A cozy group of practitioners visited the home of Dick and Amanda Wilcox from October 26 through 29 for a splendid four-day teaching and practice retreat with Lama Zangpo. He addressed the topic of Guru Yoga, using the text Shower of Blessings by Mipham Rinpoche as a context for practice and teach- ings. Daily practice sessions were divided up between ngondro practice, Shower of Blessings puja and tsok, and Lama Zangpo’s teachings in the evenings. His approach proved to be inspiring and applicable for everyone in the group, from beginning students to the more experienced practitioners.
We were also honored to have Lama Gyaltsen, his wife Lama Tsering, and son Pema; Lama Jigme Lodo and his wife Kidzom; Jangchub Palmo, her husband Ngawang, and son Gyurmed and family attending the tsok sessions. Everyone agreed that the re- treat should have been a full seven days.
On Monday evening, Lama Jigme offered his new Eugene store, Potala Gates, as a location for a public talk by Lama Zang- po. Thank you Lama Zangpo. We all rejoice in our connection and this opportunity for the dharma increase. May we nurture that connection by deepening our practice. We also thank Lama Jigme for his kindness in making his store available, and Dick and Amanda Wilcox for their efforts to ensure that we were able to hold our retreat in an inspiring atmosphere where we were comfortably housed and generously fed.
Our traditional Chenrezig potluck and three-day Tara Tsok were held in late November. It was well-attended by Lama Gyalt- sen, Lama Sonam, Lama Inge Zangmo, Jangchub Palmo, Gatsal Lama, and many old and new dharma friends.
-----
As part of the Tools for Peace program, T’hondup Ling sponsored three sand mandalas in Los Angeles this summer. At the invitation of Lama Gyatso, we were pleased to welcome Lama Thomge, Lama Rapjoer, and Lama Thrinley from Thubten Choeling, Trulshik Rinpoche’s monastery in Nepal. They arrived in July, and not only was it their first visit to America, but their first time on an airplane as well!
The first sand mandala was offered at the Glendale Galleria. We were given a space for two weeks and transformed it into an ongoing mandala workshop for anyone who chose to step inside. As the three lamas made a traditional Shi-tro sand mandala, the public was invited to create a community sand mandala next to the traditional Tibetan sand mandala. At the end of two weeks, paper mandalas made by the public lined the walls, and both sand mandalas were swept up in a dissolution ceremony and then carried to the Los Angeles River.
We are very grateful to Rigdzin Ling for the generous ongoing support they have offered toward the Mandala Project. We also extend our deep thanks to the Rigdzin Ling staff who tirelessly helped at the Galleria.
Next the lamas headed for Camp Scudder, a juvenile detention facility near Los Angeles. An intensive Tools for Peace workshop was held with the incarcerated youth as the lamas created another perfect sand mandala. The lamas’ personal accounts of overcoming difficult circumstances in their own lives helped inspire the youth to look within and create their own personal paper mandalas. The inmates then worked in groups to reach consensus on their community symbols, which were then integrated into their community sand mandala. They were particularly excited to be able to create their own mandala out of sand, as many of them are skilled artists. At the end of the program it was heartbreaking to leave the youth to their ordinary lives in detention, as many of them bloomed quickly when offered kindness and support.
The final public sand mandala was created at the San Diego Museum of Art, where the lamas worked next to the three-dimensional Shi-tro Mandala on display in the Asian Galleries. Following the sand mandala’s dissolution, the sand was carried to the beach and offered into the Pacific Ocean. The lamas followed Lama Gyatso into the water up to their waists.
We had the honor of hosting Dzatrul Rinpoche for one day in September, when he offered the sangha a longevity empowerment. Later that month Lama Gyatso left for pilgrimage in Asia. Several sangha members joined him for the last two weeks, and all met Chagdud Rinpoche in Kathmandu. Lama Gyatso returned in time to teach at the San Diego Museum of Art, to 300 people, many of them museum docents. For many it was their first Buddhist teaching.
Another Tools for Peace program was held at the UCLA Armand Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in October and November. In this pilot workshop, contemporary artists, Christie Frields and Mark Bradford, worked with youth over four weekends to create a three-dimensional peace mandala using modern materials and methods. We hope to expand this kind of workshop, as it was very well received by the museum and participants. We plan to publish teaching materials based on the last two years of testing.
T’hondup Ling’s annual Tröma drubchod was held during the week following Thanksgiving and was led by the most Venerable Gelong Kalsang Rinpoche, the vajra master from H.H. Chatral Rinpoche’s monastery.
-----
In 1984 H.E. Chagdud Rinpoche was invited to give a talk in Spokane. His teaching was very well received, and as a result, a practice group was formed that incorporated under the name, Padma Amrita. Rinpoche then connected Lama Tharchin with this new sangha, and they practiced under his direction for the next two years.
Then Lama Tharchin decided to move from Spokane to establish Padma Osal Ling in Corralitos, California, just south of Santa Cruz. A number of Spokane practitioners approached Chagdud Rinpoche in Cottage Grove and asked how they should proceed. At that time, I had recently completed a three-year retreat, so in one fell swoop Rinpoche ordained me as a lama and sent me to Spokane to guide the sangha there.
We found a very nice house on Sixth Avenue and established a practice schedule with two daily sessions, five tsok offerings a month, and Thursday evening teachings. That was in 1987, and after about three years the house on Sixth Avenue began to seem too small for us. Around that time our landlords offered us a bigger house exactly one block up the hill at 1014 West Seventh Avenue. So we moved and shortly thereafter became an official Chagdud Gonpa center with our new name, Padma Ling.
Over the years we have slowly been saving up a little money and now have enough to make a down payment on some property. Although our situation here has been wonderful and very stable, this stability is fleeting as we do not own the house, nor do we have a lease. Our landlords have plans to build condominiums on the property when their mother dies. So we are now looking for suitable property for our center. This may take some time because there needs to be the right interdependence to find a place where the dharma can flourish. We are being very careful to ensure that we make the right decision and secure a place that will enhance rather than hinder our ability to practice.
For this reason part of our annual winter retreat this year will be devoted to the practice of Riwo Sang Cho, the secret mountainside fire puja by Lhatsun Namkha Jigme. As usual this retreat will be held December 26 to 30. For these five days we will practice Lama Mipham’s Shower of Blessings and the Riwo Sang Cho. Please keep us in your prayers, so that we may have success in finding a suitable new home where the Vajrayana tradition may continue for future generations.
By Lama Inge Zangmo
-----
Vajra North sangha has been blessed with enlightened energy in the past months, in the form of our Chagdud Gonpa lamas. Lama Padma visited in February to continue his teaching on bodhicitta and expand this into bodhisattva training by introducing Atisha’s Mind Training and the first two chapters of the Bod- hicharyavatara. Approximately eighteen full-time participants attended the weekend retreat. We appreciated Lama Padma’s caring thoroughness in offering us these teachings.
In April, Roger, Dan, Al, and Garth traveled to Cottage Grove to be with Chagdud Rinpoche and participate in the Red Tara tsok.
In May, we were honored to have Tulku Jigme Rinpoche come to Whitehorse. With wonderful, flowing energy, he gave the sangha ngondro teachings, led ngondro practice, and then offered ten Chagdud Gonpa lineage empowerments— all in just four days. This was a new experience for some of us. We hope to welcome him back soon to the land of endless summer light!
In August, Lama Zangpo returned to lead a six-day Shower of Blessings retreat in a beautiful Yukon wilderness setting, which included a lake, cabin, and spacious open sky. At his encouragement, we stepped out of our tradition of holding weekend-long retreats in town, and discovered the benefit and value of a longer practice-oriented retreat in a more remote setting. We were fortunate to be able to use properties of two of our members, Roger Horner and Cheryl Buchan. Cheryl did much to make the retreat possible, donating her cabin and cooking incredible meals for the retreatants.
Many blessings were experienced during this time. They included appearances by a mysterious nocturnal visitor as well as a beautiful red fox. Some of us later remarked on how the re- treat seemed to bring the sangha closer together. We thank Lama Zangpo for his generosity and for leading us in this direction.
A special thank-you to Roger Horner, whose skillfulness, generosity, dedication, and friendship to others have kept our sangha going throughout the ebb and flow of phenomena over the years. As host, president, and program coordinator, he continues to skillfully bring the precious teachings to the north.
-----
Two new Chagdud Gonpa centers were recently established in northern California; Chhö Khor Ling, in Arcata, which began two years ago as a practice group, and Yeshe Ling in Napa Valley. Yeshe Ling, located on land that has hosted Chagdud Gonpa retreats for over a decade, is now considered Ati Ling’s retreat land. Both centers hold weekly Tara practices and regularly host visiting Chagdud Gonpa lamas for teachings and retreats.
A cozy group of practitioners visited the home of Dick and Amanda Wilcox from October 26 through 29 for a splendid four-day teaching and practice retreat with Lama Zangpo. He addressed the topic of Guru Yoga, using the text Shower of Blessings by Mipham Rinpoche as a context for practice and teach- ings. Daily practice sessions were divided up between ngondro practice, Shower of Blessings puja and tsok, and Lama Zangpo’s teachings in the evenings. His approach proved to be inspiring and applicable for everyone in the group, from beginning students to the more experienced practitioners.
We were also honored to have Lama Gyaltsen, his wife Lama Tsering, and son Pema; Lama Jigme Lodo and his wife Kidzom; Jangchub Palmo, her husband Ngawang, and son Gyurmed and family attending the tsok sessions. Everyone agreed that the re- treat should have been a full seven days.
On Monday evening, Lama Jigme offered his new Eugene store, Potala Gates, as a location for a public talk by Lama Zang- po. Thank you Lama Zangpo. We all rejoice in our connection and this opportunity for the dharma increase. May we nurture that connection by deepening our practice. We also thank Lama Jigme for his kindness in making his store available, and Dick and Amanda Wilcox for their efforts to ensure that we were able to hold our retreat in an inspiring atmosphere where we were comfortably housed and generously fed.
Our traditional Chenrezig potluck and three-day Tara Tsok were held in late November. It was well-attended by Lama Gyalt- sen, Lama Sonam, Lama Inge Zangmo, Jangchub Palmo, Gatsal Lama, and many old and new dharma friends.
-----
As part of the Tools for Peace program, T’hondup Ling sponsored three sand mandalas in Los Angeles this summer. At the invitation of Lama Gyatso, we were pleased to welcome Lama Thomge, Lama Rapjoer, and Lama Thrinley from Thubten Choeling, Trulshik Rinpoche’s monastery in Nepal. They arrived in July, and not only was it their first visit to America, but their first time on an airplane as well!
The first sand mandala was offered at the Glendale Galleria. We were given a space for two weeks and transformed it into an ongoing mandala workshop for anyone who chose to step inside. As the three lamas made a traditional Shi-tro sand mandala, the public was invited to create a community sand mandala next to the traditional Tibetan sand mandala. At the end of two weeks, paper mandalas made by the public lined the walls, and both sand mandalas were swept up in a dissolution ceremony and then carried to the Los Angeles River.
We are very grateful to Rigdzin Ling for the generous ongoing support they have offered toward the Mandala Project. We also extend our deep thanks to the Rigdzin Ling staff who tirelessly helped at the Galleria.
Next the lamas headed for Camp Scudder, a juvenile detention facility near Los Angeles. An intensive Tools for Peace workshop was held with the incarcerated youth as the lamas created another perfect sand mandala. The lamas’ personal accounts of overcoming difficult circumstances in their own lives helped inspire the youth to look within and create their own personal paper mandalas. The inmates then worked in groups to reach consensus on their community symbols, which were then integrated into their community sand mandala. They were particularly excited to be able to create their own mandala out of sand, as many of them are skilled artists. At the end of the program it was heartbreaking to leave the youth to their ordinary lives in detention, as many of them bloomed quickly when offered kindness and support.
The final public sand mandala was created at the San Diego Museum of Art, where the lamas worked next to the three-dimensional Shi-tro Mandala on display in the Asian Galleries. Following the sand mandala’s dissolution, the sand was carried to the beach and offered into the Pacific Ocean. The lamas followed Lama Gyatso into the water up to their waists.
We had the honor of hosting Dzatrul Rinpoche for one day in September, when he offered the sangha a longevity empowerment. Later that month Lama Gyatso left for pilgrimage in Asia. Several sangha members joined him for the last two weeks, and all met Chagdud Rinpoche in Kathmandu. Lama Gyatso returned in time to teach at the San Diego Museum of Art, to 300 people, many of them museum docents. For many it was their first Buddhist teaching.
Another Tools for Peace program was held at the UCLA Armand Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in October and November. In this pilot workshop, contemporary artists, Christie Frields and Mark Bradford, worked with youth over four weekends to create a three-dimensional peace mandala using modern materials and methods. We hope to expand this kind of workshop, as it was very well received by the museum and participants. We plan to publish teaching materials based on the last two years of testing.
T’hondup Ling’s annual Tröma drubchod was held during the week following Thanksgiving and was led by the most Venerable Gelong Kalsang Rinpoche, the vajra master from H.H. Chatral Rinpoche’s monastery.
-----
In 1984 H.E. Chagdud Rinpoche was invited to give a talk in Spokane. His teaching was very well received, and as a result, a practice group was formed that incorporated under the name, Padma Amrita. Rinpoche then connected Lama Tharchin with this new sangha, and they practiced under his direction for the next two years.
Then Lama Tharchin decided to move from Spokane to establish Padma Osal Ling in Corralitos, California, just south of Santa Cruz. A number of Spokane practitioners approached Chagdud Rinpoche in Cottage Grove and asked how they should proceed. At that time, I had recently completed a three-year retreat, so in one fell swoop Rinpoche ordained me as a lama and sent me to Spokane to guide the sangha there.
We found a very nice house on Sixth Avenue and established a practice schedule with two daily sessions, five tsok offerings a month, and Thursday evening teachings. That was in 1987, and after about three years the house on Sixth Avenue began to seem too small for us. Around that time our landlords offered us a bigger house exactly one block up the hill at 1014 West Seventh Avenue. So we moved and shortly thereafter became an official Chagdud Gonpa center with our new name, Padma Ling.
Over the years we have slowly been saving up a little money and now have enough to make a down payment on some property. Although our situation here has been wonderful and very stable, this stability is fleeting as we do not own the house, nor do we have a lease. Our landlords have plans to build condominiums on the property when their mother dies. So we are now looking for suitable property for our center. This may take some time because there needs to be the right interdependence to find a place where the dharma can flourish. We are being very careful to ensure that we make the right decision and secure a place that will enhance rather than hinder our ability to practice.
For this reason part of our annual winter retreat this year will be devoted to the practice of Riwo Sang Cho, the secret mountainside fire puja by Lhatsun Namkha Jigme. As usual this retreat will be held December 26 to 30. For these five days we will practice Lama Mipham’s Shower of Blessings and the Riwo Sang Cho. Please keep us in your prayers, so that we may have success in finding a suitable new home where the Vajrayana tradition may continue for future generations.
By Lama Inge Zangmo
-----
Vajra North sangha has been blessed with enlightened energy in the past months, in the form of our Chagdud Gonpa lamas. Lama Padma visited in February to continue his teaching on bodhicitta and expand this into bodhisattva training by introducing Atisha’s Mind Training and the first two chapters of the Bod- hicharyavatara. Approximately eighteen full-time participants attended the weekend retreat. We appreciated Lama Padma’s caring thoroughness in offering us these teachings.
In April, Roger, Dan, Al, and Garth traveled to Cottage Grove to be with Chagdud Rinpoche and participate in the Red Tara tsok.
In May, we were honored to have Tulku Jigme Rinpoche come to Whitehorse. With wonderful, flowing energy, he gave the sangha ngondro teachings, led ngondro practice, and then offered ten Chagdud Gonpa lineage empowerments— all in just four days. This was a new experience for some of us. We hope to welcome him back soon to the land of endless summer light!
In August, Lama Zangpo returned to lead a six-day Shower of Blessings retreat in a beautiful Yukon wilderness setting, which included a lake, cabin, and spacious open sky. At his encouragement, we stepped out of our tradition of holding weekend-long retreats in town, and discovered the benefit and value of a longer practice-oriented retreat in a more remote setting. We were fortunate to be able to use properties of two of our members, Roger Horner and Cheryl Buchan. Cheryl did much to make the retreat possible, donating her cabin and cooking incredible meals for the retreatants.
Many blessings were experienced during this time. They included appearances by a mysterious nocturnal visitor as well as a beautiful red fox. Some of us later remarked on how the re- treat seemed to bring the sangha closer together. We thank Lama Zangpo for his generosity and for leading us in this direction.
A special thank-you to Roger Horner, whose skillfulness, generosity, dedication, and friendship to others have kept our sangha going throughout the ebb and flow of phenomena over the years. As host, president, and program coordinator, he continues to skillfully bring the precious teachings to the north.
-----
Two new Chagdud Gonpa centers were recently established in northern California; Chhö Khor Ling, in Arcata, which began two years ago as a practice group, and Yeshe Ling in Napa Valley. Yeshe Ling, located on land that has hosted Chagdud Gonpa retreats for over a decade, is now considered Ati Ling’s retreat land. Both centers hold weekly Tara practices and regularly host visiting Chagdud Gonpa lamas for teachings and retreats.
A cozy group of practitioners visited the home of Dick and Amanda Wilcox from October 26 through 29 for a splendid four-day teaching and practice retreat with Lama Zangpo. He addressed the topic of Guru Yoga, using the text Shower of Blessings by Mipham Rinpoche as a context for practice and teach- ings. Daily practice sessions were divided up between ngondro practice, Shower of Blessings puja and tsok, and Lama Zangpo’s teachings in the evenings. His approach proved to be inspiring and applicable for everyone in the group, from beginning students to the more experienced practitioners.
We were also honored to have Lama Gyaltsen, his wife Lama Tsering, and son Pema; Lama Jigme Lodo and his wife Kidzom; Jangchub Palmo, her husband Ngawang, and son Gyurmed and family attending the tsok sessions. Everyone agreed that the re- treat should have been a full seven days.
On Monday evening, Lama Jigme offered his new Eugene store, Potala Gates, as a location for a public talk by Lama Zang- po. Thank you Lama Zangpo. We all rejoice in our connection and this opportunity for the dharma increase. May we nurture that connection by deepening our practice. We also thank Lama Jigme for his kindness in making his store available, and Dick and Amanda Wilcox for their efforts to ensure that we were able to hold our retreat in an inspiring atmosphere where we were comfortably housed and generously fed.
Our traditional Chenrezig potluck and three-day Tara Tsok were held in late November. It was well-attended by Lama Gyalt- sen, Lama Sonam, Lama Inge Zangmo, Jangchub Palmo, Gatsal Lama, and many old and new dharma friends.
-----
As part of the Tools for Peace program, T’hondup Ling sponsored three sand mandalas in Los Angeles this summer. At the invitation of Lama Gyatso, we were pleased to welcome Lama Thomge, Lama Rapjoer, and Lama Thrinley from Thubten Choeling, Trulshik Rinpoche’s monastery in Nepal. They arrived in July, and not only was it their first visit to America, but their first time on an airplane as well!
The first sand mandala was offered at the Glendale Galleria. We were given a space for two weeks and transformed it into an ongoing mandala workshop for anyone who chose to step inside. As the three lamas made a traditional Shi-tro sand mandala, the public was invited to create a community sand mandala next to the traditional Tibetan sand mandala. At the end of two weeks, paper mandalas made by the public lined the walls, and both sand mandalas were swept up in a dissolution ceremony and then carried to the Los Angeles River.
We are very grateful to Rigdzin Ling for the generous ongoing support they have offered toward the Mandala Project. We also extend our deep thanks to the Rigdzin Ling staff who tirelessly helped at the Galleria.
Next the lamas headed for Camp Scudder, a juvenile detention facility near Los Angeles. An intensive Tools for Peace workshop was held with the incarcerated youth as the lamas created another perfect sand mandala. The lamas’ personal accounts of overcoming difficult circumstances in their own lives helped inspire the youth to look within and create their own personal paper mandalas. The inmates then worked in groups to reach consensus on their community symbols, which were then integrated into their community sand mandala. They were particularly excited to be able to create their own mandala out of sand, as many of them are skilled artists. At the end of the program it was heartbreaking to leave the youth to their ordinary lives in detention, as many of them bloomed quickly when offered kindness and support.
The final public sand mandala was created at the San Diego Museum of Art, where the lamas worked next to the three-dimensional Shi-tro Mandala on display in the Asian Galleries. Following the sand mandala’s dissolution, the sand was carried to the beach and offered into the Pacific Ocean. The lamas followed Lama Gyatso into the water up to their waists.
We had the honor of hosting Dzatrul Rinpoche for one day in September, when he offered the sangha a longevity empowerment. Later that month Lama Gyatso left for pilgrimage in Asia. Several sangha members joined him for the last two weeks, and all met Chagdud Rinpoche in Kathmandu. Lama Gyatso returned in time to teach at the San Diego Museum of Art, to 300 people, many of them museum docents. For many it was their first Buddhist teaching.
Another Tools for Peace program was held at the UCLA Armand Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in October and November. In this pilot workshop, contemporary artists, Christie Frields and Mark Bradford, worked with youth over four weekends to create a three-dimensional peace mandala using modern materials and methods. We hope to expand this kind of workshop, as it was very well received by the museum and participants. We plan to publish teaching materials based on the last two years of testing.
T’hondup Ling’s annual Tröma drubchod was held during the week following Thanksgiving and was led by the most Venerable Gelong Kalsang Rinpoche, the vajra master from H.H. Chatral Rinpoche’s monastery.
-----
In 1984 H.E. Chagdud Rinpoche was invited to give a talk in Spokane. His teaching was very well received, and as a result, a practice group was formed that incorporated under the name, Padma Amrita. Rinpoche then connected Lama Tharchin with this new sangha, and they practiced under his direction for the next two years.
Then Lama Tharchin decided to move from Spokane to establish Padma Osal Ling in Corralitos, California, just south of Santa Cruz. A number of Spokane practitioners approached Chagdud Rinpoche in Cottage Grove and asked how they should proceed. At that time, I had recently completed a three-year retreat, so in one fell swoop Rinpoche ordained me as a lama and sent me to Spokane to guide the sangha there.
We found a very nice house on Sixth Avenue and established a practice schedule with two daily sessions, five tsok offerings a month, and Thursday evening teachings. That was in 1987, and after about three years the house on Sixth Avenue began to seem too small for us. Around that time our landlords offered us a bigger house exactly one block up the hill at 1014 West Seventh Avenue. So we moved and shortly thereafter became an official Chagdud Gonpa center with our new name, Padma Ling.
Over the years we have slowly been saving up a little money and now have enough to make a down payment on some property. Although our situation here has been wonderful and very stable, this stability is fleeting as we do not own the house, nor do we have a lease. Our landlords have plans to build condominiums on the property when their mother dies. So we are now looking for suitable property for our center. This may take some time because there needs to be the right interdependence to find a place where the dharma can flourish. We are being very careful to ensure that we make the right decision and secure a place that will enhance rather than hinder our ability to practice.
For this reason part of our annual winter retreat this year will be devoted to the practice of Riwo Sang Cho, the secret mountainside fire puja by Lhatsun Namkha Jigme. As usual this retreat will be held December 26 to 30. For these five days we will practice Lama Mipham’s Shower of Blessings and the Riwo Sang Cho. Please keep us in your prayers, so that we may have success in finding a suitable new home where the Vajrayana tradition may continue for future generations.
By Lama Inge Zangmo
-----
Vajra North sangha has been blessed with enlightened energy in the past months, in the form of our Chagdud Gonpa lamas. Lama Padma visited in February to continue his teaching on bodhicitta and expand this into bodhisattva training by introducing Atisha’s Mind Training and the first two chapters of the Bod- hicharyavatara. Approximately eighteen full-time participants attended the weekend retreat. We appreciated Lama Padma’s caring thoroughness in offering us these teachings.
In April, Roger, Dan, Al, and Garth traveled to Cottage Grove to be with Chagdud Rinpoche and participate in the Red Tara tsok.
In May, we were honored to have Tulku Jigme Rinpoche come to Whitehorse. With wonderful, flowing energy, he gave the sangha ngondro teachings, led ngondro practice, and then offered ten Chagdud Gonpa lineage empowerments— all in just four days. This was a new experience for some of us. We hope to welcome him back soon to the land of endless summer light!
In August, Lama Zangpo returned to lead a six-day Shower of Blessings retreat in a beautiful Yukon wilderness setting, which included a lake, cabin, and spacious open sky. At his encouragement, we stepped out of our tradition of holding weekend-long retreats in town, and discovered the benefit and value of a longer practice-oriented retreat in a more remote setting. We were fortunate to be able to use properties of two of our members, Roger Horner and Cheryl Buchan. Cheryl did much to make the retreat possible, donating her cabin and cooking incredible meals for the retreatants.
Many blessings were experienced during this time. They included appearances by a mysterious nocturnal visitor as well as a beautiful red fox. Some of us later remarked on how the re- treat seemed to bring the sangha closer together. We thank Lama Zangpo for his generosity and for leading us in this direction.
A special thank-you to Roger Horner, whose skillfulness, generosity, dedication, and friendship to others have kept our sangha going throughout the ebb and flow of phenomena over the years. As host, president, and program coordinator, he continues to skillfully bring the precious teachings to the north.
-----
Two new Chagdud Gonpa centers were recently established in northern California; Chhö Khor Ling, in Arcata, which began two years ago as a practice group, and Yeshe Ling in Napa Valley. Yeshe Ling, located on land that has hosted Chagdud Gonpa retreats for over a decade, is now considered Ati Ling’s retreat land. Both centers hold weekly Tara practices and regularly host visiting Chagdud Gonpa lamas for teachings and retreats.
A cozy group of practitioners visited the home of Dick and Amanda Wilcox from October 26 through 29 for a splendid four-day teaching and practice retreat with Lama Zangpo. He addressed the topic of Guru Yoga, using the text Shower of Blessings by Mipham Rinpoche as a context for practice and teach- ings. Daily practice sessions were divided up between ngondro practice, Shower of Blessings puja and tsok, and Lama Zangpo’s teachings in the evenings. His approach proved to be inspiring and applicable for everyone in the group, from beginning students to the more experienced practitioners.
We were also honored to have Lama Gyaltsen, his wife Lama Tsering, and son Pema; Lama Jigme Lodo and his wife Kidzom; Jangchub Palmo, her husband Ngawang, and son Gyurmed and family attending the tsok sessions. Everyone agreed that the re- treat should have been a full seven days.
On Monday evening, Lama Jigme offered his new Eugene store, Potala Gates, as a location for a public talk by Lama Zang- po. Thank you Lama Zangpo. We all rejoice in our connection and this opportunity for the dharma increase. May we nurture that connection by deepening our practice. We also thank Lama Jigme for his kindness in making his store available, and Dick and Amanda Wilcox for their efforts to ensure that we were able to hold our retreat in an inspiring atmosphere where we were comfortably housed and generously fed.
Our traditional Chenrezig potluck and three-day Tara Tsok were held in late November. It was well-attended by Lama Gyalt- sen, Lama Sonam, Lama Inge Zangmo, Jangchub Palmo, Gatsal Lama, and many old and new dharma friends.
-----
As part of the Tools for Peace program, T’hondup Ling sponsored three sand mandalas in Los Angeles this summer. At the invitation of Lama Gyatso, we were pleased to welcome Lama Thomge, Lama Rapjoer, and Lama Thrinley from Thubten Choeling, Trulshik Rinpoche’s monastery in Nepal. They arrived in July, and not only was it their first visit to America, but their first time on an airplane as well!
The first sand mandala was offered at the Glendale Galleria. We were given a space for two weeks and transformed it into an ongoing mandala workshop for anyone who chose to step inside. As the three lamas made a traditional Shi-tro sand mandala, the public was invited to create a community sand mandala next to the traditional Tibetan sand mandala. At the end of two weeks, paper mandalas made by the public lined the walls, and both sand mandalas were swept up in a dissolution ceremony and then carried to the Los Angeles River.
We are very grateful to Rigdzin Ling for the generous ongoing support they have offered toward the Mandala Project. We also extend our deep thanks to the Rigdzin Ling staff who tirelessly helped at the Galleria.
Next the lamas headed for Camp Scudder, a juvenile detention facility near Los Angeles. An intensive Tools for Peace workshop was held with the incarcerated youth as the lamas created another perfect sand mandala. The lamas’ personal accounts of overcoming difficult circumstances in their own lives helped inspire the youth to look within and create their own personal paper mandalas. The inmates then worked in groups to reach consensus on their community symbols, which were then integrated into their community sand mandala. They were particularly excited to be able to create their own mandala out of sand, as many of them are skilled artists. At the end of the program it was heartbreaking to leave the youth to their ordinary lives in detention, as many of them bloomed quickly when offered kindness and support.
The final public sand mandala was created at the San Diego Museum of Art, where the lamas worked next to the three-dimensional Shi-tro Mandala on display in the Asian Galleries. Following the sand mandala’s dissolution, the sand was carried to the beach and offered into the Pacific Ocean. The lamas followed Lama Gyatso into the water up to their waists.
We had the honor of hosting Dzatrul Rinpoche for one day in September, when he offered the sangha a longevity empowerment. Later that month Lama Gyatso left for pilgrimage in Asia. Several sangha members joined him for the last two weeks, and all met Chagdud Rinpoche in Kathmandu. Lama Gyatso returned in time to teach at the San Diego Museum of Art, to 300 people, many of them museum docents. For many it was their first Buddhist teaching.
Another Tools for Peace program was held at the UCLA Armand Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in October and November. In this pilot workshop, contemporary artists, Christie Frields and Mark Bradford, worked with youth over four weekends to create a three-dimensional peace mandala using modern materials and methods. We hope to expand this kind of workshop, as it was very well received by the museum and participants. We plan to publish teaching materials based on the last two years of testing.
T’hondup Ling’s annual Tröma drubchod was held during the week following Thanksgiving and was led by the most Venerable Gelong Kalsang Rinpoche, the vajra master from H.H. Chatral Rinpoche’s monastery.
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In 1984 H.E. Chagdud Rinpoche was invited to give a talk in Spokane. His teaching was very well received, and as a result, a practice group was formed that incorporated under the name, Padma Amrita. Rinpoche then connected Lama Tharchin with this new sangha, and they practiced under his direction for the next two years.
Then Lama Tharchin decided to move from Spokane to establish Padma Osal Ling in Corralitos, California, just south of Santa Cruz. A number of Spokane practitioners approached Chagdud Rinpoche in Cottage Grove and asked how they should proceed. At that time, I had recently completed a three-year retreat, so in one fell swoop Rinpoche ordained me as a lama and sent me to Spokane to guide the sangha there.
We found a very nice house on Sixth Avenue and established a practice schedule with two daily sessions, five tsok offerings a month, and Thursday evening teachings. That was in 1987, and after about three years the house on Sixth Avenue began to seem too small for us. Around that time our landlords offered us a bigger house exactly one block up the hill at 1014 West Seventh Avenue. So we moved and shortly thereafter became an official Chagdud Gonpa center with our new name, Padma Ling.
Over the years we have slowly been saving up a little money and now have enough to make a down payment on some property. Although our situation here has been wonderful and very stable, this stability is fleeting as we do not own the house, nor do we have a lease. Our landlords have plans to build condominiums on the property when their mother dies. So we are now looking for suitable property for our center. This may take some time because there needs to be the right interdependence to find a place where the dharma can flourish. We are being very careful to ensure that we make the right decision and secure a place that will enhance rather than hinder our ability to practice.
For this reason part of our annual winter retreat this year will be devoted to the practice of Riwo Sang Cho, the secret mountainside fire puja by Lhatsun Namkha Jigme. As usual this retreat will be held December 26 to 30. For these five days we will practice Lama Mipham’s Shower of Blessings and the Riwo Sang Cho. Please keep us in your prayers, so that we may have success in finding a suitable new home where the Vajrayana tradition may continue for future generations.
By Lama Inge Zangmo
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Vajra North sangha has been blessed with enlightened energy in the past months, in the form of our Chagdud Gonpa lamas. Lama Padma visited in February to continue his teaching on bodhicitta and expand this into bodhisattva training by introducing Atisha’s Mind Training and the first two chapters of the Bod- hicharyavatara. Approximately eighteen full-time participants attended the weekend retreat. We appreciated Lama Padma’s caring thoroughness in offering us these teachings.
In April, Roger, Dan, Al, and Garth traveled to Cottage Grove to be with Chagdud Rinpoche and participate in the Red Tara tsok.
In May, we were honored to have Tulku Jigme Rinpoche come to Whitehorse. With wonderful, flowing energy, he gave the sangha ngondro teachings, led ngondro practice, and then offered ten Chagdud Gonpa lineage empowerments— all in just four days. This was a new experience for some of us. We hope to welcome him back soon to the land of endless summer light!
In August, Lama Zangpo returned to lead a six-day Shower of Blessings retreat in a beautiful Yukon wilderness setting, which included a lake, cabin, and spacious open sky. At his encouragement, we stepped out of our tradition of holding weekend-long retreats in town, and discovered the benefit and value of a longer practice-oriented retreat in a more remote setting. We were fortunate to be able to use properties of two of our members, Roger Horner and Cheryl Buchan. Cheryl did much to make the retreat possible, donating her cabin and cooking incredible meals for the retreatants.
Many blessings were experienced during this time. They included appearances by a mysterious nocturnal visitor as well as a beautiful red fox. Some of us later remarked on how the re- treat seemed to bring the sangha closer together. We thank Lama Zangpo for his generosity and for leading us in this direction.
A special thank-you to Roger Horner, whose skillfulness, generosity, dedication, and friendship to others have kept our sangha going throughout the ebb and flow of phenomena over the years. As host, president, and program coordinator, he continues to skillfully bring the precious teachings to the north.
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Two new Chagdud Gonpa centers were recently established in northern California; Chhö Khor Ling, in Arcata, which began two years ago as a practice group, and Yeshe Ling in Napa Valley. Yeshe Ling, located on land that has hosted Chagdud Gonpa retreats for over a decade, is now considered Ati Ling’s retreat land. Both centers hold weekly Tara practices and regularly host visiting Chagdud Gonpa lamas for teachings and retreats.
A cozy group of practitioners visited the home of Dick and Amanda Wilcox from October 26 through 29 for a splendid four-day teaching and practice retreat with Lama Zangpo. He addressed the topic of Guru Yoga, using the text Shower of Blessings by Mipham Rinpoche as a context for practice and teach- ings. Daily practice sessions were divided up between ngondro practice, Shower of Blessings puja and tsok, and Lama Zangpo’s teachings in the evenings. His approach proved to be inspiring and applicable for everyone in the group, from beginning students to the more experienced practitioners.
We were also honored to have Lama Gyaltsen, his wife Lama Tsering, and son Pema; Lama Jigme Lodo and his wife Kidzom; Jangchub Palmo, her husband Ngawang, and son Gyurmed and family attending the tsok sessions. Everyone agreed that the re- treat should have been a full seven days.
On Monday evening, Lama Jigme offered his new Eugene store, Potala Gates, as a location for a public talk by Lama Zang- po. Thank you Lama Zangpo. We all rejoice in our connection and this opportunity for the dharma increase. May we nurture that connection by deepening our practice. We also thank Lama Jigme for his kindness in making his store available, and Dick and Amanda Wilcox for their efforts to ensure that we were able to hold our retreat in an inspiring atmosphere where we were comfortably housed and generously fed.
Our traditional Chenrezig potluck and three-day Tara Tsok were held in late November. It was well-attended by Lama Gyalt- sen, Lama Sonam, Lama Inge Zangmo, Jangchub Palmo, Gatsal Lama, and many old and new dharma friends.
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As part of the Tools for Peace program, T’hondup Ling sponsored three sand mandalas in Los Angeles this summer. At the invitation of Lama Gyatso, we were pleased to welcome Lama Thomge, Lama Rapjoer, and Lama Thrinley from Thubten Choeling, Trulshik Rinpoche’s monastery in Nepal. They arrived in July, and not only was it their first visit to America, but their first time on an airplane as well!
The first sand mandala was offered at the Glendale Galleria. We were given a space for two weeks and transformed it into an ongoing mandala workshop for anyone who chose to step inside. As the three lamas made a traditional Shi-tro sand mandala, the public was invited to create a community sand mandala next to the traditional Tibetan sand mandala. At the end of two weeks, paper mandalas made by the public lined the walls, and both sand mandalas were swept up in a dissolution ceremony and then carried to the Los Angeles River.
We are very grateful to Rigdzin Ling for the generous ongoing support they have offered toward the Mandala Project. We also extend our deep thanks to the Rigdzin Ling staff who tirelessly helped at the Galleria.
Next the lamas headed for Camp Scudder, a juvenile detention facility near Los Angeles. An intensive Tools for Peace workshop was held with the incarcerated youth as the lamas created another perfect sand mandala. The lamas’ personal accounts of overcoming difficult circumstances in their own lives helped inspire the youth to look within and create their own personal paper mandalas. The inmates then worked in groups to reach consensus on their community symbols, which were then integrated into their community sand mandala. They were particularly excited to be able to create their own mandala out of sand, as many of them are skilled artists. At the end of the program it was heartbreaking to leave the youth to their ordinary lives in detention, as many of them bloomed quickly when offered kindness and support.
The final public sand mandala was created at the San Diego Museum of Art, where the lamas worked next to the three-dimensional Shi-tro Mandala on display in the Asian Galleries. Following the sand mandala’s dissolution, the sand was carried to the beach and offered into the Pacific Ocean. The lamas followed Lama Gyatso into the water up to their waists.
We had the honor of hosting Dzatrul Rinpoche for one day in September, when he offered the sangha a longevity empowerment. Later that month Lama Gyatso left for pilgrimage in Asia. Several sangha members joined him for the last two weeks, and all met Chagdud Rinpoche in Kathmandu. Lama Gyatso returned in time to teach at the San Diego Museum of Art, to 300 people, many of them museum docents. For many it was their first Buddhist teaching.
Another Tools for Peace program was held at the UCLA Armand Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in October and November. In this pilot workshop, contemporary artists, Christie Frields and Mark Bradford, worked with youth over four weekends to create a three-dimensional peace mandala using modern materials and methods. We hope to expand this kind of workshop, as it was very well received by the museum and participants. We plan to publish teaching materials based on the last two years of testing.
T’hondup Ling’s annual Tröma drubchod was held during the week following Thanksgiving and was led by the most Venerable Gelong Kalsang Rinpoche, the vajra master from H.H. Chatral Rinpoche’s monastery.
-----
In 1984 H.E. Chagdud Rinpoche was invited to give a talk in Spokane. His teaching was very well received, and as a result, a practice group was formed that incorporated under the name, Padma Amrita. Rinpoche then connected Lama Tharchin with this new sangha, and they practiced under his direction for the next two years.
Then Lama Tharchin decided to move from Spokane to establish Padma Osal Ling in Corralitos, California, just south of Santa Cruz. A number of Spokane practitioners approached Chagdud Rinpoche in Cottage Grove and asked how they should proceed. At that time, I had recently completed a three-year retreat, so in one fell swoop Rinpoche ordained me as a lama and sent me to Spokane to guide the sangha there.
We found a very nice house on Sixth Avenue and established a practice schedule with two daily sessions, five tsok offerings a month, and Thursday evening teachings. That was in 1987, and after about three years the house on Sixth Avenue began to seem too small for us. Around that time our landlords offered us a bigger house exactly one block up the hill at 1014 West Seventh Avenue. So we moved and shortly thereafter became an official Chagdud Gonpa center with our new name, Padma Ling.
Over the years we have slowly been saving up a little money and now have enough to make a down payment on some property. Although our situation here has been wonderful and very stable, this stability is fleeting as we do not own the house, nor do we have a lease. Our landlords have plans to build condominiums on the property when their mother dies. So we are now looking for suitable property for our center. This may take some time because there needs to be the right interdependence to find a place where the dharma can flourish. We are being very careful to ensure that we make the right decision and secure a place that will enhance rather than hinder our ability to practice.
For this reason part of our annual winter retreat this year will be devoted to the practice of Riwo Sang Cho, the secret mountainside fire puja by Lhatsun Namkha Jigme. As usual this retreat will be held December 26 to 30. For these five days we will practice Lama Mipham’s Shower of Blessings and the Riwo Sang Cho. Please keep us in your prayers, so that we may have success in finding a suitable new home where the Vajrayana tradition may continue for future generations.
By Lama Inge Zangmo
-----
Vajra North sangha has been blessed with enlightened energy in the past months, in the form of our Chagdud Gonpa lamas. Lama Padma visited in February to continue his teaching on bodhicitta and expand this into bodhisattva training by introducing Atisha’s Mind Training and the first two chapters of the Bod- hicharyavatara. Approximately eighteen full-time participants attended the weekend retreat. We appreciated Lama Padma’s caring thoroughness in offering us these teachings.
In April, Roger, Dan, Al, and Garth traveled to Cottage Grove to be with Chagdud Rinpoche and participate in the Red Tara tsok.
In May, we were honored to have Tulku Jigme Rinpoche come to Whitehorse. With wonderful, flowing energy, he gave the sangha ngondro teachings, led ngondro practice, and then offered ten Chagdud Gonpa lineage empowerments— all in just four days. This was a new experience for some of us. We hope to welcome him back soon to the land of endless summer light!
In August, Lama Zangpo returned to lead a six-day Shower of Blessings retreat in a beautiful Yukon wilderness setting, which included a lake, cabin, and spacious open sky. At his encouragement, we stepped out of our tradition of holding weekend-long retreats in town, and discovered the benefit and value of a longer practice-oriented retreat in a more remote setting. We were fortunate to be able to use properties of two of our members, Roger Horner and Cheryl Buchan. Cheryl did much to make the retreat possible, donating her cabin and cooking incredible meals for the retreatants.
Many blessings were experienced during this time. They included appearances by a mysterious nocturnal visitor as well as a beautiful red fox. Some of us later remarked on how the re- treat seemed to bring the sangha closer together. We thank Lama Zangpo for his generosity and for leading us in this direction.
A special thank-you to Roger Horner, whose skillfulness, generosity, dedication, and friendship to others have kept our sangha going throughout the ebb and flow of phenomena over the years. As host, president, and program coordinator, he continues to skillfully bring the precious teachings to the north.
-----
Two new Chagdud Gonpa centers were recently established in northern California; Chhö Khor Ling, in Arcata, which began two years ago as a practice group, and Yeshe Ling in Napa Valley. Yeshe Ling, located on land that has hosted Chagdud Gonpa retreats for over a decade, is now considered Ati Ling’s retreat land. Both centers hold weekly Tara practices and regularly host visiting Chagdud Gonpa lamas for teachings and retreats.
