Kagyu Samye Dzong London
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Contents |
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News in Brief
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1 - Property update - Manor Baths
At this present moment, we are waiting with bated breath. At last, it's the 11th hour....the countdown to our finally getting the keys to Manor Baths. Will the lease be signed before Christmas? Will we have access to the building, and be able to celebrate by inviting you all there over the next volunteer weekend? Both of our main plannings are now in place - change of use, and listed building consent. There are a couple of outstanding matters concerning building control ie. the regulations, but we expect these to be resolved soon. Getting this far has been possible only through a concerted effort by many people. I don't know where we would have been without our dedicated property team, which includes solicitors, planners, an architect, builders, project managers, and a host of dedicated others. I cant help but feel that we have been truly blessed. It is wholly due to the diligent efforts of everyone on this group, that we have been able to secure Manor Baths as a location for the next five years. It now remains for us to finalise the lease arrangements for the building with Southwark property legal department, something which we recently were told by the council will happen in the next few weeks. Ani Paltso. |
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Would you like to be the happy owner of one or more of the beautiful plants from the Samye Dzong garden? Hard working volunteers have now started digging out and potting many of them, since we will not be able to take them to Manor Baths. According to experts, now is the time to move them out of the ground. There is a wide variety, as those of you who come during flowering seasons will know: Large bushes with fowers in the sping and berries in the autumn; apple and cherry trees, which have amazing blossoms in the spring, and tasty fruit in the summer, when the birds don't get there first; climbers such as jasmine and honeysuckle and clematis in abundance; and much much more. It (almost) breaks our hearts to have to dig them out, but if they find a good home with happy owners, then all is well. You can already come and have a look. Those that are for sale now are priced, and some plants still in the ground can be reserved now, for collection later. |
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3 - New Years Eve Retreat New Year is about celebrating the year gone by, as well as making resolutions for the year ahead - spending the last day of the year in meditation is a wonderful and positive beginning to the new year. Ani Semchi, who has done a four-year retreat at Samye ling, will give meditation instructions and will be available throughout for questions and guidance. The retreat is suitable for everyone, whether beginners or seasoned meditators; buddhists or non-buddhists, all are welcome. |
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4 - Taming the mind with Lama Zangmo. In his book "Taming the TIger", Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche's book" writes: "If we are honest with ourselves we will recognise that in a sense we are all beginners with regard to relating skilfully to the problems in our lives. We may be attracted to exciting meditations such as learning how to levitate or fly, but it is more useful first to learn how to keep our feet on the ground. Also, we may feel we are very advanced already and don't need any teachings, even though unconsciously we may be creating the same suffering for ourselves over and over again. "Taming the Tiger" is essentially about learning how to accept and deal with the ordinary situations of our daily lives. Unless we acknowledge our need for such instruction, it is highly unlikely that any genuine progress will be achieved." Over the weekend of the 3rd - 4th December (10.00 - 4.00 pm each day), Lama Zangmo will draw on the methods used in "Taming the Tiger" to help you develop relaxation and inner peace during a course which is suitable for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. Book your place for this weekend course now by phoning the Centre on 020-8440 4925, or email London@samye.org |
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5 - Tibet and back - the travels of Alex and James Some of you will be familiar with the names and faces of two of our residents at the Centre - Alex Hagen and James Perry. Less familiar with them this year perhaps as they've been away travelling for five and a half months. Here is Alex's brief account of their extensive travels. "As some of you might know, James and I returned in September from a five and a half month trip which took us to Japan, Australia, India, Nepal and Tibet. Although we hadn’t planned this, we happened to be in Japan for almost the exact duration of the cherry blossom. We still felt the cold sharp winds at the end of March and witnessed the speculation about when the first blossoms might appear. They were at their peak when we stayed in Kyoto, and cycling along the Kamo river in the evening we saw endless crowds picnicing and celebrating under the trees. It was always at dusk I enjoyed the blossoms most: their luminous, almost fluorescent pink against the darkening sky. Kyoto is great: it feels cosmopolitan, yet it is small enough to be able to reach the surrounding hills easily on a bicycle. And it is full of temples. On Hanna Matsuri we took a tram to a temple in Arashiyama to celebrate the Buddha’s birthday. The local community that morning consisted mostly of elderly women and together we queued up to “bathe the Buddha” – each of us pouring a little water over a small standing Buddha statue. After the ceremony we walked about exploring the temple, following the crowd, not sure what was happening next. Unable to communicate properly we began to feel we were gate-crashing and just as we decided to turn back one of the monks caught sight of us and invited us to follow him to a more remote part of the temple. There, kneeling on Tatami mats we were served frothy green tea and sweet bean cakes. We felt very spoiled. And then, just before we were leaving Japan it all came down, masses of pink swirling snow… After spending time with family and friends in Australia, we went to Kathmandu to organise the trip to Kailash. Once we met our tour operator Roger, everything fell into place. He knew of another woman who wanted to go to Kailash at the same time. So a few days later the three of us were taken to the Tibetan border in a jeep and picked up on the other side by Pema, our driver and Tenzin, our guide for the three weeks. We spent 3 days acclimatising in Nyalam. Here the valleys are still green and fertile and the slopes are covered in alpine flowers. We visited a Milarepa Cave and hiked to Tara Tso, a still and sheltered lake surrounded by what looks like a city of cairns. At night we chuckled over the menu, trying to choose between “SPAGETTI BONELESS” and “FRIED DAD”. The following three days took us from the lush valleys into the barren moonscapes of the high passes. We offered katas and prayer flags at Thong La, a pass with breathtaking views of the Langtang range. Then it was the grasslands, wide open plains dotted with nomad tents, but not much grass in sight. Instead, countless clusters of tiny Irises and pink trumpets, growing straight out of the hard dusty ground. Later on the landscape changed more rapidly: deep ravines, heavily stratified; a mirror-like lake, reflecting brown speckled hills; a white salt lake; purple streaks in the hills and every shade of red-brown-grey-green earth you can imagine. And then, finally, we caught the first sight of Kang Rinpoche and Lake Manasarovar, with the snow capped Gurla Mandata looming to the South.
We started the kora (circumambulation) the next morning. Initially the landscape felt very open, but once we entered the valley West of Kailash, our vision changed and the beauty of the place became almost overwhelming. We were definitely inside the mandala, all our expectations of Kailash shattered. It took us four days to finish the kora. This included a rest day at Drira Phuk, a small Kagyu Gompa opposite the north face. There, at night, the kitchen was busy with pilgrims both foreign and local, all sharing thukpa prepared by the fierce-eyed Nyingma cook. After the kora, we went to Lake Manasarovar and Tirthapuri, a holy site by the Sutlej River, with medicinal hot springs and caves used by Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal. Traditionally it is considered that only if one has visited all three sites one has fully completed the pilgrimage. Towards the very end of our time abroad, we spent one month in retreat at Sherab Ling, Situ Rinpoche’s Monastery situated amongst pine forests and rice paddies in Himachal Pradesh, India. We were very lucky to be able to have two private interviews with H.H. Karmapa at Gyuto, one on the very day we started retreat and he gave us most valuable advice for our practice. We are currently preparing a slide show for sometime next year - the exact date will be announced in the new programme, so watch this space…" |
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December Taming the mind Chen style Tai Chi Dharma video afternoon Volunteer Weekend The Centre will close at 9.00 pm on Sunday 18th December
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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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Kagyu Samye Dzong London Tibetan Buddhist Centre Carlisle Lane, Lambeth, London, SE1 7LG Tel: 020 7928 5447 Fax: 020 7633 9339 Web-site: www.samye.org/london Newsletter editor: David Bates davidjbates@mac.com |
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