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Una comunidad monástica budista 

DECEMBER 2006

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the beautiful snowy land of Sravasti Abbey!

My trip to Asia was great. In Singapore, I continued teaching Shantideva's Guide to a Bodhisattva's Way of Life, led a two-day Tara retreat, gave a public talk, spoke at the Buddhist Library, and spoke to a group of about 30 inmates in a prison. The audio recordings of these will soon be on the web. Many of the teachings were held at Tai Pei Buddhist Centre, a large and beautiful center started by the late Bhikshuni Fatt Kuan. She was the abbess at the temple where I lived in Singapore in 1987-88 and continuously encouraged me to teach and to begin the Abbey. It was wonderful seeing many old friends there and meeting new ones.

Choon Fah

As usual, Friends of Sravasti Abbey Singapore was very active in organizing my visit and did an excellent job. We welcome Leng Poh and Seow Hong, the new co-directors (they are the parents of the adorable little boy who has offered me flowers after the public talks in Singapore). Many thanks to Lim Choon Fah, the out-going director, who resigned because his company transferred him to Malaysia. Choon Fah said, "When people ask me why I have the passion and energy to help the abbey, I share with them this verse which I find meaningful:

If I tell you my dream you might forget,
If I act on my dream you will remember.
If I involve you, it will become your dream too.

Serkong Rinpoche

From Singapore, I traveled to Bangalore and gave a talk at Choe Khor Sum Ling, an FPMT center there. What a warm reception from lovely people at the center! In Gaden Monastery in South India, I visited Tsenzhap Serkong Rinpoche, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, Jangchub Choling Nunnery, and Geshe Wangchen at Drepung kindly answered some questions for our on-going research regarding bhikshuni ordination. There, as well as in Dharamsala, many

Ling Rinpche

Tibetans, including Geshe Sonam Rinchen and Geshe Kalsang Damdul who are on the Abbey's Advisory Board, saw the Abbey's photo book and rejoiced in our progress. I gave talks at Tushita Retreat Centre in Dharamsala, Tushita Centre in Delhi, and Thosamling, a new institute for Western nuns and lay women. These talks, too, will be on the website soon. (One was about gender equality/inequality in Buddhism, a hot topic that had come up at a Tushita meditation course which they wanted a nun to address.) As always, the trip to India was enriching, joyful, and spiritually nourishing.

While we were in McLeod Ganj (Dharamsala), the Chinese President visited Delhi. Some years ago, he had been the head of the Tibetan Region in China, and under his rule, many Tibetans were imprisoned and killed. Thus there were many demonstrations in Delhi, Bombay, and also McLeod Ganj during his visit. The candle-light vigil in McLeod was one of the most touching demonstrations I have been in. Instead of shouting political slogans in angry voices, monastics and lay people alike chanted the bodhicitta prayer over and over again: "May the precious bodhi mind not yet born arise and grow. May that born have no decline but increase forever more."

Meanwhile at the Abbey, the Rejoicing and Giving Thanks Retreat went well and Ven. Tarpa and Nanc finished the series of talks in Newport. They also visited our friends, the Carmelite sisters who live nearby.

We had a little surprise when a water leak under the house necessitated digging up part of the garden in order to replace pipes. In India, you know the water won't run all the time, so you have buckets ready to collect it when it does and a heating coil so you can still have a hot bucket bath. But at the "modern" Abbey, we were unprepared for the water to be turned off almost all day for two weeks, so we learned to appreciate small things in life, like the ability to wash dishes.

Then the new pipe fitting on the pressure tank line broke, and the pantry, tea room, and part of the office flooded. We learned to laugh through the whole thing—if we cried, there would only be more water to clean up! Two weeks and nearly $5,000 later, new pipes have been installed, the water is back on, and this spring we look forward to reseeding a good stretch of the lawn and replacing the downstairs flooring. Many thanks to all of you who support that abbey; we remember your kindness when water flows from the tap now.

This month's wonderful Dharma event was that Nanc became an anagarika! She took the eight precepts, giving her the opportunity to train in living in precepts before becoming a monastic. Many people have commented how much Nanc has changed (for the better!) since she moved to the Abbey. She's living proof that the Dharma works when we practice it.

This last weekend twelve of us met for a productive FOSA Board meeting at the Abbey. Laurel, a consultant to non-profit organizations, is helping the Abbey to build our capacity and lay a good foundation so that we can expand. We will spend the next year or two growing the community and building organizational infrastructure before beginning the capital campaign to build Chenrezig Hall. The Board shared a lot of laughter, a walk in the woods, community meditation, and chanting.

We're now preparing to go into retreat for three months, doing the practice of Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion. We invite you to do the Retreat from Afar, by doing one session of Chenrezig practice at home daily during the retreat. We received wonderful feedback from the 70 + people who participated in the Retreat from Afar last year, and welcome everyone to join us this year. Be sure to send a picture of yourself to put in our meditation hall.

May our minds and the world be like the calm of fresh snow, glittering in the sunlight,

Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron

Upcoming Events at Sravasti Abbey

Ven. Chodron's Teachings in Other Venues

 
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