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Upcoming Programs
 New
Year's Vajrasattva
Purification Retreat
(led by Ven. Amy Miller)
December 29 to January 1
Ring
in the New Year in a most
meaningful way by
joining this
deeply purifying retreat.
It is
appropriate for all levels of
practitioners and a great place to
gain
familiarity with how to do
effective
retreat. Videos of Lama
Thubten Yeshe,
one of Milarepa
Center's spiritual masters,
will be
screened throughout the retreat,
in addition to guided visualization,
mantra recitation and silent
meditations.
Vajrasattva is an aspect of the Buddha who
helps us purify dissatisfied mind
Vajrasattva
states and negative karma.
New Year's retreat schedule:
Mon (Dec 29): 6:00pm dinner; 7:15
orientation; 7:30 introduction.
Tues/Wed (Dec 30, 31): 7:00-800am 1st
session; 8:00-9:30 breakfast;
9:30-10:45 2nd session; 11:15-12:30 3rd session;
12:30-2pm lunch and break;
2:00-3:00 questions and answers;
4:00-6:00 4th session; 6:00-7:00 dinner;
7:00-9:00 5th session
Note: on Dec 31 we'll do a shorter 5th
session followed by a Tsog
(special ceremony) at 8:00pm. Others are
welcome to
participate, and we welcome all and any
musicians to join
our celebration!
Thurs (Jan 1):
8:00-9:30am final session; 9:00-10:00
Dorje Khadro
Fire Purification; 10:00 New Year's
brunch.
To register for this retreat, please contact
Milarepa Center
at 802.633.4136 or by e-mail at
Milarepa@milarepacenter.org
This retreat is free of charge and
donations are welcome.
We are looking for musicians who may want
to join us at 8pm
on New Year's eve
to enhance our special celebration, so please do
pass the word. If you would
like to join this part of our program,
please contact us at the phone number or e-mail
address above so
that we may properly
coordinate. You are all invited to our
party!!
Amy Miller
(Ven. Losang Chodren) was born in 1959 and first
encountered
Tibetan Buddhism in the spring
of 1987 during a 10-day course at Kopan
Monastery in Nepal. Since then, she has
spent a great deal of time engaged
in
meditation retreats, study, teaching and
Buddhist center management
in India, Nepal,
Tibet and Bhutan. She was ordained as a Buddhist
nun
in June 2000 by the great Tibetan
master, Ven. Choden Rinpoche,
and has been
teaching extensively since 1992. Her
teaching style
emphasizes a practical
approach to integrating Buddhist philosophy
into everyday life. Ven. Amy completed a
three-month Vajrasattva
retreat in 1998.
*** *** ***
Montpelier Study Group --
led by Ven. Amy Miller.
Five Thursday
eves: Jan. 8, 15, 22, 29; Feb. 5. (6:00-8:00pm),
with an overnight retreat at Mlarepa Center, Feb
7-8.
This juicy group has been delving into many
topics of Buddhist philosophy
in a fun
and informal setting. If you're new to
Buddhism or would like to
reinvigorate
your practice, this is a great program to
attend.
Topic of study to be announced
at a public location in downtown Montpelier;
if you'd like for more information please
contact Donna O'Malley at
donna.omalley@gmail.com.
*** *** ***
Nyung Ne Purification Retreat
Jan. 16-19;
led by Ven. Amy Miller
Nyung Ne Retreat is a Chenrezig (the Buddha
of Compassion) practice from the Kriya
(Action) class of Tantra. In each of the
four
daily sessions we practice the
sadhana of
Chenrezig, which involves
meditating on
bodhicitta (the
aspiration to attain
enlightenment in
order to benefit all beings),
visualzing Chenrezig, reciting prayers and
mantras, and performing prostrations.
A Nyung Ne Retreat includes periods
of fasting
and strict silence and is a
powerful, quick and
Chenrezig
effective method to both purify an enormous
amount of negativity while collecting vast
merit.
You do not have to have had any initiations
prior
to this retreat, but pre-registration
is required to attend.
Nyung Ne Retreat Schedule
Fri (Jan 16):
6:30pm check-in at Milarepa Center;
7:00-8:30 orientation and introduction to Nyung
Ne.
Sat (Jan 17):
4:00am wake-up; 4:30-8:00 Eight Mahayana
Precepts
and session one; 9:00-11:30 session two;
11:30 lunch and rest; 3:00-6:00pm session
three;
6:30-7:30 questions and answers (optional).
Sun (Jan 18): A day
of silence and no eating or drinking.
4:00am wake-up; 4:30-8:00 Eight Mahayana
Precepts
and session one; 9:00-11:30 session two;
2:00pm sutra reading (optional)
3:00-6:00 session three.
Mon (Jan 19): 4:00am
wake-up; 4:30-7:30 final session;
7:30 breakfast - End of Retreat.
*** *** ***
Overnight Retreat:
Spend Some Quiet Time
with Your Mind
Saturday, Feb 7 (9:00am) to Sunday, Feb 8
(12noon)
When winter activities get tiring and cabin
fever sets in,
there's no better time to
work with your mind.
Put some positive
perspective on your winter and join
this
special overnight retreat. Sample a
variety of meditations
in our tranquil cozy
setting. A component of the Montpelier
Study Group
(see above), this retreat is
open to all levels of participants,
even if
you haven't been able to attend the study group.
The overnight lends a deeper experience to
your meditation.
Schedule to be
announced.
*** *** ***
Skiing to Enlightenment
Meditation/Ski
Package
(Really . . . What Could Be Better??)
Friday, March 6 to Sunday, March 8
Would you like to have a more meaningful time
skiing this winter?
Why not combine it
with some meditation practice at Milarepa
Center.
Introducing a unique
way to enjoy winter activities . . .
Arrive after dinner on Friday evening, wake
up to a
morning meditation and breakfast
before heading out
to nearby slopes for
skiing or snowboarding.
Or put on your
snowshoes or cross-country skis
and explore
the beauty of Milarepa Center.
A
packed lunch will be provided, and enjoy a
simple dinner
when you return in the
evening. Then enjoy some
evening
meditation and a video from our Buddhist
library.
It's morning meditation
again on Sunday followed
by brunch. We
afford you a less expensive -- and more
beneficial --
alternative to the ski
resorts. Bring your friends and family.
Meditations will be led by Ven. Amy Miller.
Food and lodging: $125 per person for
the weekend.
***
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Please register in advance for all programs,
which will enable us to plan accordingly.
To register, contact us at 802.633.4136
or by emailing:
milarepa@milarepacenter.org
*** *** ***
Additional Practice Days in Jan/Feb . . .
Each month there are days set aside in the
Tibetan calendar which are
auspicious for specific practices. It's
very helpful for Milarepa Center
and its community to do these practices
whenever possible. Group
practice leads to
a greater sense of overall harmony. These
practices lend
benefit in clearing obstacles
to different activities (Tara practice),
for healing (Medicine Buddha) and for overall
center health and prosperity
(Tsog, etc.)
We invite you to join us for the various
rituals we have scheduled.
These practice days are open to all levels of
practitioners. It's very
easy to participate, you don't need to know the
practices in advance
as we have practice booklets available.
It's nice to bring offerings that
can be set-up on the altar and shared with
others such as fruit, chips,
pretzels and any other snacks you enjoy.
Flowers are always welcome.
Jan/Feb Practice Day Schedule:
Sunday, Jan. 4, Tara Puja, 10:00 to
11:30am
(A puja is a ceremony in which prayers are
offered to the Buddhas and holy beings to
request their help.)
Tuesday, Jan. 6;
Milarepa Tsog, 6:30 to 8:00pm
Wednesday Feb. 4; Milarepa Tsog,
6:30 to 8:00pm
Twice each month, on the
10th and 25th of the Tibetan calendar, a tsog is
offered that represents assembling all of the
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in a visualization of a
sacred dance. Those practicing highest
yoga tantra normally have a commitment to do
this practice twice each month. Lama Zopa
Rinpoche, Milarepa Center's spiritual director,
has encouraged us to do Milarepa tsog on this
occasion.
Sunday, Jan. 11; Medicine Buddha
Puja, 10:00 to 11:00am
Monday,
Feb. 9; Medicine Buddha Puja, 1000
to 11:00am
A tremendous healing practice,
Medicine Buddha is seen as the
King of
Doctors. This practice can be enormously
helpful for
your own illness or perfect to
participate with someone else in mind.
These are also full moon days which enhance all
of our positive and negativities, so these are
great days to practice. (February 9 is
also a lunar eclipse which further multiplies
positive and negative activities.)
At right, Medicine Buddha
Tuesday, Jan 20; Vajrayogini
Self-Initiation and Tsog, 6:00 to 10:00pm
This unique practice is only open to those who
have completed the 100,000 mantra retreat of
Vajrayogini along with the great fire puja.
A highest yoga tantra practice,
Jan. 20 is
the special Vajrayogini Day of the year and a
particularly auspicious day to do this practice.
Tuesday, Feb. 3; 6:30 to 8:00pm
Four mandala offerings to Cittamani Tara is a
great way to clear out obstacles to work,
relationships and general disharmony in your
life.
We hope to
see you at some of these events . . . please let
us know
if you are interested in helping set-up some of
these activities.
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Notes:
-- February Winter Warming Music Night may not
be happening, but we
will
let you know in our next e-letter if we're able
to host this event or not.
-- Coming this June: Three Nyung Ne's to
celebrate Saka Dawa (Buddha's
birth, enlightenment and paranirvana).
June 1-8, 2009. Don't miss this
fantastic opportunity to practice leading up to
this full-moon holiday,
June 7. Look for more details in an
upcoming e-letter.
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