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This Week at Kurukulla Center
Decermber 20, 2010 - December 26, 2010
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From the Director
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 Quick Links About Us Programs Calendar Audio Teachings Stupa Project Contact Us eNews Archive We need your support!  With over $8,000 of monthly expenses, we need your continued support. Please consider making a one-time donation, becoming a member, or increasing your membership. Thank you for all you do to support our center and the Dharma!  Kurukulla Center is affiliated with the FPMT. If you would like to receive the FPMT's monthly newsletter, please subscribe here.  In affiliation with the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.  Follow us on Facebook!  Visit us on our Blog! |
Dear Kurukulla Community, Thank you for your support of the Center. We have had a busy week, with three pujas and a full schedule of classes! As the holiday season descends upon us our schedule lightens ever so slightly. We do have a Medicine Buddha Puja this upcoming Tuesday evening at 7:00 pm, as well as another Medicine Buddha Puja on Christmas morning at 10:00 am, and our Wednesday and Sunday classes continue as normal. Last week saw the last Discovering Buddhism class of 2010, and this upcoming Monday will be the final Buddhism in a Nutshell for the year, but starting in January we will be back with more Discovering Buddhism, with Meditation 101, and as the year progresses with Kurukulla South and a number of guest teachers as well. So, we have both a lot to be thankful for and a lot to look forward to... and it is all because of you, the wonderful Kurukulla Community, and all you do, thank you! Have a great holiday season!
Annual New Year's Vajrasattva Purification Retreat at Milarepa Centerwith Ven. Amy Miller December 29, 2010 - January 1, 2011 We wanted to share with you this wonderful retreat opportunity at our sister center in Vermont!
Ring in the New Year in a most meaningful way by joining this deeply purifying retreat. This retreat is appropriate for all levels of practitioners and a great way to gain familiarity with how to do effective retreat. Videos of Lama Yeshe will be shown throughout the retreat and there will be sessions of guided visualization, mantra recitation, and silent meditation.
More information about the retreat, including registration information, can be found on Milarepa's website.  New Year's Eve at Kurukulla Center
In years past we have hosted a potluck and a movie on New Year's Eve, starting early enough in the evening (5 pm) that it doesn't preclude other possible plans or gatherings. We wanted to see if there was interest in hosting a similar even this year. Please email Tsultrim at tsultrimdavis@kurukulla.org by Thursday, December 23 if you are interested. If there is enough interest we would be excited to host another gathering, and we will be sure to keep you informed.
Kurukulla Center Cookbook Available We are very happy to announce that we have available copies of The Compassionate Kitchen: Vegan Desserts from Kurukulla Center, a cookbook compiled by SPC Tsültrim Davis with recipes for more than 50 different mouth-watering vegan desserts, all of which he has offered at the Center at one time or another! The cook book costs $15 and will be available through the KKC bookstore. If you are unable to make it to the Center but would like a copy, please email Tsültrim at tsultrimdavis@kurukulla.org and he can arrange to have one mailed to you (with a $3 charge to cover shipping costs). All profits support Kurukulla Center and its many activities. They make great holiday gifts! They aren't many left, get yours today!
End of the Year Annual Appeal Thank you so much for helping us be within 25% of our year-end goal of $20,000! Please help us reach (and exceed!) that goal to ensure the sustainability of the Center. We have $5,000 left to go. $20,000 might seem like a large amount of money, but it is less than 3 months' operating costs at the Center. It is so important that the Center remain financially healthy so that we can fulfill precious Geshe Tsulga's wish that Kurukulla remain to benefit others for generations to come, and we can do that only with your support.
Life-Sized Maitreya Statues Available from the Maitreya Project
New International Buddhist Institute being developed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Thank you again for your wonderful support. With love,  Debra Thornburg Director |
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Calendar of Events
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Monday, December 20
Prayers for Geshe Tsulga-la's Passing 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Join us for recitations of Chanting the Names of Manjushri and the King of Prayers, prayers requested of us both by our precious teacher Geshe Tsulga-la, as well as by his teachers at this time.
Buddhism in a Nutshell with Tsültrim Davis 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Buddhism in a Nutshell is an introductory course on Buddhism for complete beginners, organized by our parent organization the FPMT. It presents basic Buddhist philosophy and principles within the Tibetan Mahayana context, and provides simple meditation instruction. Tonight is the last course of the four series course. This is a great way to introduce friends and family to Buddhism, we encourage you to invite your friends!
Tuesday, December 21
Morning Meditation with Ven. Tsunma-la (Sue Macy) 6:30 am - 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 online! Prayers for Geshe Tsulga-la's Passing 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Join us for recitations of Chanting the Names of Manjushri and the King of Prayers, prayers requested of us both by our precious teacher Geshe Tsulga-la, as well as by his teachers at this time.
Medicine Buddha Puja (Lunar Eclipse) 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Puja is a Sanskrit word that means pleasing by making offerings. Making offering prayers to the Medicine Buddhas is the same as offering to numberless buddhas and brings inconceivable merit like the limitless sky. The special mantra of the Medicine Buddha quickly actualizes prayers that the Medicine Buddhas made in the past: to bring happiness to all beings by showing them the causes of enlightenment, pacifying their problems, fulfilling their positive wishes and, especially, helping those afflicted by illness. The Medicine Buddha practice is extremely powerful and beneficial for the sick and dying, helps those who have already passed away, allows those practicing healing methods to benefit others more profoundly and helps bring success in general.
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.
Wednesday, December 22
Prayers for Geshe Tsulga-la's Passing 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Join us for recitations of Chanting the Names of Manjushri and the King of Prayers, prayers requested of us both by our precious teacher Geshe Tsulga-la, as well as by his teachers at this time.
Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas with Venerable Geshe Tenley 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.
Thursday, December 23
Prayers for Geshe Tsulga-la's Passing 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Join us for recitations of Chanting the Names of Manjushri and the King of Prayers, prayers requested of us both by our precious teacher Geshe Tsulga-la, as well as by his teachers at this time.
There is no Dicovering Buddhism this week, it will return in 2011.
Friday, December 24
Prayers for Geshe Tsulga-la's Passing 6:30 am - 7:30 am Please note the different time Join us for recitations of Chanting the Names of Manjushri and the King of Prayers, prayers requested of us both by our precious teacher Geshe Tsulga-la, as well as by his teachers at this time.
Saturday, December 25
Medicine Buddha Puja in recognition of the fifth "seventh day" after Geshe-la's passing 10:00 am - 11:00 am We will be performing a puja every 7 days, as is Tibetan Buddhist custom. This is a wonderful opportunity to engage in practice, born from Geshe Tsulga-la's generosity and compassion. Today we will offer a Medicine Buddha Puja.
Puja is a Sanskrit word that means pleasing by making offerings. Making offering prayers to the Medicine Buddhas is the same as offering to numberless buddhas and brings inconceivable merit like the limitless sky. The special mantra of the Medicine Buddha quickly actualizes prayers that the Medicine Buddhas made in the past: to bring happiness to all beings by showing them the causes of enlightenment, pacifying their problems, fulfilling their positive wishes and, especially, helping those afflicted by illness. The Medicine Buddha practice is extremely powerful and beneficial for the sick and dying, helps those who have already passed away, allows those practicing healing methods to benefit others more profoundly and helps bring success in general.
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.
Sunday, December 26
Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand Day 2 with Geshe Ngawang Tenley 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Pabongka Rinpoche's Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand is the seminal lam-rim text of the 20th century. It is a transcription of a 24 day lam rim teaching given in 1921. Offered as a "practical teaching," it is less scholarly than Je Tsongkhapa's Jang chub lam rim chen mo or The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment and as such it is the text from which most modern lamas teach lam rim. Today Geshe-la gives commentary on Day 2. If you are unable to join us at our center, you can listen on-line to the live broadcast. |
 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! |
A few years ago, Lama Zopa Rinpoche suggested it would be beneficial for every FPMT center to have a life-sized Maitreya statue, and a small number of statues, in the same design as those that travel with the Relics Tour, were produced. Once again they have produced a limited quantity of these statues, and they are available for purchase not only by FPMT centers but by individuals as well. If you would like to find out more information, 
