Kagyu Samye Dzong London News

February 2005

Contents

1. Invitation to an auction on Sunday 20th March at 1.30 pm
2. A big thank you to all the volunteers
3. The Green Tara course - a participants view from Robert Matthews
4. Dream Dharma Centre
5. Forthcoming events

News in Brief

• Latest news regarding the move: St Thomas's Hospital will be ready to start work on the site in the autum and have given us what would seem to be our final extension.  They have asked us to leave by the 5th October this year. At present we are negotiating with Southwark Council about a listed building they have available. If there is any definite news before the next newsletter, we will post it on the website, under "the move" on the homepage.
• Fundraising - we have now reached our initial target of £400,000 towards a deposit on a new building.  This is a fantastic effort in only 18 months.
• For your diary, Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche is visiting the centre from 25th-30th May, giving teachings and empowerments .
• A new programme of events which will take us up to the move is in preparation and will be available shortly.
• A CD of the Chenrezig Puja is now available with the special bonus of a nice cover! All for only £5.00 (+ £1.50 P&P if you want it posted).

1 - Invitation to an auction on Sunday 20th March at 1.30 pm

There will be a wide range of very special items, plus a lot of fun, in this auction:

The items include Tibetan carpets, statues, unique ritual Dharma objects including a gold banded Chod damaru and a beautiful four-metal bell and dorje, thankas, photos, a computer and printer and much more.

The highlight will be the auctioning of Lama Yeshe Rinpoches car, which he has kindly donated to the new centre fund.

This car - a Saab - originally belonged to Akong Tulku Rinpoche and was a gift from him to Lama Yeshe Rinpoche. Over the years this car has held many very high teachers including His Eminence Tai Situpa and Sanje Tenzin Rinpoche and has been thoroughly blessed by them all. It has recently been serviced and is in tiptop condition.

A cataloque will be available for viewing the items at the centre.

You can help Samye Dzong London buy a new home by donating good quality items for the auction

Of course, to have a great auction we need some more great items - so we are now giving you the opportunity to demonstrate non-attachment by donating some.  Just ask yourself "Do I really need all the things I have around me right now?"  And if there are one or two good quality items that you don't need and are unlikely to use in the near future..

Of course, once you have demonstrated your lack of attachment by donating one or more items to the auction, you are then completely free to bid for them to try and buy them back again!

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2 - A big thank you to all the volunteers

Spring has arrived at Samye Dzong! Thanks to the help of many cheery faces Samye Dzong is glowing from perhaps the last spring clean at the Lambeth site.

A team of 35 willing volunteers polished, dusted and cleaned rooms and windows, whilst others set about scraping up the moss, picking up the leaves and trimming back plants. Everyone was giving a helping hand, little Sam and bigger Sophie were working hard and demonstrating how it was done - so no slacking!  When we were feeling a bit drained, drinks in the tearoom, meeting friends and filling ourselves with lovingly prepared hot food got us ready to start again.

It was a great day, and a big thank you to everyone for making Samye Dzong look fresh and clean again, and also for making it so enjoyable

3 - The Green Tara course - a participants view from Robert Matthews

NEWS - Since running the Green Tara course, Angelika Schnabel has since become a nun. She was ordained in Samye Ling on 4th Feb and her new name is now Semchi, meaning  "happy mind".

And now, Robert Matthews writes about the Green Tara course..

"For those of us whose artistic careers ended in the school art-class bin, the idea of drawing a Buddhist yidam like Green Tara seems pretty daunting. Even so, around twenty of us summoned up the courage to attend the recent course at Samye Dzong organised by Angelika Schnabel, the renowned thanka artist at the Samye Ling Monastery.

Angelika quickly put us at our ease by explaining that - as so often with Buddhism - in drawing Green Tara the key thing is not the end-result but the process. Thus there was no need to rush, or to worry about comparing what we did with others. Instead, we should just try to keep mindful about what we are doing, and enjoy it.

She then explained the basic process, which begins with drawing a grid-like system of lines on a sheet of paper giving the relative proportions of the various parts of the Green Tara image. According to Angelika these proportions were set down centuries ago, and form the most important part of the drawing, linking what we do to the work of countless others down the ages. But for me the lines served an extra purpose. They allowed me to overcome the single biggest problem I’ve always had with drawing and painting: getting started. The grid gave a firm framework on the otherwise intimidating blank sheet of paper, and made me feel much more confident about tackling the free-hand parts of the drawing.

And with Green Tara, there is no shortage of those: flowing garments and intricate decorations, flowers and that most notorious of artistic challenges - hands (fortunately just the two). Even so, guided by Angelika’s grid and outlines, they all fell into place like a kind of magical jigsaw. So magical, in fact, that many of us completely lost track of time, and became so engrossed that we continued long after the sessions formally ended.

In between the drawing, Angelika gave us instructions on the meaning of Green Tara, her mantra and the puja. The benefits of having spent so long concentrating on her image then became particularly clear, as the visualisations seemed much more vivid.

By the end of the course, I felt I’d learned a lot, not only about Green Tara but also about myself. I’m sure my tendency to rush and to fret about how my fellow artists were getting on says much about my ego-state. And the way I felt peeved whenever someone borrowed my protractor without asking surely revealed I am way too attached to my WH Smith geometry set.

It will be a long time before I can draw even a norbu with as much exquisite care as Angelika. Even so, her course gave me insights into far more than drawing alone, and I’d recommend it to anyone."

4 - Dream Dharma Centre

If you could design and build from scratch Kagyu Samye Dzong's new home, what woujld it look like?  On Saturday 19th March at 8.00 pm we are going to showcase your ideas.  There will be a short film about the Centre, nibbles, fun and a chance to come together and catch up on the latest developments.You can make a drawing, or describe the Centre in words.  Please focus your mind on what the building might look like, and if you can't get down to the Centre personally, either post or email your ideas to us.

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5 - Forthcoming events

February 2005

Intermediate mediation
with Lama Zangmo
Saturday 19th - Sunday 20th February, 10.00 am - 4.00 pm
£45

Guru Rinpoche Tsok Puja
Sunday 27th February, 7.00 pm

March 2005

Chen style Tai Chi
with John Henry
Sunday 6th March, 10.30 - 4.00 pm.
£25
A monthly class of Chen style Tai Chi.  Beginners welcome.

Tranforming Obstacles Through Meditation
with Clive Holmes
Friday 11th March 7.00-8.30 pm.
Saturday 12th - Sunday 13th March, 10.00 am - 4.00 pm
£50

Celebrations with Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche
Saturday 19th - Sunday 20th March
£45

About the Newsletter

This newsletter goes out to those who have expressed an interest in Kagyu Samye Dzong London. It covers news of the efforts and progress towards finding and funding a new site for the centre, and other events taking place in the coming weeks Being on this mailing list is not compulsory. If you do not want to receive this newsletter, or would like it to be sent to a different email address, please use the links at the bottom of the newsletter.

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