Summary of my Visit to Malaysia
By Gelek Rimpoche

As they say, better late than never. Please excuse my tardiness, but I still wanted to share with you about the events in Malaysia and update you on how our Malaysian friends are doing.

As many of you know, I try to get to Malaysia and Singapore at least once a year. We have many Jewel Heart friends who have been attending teachings, supporting my work, and coming to our retreats in Michigan and Holland for many, many years. They are even contributing towards the mortgage payments of Jewel Heart headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, not to mention that they are totally dedicated and devoted practitioners. It is always nice to visit them.

I was there to teach and gave a full-fledged initiation and teachings of Yamantaka and some public talks. A number of people attended. We were also hoping to have a couple of Nyare Khamtsen monks from India visit and give pujas, but there was a visa snafu and so they were unable to travel to Malaysia. In their stead, I included the Avalokiteshvara Liberating from the Lower Realms empowerment and the Vajrapani-Heyagriva-Garuda combined empowerment as well. All those teachings, initiations, and empowerments occurred in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city, where I normally give teachings in Malaysia.

This year, the Malaysians organized a Dharma Tour after the Kuala Lumpur teachings. I visited the cities of Taiping, Gerik, and Penang to give some talks and meditative transmission of White Tara. In all these areas there were people coming to see me with photos taken in the 1980s and it was very interesting. It was nice and I was happy and sad combined together (the usual samsara symptoms) because there were so many years gone in-between. Everyone looks a little older than we used to.

Gelong-la is no longer with us, but he was instrumental in bringing me to Malaysia as a guest of the Young Buddhist Association. He was an Austrian punk who caught a glimpse of His Holiness passing at the train station in Europe somewhere back in the late 1960’s or early ‘70s. He was wondering who that guy was and so he pursued his curiosity, which landed him in India. He later became a very good monk and joined Loseling in Drepung. He worked in Drepung Loseling, organizing them to make it a modernized, efficient institution. He introduced Western education such as English, mathematics, and hygiene and also established a “library” society in Loseling that started collecting books and making them available for all the monks, including printing and publications. They issued a magazine, which is still continuing, called dreloma, informing interested friends of what is happening in the monastery. Later, he left Loseling because he was very stubborn and insisted on a style of functioning that some in the monastery didn’t want to accept. After an argument, he went to Kyabje Ling Rinpoche who sent him to me with the instructions to teach him, take care of him, and make sure he didn’t return to the monastery. Even afterwards, he continuously worked for Loseling, Nyare Khamtsen, and Ling Khamtsen (although from Malaysia).

Finally, Gelong-la passed away during our Winter Retreat 1995. He told our Malaysian friends who were there, “We came in easily but the journey back will take a long time.” He was not sick – he just had a little cold. He attended all the teaching sessions, meals, and everything like usual. However, all his possessions, including holy objects and leftover money, everything, he gave to me at lunchtime on the day he passed away. I told him, “Keep it for me” and didn’t take it. Then finally he had a collection of Kyabje Ling Rinpoche’s hair that he divided into little packages and brought to my room, saying, “it became 32.” My thought at that time was, “it is the 32 deities of Guhyasamaja” but instead I said, “What? Became 32?” He said, “I have a collection of Kyabje Ling Rinpoche’s hair and I divided them evenly into packages and it became 32.” At the end of the retreat we held a long life puja and Chodak Rinpoche was the vajra master and had a throne at the center of the front row. At the last session, which was the Mahamudra teaching, Chodak Rinpoche did not attend that night so Gelong-la wanted to sit on that throne. I said, “OK,” and allowed him to sit there. Towards the end of the Mahamudra teaching he wanted to leave. I told him to sit there until we were finished so he did. Then he went to his room and lied down. The next thing I knew, his roommate, John Madison, did his prayers (including hundreds of Migtsema mantras) and went to bed. The next morning I saw John in the men’s room and he said, “I think Gelong-la tried to impress us because he sat the whole night in the same position meditating. Either that or he’s dead!” I said, “Well, go and check with our medical professionals who are attending the retreat.” John replied that he didn’t want to disturb him so I went to breakfast along with Philip Glass and the late Allen Ginsberg. I saw John running without shoes from the main building to the dining hall so I understood then that Gelong-la passed away. I told Allen and Philip, “It looks like Gelong-la is gone.” Allen was observing me carefully. I told John to sit down and have breakfast but the muffin he tried to eat never entered his mouth. Immediately the word started spreading around the different tables and people got a little nervous so we held a Lama Chopa session. We also completed his final rites at Jewel Heart Michigan. His father wanted to have his computer so we presented it to him through the Austrian embassy.


Group Photo in Taiping, Malaysia 1984


Discussion in my apartment in Bayan Baru Center in Penang, 1984

I could identify the following people on the balcony in Gerik: Brother Ong, Alfred (standing), Lodro (on my left), Khoo brother, and Hartmut (with hair back then)

Penang, 1985 (including, from the front row beginning second from left:
Dato Tin Gin Soon, Khoo Poh Kong, and the late Gelong-la).

In Penang, I was invited to give a talk at the Sandalwood Forest Center (also known as the Than Hsiang Temple, which I named back in the 80’s when they were thinking about building it). The Ven. Wei Wu is the abbot of the Center. I knew him back in the 80’s as Brother Neoh Kah Tong who taught in Bayan Baru Center. He was a very dedicated Buddhist lay teacher who is now not only a monk but the abbot. The Sandalwood Center has five storeys and all kinds of activities, including a Buddhist university that is recognized by the Thai government/king, therefore allowing it to issue degrees. They also have a retirement center/hospice care. It is absolutely, spotlessly clean with about 40 people on the 4th floor of the Center. Schools, lectures, lunches, and dinners are all done in the usual Chinese monastery style and combined together very nicely.

Dato Tan Gin Soon hosted us in Penang. He also hosted my first visits back in the 80’s. He is a very wonderful, dedicated, and compassionate leader.

Suan Phaik Khoo, who chairs the organizing committee for the Malaysian group, also organized the sales of my books, “The Four Noble Truths,” “Wit and Wisdom of Gelek Rimpoche”, and the nice DVDs she produced. The sales contributed about US $8,390 to Jewel Heart International towards the mortgage of headquarters. I am grateful for all the hard work that the entire Malaysian group, especially the Executive Committee chaired by Chee Eng Lau, contributes. Chee Eng and her family also hosted me along with the friends who accompanied me from the U.S. They have hosted and supported me all these years.

I also spent one teaching day in Singapore. It was a Vajrayogini initiation. It was not the first time for any of the Singaporeans. Mr. Derek Goh and family not only sponsored me and hosted the U.S. group and the Lau family, but they also provided a sumptuous meal for everyone who attended the teaching.

I did manage to get three days of rest in Japan before heading back to the United States before the beautiful Summer Retreat, which will be the next News & Views.

Dear Friends,

I am writing to ask you to participate in our Annual Ensuring the Future Campaign. Your support is crucial in helping us continue to present teachings and preserve Tibetan Buddhism and Culture. We know times are hard but we hope you will help us meet our goal of raising $70,000.

This has been an extremely active year for me. So far, I have held 5 retreats globally, given 9 initiations and visited and taught at all of our centers worldwide, as well as numerous other centers. All of this is in addition to my ongoing regular workshops in the chapters, including the Songs of Spiritual Experience in Michigan and New York.

While my teachings remain true to the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, our presentation is firmly anchored in the 21st century. The teachings are regularly broadcast live over the Jewel Heart Subscriber Channel, which now also offers over 100 selected teachings On Demand. Individual downloads of the teachings and of 26 transcripts are also available to everyone, whatever your level of interest and experience. All broadcasts and downloads are compatible with all devices.

Work on the audio/video archive of my teachings in English continues to be a primary focus. Our goal is to make as much of this archive available on line as soon as possible. The archive currently consists of approximately 5,600 hours in digitized audio and close to another 5,000 in video. Your support in making this available on line benefits everyone interested in learning Tibetan Buddhism and furthers our preservation efforts.

About 200 of us just finished a ten day teaching, with transmission, of the Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, which is a compilation of a number of different Lam Rim lineage traditions. I received the basic Lam Rim teaching for the first time at the age of four in the retreat area in a cave outside of Lhasa. Before fleeing Tibet, I received this particular teaching from one of my great Masters, Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang himself. Today the same crown jewel of compassionate wisdom was broadcast on line, and captured for future viewing. Everything is possible!

Please support this important work and remember that every gift counts.

With the Blessings of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,

Gelek Rimpoche

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In Memory of Dundul Namgyal Tsarong
By Gelek Rimpoche
 
I am very sorry to convey the great loss of a very dear friend of mine who also happened to be the brother of my late wife, Daisy-la. I just found out that Tsarong Jo-la passed away. Not only was he Daisy-la’s brother, but he was also the father of H. H. Drikung Kyabgon Rinpoche and Nam-la, who was married to H. H. Dalai Lama’s late brother. Both have visited Jewel Heart: Nam-la during the visit of H. H. Dalai Lama in 2008 and H. H. Drikung Rinpoche at Camp Copneconic.
 
Tsarong Jo-la was one of our great Tibetan leaders. He was one of the earliest Tibetans who went to a Western-style school to learn in India. His family was the only family who kept a relationship with British India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Japan, thereby they also kept relationships with England and indirectly with the United States. When the American government decided to send expeditions to Tibet during World War II, their family was the major connection in Tibet besides the then-government of Tibet. He was also one of the earlier photographers in Tibet, like my father. The family house was also the import-export house from India, China and neighboring states. Back in Tibet during World War II and the Korean War, he was the only Tibetan who experimented with new equipment (new to Tibet) that allowed communications from the deep Himalayas.
 
His passing away was a great loss because he was one of the pillars of our Tibetan religious-democratic society. He was also one of the key persons that established the formal Tibetan exile government. He was responsible for the finances of the exile Tibetan society. In particular, he converted the late H. H. 13th Dalai Lama’s precious metal collections that were transported from Tibet into India and established the Dalai Lama Trust, which invested money to improve the refugee society. It also provided the basis for the current H. H. Dalai Lama to be able to function at that critical time and later.
 
His aunt, Rinchen Drolma Taring, may be familiar to many Westerners as the author of The Daughter of Tibet, which chronicles her family’s history (as well as that of Tibet) in the past century. He also recently published a book called In the Service of His Country: The Biography of Dasang Damdul Tsarong, Commander General of Tibet about his father. It is available through Snow Lion Publications. For me, personally, he was one of the kindest, gentlest and most reliable people that I have known. That is a great loss, not only for me, but for his family and all of Tibet.

I have been very busy traveling lately. As you know, last month I returned from the Netherlands where we had wonderful teachings on the Ganden Lha Gyema practice and a weekend workshop on the topic of karma. When I returned to Ann Arbor we continued with the teachings on Jamgon Lama Tsongkhapa’s Songs of Spiritual Experience, followed by the Memorial Weekend Retreat at the Garrison Institute in New York with a White Tara Longevity Empowerment and teachings. As I already mentioned in the Jewel Heart e-mail, many distinguished guests, long-term and new friends, and beautiful babies and kids attended the Empowerment and teachings.

I have also returned from Northern Michigan where we had a public talk on Friday evening entitled Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. It was very well attended. I was also happy with the turnout the following day when we held a White Tara Healing and Blessing Workshop. It has been a few years since I visited our Northern Michigan friends and it was great to re-connect again and to meet all the new people interested in helping themselves through the White Tara practice. I also want to thank Sean Handler of Solace Spa at Boyne Mountain Resort who provided us with such a beautiful, tranquil and lovely space to hold our teachings. I have heard that Sean has asked us to return. For those who can make the trip, it is really a wonderful and relaxing place and I look forward to coming back.

I also returned to the Garrison Institute for the 2011 Buddhist Teachers Council. It was great to meet up with our good old friends to discuss the future of Buddhism in the West. I will write up a separate account of the Council soon.

This weekend I will return to the Jewel Heart center in New York City to continue with the on-going series Songs of Spiritual Experience and will conclude this spring series of teachings with the Sunday Public Talk in Ann Arbor on June 26th before I head to Malaysia and Singapore in July.

It is always wonderful to see so many friends and new people interested in Tibetan Buddhist practice and culture. I want to thank you again for your support and dedication to Jewel Heart and to remind you that if you are not able to attend any of these teachings in person you can sign up for our webcast subscription, which provides live webcasts whenever possible as well as on-demand rebroadcasts.

From the Sunday, May 22, 2011 Public Talk
By Gelek Rimpoche

We lack inner joy because we have powerful hatred within us. That hatred not only gives us inner misery, but we begin to infect those around us with it. That is a harmful thing we have within ourselves that we have to change into love, care, and compassion. Even for an enemy we have to have compassion, otherwise, our compassion will be selective. For example, Osama bin Laden who is treated like an enemy. It is true that so many innocent people were killed and so many people lost lives and 9/11 was real and he was responsible for it so he was an enemy, no doubt about it. Was it great or not great to have gotten him? I told myself I was not going to comment about it but today’s topic requires it. I think it is good to have gotten him, but it is good mostly for him because it will stop him from creating more negativity. From that angle it is great to discontinue his negative karma and to stop him from creating misery for other people.

My statement is that I am not impressed with the killing, but for him it is the best thing that happened to him because it discontinued his negativities and the lesser his negativities, the better off because life after life he will suffer tremendously and at least that will be interrupted. From a Buddhist perspective, existence does not end at the time of death and the results of whatever actions we commit will be experienced in our future lives, so that is why it is great for him to have his negativities discontinued. Whatever he has done he will pay for it life after life and then one day he will come out clean. That may be a in a couple of centuries. For us it is a little peace for a while.

The world cannot just kill and destroy enemies. We had all these different enemies, one after another, including Hitler, Stalin, Mao, followed by Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden and maybe Qadaffi (who knows). But the enemy within ourselves is not destroyed and until that one is destroyed there will be constant enemies. But for Osama it is great because his negativity is discontinued. At least for the time being it is interrupted. He misused his education, intelligence and discipline. He didn’t use it to help and to serve, but rather to hurt.

For us, the hatred within us needs to change and become compassion for Osama bin Laden. You may say we cannot have compassion because he killed us and he is continuously killing. But that is why you need compassion – not because of being afraid of getting killed, but because of the negativities he will suffer for centuries and lives to come. It is an opportunity for us to have compassion. We don’t rejoice that he is getting killed, but we rejoice that his horrifying activities are stopped. You are capable of developing compassion for him. Each one of us is educated, intelligent. Think that way. That way you can rejoice in the news of the discontinued Osama bin Laden, but from a different angle. Spiritual practitioners have to do that. We always say we have to have compassion but we do not have to be a doormat. That’s the way to do that.

There is an example from earlier times when Buddha was a captain of a ship. There was a serial killer on board willing to kill everyone to become rich. Since Buddha was the captain, he had no alternative but to kill that person so he could save 500 human beings. Yes compassion, yes love, but the way is this way. Not through anger of having to destroy the other person. That is the totally wrong way. If we bring compassion, it could become virtue. That is why motivation is so important. If you change the hatred into love and compassion then you have the joy within you.

I just returned from the annual Spring Retreat in the Netherlands. They specifically asked for Jamgon Lama Tsongkhapa’s initiation – not the long life empowerment. I gave the rig sum chig drupe, “three activities of all enlightened beings in one.” It is not really a secret initiation but it’s also not commonly given. We did that followed by Ganden Lha Gyema teachings. We did the secret Ganden Lha Gyema teaching. They requested that and then what happened is that they had new people attending. They probably thought it would be the usual Ganden Lha Gyema, but somehow the new people were quite lucky and they got this teaching. Then we had one weekend of Karma workshop.

They do very well in Holland and we had a meeting of their Board and Dharma Coordinating Team (DCT) together, which has a little difficulty sometimes in Holland because these two strong committees function side by side. The Board has a rule to change members every four years but the DCT doesn’t, so the DCT has become very strong because the members function for a number of years together. This time we were able to meet together and we almost talked about merging into one group. They function slightly different than from here in the U.S. Here we have dedicated wonderful people on the Board but they only meet occasionally. In Holland each Board member takes responsibility for something. One is finance, another the building, another the facilities, etc., so they literally work totally differently. They made a decision not to merge but instead to meet four times a year and at the beginning of the year have a retreat and almost every season meet together so that the work is coordinated.

They have a beautiful building in Nijmegen but they have been having a little difficulty lately. The idea was to build apartments on the top of the building. They have a big nice building – two different old factory buildings joined together. It’s very spacious like here [in Ann Arbor]. Overall it is maybe a little bigger than here because they have three stories. What the Dutch decided to do is to not borrow money from a bank but instead from individual members without interest. They want to pay the money back by building apartments and sell with priority to Jewel Heart members. But some neighbors have been objecting because when they joined the buildings together with a glass wall on one side (and then added a glass wall on the other side) we did not know that was illegal. There was no issue unless the neighbors objected, but they have and now they are sorting it out. We can meet the neighbors’ objections reasonably. They are worried we will be looking in their home! But some of their objections are very genuine, like lights coming into their house. Probably these things can be resolved.

Everybody is doing OK. Some of the older members are not well (are sick) but they are my age and above so we do have that. That is about it for the news from Holland. Everybody admires the American sangha and they warmly welcomed Jill and Heather and the rest of the Americans, Malaysians and Singaporeans who visited.

Dear Friends,

I recently held a meeting with the Jewel Heart Program people (Kathy & Hartmut) and the Ann Arbor Dharma Co-ordinators. We discussed the next series of courses coming up in Ann Arbor and briefly reviewed our general curriculum. One thing that I’m not sure we have been making clear is the purpose of our meditation practices. What I would like to encourage our facilitators to emphasize, especially in our meditation series, is that the purpose of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition is to learn how to manage your mind.

I have no objection to using meditation to reduce stress. I know it can be done because when I go to the doctor’s office and they take my blood pressure, if it is high I ask them to give me a minute and then take it again. They always get a big shock and ask me what I’m doing because after a minute my blood pressure is back to normal. So meditation does indeed reduce stress.

However, we at Jewel Heart want to give people a little bit more than that. Buddhist meditation practice really gives us a tool to learn how to watch our mind and become aware when the mind is under the influence of our negative emotions. When we are angry or become obsessed, that emotion influences the way we think and our thoughts control our behavior. We are trying to improve our lives by improving our behavior, and the best way to achieve that is through managing our mind.

If you ask me about the situation in Libya, I think that this revolution that is taking place should be one against violence. They say that using guns is part of the culture of the Middle East. That may be true, but that is also the biggest excuse.

Gandhi’s example of protest against British India was totally non-violent. He even went into the middle of the sea collecting salt in order to protest the British salt laws and taxation. He also made sure that the protest did not become violent by other leaders. That is how non-violent movements should be. That is a genuine way of bringing democracy to the region and protesting tyrannical rules. Gandhi fought the British, Martin Luther King fought racism in America, Nelson Mandela fought apartheid in South Africa – all successfully and non-violently. H. H. Dalai Lama has also tried to achieve his goals without violence.

The U. S. supporting the opposition is great, but the U.S. needs to engage situations in a non-violent way. Killing is killing, whether it involves the opposition to Qaddafi’s rule or his supporters. From the perspective of karma, violence is violence no matter which political side you support. When protests are engaged with weapons, then it becomes violent. Life is the most precious thing for any person, family, group, and thereby country.

The United Nations was established in order to promote peace, therefore a peaceful solution of settling the Libyan matter is by Libyans only. The UN should provide the conditions for the Libyans to settle their differences non-violently, rather than taking a side in a civil war or even an internal struggle. What I don’t want to see is another Iraq, another Afghanistan, or another Vietnam. It is hard for us to see violence from our side, but the end cannot justify the means.

Last weekend I went to Cleveland and held a workshop, entitled Subtle and Gross Impermanence, at the Jewel Heart Center there. Cleveland was one of my first stations when I came to the United States in the 1980’s. I was hired to work with Professor Melvyn Goldstein on the Tibetan political history and language. I even wrote the Tibetan phrasebook for tourists with him while I was there.

At that time there was only a small group of people, including Cliffe Barnes. It was in his apartment that I began to teach The Three Principles of the Path. Prof. Goldstein also asked me to give a series of lectures on Tibetan culture at Case Western University. This was my first talk on Tibetan culture in the United States, but I don’t think it was successful because he never asked me to continue the series again! Later, I remembered that my talk primarily consisted of saying , “at the monastery we have tea, we have tea, then we have tea.” I was remembering that the first meeting in the morning in the general monasteries, which is known as tsog chen, is held in the great assembly hall. They serve four cups of tea and maybe some soup. Then in the late morning we have a meeting at the dra tsang (which is like a college) and they serve four cups of tea. Then in the afternoon we go to the kham tsen (like a fraternity house), where they also have four cups of tea. So my lecture may have been, “we have tea, then we have tea, then we have tea!”

While I was working at Case Western, I used to come up on the weekends to give dharma teachings in a little apartment where Aura and Sandy used to live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That was the beginning of establishing Jewel Heart in the United States.

And also I remembered that we had a group of monks (probably Loseling) who came to Cleveland and we arranged the performance in the chapel at Case Western free of charge. It was such bad weather – snowy, icy, and all that, but so many people showed up that the chapel was completely full and people were waiting outside in the snow and cold. This is the place where people had a great deal of interest in Tibetan Buddhism.

I was glad to be back. We still have about 80 – 100 people meeting at Jewel Heart, a rigorous, slightly traditionalist group of practitioners; wonderful men and women who use the Jewel Heart facilities which was provided by Marty and Anne Warren.

As we continue to receive more news about the situation in Japan, it reminds me of 1959 when I left Tibet, and also of 9/11 here in the U.S. in 2001. It is reconnecting me with the feelings of fear and anxiety of a chaotic time and situation, fleeing Tibet and the horrifying situation of 9/11, yet appreciating the dignity, kindness, care and concern for others that people exhibit during such horrible moments. I was very impressed that the Japanese people are not blaming anyone for these problems.

While I was listening to the BBC News, I heard an interview with one of the Japanese ladies who lost everything. She said that the government and everybody is trying their best and she had no complaints about anybody, although she mentioned that water and blankets would be very helpful. Her response was so respectful even though the journalists were asking provocative questions about the government response. The Japanese people say that the government has so much to do and they are doing their best. An American tourist tried asking a Japanese policeman which direction he should go. Although the policeman was himself fleeing, he took the time to show the tourist the direction to safety before running off again. There are so many examples of these selfless actions that can be seen on TV or heard on the radio. That really shows how people are appreciating life and showing dignity, caring and kindness by helping others even though the person himself or herself is in great danger and has lost everything .

I hope and pray that the death toll will not go up and that the effects of the aftershocks and nuclear reactor instabilities will not create even more suffering. We would also like to dedicate our positive virtues for those who have lost their lives and to the loved ones left behind, and to contribute whatever we can to those in need.

RESPONSE TO THE TSUNAMI IN JAPAN

By Gelek Rimpoche

It is so sad indeed.  It reminds me of the tsunami that took place in 2004 when a number of people lost their lives.  The image of people struggling at their last chance of survival by grabbing a tree trunk that is being carried out exemplifies the reality within samsara.  We grab everything we can and we try to grasp everything solidly, trusting that it will hold.  However, the reality is reality and that is the truth.

Fortunately, so far the loss of life is not as extremely high as it was in 2004.  Let’s hope the losses do not increase.  This is also the true nature – the true reality of life.  It is here:  perfect, faultless in one second and in the next second everything goes wrong, no matter whatever you do.  You may have very high scientific development, a very advanced technological state, rich in wealth as well as information, yet these things cannot be prevented from occurring.  When it is society’s problem, the world’s attention is drawn.  The TVs and radios are busy talking, but the individuals are facing that type of problem every minute.  Death, illness, economic meltdown – whether it comes on the international scene as a news item or not, still the individuals suffer.  That is the reality, so Buddha called that dukha, or suffering in samsara.  When we don’t want such drastic consequences, we should avoid the cause of those various negativities.

As spiritual practitioners, we see this, we acknowledge this, and we generate compassion for those who suffer, directly or indirectly. We use this opportunity to pray and dedicate our virtues for the well-being of those who are suffering and remind ourselves to create more positive karma so that such consequences will not occur.

Jewel Heart and its members would like to express its gratitude to Nyagre Khamtsen Monastery.

The Monastery has informed us they are offering prayers for Gelek Rimpoche’s health and long life under the guidance of Tokden Rinpoche, the Abbot of the Loseling Monastery.

From Garrison Fall Retreat 2010

I have been looking at what we have done for the past 20 years at Jewel Heart. I tried to benefit you people and future generations, along with increasing the longevity of Buddha’s teaching (and thereby benefitting every living beings so that they may have some joy). When I look back, I remember what I did first about 20 years ago. I did Lam Rim teachings (which I hope to do at the 2011 Summer Retreat). I did that for over a year or so and then afterwards I did so many different teachings and initiations. I tried to open the mandalas for you so that the opportunity would be available. For some people I offered wrathful mandalas and for others the peaceful mandala. And for most people I offered both. All that is the best way to serve you.

At the beginning it was easy, or at least not so difficult. At first it was only a matter of the teachings, and then later came the organization. Then with the organization came the baggage – that is, expenses. Then comes the place, which is necessary. Diana and Jonathan have provided us a place to meet in New York luckily. Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to afford anything. We have a place in Ann Arbor, which is not for the Michigan people only, since we have our winter and summer retreats there and all our administration is done there. The store is there and everything is functioning from there. And the building doesn’t come free. It comes with baggage: mortgage, utilities and all the other expenses.

To make the story shorter, Jewel Heart’s budget is (give or take) about a million dollars per year. One thing I tell you, until now we have never been in the red except for two years. We are always in the black, never in the red – but we are a true non-profit. There is probably not a penny left once the year is over; no cushion; nothing. And there is always a struggle paying the mortgage and all that.

For the last two years we have had a shortage. Still, we have not been in the red. Last year we had the Ensuring the Future campaign because our shortage was about $100,000 and all of you very kind people very generously donated and somehow we managed for last year. We have the same shortage repeated this year. So again we have appealed and very kindly people have donated and I think it is almost halfway met.

So then I have been thinking – not only me but everybody – and my solution is that Jewel Heart’s budget should be able to be paid by membership. Honestly, because it is a membership organization. The work is nothing else but providing the service. We have a lot of other projects but we’re holding them back because we can’t pay our own bills. I am almost 71 years old and if we keep on holding back all the projects and struggling to pay all the bills ever year that’s not going to work. Something is going to suffer. For individual projects we can find sponsors, but we are not meeting Jewel Heart expenses. My thought is we need about 2,500 members who pay a minimum membership of $480 per year, or $40/month (you can donate more).

If you look at other Tibetan Buddhist organizations, the membership is in the thousands. Ours is around 300. That is really the reality because we never emphasize membership. This is my feeling: we made a mistake. The mistake we made is that when we introduced membership, we introduced it in terms of business: you become a member we will give you this. But I would prefer that you become a member because you want to support our work and what we do and because you care about benefitting yourself, future generations, mankind and Tibetan Buddhism. I can really tell you here – all of you have benefited. Otherwise, there would be no reason why you are here year after year, occasion after occasion. So that is what you are supporting. You are not supporting yourself getting discounts at retreat. That is how we went wrong way. We now want to change it to supporting for our own benefit now and in the future.

If you think carefully, it is to mankind’s benefit. Tibetan Buddhism is a dying species. It is dying not because it’s not good but because it is too good. It is too good, really. There is no business approach, no entertainment approach. It is simple, straightforward, and it is benefitting all of us. So that is why I am making
this important request to all of you. Please try to become a member of Jewel Heart and you also may have friends who are interested.

In one way $40 is a lot of money, but on the other hand – people smoke four puffs $40 goes in the air. Or a couple of cans of coke, you open pzzzzzt, $40 gone; or a couple of movies per month. I am sure everybody can afford it. It is a matter of priority. Some of you are extremely generous whether you have it or not. Some of you think about this and think if I increase my membership or get a friend to come, what do I get? This is dharma work. We talk about benefitting all mother sentient beings every morning [during our daily prayers or in teachings and retreats].

If you are a member thank you so much. If not yet, please try to join. And also persuade a couple of friends. They don’t have to come and be Buddhist and listen to an old man. But the work we do to support that, that’s what I would like to request you to consider.

And also from the account point of view it is absolutely clear and audited by two accountants and our board members are great. Our executive board has put in hours and hours to try to sort out the previous mistakes and to try to guide us in the future. Normally I don’t talk about this very much. Asking money is the worst thing for me – odd, very odd. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was born in a good family and begging is the last thing we do but sometimes you have to so here you are.

Whatever you do, have kindness and compassion as a principle in your life. If you have that, whatever you do, it will be beneficial not only for you but for a lot of people and your work will be successful. If you don’t have it, even if you have success it might not be worth it.

Thank you so much.