JANUARY 2006 UPDATE
Hello and Happy New Year's Greetings to All,
My name is Pema. I'm the new Office Manager who arrived on the Abbey's busy scene just this November. This time last year I was living at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia, wondering where I could go in my own country to continue to explore my monastic leanings. And, thanks to Ven. Chodron's vision and efforts, and all of those folks who work tirelessly to make Sravasti Abbey possible (e.g. FOSA), here I am! I hope to meet many of you over this new year... Until then, while everyone is in retreat, I have the pleasure of writing the next two Updates. Here goes…
Vajrasattva Retreat:
To date, we have a total of 82 participants in this year's Vajrasattva Retreat: the 13 of us at the Abbey (including 5 Mexicans from Xalapa), 18 inmates throughout the U.S., and 51 other participants from afar. (Click here to see a list of participants' names.)
Diane Transcribing
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Each week we gather together for Venerable's teachings, aka ‘Q&A Sessions.' This precious weekly meeting never fails to bolster our spirits, draw us closer together as a community, give us a chance to speak to (and laugh) at one another's foibles because they are so familiar! and it inevitably provides us even more to contemplate in the upcoming days and weeks. Venerable has been adding mini-teachings on “The 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas” which are great. Please see all of Venerable's retreat teachings on www.thubtenchodron.org (The teachings are in both audio and Word file texts, and are being regularly updated throughout the Vajrasattva Retreat, thanks to our busy retreatant-transcribers: Dianne, Andy, and Joan.)
As one of the three who are offering service in support of this retreat, I am truly enjoying the practice of silence. I have observed that such long-term silence has the effect of slowing down and opening up one's mind. You can see so muchabout your own habits of body, your speech inclinations, and the patterns of your own mind. Because I work alone in the office while everyone is in session, some days it seems the silence is only broken by a line of deer tracks or rabbit paws crossing my path in the snow as I go out to the mailbox.
Meditation hall early morning
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Some mornings there is only the soft cluckings from the wild turkey sangha who appear regularly in our garden, or the laughing band of coyotes we periodically hear in the distance as we sit in our final evening session. Other days there are high winds and blips of power outages…a FedEx delivery or the busy-ness of a necessary town trip. Inevitably there are the comings and goings of rain, then snow, more snow, then warm rains again… sun and clouds, clouds and sun.
And, from my desk I have become familiar with the sound of various individuals' footsteps as they come and go from the meditation hall back into the house, then out from the house back into the meditation hall six sessions a day. It's amazing how well you can get to know someone with nary a word between you! I feel I've learned each retreatant's migration patterns and their (sometimes!) endearing characteristics as well. I also think they are all very brave.
We may be quiet, but we also have fun. There are times of real joy that punctuate the silence. Face it, having five Mexican friends sitting around a dining room table, even if they don't say a word, can still feel like you're sitting in a street café somewhere tropical like Xalapavery lively! We've had our share of official celebrations: e.g. our Retreat
Pato
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Leader, Pato, turned 40 on Christmas Day and we ‘sang' to him using signs. And, we gathered together for the Abbey's 1st Annual Celebration of Lama Tzong Khapa Day on December 26th, complete with Tibetan chanting and a lovely candlelit procession - See photos.
And we can't forget the weekly visits by the CdA Dharma Friendswho come and go like little elves leaving us delicious home-baked cookies and fresh groceries, then taking away our dirty laundry to be perfectly ‘purified'! All of us here are completely inspired and indebted to these volunteers for their kindness, joyous effort, and generosity in offering service to the Abbey in this way. Our retreat could not have happened without them. May their merits be infinitely multiplied and rebound to them in countless joyful ways.
Now that our website is updated, please review all of the new activities on our 2006 calendarespecially new local and Abbey events. Enjoy the new photos from the retreat as well.
That's it for now. May all of your mantras be heartfelt, and all your visualizations be bright.
Om Vajrasattva Hum!
Pema
Venerable Chodron's 2006 Schedule
March 5 Sravasti Abbey
Lama Chopa Puja
Sunday 10am to Noon with vegetarian Potluck following.
In thanksgiving for the three-month Vajrasattva Retreat, all are invited
to welcome the retreatants out of retreat and celebrate the merits of their practice!
March 10 Sravasti Abbey
End of three-month Vajrasattva Retreat
March 12 Sandpoint, ID
10am to 11am Sunday Service with Ven. Chodron
Gardenia Center
400 Church St. (corner of Fourth Ave.), Sandpoint, Idaho
For details, contact: Shirley
sanjeevini@imbris.net
www.gardeniacenter.org
March 14, 21, 28 Newport, WA
Tuesday Evening Series 7pm-8:15pm
Transforming Adversity into Joy and Courage”
The Create Place, 900 West 4th Street, Newport WA
March 17 Sandpoint, ID
Evening Talk at the Gardenia Center
400 Church St. (corner of Fourth Ave.), Sandpoint, Idaho
For details, contact: Shirley
sanjeevini@imbris.net
www.gardeniacenter.org
March 19 Sravasti Abbey
Sharing the Dharma Day”
Sunday 9:30am to 3pm
March 25 Spokane, WA
Workshop “Buddhist Practices” 1-4pm
Unitarian Universalist Church
4340 W Fort Wright Dr., Spokane, WA
For details, contact: Penny
reipe19@msn.com
March 26 Sravasti Abbey
Refuge Ceremony at 10am
March 30 New York City
Talk “Transforming Adversity into Joy and Courage”
Tibet House 7pm-9pm
22 West 15th Street (between 5th and 6th Ave.), New York
Tel: (212) 807-0563
www.tibethouse.org
March 31 to April 2 Phoenicia, NY (outside New York City)
Tara RetreaMenla Retreat Center
375 Patherkill Rd., Phoenicia, NY
For details, contact: Shanti
www.menla.org, shanti@tibethouse.org, office@menla.org
Tel: (212) 807-0563 or (845) 688-6897
April 2 Middletown, CT
Evening Public Talk
Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center
504 Main Street 2nd Floor, Middletown CT
Tel: (860) 346-6136
www.chenrezigcenter.org
For details, contact Alison
cacunningham5@msn.com
April 3 Boston area
Public Talk 7pm-9pm “Tranquility during Times of Grief and Loss”
Kurukulla Center
68 Magoun Ave, Medford, MA
Tel: (617) 624-0177
www.kurukulla.org
For details, contact: Debra
kkc@kurukulla.org
April 3 and 4 Boston area
Talks, classes and seminars
Harvard University, Cambridge MA
For details, contact: Yi-Ping
ypong@fas.harvard.edu
April 5 through 9 Austin, TX
Talks, classes, and workshop
The University of Texas at Austin
Public Talk April 5 at 7pm, Burdine Hall/Room 130, UT
Public Talk April 7 at 7pm, Burdine Hall/Room 106, UT
For details, contact: Mei Chu Chen
meichu.chen@gmail.com
April 8 Austin, TX
Book signing 7pm at BookPeople Book Store
603 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX
Tel: (512) 472-4288
For details, contact: Mei Chu Chen or Bonnie
meichu.chen@gmail.com
bonniebaptist@hotmail.com
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