This Week at Kurukulla Center                               August 16, 2010 - August 22, 2010
From the Director


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 Dear Kurukulla Community,

Geshe-la update
Geshe Tsulga-la
Our precious teacher Geshe Tsulga-la mentioned in class this morning he had not been feeling well the past couple of weeks, so please accentuate the practices we've been doing for his good health and long life. The latest tallies are:

Vajrapani malas - 19
White Tara malas - 83
Golden Light Sutra recitations - 3
Vajrapani sadhana - 2
White Tara sadhana - 1
Black Manjushri sadhana - 1
Animal liberations - 2 Daddy Long-legs, 7 spiders, 1 beetle, 19 ants, 1 horse fly, 1 grasshopper and 1 poodle


Thank you so much! Rejoice! If you would like to participate in these practices, please let us know. Of course, you can dedicate any practice you do to Geshe-la's good health and long life.


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Choden Rinpoche

Some us were very happy to greet Rinpoche at Logan on Friday night. He and his attendants stayed at Askold's house for a night before heading off to Milarepa Center (thank you Askold!). Many of us will be going up for the Kalachakra initiation next weekend, hence the Center will be closed Sunday. The other main change to our regular program is that after this Tuesday, there will be no Tuesday and Friday morning meditation with Tsunma-la until Tuesday August 31.


Event Volunteers

We will need volunteers to help ensure every aspect of Choden Rinpoche's visit go well, so as many beings can benefit from this wonderful opportunity as possible.  Volunteers are needed to help set up before and clean up after each event, especially the outdoor event, as well as a host of other responsibilities.  If you are able and willing to help out during Choden Rinpoche's events, please email Tsültrim with what dates you are available and he will be happy to find an opportunity for you to offer service!


Hosting visitors & giving rides
Can you open your home for a few nights in August for out-of-town guests? A number of visitors from distant and no-so-distant places need a place to stay around the time of Venerable Choden Rinpoche's visit. They either plan on attending his teachings at Kurukulla Center or need a place to stay on their way to and from Rinpoche's events at Milarepa Center. If you are able to host one or more guests for one, two, three or four nights, please let Tsültrim know. Some of these visitors will also need rides to and from Milarepa Center in Vermont. Please let us know if you are able to help.


Publicity

Please print out the flier for Rinpoche's visit and post it wherever you can to give as many people as possible the chance to connect with this wonderful teacher. Thank you.


Expenses

We still need to raise over $1,000 to meet our expenses for Rinpoche visit to Kurukulla Thursday August 26 through Sunday 29, so please help if you can. Thank you very much.

Here's a video of lama Zopa Rinpoche preparing food for Choden Rinpoche. It's a bit hard to hear what he's saying but you can feel the devotion!


2010.08.16 LZR Offering Food Video



Two pujas this week.

Please note that we have Tara Puja on Tuesday evening and Guru Puja on Thursday.


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The Kalachakra Stupa at Kurukulla Center

Thanks to the extremely hard work of Damchoe, Emmanuel, Walter, our artists Sonam and Jambel, many members of the Tibetan community and others, we're making rapid progress with our beautiful stupa, the Tara pond and the circumambulation pathways.


Devin
Devin digs through his tools, preparing for a long day of work!

Troy painting stupa
Troy takes a break from painting the stupa

Sarah painting stupa
Sarah doesn't take breaks!
Stupa 1
Members painting at every level!

Stupa 2
Absolutely stunning... Imagine when it is complete!

Mer with pinnacle
Mer paints the pinnacle, after having gilded it with gold leaf.  Not only did Mer and Troy Stafford gild the pinnacle and the gate in record time, but they also sponsored all of the gold used in the process.  A huge "Thank you!" for their generosity and commitment to the liberation of all beings!

Kalacakra

Kalacakra himself - Exquisitely crafted, straight from Nepal

If you have not yet become a "fan" of us on Facebook, you may not have had a chance to see some of the other recent photo updates of the stupa progress.  I invite you to check out our latest album, and become a fan while you're there!


We still need lots of help painting the stupa and getting the garden into shape, so please let me know if you can help. Thank you.

Thank you so much and I hope to see you all at Choden Rinpoche's teachings

 

Thank you again for your wonderful support.


Much love,

 


Nicholas Ribush, Director

  Nick Ribush
  Director
Calendar of Events

Monday, August 16


Introduction to Buddhism with Ven. Ani YesheAni Yeshe-la

7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Introduction to Buddhism is an on-going series. Each class introduces a new topic as a way of providing newcomers a broad overview of Buddhism. The course is designed for those who are new or newly acquainted with the Center to hear basic Buddhist teachings, ideas and concepts, especially those emphasized by our resident lama (teacher), Geshe Tsulga. Bring all your questions. It is fine to attend any class without having attended prior classes. All welcome!

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Tuesday, August 17

Morning Meditation with Tsunma-la (Sue Macy)Ani Tsunma-la

6:30 am to 7:00 am

Start your day on the right foot by calming your mind, setting your day's purpose to be a meaningful one and remembering to just breathe! Resident nun Tsunma-la leads basic meditations that help stabilize the mind by learning to focus on the breath. By using these simple techniques, you can bring a sense of tranquility to your day. If you plan to join Tsunma-la in the meditation hall (gompa) at Kurukulla Center please arrive a few minutes early. We will start promptly at 6:30 am. Feel free to listen live online. Please note: This is the last Morning Meditation until August 31.


Tara PujaGreen Tara
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
Tara is a female Buddha and represents the enlightened activity of the Buddhas. Once a month, we pay homage to her by doing practices for this specially loved Buddha. Practices to Tara are said to remove obstacles to both our spiritual and worldly success. Since most of the recitation is done in English, the Tara puja is easily accessible to those unfamiliar with this type of chanting ceremony practice.

It is customary when attending a puja to bring offerings such as flowers, unscented tea lights, fruit or cookies, or to make monetary offerings to the ordained sangha or to Kurukulla Center itself. Although we encourage you to do so, it is not required.

There is no Yoga & Meditation with Wendy Cook this week, it will return August 31.

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Wednesday, August 18


Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas with Venerable Geshe TenleyGeshe Tenley-la

7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Geshe-la continues an explanation of the Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas by Togme Sangpo (1245-1369.) Come and discover what it means to model your actions after those of a bodhisattva. All are welcome. A copy of the text will be distributed in class and a commentary by His Holiness the Dalai Lama is available on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website. Other contemporary commentaries are available for purchase in our bookstore. Feel free to listen live online.

 

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Thursday, August 19

Guru Puja (Lama Chopa) Lama Chopa

7:00 pm - 8:45 pm

The word puja means "to please" and has the connotation to please through offerings and practice. The Guru Puja lays the whole path to enlightenment on our mindstream, connects us more strongly to our teachers, allows us to accumulate skies of merit and purifies eons of negative karma. We perform this practice on the 10th and 25th of the lunar Tibetan calendar, a time that is special for making the "tsok" offering, a particular ritual inserted into the Guru Puja. We chant the first 2/3rds of this puja in Tibetan and the last 1/3 we recite in English.

To create merit, positive connection, it is traditional to bring offerings for the altar, which then becomes the basis for the visualized offerings made during the puja; cookies, fruit, flowers, tea lights (unscented), or saffron are suggested.

 

All are welcome.


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Friday, August 20


There is no Morning Meditation with Tsunma-la (Sue Macy) today; the next will meet August 31.

 

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Sunday, August 22

Kurukulla Center is closed this weekend.

 

The class on the Wisdom Chapter from Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Lifewith Venerable Geshe Tsulga returns Sunday, September 5.


     Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies
     68 Magoun Avenue
     Medford, MA 02155
     617.624.0177
     http://www.kurukulla.org
May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes!