 | Dorje Sempa Empowerment
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May 4, 2008
Perhaps you have started the
Dharma Path program without the
benefit of the Dorje Sempa
Empowerment. Here is the perfect
opportunity to receive this
wonderful blessing. The
following announcement is from
the KTC web sight.
Lama Norlha Rinpoche will bestow
the Dorje Sempa Empowerment.
Dorje Sempa is the deity for
purifying negative actions and
obscurations, and is the second
of the Four Preliminary
Practices (Ngöndro).
The empowerment is open to all
sangha members. Refuge is
required and will be offered
with the empowerment (if
needed).Please
go to the
KTC web sight and click on
special events for further
details. |
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Coming Soon
| Our beloved retreatant, Linda (Yeshe Chodron) will soon be sending
us a 'blog' from within the walls of Nigu Ling. This is a most unique
and rare glimpse for us all into the realities of a three year retreat.
For those of us who know Chodron and are familiar with her writing
style, we can look forward to a very informative and entertaining series
of writings from her loving point of view. Stay tuned for further
developments! |
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| Upcoming events at KTC Monastery in
Wappingers Falls, New York:
| The Inauguration of the Seventh Cycle of the Three-Year Retreat
- January 5, 2008 |
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Lama Norlha Rinpoche is pleased to announce the inauguration of the seventh cycle of the three-year retreat at Kagyu Thubten Choling. Participants in the retreat study original Tibetan texts and practice a graduated path of meditations that introduces them to the entire scope of Tibetan Buddhist teachings. The retreat is an excellent opportunity for practitioners to build a strong foundation of dharma practice that will not only benefit themselves, but will enable them to benefit the Buddha's teachings and all sentient beings.
We invite our members and friends to join us on this joyous and
virtuous occasion. As you may know our beloved former center director,Linda Jordan
will be entering this retreat. Please visit
www.kagyu.com for
details about this retreat,KTC's regular schedule and other
upcoming activities. |
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| The
Dharma Path
is
a program of structured meditation practice for lay
practitioners offered by KTC Monastery. Anyone
may participate from any location. We have a number of participants in
the KSC community in New Hampshire and Maine, and some of our group
activities are now structured to help fulfill the requirements of the
program. Please visit the KTC website or
contact us. |
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Portsmouth schedule: Kagyu Dak Shang Choling meets every
Tuesday from 7:30 to 8:30pm
at the West End Studio Theater, 959 Islington Street, to study and
practice shinay (calm abiding) meditation.
New:We have just
added a short practice of
Medicine Buddha on the first Tuesday of each month.Beginners and visitors
are always welcome. Click here for details. |
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| Barrington schedule:
Kagyu Samten Choling meets Thursdays at 7:30pm at
KSC Barrington to
chant the practices of Chenrezi, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and the
Dharma Protector Mahakala (Chakdrukpa). KSC also meets in
Barrington Sunday mornings from 10:00-11:30am
for the chanting practices of Green Tara and Medicine Buddha,
followed by a short session of calm abiding meditation. All are welcome.
Click here for details. |
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| Medicine Buddha practice group:
This practice is open to anyone who wishes to attend, Buddhist or
non-Buddhist, at any level of experience. It meets in
Barrington the first Sunday
of each month
from 10:30-11:30am.
Click here for details. During
his visit in November 2004, Lama Norlha Rinpoche emphasized the many
benefits of the Medicine Buddha
practice, both for oneself and for others who are ill. In particular, he
talked about how this practice can reinforce the efforts of physicians,
nurses and other healers with spiritual healing energy, regardless of
whether they are Buddhist.
Contact us to add a name to the weekly prayer list recited before
the practice. |
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2007 KTC Saka Dawa Million Mani Initiative, May 16-June 15: The
final tally is in, and it's over 3
million! Working together, KTC
Monastery and its affiliated centers, along with individuals from
Colorado to Toronto to Cornwall UK, accomplished 3,168,532
recitations of om mani peme hung, the mantra of Chenrezi, the
Bodhisattva of Compassion, during the holy month of Saka Dawa. For details,
click here. For
comments from some of our
participants, click here. |
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| 2006 Million Mantra Initiative!
Continuing an annual tradition we began in 2003 following Lama Norhla
Rinpoche's example, we joined together as a community to accomplish
one million recitations of om mani peme hung,
the mantra of Chenrezi, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, during the holy
month of Saka Dawa, May 28-June 25. We had 22 participants and recited a
total of 1,131,810 mantras. Click here
for details, a list of participants, and some of their comments on the
experience. |
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| September 17-19, 2006,
Lama Norlha Rinpoche visited New
Hampshire and Maine for the seventh time since 2001. Rinpoche gave a
seminar at the Barrington Dharma Center entitled "Who Am 'I'?" about our concept of
self and how it is constructed and maintained by means of the five
aggregates--and how it is contrary to
reality. Six people took the Refuge Vow and 20 people took the
Bodhisattva Vow. At the West End Studio Theater in Portsmouth, 40
people took advantage of an opportunity to receive direct meditation
instruction and to practice meditation with Rinpoche,
followed by questions on topics ranging from how to deal with illness to
the nature of after-death experiences in the bardo. |
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| Lama Depa, an ordained teacher from KTC Monastery, gave a seminar on
"Training the Mind toward Awakening in Meditation and Daily Life," based
on the Seven Points of Mind Training and tong len (taking and sending)
meditation, in Barrington in November 2005.
Click here for details. |
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| We had a wonderful visit from
Lama Norlha Rinpoche
August 26-29, 2005. He gave a public talk in
Portsmouth on "Finding Peace in Everyday Life," followed by a
two-day seminar on calm abiding and direct insight meditation in Kittery Point, Maine.
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| We had a wonderful visit from
Lama Norlha Rinpoche
November
14-16, 2004. The theme of his activities during this visit was healing and coping with illness
and other adversities. Rinpoche gave a talk at the Portsmouth Unitarian
Church on "Transforming Illness and Adversity into The Path of
Awakening." He also gave the Medicine Buddha Empowerment and a teaching
on the Medicine Buddha practice
and its role in healing oneself and others. |
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| Lama Palmo Baker taught a seminar
in Portsmouth in January, entitled "Voices of Great Female Masters: The
Wisdom of Buddhist Women." The seminar introduced students to several
classic songs by enlightened female practitioners, and included an
all-day meditation retreat using the songs as meditation instruction.
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| In memoriam:
Wim Frank, a founding member of both Kagyu Samten Choling in 2000
and the Barrington Zen group in 1994, passed away June 15, 2004, at the age of
88. His motivation and diligence with regard to Dharma practice were inspiring
to all of us, and clearly served him well at the end of his life.
A photo of Wim with Lama Norlha Rinpoche may be found in our
photo album. We
remember Wim with great affection and respect, and continue to think of
him often during our practice. |
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| Visiting teacher Palmo Baker gave a
meditation workshop/seminar August 27-29, 2004: "Getting Started on the
Path to Awakening: The Preliminary Practices of Tibetan Buddhism."
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| Lama Depa from KTC
Monastery visited our Dharma centers in New Hampshire April 15-20,
2004. She taught a wonderful seminar on shinay meditation. Among other
techniques, she taught meditation using each of the five senses as the
focus of awareness, based on recent teachings by Mingyur Rinpoche at
KTC. |
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| Lama Tsultrim Ozer from KTC
Monastery visited KSC and KDSC in February to give a seminar on
shinay (calm abiding) meditation. He taught from the Aspiration Prayer
of Mahamudra by the Ninth Karmapa, which presents a concise overview of
the entire path to enlightenment, including instructions on meditation.
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Lama
Norlha Rinpoche, the abbot of Kagyu
Thubten Choling Monastery in Wappingers Falls, NY, taught in NH May 31-June 1,
2003. On
Friday evening, Rinpoche gave a talk at the Portsmouth Unitarian Church,
"What to Rely On in Difficult Times," attended by 150 people. On
Saturday, he gave a full-day teaching on the six bardos, or intermediate
states, including the experiences we undergo during and following death,
and how to prepare for and help others through this difficult time. On
Sunday Rinpoche gave the Refuge Vow and the
empowerment of Chenrezi,
the Bodhisattva of Compassion, the main practice we do at KSC and KDSC.
During his visit, Rinpoche also enjoyed a walk along the Maine seacoast
at Fort Foster in Kittery Point, and an excellent lunch at the Shalimar
Indian Restaurant in Portsmouth. He has promised to return to New
Hampshire and Maine to teach again as soon as possible. |
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| View a slide show of the history of KTC
Monastery's recently completed stupa. The stupa, which
is
reflected in the Hudson River, is a physical symbol of the Buddha's
enlightenment, and is considered to bring immense blessing, benefit and
harmony to the region and the world. |
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| For information about Lama Norlha Rinpoche's
charitable projects in Kham, eastern Tibet, please visit www.nyema.org.
Since 1982, in addition to his Dharma activity in the U.S., Rinpoche has been working tirelessly to rebuild his
monastery in Tibet and support others; to build a flourishing monastery for
nuns, which now includes the first monastic college for women in the
history of Tibet; to establish free schools for the children
of this remote region; and to provide basic health care, which has
not been available for several decades. |
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Lama
Norlha Rinpoche also visited Portsmouth and Barrington November 10-11, 2001. Click here
for a synopsis of his previous activities in New Hampshire. |
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| A Portsmouth Herald article on Buddhism
includes quotes from Lama Norlha Rinpoche's talk in November 2001 on
"Transforming Fear and Anger with Compassion." |
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changes. |
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