Kagyu Samye Dzong London News

January / February 2008

Contents

1. Guru Rinpoche Drubcho with Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche
2. Restoring the Balance
3. Forthcoming Events

Welcome to the first newsletter of 2008, and we also hope to be able to welcome you to either or both of our centres which have re-opened after the winter break.

News in Brief

• Losar Celebrations Wednesday 6th February in Carlisle Lane. Having survived one lot of New Year celebrations, here comes another lot! There will be a Chenrezig puja and light offering to celebrate the Tibetan New Year. All are welcome.
• The Mahakala Protector Prayers have been re-scheduled from the beginning of February to take place instead during the Guru Rinpoche Drubcho
• Dates for your diary:
  Holistic Treatment Day 2nd March (Manor Place) - more soothing treatments at ridiculously low prices, in aid of an excellent cause.
• Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche will be visiting Samye Dzong from the 21st - 31st March
• Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche's visit has been re-scheduled to the 28th-29th June - further details of his visit will be available nearer the time.
• Carlisle Lane lease extended to 30th September 2008 - if you missed our special mailing you may not have heard that we have another summer in store at Carlisle Lane - despite our expectations when we were initially given 12 months notice to quit the site, it would seem that we will be celebrating 10 years in London at Carlisle Lane.
• Room for rent - a very large room, suitable for a couple, is available for rent in Kagyu Samye Dzong London. Anyone interested should email london@samye.org for more information.

1 - Guru Rinpoche Drubcho with Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche

We are happy to announce the first Guru Rinpoche Drubcho in Kagyu Samye Dzong London. On this auspicious occasion we are honoured to have Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche attending the last three days of the practice; on the final day he will also give a Guru Rinpoche Long Life Blessing and Empowerment.

Last year Rinpoche recommended that we hold the Drubcho to provide a blessing for the future growth and wellbeing of Kagyu Samye Dzong London, especially in order to help establish a permanent site. The Drubcho also marks the 1st anniversary of the Manor Place centre and the 10th anniversary of the Carlisle Lane centre. So the ceremonies represent both a celebration of what has been achieved so far and a springboard for our future development.

The Guru Rinpoche Drubcho is a practice that dispels obstacles of all kinds and is a special opportunity to pray for peace in the world. It is said that participating in some way brings a tremendous amount of merit and benefit, so we hope that everyone can be part of this special event. You can do this by attending the Drubcho, by volunteering to help out, by giving food for the Tsok offerings and by making a donation.

There is a suggested donation of £20 for the Guru Rinpoche Long Life Empowerment and, while the Drubcho is free to attend, we hope you will use this opportunity to give generously towards the building fund.

Those who are unable to attend themselves can still participate by sponsoring the Drubcho.

Milarepa said on this subject:

"The great meditator who meditates among the rocks
And the benefactor who provides provisions
Are the auspicious coincidence of becoming enlightened together.
The essence of this auspicious coincidence is dedication."

On Monday the 17th of March at 7pm Lama Zangmo will give an explanation of the practice, while the Drubcho commences on Tuesday the 18th March and finishes on Monday 24th March.

After the drubcho there will be a programme until the end of the month with several empowerments and hopefully also talks by Rinpoche.  Rinpoche will be assisted by Samye Ling sangha and Ken Holmes.

A more detailed programme will be on the website shortly.

The drubcho will be held in Carlisle Lane

Please contact the office for further information at London@samye.org or at the telephone number +44 (0)207 928 5447. Accommodation available.

2 - Restoring the Balance

For many people, if ever there's a time for restoring the balance, it's probably January. In the wake of the stresses of the Christmas period, with expectations and demands to give and receive presents, hectic visits to and from family, closely followed by the new year celebrations, and then we reach January. Time for a breather after, what for many, is an incredibly busy holiday period - and time to assess the damage as bank statements and credit card bills arrive. Many sets of bathroom scales mysteriously don't function the way they used to, because nobody could possibly have put on that much weight in such a short time! And so we start the new year with our mind and body not necessarily the way we'd like.

In his book "Restoring the Balance", Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche writes:

"Happiness depends on balancing the mind. Balancing depends on avoiding extremes and learning to live in harmony with the way things are. One of the profoundest realities of our existence is that everything is in a state of change. Our emotions change, our bodies age and decay, our possessions are taken from us, friends can become enemies and enemies turn out to be friends. Nothing lasts. If we resist change we find ourselves overwhelmed and suffering follows. If we accept change and flow with it, we become flexible and wise. From this comes happiness."

Clive Holmes will be leading a weekend "Restoring the Balance" course based on Rinpoche's book on the 26th and 27th January, 10.00 - 4.00 at Carlisle Lane. To book your place now contact the office at Carlisle Lane either by email or by phone on 020-7928 5447. Clive will also be talking about how to "Change the habits of a lifetime" at Manor Place during the week. For full details, see Forthcoming Events.

3 - Forthcoming events

To see the full programme of activities at the Centre, please click here to visit the website

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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