July 1, 2010

Milarepa Center

1344 U.S. Route 5 South
Barnet, Vermont  05821
(802) 633-4136

www.milarepacenter.org
milarepa@milarepacenter.org

Affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT)

Happy Summer from
Milarepa Center!


It was a grand time for all during our Spring Work Party in early June.

After much discussion about cancelling the overnight due to inclement weather, we decided to go ahead with it and boy, were we glad that we did.

Saturday was a wonderful day and we were able to get most of our garden in, clear a massive amount of weeds and brush, stack wood, assemble our new garden shed, and clean our offering room, among other things. (See photos below)

We are also most grateful to Troy Stafford for gold leafing the banners for our stupa as well as some other ritual items at the Center. 

Thank you to Jane Birkbeck, Fred Fickera, Emily Fuller, Tim Fuller, Jeff Garnette, Angie Gittleman, A'lynn Hayward, Rosanne Hebert, Larry Howe, Stephanie Kirchberg, Elisa Lucozzi, Sandra Ross, Troy, Mer, Maddie, Mia and Maude Stafford, Ray Naroian and Terry, Zion, Hannah and Jordan Bessette, Cyrus Ryan, Martha Tack, Lobsang Tengye, Katie Willis-Morton and Oliver and Alice Morton, and Bob Zimmer. We even got a display of a small rainbow at the completion of our work on Saturday.

 



We also enjoyed a lovely meditation day on June 13 with Ven. Amy leading a very concentrated group of participants. The Center was extremely still all day and the weather was beautiful and conducive for walking meditation as well.
 
We have raised $550 toward the purchase of a much-needed snow plow for the Center and are hoping to find one soon. If you know of anyone selling a used one in good condition, please give us a call.
 
On-site accommodation is full for the Kalachakra Initiation weekend and nearly full for September's Milarepa Retreat with Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche.  Both events require advance registration so even if you are planning to stay elsewhere, you cannot attend until we receive the applicable registration forms for those programs.  The specific registrations forms for each program are available on our website or by calling our office at (802) 633-4136. We greatly appreciate your cooperation.


  Don't miss our July program, Introduction to 
  Tantra, with Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang
  Jampa (at left).

  A perfect way to begin an exploration of Tantra,
  this weekend program will lay a good foundation
  for those interested in taking the Kalachakra
  Initiation, as well as Lama Zopa Rinpoche's retreat this September. Advance registration is required by contacting us at milarepa@milarepacenter.org or downloading the registration form from our website. We look forward to seeing you.
 
Please read below for additional information on:

   :: Summer Work Study Begins

   :: Road Trip Update

   :: On the Road with Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche

   :: Kalachakra Program Fundraising -- Half the Way Home

   :: Milarepa Center Volunteers at Local Soup Kitchen

   :: Program Update

   :: Rejoice!

   :: Wish List

   :: Practice Days in July

Summer Work Study Begins

Our administrative manager, Rosanne Hebert, did an amazing job scouting out the most wonderful work study participants and we have a truly wonderful team this year.

  We are most happy to welcome Jane Birkbeck (at left),
  Emily Fuller, A'lynn Hayward, and Heather Park.
  Elvia Gonzalez returns from Mexico in a couple of
  weeks with two other women who will be doing the
  cooking so we are looking forward to a very fun
  summer.

Road Trip Update

In the last e-letter, we mentioned needing $5300 to do the work necessary to maintain our driveway and road.

However, when work study member A'lynn Hayward arrived, he said he could take care of most of it. With the help of Skip Cady and his Kubota tractor and a donated culvert -- a drainage pipe that was exactly the size and type we wanted -- from A'lynn (photos below), along with a york rake, the culvert has been installed and the driveway and road to the Center are BEAUTIFUL!

We are so grateful to the whole team for saving us a few thousand dollars and making our "path to enlightenment" even more accessible for you.

Here's a sample of their fine work, but please come by and admire it in person.

HOWEVER, A WORD OF CAUTION: PLEASE BE CAREFUL OF THE NEW DITCH THAT IS JUST PAST THE STUPA ON YOUR RIGHT.

On the Road with
Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Please have a look at this wonderful link to see our spiritual director,
Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in action:
 http://www.mandalamagazine.org/category/on-the-road/.
 

Kalachakra Program Fundraising -- More than Half the Way Home


Make a special donation this July 15, the anniversary of the Buddha's First Teaching

We have currently raised nearly $12,000 toward a revised budget of $16,341 for Ven. Choden Rinpoche's visit this August along with the Kalachakra Program, so we are just $4,300 away from our goal!

We decided to let go raising money for tent platforms as with all else we have going on, we just do not have the people to build them right now. We greatly appreciate all of the support of our kind donors and benefactors.
 
July 15th marks the anniversary of the Buddha's First Teaching in Sarnath, India. It is one of the Four Major Wheel Turning festival days of the Tibetan calendar and a very special day to make offerings. On these special days, positive energy and merit is multiplied 100,000 times, so by offering one dollar with the correct motivation, you can create the cause for enormous prosperity in your own life or for a Dharma center. Please consider making a donation to Milarepa Center's hosting this wonderful event so we can reach our goal as soon as possible.
 
All donations are tax-deductible and checks can be made payable to Milarepa Center and mailed to us at PO Box 51, Barnet, VT 05821, or you can make a donation with your credit card via our PayPal option on our website: www.milarepacenter.org.

Thank you SO much.

Milarepa Center Volunteers
for Local Soup Kitchen

Milarepa Center work study participants, Heather Park and Emily Fuller
(above), along with the Stafford Family, offered service at a local soup
kitchen that serves approximately 80-100 people in St. Johnsbury, VT.

Program Update . . .
 
Tuesday and Wednesday classes continue with Ven. Amy along with our second Ritual Training on July 28, the last Wednesday in July.

Family Camp registrations are now coming in and we are excited
about this year's camp organized by Kasia Beznoska and Lisa Landaw. Families are now joining from our sister center in North Carolina, the Kadampa Center so we are looking forward to a wonderful time at the end of July.
 
For an update on all of our programs and events, please see the
program area of our website.

Rejoice!

Thank all of you for your great support
in making Milarepa Center flourish.
It would not be possible without you!

-- New Kalachakra Initiation Program Sponsors: Anonymous, Ruby Brezinsky
    and Bob Wigness, Daniel Aharon, Freddy English, Gloria Gonzalez,
    Susan Marfield, Tim McNeill and Wisdom Publications, Nick Ribush and
    Wendy Cook and the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, and Priscilla Sawa.

-- Milarepa Retreat Sponsors: Tim McNeill and Wisdom Publications, Nick
   Ribush and Wendy Cook and the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

-- Guru Rinpoche Statue Sponsor: Alex Meau.

-- General Donations: Cyrus Ryan and Heather Smith.

-- Skip Cady for the loan of his tractor and his tremendous effort working on
   the land.

-- A'lynn Hayward for donating a 20-foot culvert for our road and use of his
   york rake.

-- New member Jane Birkbeck.

-- All of our work study participants for their joyous effort to make Milarepa
   Center shine.

-- Daniel and Michelle Welch for luscious saffron for our water bowls.

-- John Bieling for hanging his beautiful banners and umbrella on the stupa
  (come by to this glorious new addition to our shrine).

-- Troy and Mer Stafford for the precious gold leaf work on the banners and
   umbrella.  (Photo: Troy at work.)

And to:
-- Sheila Cohill for her wonderful design efforts;
-- Greg Cundiff for his supreme website updating;
-- Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project for fantastic e-letter production;
-- Jeana Malachowski for wonderful flyer design;
-- John Keaveny for printing gorgeous color flyers; and
-- The Dedicated Loving Staff at Milarepa Center.
 
If your name was omitted, it was not due to our not appreciating your support, but solely the fault of the editor.

Practice Days in July
  
July 6      His Holiness the Dalai Lama's 75th Birthday
               Celebration and Milarepa Tsog, 4:00pm
               Evening Teaching with Ven. Amy, 6:30pm

July 15    Anniversary of Buddha's First Teaching:
               A Day of Practice

July 19    Tara Puja, 6:30pm

July 20    Lama Chopa Tsog, 4:00pm

July 25    Medicine Buddha Puja, 1:30pm
 
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More details and registration information can be found on our website: www.milarepacenter.org.
 

www.milarepacenter.org

(802) 633-4136