains more understanding of the object than it can through simple concentration; when this practice has been perfected, the mind can turn to anything. The perfection of lhag.thong gives great spiritual satisfaction, but if one is satisfied merely with this, it is like having an aeroplane built, ready to fly, but left on the ground.
The mind can be turned to deeper and higher things. It has to be used on the one hand to overcome karma and defilements, and on the other to obtain the virtues of a Buddha. For this, the object can only be emptiness, or shunyata; other meditations prepare the mind for this final object. If we have a very good torch that can show up anything, we have to use its light to find what is important. The root cause of all our trouble is ignorance. We have to use our knowledge of emptiness to dispel ignorance; we must use our mind, purified by calm abiding and special insight, to cut the root of the tree of ignorance. In the drawing, at this stage, the practitioner is holding a sword, symbolizing the realization of emptiness, to cut the two black lines symbolizing the two obscurations: the defilement-obscuration and the knowledge- obscuration.
The realization of emptiness is essential to remove ignorance. Once we come close to a thorough understanding of emptiness we are on the way to the perfection of wisdom—the complete comprehension of emptiness.
4. TIBETAN RECIPES - Tibetan Barley Soup
Ingredients
Mushrooms 2 cups
Butter 2 tablespoons (when yaks are around, preferably yak butter)
Barley 1/4 cup - Barley can thrive even on marginal land.
You can pot barley at health food stores. If possible avoid the pearled or
polishes barley, which is less tasty and less nutritious.
Water 4 cups (preferable from the nearest mountain spring)
Shoyu 1 table spoon (Soy sauce)
Pepper
Directions
1. Cut up enough mushrooms to measure 2 cups 2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan 3. Stir in mushrooms until they are well coated
4. Continue cooking over medium heat until softened, stirring occasionally.
5. Mix in 1/4 cup pot barley and then add 4 cups of water
6. Bring rapidly to a boil. Then simmer about an hour, covered
7. Just before it is done, add 1 tablespoon shoyu and a grind or so of pepper, if desired
8. When the soup is ready, it should be of a chowder-like thickness and the grains should be soft but chewy. There will be a golden shine on the surface and the heavenly smell will waft you across the Himalayas.
5. JAM TSE DHARGYEY LING NEWS (JTDL) by Kaari Schlebach
Dear friends
So much has happened since the last edition of Dharma News, it’s a challenge to know where to start!
Stupa Opening…
The opening of our Stupa (Peace Monument) turned out to be an extra-ordinary event! With so much to do before the Grande Opening, much was left for the final couple of days…
This is when the 'forces' turned on us through an incredible storm. Thunder, lightening, torrential rain and gail-force winds - all did their best to challenge our ambition to have a fully completed Stupa on the day of our opening! I can still see our monks (not Geshe-la thankfully) out on the Stupa - covered in full wet weather gear, trying their best to put a temporary railing up…their tools were being blown off the top as they were working!
People were everywhere, everyone doing what they could to make the opening a special day….prayer books were being printed, special flags were being cut and sewn in the office, notices being produced and printed, food being bought and made, people accommodated, prayer flags erected and a wonderful "Welcome" sign painted for the front entrance. All this was going on, amidst the ongoing teachings of our most treasured teacher, Ven. Geshe Sonam Rinchen - who gave teachings every day.
Ven. Thupten Rinpoche and Ven. Thuptop (Rinpoches attendant) arrived from Dunedin a just a couple of days before the opening. What struck me about Rinpoche - was his attitude to the storm. He was beaming, very happy, and didn't seem to be remotely concerned about the crazy weather…it was as if he knew what was coming….
Our guest - Ven. Thuptop was fantastic, and got stuck in with our monks. Occasionally I would feel a pang of guilt that we had one of our guests, a monk, no less - working so hard!
Thinking back - although it was definitely a stressful time - the lead up to the big day was truly joyful. Everyone worked together, and despite the challenges presented by the weather, and our disappointment in not being able to be fully complete - everyone was happy. Almost blissful.
On the night before the opening, Thupten Rinpoche directed the transformation of our small Gompa (meditation room.) Consecrating a Stupa is not taken lightly - and there were extensive prayers and offerings to be made. As the weather was still seriously dire, it looked like it would be impossible to actually host the event at the Stupa. We were expecting at least 20 monks and nuns to attend - which would pretty much fill our gompa - and the rest of us would need to squeeze in somewhere….
The Gompa became a hive of activity and took a couple hours to transform, with ritual cakes (torma) being made, and offerings that Rinpoche brought, carefully laid out.
Very early the next morning, several of us made our way to the centre, only to find that the monks were already up and about, putting up the special very long, big flags that we had sent over from Sera Monastery. Metres of hessian fabric was laid out on the very steep path to the Stupa, an attempt to prevent people from slipping down the hillside!
A meeting was held at the Stupa - with Thupten Rinpoche, Geshe Sonam Rinchen, Geshe-la, Sangha and the Directors. What to do?!…the rain seemed to be lifting…should we move all offerings in the gompa up to the Stupa…with only an hour to go before everyone started to arrive…
When the decision was made - to go ahead with holding the ceremony at the Stupa - it was like a magic wand was waved, and everyone just got stuck in and seemed to know what to do….marquees went up, carpets laid out, lotus flowers arranged around the Stupa in 108 water offering bowls, people carried everything carefully up from the Gompa, and Rinpoche oversaw the set up of the offerings. Within 20/30 minutes, we were ready. The rest is history.
The event was extra-ordinary, and a great blessing to the centre, to all the attended, and the millions of tiny flying insects that appeared out of no where during the ceremony…
You can have a look at some of the photographs on our website, and of course, come and visit the Stupa anytime….
Sincere and heartfelt, HUGE thank you to every single person who made this Stupa possible. Well done! Sponsors, helpers, everyone. Thank you. You have cause to be pleased with what has collectively been achieved in both the construction of this Enlightenment Stupa, and it's most auspicious opening.
TEACHINGS OF HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA IN AUSTRALIA - 11th to 15th June 2008, a great opportunity for you…
Several months ago, Dharma News offered special prices for His Holiness's Teachings in Australia next month. With a luke-warm response, and so many other things on our plate, the project was abandoned!
Only a few days ago we were contacted by the organisers, and they have still got our reserved seats….and is prepared to offer these to us at the special price: AU$540 for the 5 day teachings. I have had a look on the website, and the equivalent seats are selling for AU$800.
As we had these seats reserved early on, they are in a prime position - 20 rows from the front, right in front of HH, in Section A.
Suddenly feeling motivated, I gave my travel agent a call, and she can arrange flights and accommodation to Sydney for under $900NZ. You can of course arrange your own flights, accommodation etc, but it might be nice for everyone to stay together if possible.
So this is the thing - if you have been vaguely thinking about coming to the teachings, but haven't done anything about it, and if you have the ability to drop everything and attend the teachings - from the 11th to the 15th June, and would like to be part of this package, AND/OR if you would like to be part of the bulk flight/accommodation booking - you need to let me know immediately.
Email me back on dharma@igrin.co.nz, or phone the centre 09 435 4444 and leave a message and your details. The flights we need to book ASAP, with the tickets I need to let them know by Tuesday, at the latest!
Check out the website for more information: http://www.dalailama.org.au/
Other Centre news….
Our translator…
We are still experiencing obstacles in achieving a work permit for Tenzin Thupwang. Although we applied for Tenzins work permit in October last year, the Immigration Service was concerned with some health issues, and requested further tests. These have been done (and always take so long in India) and evidently Tenzins tests have come back clear, however these still need to be checked by New Zealand Immigration in New Zealand….
We have Tenzin booked to come to New Zealand at the end of June…please say some prayers that the obstacles will clear and that we will be able to welcome Tenzin to our community at the end of June.
Needless to say, without a translator, Geshe-la is unable to teach for now, and has embarked on a three month retreat…
We had Tsog last Wednesday, and Geshe-la looked radiant, and I believe is really enjoying the opportunity to do this retreat. Geshe-la will continue to attend our Tsog pujas, and is still available for organised visits for important matters. These need to be arranged through Ani Tsekyi at the centre.
Monk Meal Sponsorship Programme
With rising food and general costs, the centre needs some help in sharing the load of taking care of our resident Sangha. The monks are a source of great inspiration and joy to many people, and we believe are an asset to our community. If you, your family or anyone you know is in a position to help and sponsor the cost of our Sanghas meals, this is what's involved:
To sponsor a meal, simply choose which day of the week, and which meal you would like to sponsor (i.e. Monday Breakfast, Wednesday lunch, etc.)
Breakfast: $5 sponsorship ($20 a month)
Lunch: $15 sponsorship ($60 a month)
Dinner: $10 sponsorship ($40 a month)
We ask for a 12 month commitment.
Your sponsorship will cover the full cost of this particular meal for all four of our resident Sangha, and occasional guests. A roster of the Sponsors will be placed in the dining room, and at each meal, the Sangha will make an offering of thanks to the sponsor of that particular meal.
Once a year, the centre will organise a thanks-giving meal for the sponsors and their families. To go about sponsoring a meal, please check the website for details, or give Ani Tsekyi a call at the centre. 09 435 4444
Celebration: Our shop is 3 years old!
The shop continues to grow through the great care of volunteers and staff who run it, and our friends and community who support it.
If you are in Whangarei…on Friday the 23 May….then please do come along, and bring your friends to Himalayan Trading Post at 5:30 to 7:00pm, and join us in celebration. The monks will prepare traditional Khapsey and Indian Chai, and say a few prayers. Kaari and some of the staff will say a few words…and you will be offered the opportunity to buy any of the stock (excluding items on sale) and enjoy a 15% discount!
Meditation classes, Discussion groups…and more!
The centre is continuing with our various meditation classes for children, adults and all, plus Dharma Discussion Groups and more. You are most welcome to attend any or all. Please check our website for details…
An idea…. your feedback needed….
What do you think of the production of a Community calendar?
We have had an idea to produce a stunning full colour A4, 12 page calendar for 2009. This would include colour photographs, inspirational quotes and will note dharma days. The calendars at this stage look like they would need to be sold for around $25 to $30 each.
This idea came about as we have a collection of some really amazing photographs here, taken over the year, and this is a way that these photographs could be shared and enjoyed by others. We also suspect that there are more out there….
This Calendar is an opportunity for our Dharma News members to be involved with the process of creation. This could be done by submitting photographs to be considered, or by being involved with the process of voting and helping us chose the 'best' photographs for the calendar, and which quotes we find most inspirational. This all inclusive process we hope will result in a stunning calendar of images and quotes that we really would like to have on our wall.
We would be interested to hear what you think of this idea. Would you enjoy being involved in the creative process? Do you have any photographs or inspirational quotes you would like to submit? Would you buy a calendar such as this?
Send us an email and let us know what you think.
Volunteers needed:
There are two areas of volunteer help needed at the moment:
1. Centre Tour Guides…
With the near completion of the Stupa, the Centre receives a lot more visitors. We have come up with the idea of creating of roster, where there will always be someone at the centre who is well informed, and able to take care of any visitors that may turn up. It is hoped that we can actually have the centre taken care of from 10am to 5pm each day, with possible two or more people covering each day. Some of these slots will be covered by the residents, but there are times when they would appreciate a little break. If this sounds like something you would like to do, and you have a few hours each week, or each month where you are able to be at the centre, etc - please email Shelène who is presently coordinating the roster. All Tour guides will receive full training, guaranteed to be fun!
2. Himalayan Banquet
It looks like we may be organizing another Himalayan Banquet, an essential fundraiser for the centre. This time in Forum North, possibly on the 19th July. If you have some great ideas, and a little bit of time, and would like to be on the organizing group (please), and/or are able to help set up, serve, clean up, etc on the night - please email Kaari.
Needs…
Last but not least - we have a need for a toaster, and washing machine if anyone has one that they would like to donate.
That’s all for today J
Thanks and kind regards
Kaari Schlebach and Paul Currie
Co Directors
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