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Upcoming Programs
(through June)
Walking the Bodhisattva Path
May 22-24; with Professor Jan Willis
This special weekend involves reading, listening
to,
meditating upon, and otherwise
closely exploring the
great
eighth-century text by Master Shantideva,
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (the
Bodhicharyavatara).
We will
read, aloud and together, this wondrous
exposition of the Mahayana path, thereby
softening our
hearts and opening to
the joys of our infinite capacity
to
benefit others. Jan will also provide
explanation on
the text, the practices, and
the meanings of terms, etc. as we investigate
how
best to nourish and increase compassion
in ourselves.
Jan Willis is a professor of religion at
Wesleyan University. One of the
earliest
American scholar-practitioners of Tibetan
Buddhism, she has studied
with Buddhist
teachers worldwide and has written extensively
on Buddhist
meditation, women and Buddhism,
and Buddhism and race.
Among her
published works are Dreaming Me: Black,
Baptist and Buddhist: One Woman's Spiritual
Journey and Enlightened Beings: Life
Stories from the Ganden Oral Tradition. She
also edited Feminine Ground: Essays on Women
and Tibet. In December of 2000, TIME
magazine named Willis one of
six "spiritual
innovators for the new millennium" and in May
2007, Ebony
magazine named Willis one of its
"Power 150" most influential African
Americans.
The Program
Friday:
6:00pm
Registration and Dinner
7:15pm
Orientation
7:30-9:00pm
Introductory Session
Saturday:
7:00-8:00am
Meditation
8:00am
Breakfast
9:30am-12:30pm
Session with short break
12:30-2:30pm
Lunch and break
2:30-5:30pm
Session with short break
5:30-7:00pm
Dinner
7:00-8:30pm
Session
Sunday:
7:00-8:00am
Meditation
8:00am
Breakfast
9:30am-12:30pm
Session with short break
12:30pm
Lunch and clean-up
***
Spring Work Party Overnight and Tara Puja
Saturday, May 30, 9am-5pm
(with evening meditation and video)
Sunday, May 31, 9am-12noon followed by
lunch and a Tara Puja
from 1:30-3:00pm
 Many
people have expressed an interest in spending a
day or two at the center to help with a variety
of work projects. Well here's your chance! We
would love your support in helping to clean out
our barn, clear and chop wood, wash windows,
garden, as well as a variety of other spring
cleaning to help Milarepa Center get ready for a
nice summer season. Feel free to bring work
clothes, work and gardening gloves, chain saws,
and for the garden, any favorite perennial,
herbs - especially tea herbs, or some annuals to
brighten our landscape.
Gardeners:
Come One, Come All!
As part of our
Work Party, Martha Tack, a past director of
Milarepa Center, has volunteered to put in an
organic garden at the Center this year. Several
people have mentioned helping in the garden and
this is a great way to get involved. So please
join our efforts during this nourishing time.
Organic vegetables and flowers will not
only support the Center in our seasonal
programs, but will also save Milarepa a lot of
money. There's nothing quite like enjoying home
grown food. Feel free to bring your friends and
family to help.
Lunch and dinner will be
provided on Saturday and breakfast and lunch on
Sunday. Feel free to come either day as well if
you are unable to spend the night.
***
Nyung Né Purification Retreats
June 1, 6:00pm to June 8, 9:00am --
led by Ven. Amy Miller
These precious retreats are a great opportunity
to work on developing compassion in your heart
and mind. Nyung Né 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),
visualizing Chenrezig, reciting prayers and
mantras, and performing prostrations. A Nyung Né
retreat also includes periods of fasting and
strict silence and is a powerful, quick and
effective method to purify an enormous amount of
negativity and to collect a vast amount of
merit.
Each retreat is two days long
and you are welcome to attend one or more of the
retreats. If you have never attended a Nyung Né
before, however, you must attend the evening
introduction and the first retreat beginning on
June 1. The final retreat takes place over the
weekend of June 6 and 7 with Sunday, June 7
being the full moon celebration of Sakadawa (the
anniversary of the Buddha's birth, enlightenment
and parinirvana). This auspicious day is a
fantastic time to practice as all activities are
multiplied one hundred million times.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE HAD ANY INITIATIONS
PRIOR TO
THIS RETREAT, BUT PRE-REGISTRATION
IS REQUIRED TO
ATTEND.
***
Celebration of Sakadawa; Buddha's Birth,
Enlightenment and Parinirvana
Sunday, June 7
4:00am
Eight Mahayana Precepts*
11:15am
Lunch
1:30-2:30pm Reading of
the Sanghata Sutra
6:30-7:30pm Medicine
Buddha Puja
This special holiday is a fantastic time to
practice, so while Milarepa Center will be
hosting a silent day of the Nyung Né, you are
most welcome to come and participate in the
activities listed above or feel free to spend
some time during the day exploring your own
practice.
(*) The Eight
Mahayana Precepts are 24-hour vows that are
especially powerful to take on merit-multiplying
days such as the special holiday of Sakadawa.
These vows include to refrain from killing,
stealing, lying, sexual activity, intoxicants,
singing and dancing with attachments, wearing of
ornaments, and sitting on large, high or
expensive thrones. Those on Precepts also eat
one meal during the day that is finished by noon
and do not eat garlic, onion, radish, meat or
egg.
***
Exploring the Path to Enlightenment: Tuesday
Evening Series
Ongoing beginning June 16 through December 8,
6:30-8:00pm
with Ven. Amy Miller. (No classes June
30, July 7 and October 13 as we
will be hosting other activities at the Center
you are welcome to join.)
Are you interested in gaining more of an
understanding of Tibetan Buddhism while getting
in some weekly meditation practice? Then please
join this weekly program of integrative
discussion and meditation on how best to get
enlightened. These ongoing classes are perfect
for drop-ins and all levels of practitioners, so
invigorate your spiritual practice in this way.
Amy Miller (Ven. Losang Chodren), the director
of Milarepa Center, first encountered Tibetan
Buddhism in 1987 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
and the United States. After running Vajrapani
Institute in California for many years, in 2004
she completed a seven-month solitary retreat.
Amy has also had the good fortune to visit Tibet
in 1987 and again in 2001 as a pilgrimage leader
for the Institute of Noetic Science in the
United States. She has also led pilgrimages in
India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim for the
Liberation Prison Project.
Amy 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.
***
Move Your Mind to the Positive: Meditation
Daylong
Saturday, June 27, 9:30am-4:30pm
with Ven. Amy Miller
Milarepa Center is pleased to offer a special
day of practice one Saturday each month for all
levels of students. If you have been curious
about meditation and would like to begin or if
you have been meditating for some time and would
like to fine tune your practice, please join
these monthly events. A perfect component for
weekly study groups, the meditation daylong
affords you the opportunity to get to know your
mind while exploring some relevant discussion.
Bring a brown bag lunch.
Other Daylong dates:
July 18, August 15 (and if you like, please stay
for our Milarepa Tsog at 6:30pm), September 12,
October 17 and November 14.
***
Living Well: Karma and Spiritual Practice on the
Path to Happiness
A Four-Week Series at the Montpelier Library
Hayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Main
Street, Montpelier
with Ven. Amy Miller.
Thursday evenings, June 18, 25, July 2 and 9
A great way to dive into Buddhist philosophy,
this series presents karma and how best to
integrate our spiritual practice into everyday
life. For more information, contact Linda
Wheatley at linda@sweetmangotours.com
or by phone at (802) 229-6932.
Specific program schedules are available
beginning in early May. Unless otherwise
specified, all our programs are offered on a
donation basis, however PRE-REGISTRATION IS
REQUIRED. For more information about
registering for programs, please see our
website:
www.milarepacenter.org.
***
Practice Days in May and June
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
Puja), for healing (Medicine Buddha Puja) and
for overall center health and prosperity (Tsog,
etc.).
We invite you to join us for the various rituals
or pujas 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.
Schedule
Tara Puja
- Four mandala offerings to Cittamani Tara is a
great way to clear out obstacles to work,
relationships and general disharmony in your
life.
Sunday,
May 31 following Spring Work Party, 1:30-3:00pm
Tuesday, June 30, 6:30-8:00pm
Milarepa Tsog - May 4, 19 and June
2, 18;
6:30-7:30pm or check
center prior to date for
any
changes. 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 these occasions.
 Medicine
Buddha Puja - 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.
Saturday, May 9, 1:30-2:30pm
Sunday, June 7*, 1:30-2:30pm
(*) Sunday, June 7 is Sakadawa, the
anniversary of the Buddha's Birth, Enlightenment
and Parinirvana. Although the Center will be
hosting a Nyung Né, we will offering special
activities for other participants who wish to
maximize the auspiciousness of the day. Please
see the Program for June 7, Sakadawa above.
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