2001 In Retrospect2001 was an incredible year for the Ripa Ladrang Foundation and all its friends and members. It was our most extensive Teaching Tour with teachings offered in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Ripa Ladrang Foundation also had the opportunity to work with other Dharma organizations to enable His Eminence to provide teachings at the Vajrayana Foundation, Pema Osel Ling in Santa Cruz, the newly formed Reme Foundation in Chicago and Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Hundreds of people had the opportunity to receive direct teachings from His Eminence this year. This is such a blessing. It was also a very big year for the New Treasure's Fund Raising Teams with our special Thangka Events in Los Angeles and New York City. Many homes are now graced by the beautiful artwork of Cho Tsering reflecting the images of His Eminence's own Termas. The Zazen Concert at Peterson Hall in NYC was enjoyable with all of the exquisite hand painted Thangkas on the wall, the new age group Zazen playing amazing music and the Ripa Masters watching. His Eminence calmly told us it was his first music concert! In Los Angeles the Thangka Event was actually a silent auction held in the atrium garden of the Asia Pacific Museum. The theme for the evening was Tibetan culture, demonstrated by the beautiful art works, lanterns, furniture, prayer flags and of course, tea. His Eminence' son, Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche, presided over the event. The Foundation would like to welcome all of the new attendees this year. For all of us who worked at the events, it has been wonderful to meet so many new people in the Dharma community. We would also like to thank all our volunteers who made each of these events possible and all the donors who generously continue to support the building of the New Treasures' monastery.
September 11thAlong with these great celebrations of the Teaching Tour, this year was marked by the tragic events on September 11th. As soon as local students saw the events on the news, they raced to His Eminence's home in the New York area to alert him. His Eminence and his son, Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche, were already in practice on behalf of the Sangha and the lives at peril. That day and the days that followed were tremendous lessons for all of us in impermanence, and above all, compassion. Students from all over the globe, along with His Eminence's own Monks at the Rigon Thupten Mindolling Monastery in Orissa, all joined in prayers for those who lost their lives that day.
Special Gesar Prayer and PracticeAfter September 11th, while His Eminence was teaching in the San Francisco area, some students asked what more could they do to aid the world and its people in this time of great disturbance. Spontaneously, from the depths of his wisdom mind and compassionate heart, His Eminence wrote a special Gesar Prayer and short Gesar Solka practice for all of his students. These were given to all friends and students of His Eminence for daily practice to aid others in these times. If you were unable to attend the teaching events but would like to receive these special prayers and practices to do at home, please email us at ripa_ladrang@hotmail.com with your address and a copy will be sent to you. His Eminence has indicated everyone can do these daily practice and prayers to assist the world at this time.
News of the Ripa MastersH.E. Namkha Drimed Rinpoche spent a week in December at the New Treasures site in Pharping, Nepal blessing and consecrating precious substances that will be used to fill the many new statues for the New Treasures monastery. These statues include Buddha, Guru Rinpoche, Gesar, Hayagriva, Avalokiteshvara, Dorje Drolod, Amitayu, Tara and many others. Rinpoche blessed enormous mounds of mantras, wealth vases, and other sacred items. He is now in Orissa, India, at the Monastery, where he will begin to prepare for Lhosar. Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche is teaching in Europe, traveling in all major European countries since November and will continue to do so through December. His Dzog Chen retreat will be held December 27 to January 2 at Les Hameaux du Sautet in Corps, France. Then he will depart for Japan. He has Padma Ling centers in these countries and hundreds of students have eagerly awaited his return from the U.S.
Rinpoche Across the Ages
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| Guru Rinpoche Day/Meeting | Monthly Meeting | Practice Focus | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | San Francisco | New York | ||
| 1/13 | 1/12 | 1/13 | Ngondro | |
| 1/23 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 2/10 | 2/9 | 2/10 | Guru Rinpoche | |
| 2/22 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 3/10 | 3/9 | 3/10 | Peaceful Gesar | |
| 3/24 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 4/14 | 4/13 | 4/14 | Wrathful Gesar | |
| 4/22 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 5/12 | 5/11 | 5/12 | Ngondro | |
| 5/21 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 6/9 | 6/8 | 6/9 | Guru Rinpoche | |
| 6/20 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 7/14 | 7/13 | 7/14 | Peaceful Gesar | |
| 7/19 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 8/11 | 8/10 | 8/11 | Wrathful Gesar | |
| 8/17 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 9/15 | 9/14 | 9/15 | Ngondro | |
| 9/16 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 10/6 | 10/5 | 10/6 | Guru Rinpoche | |
| 10/15 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 11/10 | 11/09 | 11/10 | Peaceful Gesar | |
| 11/14 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 12/8 | 12/7 | 12/8 | Wrathful Gesar | |
| 12/14 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 12/29 | 12/28 | 12/29 | Ngondro | |
| 1/13/03 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 1/26/03 | 1/25/03 | 1/26/03 | Guru Rinpoche | |
| 2/11/03 | Guru Rinpoche | |||
| 2/23/03 | 2/22/03 | 2/23/03 | Peaceful Gesar | |
Monthly meeting dates subject to reconfirmation. Send us your contact info to learn of locations. Thanks!
Please contact the Foundation at ripasangha@hotmail.com
if you would like to attend.
Sangha News!
This year the Sangha Secretaries will be bringing us the news from each of our local Sangha groups along with any special events in their communities.
New York Sangha
The New York Area Ripa Ladrang Sangha is growing! We are very pleased that new students from this year's teaching tour are starting to join the meetings and participate in group practice sessions. We continue to meet either in someone's home in the NYC/Brooklyn area or at a Manhattan public location. Following our October Sangha meeting, some members traveled to the 45th Day Puja sponsored by the Tibetan community in New York. Offerings were made for the benefit of the souls who died on 9/11 and special practices were made, to help them through the Bardo. In December, we made a trip to the Newark Museum where there is a lovely collection of Asian art, including a shrine and seven-vase offering. One of our Sangha members was part of the group that facilitated and sponsored His Holiness, The Dalai Lama's visit to the museum to consecrate the shrine. We heard some great stories and had a lot of laughs and of course, much tea. At our December meeting we were thrilled to view a beautiful exhibit of the art of Robert Beers.
Plans for the first two quarters of 2002 include a trip to the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art in Staten Island and a trip to Woodstock, Feb 12th to attend a pre-Lhosar fire puja and see the American seat of His Holiness the Karmapa. H.H. The Dalai Lama will be in New York giving an empowerment and teaching April 19-21 and many of us hope to attend that auspicious event. For all of our Sangha Members who are traveling in January and February to Brazil, Nepal, California, UK, France, Chicago, Russia, and Korea - we wish all of you a safe journey.
Bay Area Sangha
The Bay Area Ripa Ladrang Sangha is also growing! Since our first Teaching Event was held this year in Berkeley, we have received many requests from new attendees for more information on our local Sangha meetings. In 2002, we will be making sure all of these new members are able to attend the Sangha meetings and share in the benefit of group practice. We usually meet on Saturday afternoons for our monthly meetings as this allows people who come from afar to have the morning for travel plans.
As many in our Bay Area communities are dealing with the difficult economic situation, we asked His Eminence to aid all of us by performing a Wealth Puja on behalf of our region. His Eminence graciously agreed and conducted a Gesar Wealth Puja locally while in the Bay area during the Teaching Tour.
In 2002, we will be looking again to host the Ripa Masters here in the Bay Area for a teaching event. Until then, we will be working on refining and deepening our practice!
Los Angeles Sangha
The Los Angeles Sangha is our newest Sangha and is now meeting regularly in the local homes of Sangha Members in LA. As we hosted a Teaching Event and a New Treasures Fund Raising event this year, we have only just truly recovered and packed away the last of our tour items for next year! We are so very happy to have met so many wonderful Dharma practitioners from the Los Angeles area through the events and look forward to maintaining these friendships. We are also very grateful for all of the assistance we received from the Chagdud organization in helping us set up our events and loaning us the beautiful throne that the Ripa Master sat on during the events in LA.
After the Sangha Meeting held on the 16th of December a couple of the members made a trip to Mount Washington, to attend the Open House at Sri Yogananda's Self Realization Fellowship. It was beautifully decorated for the Christmas holidays. Snacks were provided, and carols enjoyed by all.
We usually hold our monthly Sangha meetings on a Sunday and will be adding
the monthly Guru Rinpoche practice session on Guru Rinpoche Day, the 10th
day of the Tibetan Calendar, as the Ripa Masters requested. We look forward
to sharing more with all of you as we progress!
New Chicago Sangha
The Ripa Ladrang Foundation is very pleased to announce that starting in 2002, we will have an official Chicago Area Sangha. His Eminence has asked a local Chicago student to be our Sangha Secretary for this area. More information to follow on this soon!
The favorite Holiday present this year has been The Encyclopedia
of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs by Robert Beer. A must for
those who wish to unravel the secrets of their new Thangkas!
Monks
This month a new document will be published on the Ripa Ladrang web site regarding the importance of sponsoring Rinpoche's growing population of Buddhist monks. If you can afford to sponsor a monk, it would be greatly appreciated. With the increasing number of monks at Rigon Thupten Mindolling in Orissa, India and the new monks coming in to Pharping for the new monastery there, the Ripa masters have a large financial responsibility for monks. A monk in India can be sponsored for $350/year and a monk in Nepal is $400/year. This can be sent quarterly and credit cards can be used. It is very rewarding to have monk friends, knowing you are aiding someone who dedicates their life to working for humanity.
Quote of the Month
"Bodhisattvas are like the mightiest of warriors;
But their enemies are not common foes of flesh and bone….
Their mission is to harm ignorance and delusion, never living beings.
These they look upon with kindness, patience and empathy,
Cherishing them as a mother cherishes her only child.
They are the real heroes, calmly facing any hardship
In order to bring peace, happiness and liberation to the world."
--- The Thirteenth Dalai Lama