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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)
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Greetings to you
from
Milarepa Center!
We hope you are enjoying a
lovely summer.
The month
of July treated us to a
wonderful program with Khensur
Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Jampa,
the ex-abbot of Gyurmed Tantric
College, who now resides on the
East Coast of the States. The
weekend on
Introduction to Tantra
went far beyond most
introductory courses and led
participants through a thorough
explanation of preparing for
tantric initiations and
practice. Rinpoche's humble and
sweet demeanor deeply touched
participants (photo
below) and we look
forward to hosting Rinpoche
again.
 Don't
miss our upcoming Milarepa Open
House Festival Day on Sunday,
August 15 from noon to 4:30pm.
The day features a lovely buffet
lunch, wonderful music with
Tibetan musician Penpa Tsering (photo
left), and a special
teaching with Ven. Choden
Rinpoche on
In Praise of Dependent Arising.
Please join in the festivities;
it's all free and families are
welcome. R.S.V.P. by calling us
at (802) 633-4136.
We
also have very good news for
those interested in attending
some teachings this September at
Milarepa with Kyabje Lama Zopa
Rinpoche (photo
below). If you are unable
to attend the Milarepa
Initiation and Retreat or do not
intend to take tantric vows, but
would like to experience
Rinpoche, we have a solution for
you. Rinpoche will lead a
motivation and teach prior to
giving the Milarepa Initiation
on Thursday evening, September
2.
You are welcome to
join us for this and can depart
when Rinpoche begins the
initiation (there will be an
announcement and probably a
short break at that time). You
do not need to register to
attend this part of the program,
but do call us in advance to
leave your name, phone number,
and e-mail should something
change. The teachings are
scheduled to begin at 7pm, but
most probably will start later
and go until at least midnight.
Gorgeous gold-leafed banners
and umbrella now grace the
stupa at Milarepa (photo
below) thanks to John
("Copper John") Bieling for
making them and Troy and Mer
Stafford for gilding them.
Please stop by to admire
their art as we work toward
completing the stupa.
Otherwise, we have been
extremely busy preparing the
Center for the upcoming
Kalachakra and Milarepa Programs
with Ven. Choden Rinpoche and
Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche this
August and September. If you
have some time from now until
September 1 to help, please call
us at (802) 633-4136. It's a
wonderful way to offer service.
Space is still available to
attend the
Kalachakra Initiation and
the
Milarepa Initiation and Retreat
so please do be sure to register
now. All of the information can
be found on our website:
www.milarepacenter.org or by
calling us at (802) 633-4136.
So we hope to see you at our
peak events this year and wish
you a wonderful rest of your
summer.
Please see below for details on
the following:
::: Act 250 Permit
granted!
::: Kalachakra
fundraising goal reached;
Milarepa Retreat now
targeted
::: Possible Refuge
Ceremony with Kyabje Lama
Zopa Rinpoche
:::
August/September program
updates
::: Rejoice
::: Wish List
::: Practice Days
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Act
250 Permit granted!
Milarepa Center successfully
leaped a tremendous hurtle in
July by receiving word from the
State of Vermont that our Act
250 Permit has been granted!
The Act 250 Permit is the
foundational authorization
needed by the State of Vermont
to develop any property over 10
acres. We started the process in
late December and submitted the
25-page application in
mid-February along with graphs,
charts, topographical maps,
photographs, etc.
Jeff
Garnette was absolutely amazing
throughout the entire process
following through and reviewing
each detail with our State
Coordinator, Kirstan Soltan.
We were initially advised to
hire an attorney or planner to
do the permit for us as we heard
it could be quite a grueling
process. However, hiring outside
contractors can get very
expensive. With Kirstan's
wonderful help, Jeff was
confident we could proceed on
our own. So this is a fantastic
accomplishment of the past two
years.
We also found the
process to be a very positive
learning experience and have
made many new friends along the
way.
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Kalachakra fundraising goal reached;
Milarepa Retreat now targeted
We are
extremely fortunate to have reached our
fundraising goal of $16,000 to cover the
extra expenses of hosting the Kalachakra
Initiation and the visit of Ven. Choden
Rinpoche this month.
Thank you to our wonderful sponsors:
Anonymous (3),
Ven.
Jangchub Phelgay, Daniel Aharon, Peter
Baker, Eryn Bordes and
David
Jaffe, Ruby Brezinsky and Bob Wigness,
Emilio Briceno, Skip Cady, Donnalee
Dermady-Minney, Dolores Devellis, Freddy
English, Tim Fuller,
Karen
Gallas, Sheldon Gelowitz, Angie and Joe
Gittleman, Gloria Gonzalez, Shelley and
Jim Hagan, Mary-Beth Harhen, Doren and
Mary Harper,
Jane
Harper, T.Y. Hsieh and Jon Chu, Clark
Jones, Wendy Kan, Toni Kenyon, Sandi and
Will Manson, Susan Marfield, Shankha and
Deirdre Mitra, Lily and Ed Noon, Tim
McNeill and Wisdom Publications, Pascale
Philibert, Nick Ribush and Wendy Cook
and the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive,
Priscilla Sawa, Michael Scanlon, Troy
and Mer Stafford, Lillian Too and Jeanne
Wilson.
We are so grateful to all of you for
this kind generosity!
In addition, there never seems to be a
loss of beneficial opportunities to
support Dharma centers. If you missed
sponsoring the Kalachakra or would like
to help out additionally, the Milarepa
Initiation and Retreat with Kyabje Lama
Zopa Rinpoche offers you yet another
opportunity.
We find that by
raising the extra funds needed prior to
a specific event, the Center is not
financially stressed going into an
actual program when additional expenses
often pop up. So please see the budget
below for the Milarepa Initiation and
Retreat and please consider making a
generous donation at this time so
Milarepa Center will be best prepared
for Rinpoche's visit.
It's a
very special occasion and we would like
to make it wonderfully smooth as there
is talk of Rinpoche leading a one-month
retreat at Milarepa Center in the spring
of 2012. So if all goes well, we are
hoping it will happen.
However, just to be clear, we keep our
fundraising donations separate from
membership dues and registration fees.
The financial health of centers usually
depends on only a few revenue areas such
as membership, fundraising, registration
fees, etc.
Therefore, when
fundraising revenue is expected to cover
a donor's room and board as well, it
reduces the amount needed to actually
cover the extra budget expenses and can,
therefore, cause the Center to run a
deficit for a given program.
So please consider supporting us for
this wondrous and rare visit by our
Spiritual Director. Generosity is the
best practice to create positive energy
and prosperity for yourself, so even if
you are unable to attend the retreat,
please consider making a generous gift
at this time.
Checks are made
payable to Milarepa Center and can be
sent to PO Box 51, Barnet, VT 05821 USA.
You can also make donations with a
credit card via our PayPal account on
our website at
www.milarepacenter.org. All
donations are tax deductible.
For those able to contribute a $1,000
(from an individual) or $1,500 (from a
couple) we have a special gift for you.
Thank you for your kind support.
Milarepa Initiation and Retreat
Budget
(in U.S. dollars; we have already
raised $1,400 -- only $8,688 to go!)
Airfare:
$2,700
(three people, two business class, one
economy from San
Francisco to Boston)
Food:
$288
($12/day for four people x six days)
Health Insurance:
$300
Sangha sponsorship:
$1,000
(four monks/nuns @ $50/day pp, 5 days)
Lama, attendants and additional staff
offerings:
$2,500
Linens, towels and dishes for Rinpoche:
$200
New twin mattress for Rinpoche:
$300
Lamps, basic furnishings, carpet:
$300
Additional kitchen items:
$250
(propane burners, utensils, coolers)
Tent screens:
$500
Lighting: $350
Chair rental: $200
Advertising:
$300
Supplies:
$500
(additional printing, tsog, altar
offerings)
Portable toilet rental:
$400
(six units with servicing)
TOTAL:
$ 10,088
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Possible Refuge Ceremony
Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche
·
Refuge is a special
ceremony for acknowledging Buddhism
as your path.
In the Lam Rim, it
is said that Refuge is the sacred
door through which the
teaching
is entered. The ceremony can be more
elaborate lasting nearly two hours
or take place in a more simple way
at the beginning of an initiation.
There are 12 Refuge Precepts to
follow and FPMT has a
practice
booklet on Refuge that you can find
at
http://shop.fpmt.org/Refuge-in-the-Three-Jewels_p_194.html.
If you are interested in
taking Refuge with Kyabje Lama Zopa
Rinpoche
in early September,
please contact Amy Miller at milarepa@milarepacenter.org
or call us at (802) 633-4136
as
you will need to attend a one-hour
review about Refuge on
September
1 or 2 with Amy.
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August/September program updates
Please
see our website's
programs
area for updates on the Milarepa
Festival Day, Kalachakra
Initiation with Ven. Choden
Rinpoche, Milarepa Initiation and
Retreat with Kyabje Lama Zopa
Rinpoche, Commentary on the Heart
Sutra with Ven. Dagri Rinpoche, and
the Green Tara Retreat with Geshe
Gelek Chodha, as well as a number of
other activities and practices.
Choden Rinpoche (left) and Geshe
Gelek.
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Rejoice!
We would like to thank all of you
for your great support in making
Milarepa Center flourish. It would
not be possible without you:
All Kalachakra Initiation
Program Sponsors;
New Milarepa Retreat
Sponsors: Jon Chu and Tze-Yu
Hsieh,
Donnalee
Dermady-Minney, Anders
Ferguson, Karen Gallas, Fang
Hao and
Yimei Dong, John
Wolf and Norma Quesada;
General Donations:
Richard Libera and Kathy
Hayes, Charlotte Lowson, and
Jennifer Zollner and Andrew
Christiansen;
Tiny House Donation:
Lena Liu;
New members: Shankha
and Deirdre Mitra, Nick
Ribush and Wendy Cook;
Anonymous Donors for a
spanking new Honda mower (photo
below)
and a most essential new
wood splitter;
Wonderful neighbor Gail
Warnaar of the Old Homestead
Bed and Breakfast for
donating luscious blueberry
bushes for our garden;
Dolores Devellis for
offering new recording
equipment;
Bo and Kathy Hall for a heap
of mulch for our garden;
Our Kalachakra Committee
Members: Fred
Fickera, Jeff Garnette,
Shelley Hagan, Rosanne
Hebert, Larry Howe, Wendy
Kan, Elisa Lucozzi,
Joe
Schoolcraft, and Martha
Tack;
Sheila Cohill for fantastic
design efforts;
Greg Cundiff for wonderful
website updates;
Mark Winwood of the
Chenrezig Project for great
production of our e-letter;
Jeana Malachowski for
fabulous flyer design;
John Keaveny for printing
wonderful color flyers;
2010 Work Study Participants:
Jim Fellows (below,
painting Center house),
Emily Fuller, Elvia
Gonzalez, A'lynn Hayward,
Heather Park, and
Chela Graciela Rebozo;
And to our wonderful staff and
residents, Jeff Garnette,
Rosanne Hebert and
Elisa
Lucozzi without whom none of
this would be possible.
(If your name was omitted,
it was not due to our not
appreciating your support,
but solely the fault of the
editor.)
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Wish List
This is a great way to
sponsor a specific item for
the Center and feel a part
of our family. We
respectfully request that
you not bring anything to
the Center that is not on
the list without checking
with us. If there is
something on the list below
you are interested in
helping us with,
please
call Amy Miller at (802)
633-4136 or e-mail her at
milarepa@milarepacenter.org
to discuss the specifics.
Thank you so much.
:: 1 new twin mattress for
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
:: 1 twin bed frame in good
condition
:: 3 twin mattresses in good
condition
:: 3 dressers in good
condition
:: Snow plow ($550 raised so
far)
:: Army tents for guest
accommodation ($1200 each)
:: Good quality saffron
(represents pure morality
and is placed in our water
offerings each
day to create prosperity for
the center)
:: Reading lamps
:: Septic safe recycled
toilet paper and paper
towels
:: Good quality tea lights
:: HP Inkjet cartridges
94/95 and 97
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Practice Days in August and September
August 5 -- Milarepa Tsog, 6:30pm
August 17 -- Tara Puja, 6:30pm
August 19 -- Lama Chopa Tsog*, 6:30pm
August 24 -- Medicine Buddha Puja,
6:30pm
September 3 -- Milarepa Tsog**, 7pm
September 15 -- Tara Puja, 6:30pm
September 17 -- Lama Chopa Tsog, 6:30pm
September 23 -- Medicine Buddha Puja,
6:30pm
(*) possibly with Ven. Choden Rinpoche
(**) retreat participants only
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Milarepa Tibetan Buddhist Center | www.milarepacenter.org |
Barnet | VT | 05821
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Donations Welcome
Giving charity is an essential component of Buddhist practice. It is
through kind generosity that the Dharma flourishes and all favorable
conditions can take root. We greatly appreciate your support.
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