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And we are preparing for Rimpoche's annual Spring visit to Holland! This time it will be a three week visit during the last two weeks of April and the first week of May. Of course this is our highlight of the year! And we are looking forward to the teachings he will share and an initiation he's going to give. Although we start as early as Fall in preparing for Rimpoche's visit, most of the work takes place in January and February, and during the actual visit. So many are involved to make it a success, a fine example of sangha! Also very exciting is our housing situation. We are supposed to leave our present center by the end of this year, and there is great uncertainty about where we will go. Can we buy a place? Can we find enough money? Can we find a suitable place? Can we find it on time? A continuing story. . . And we are happy about all the exchange that is taking place between the States and Holland. Hartmut Sagolla our talkative Hartmut (who gave a beautiful, colourful and elaborate interview, which could almost fill our whole newsletter. . . sorry Hartmut, we had to cut out a tiny little bit) visited us in November. His presence was very appreciated on all levels. He participated actively in several groups, gave teachings, and as a representative of Rimpoche and a Jewel Heart Netherlands board member, he talked extensively to many people. A very welcome visit! And two people of our Dharma Coordination Team, Marianne de Kok and Marion Wierda, recently visited Ann Arbor for the Instructors Seminary weekend. They appreciated the tremendous hospitality shown to them, which reminded them that Jewel Heart makes you feel you have a family all over the world. They also returned with a lot of enthusiasm. For the first time Rimpoche talked extensively about the teaching, instructing and facilitating of Jewel Heart's teaching program. The Dutch participants experienced this as historical, important, and welcome. Another goal of this weekend was exchange between the numerous chapters in the States and elsewhere. So these are the highlights right now. More news, next time. -Margo Gommers, Jewel Heart, Netherlands
WINTER RETREAT 2003 Winter Retreat registration is now full. If you would like to be put on a waiting list, please contact Debbie Burr at registration@jewelheart.org. There are often 10 or 15 cancellations at the last minute, so be sure to check with the office if you want to attend and haven't yet registered. The retreat will take place the week of February 14-21, at the Jewel Heart, Ann Arbor center, and will focus on the practice of White Tara. This year the Ann Arbor Sangha Committee is arranging for yummy and inexpensive box lunches to be delivered to the center, as well as discounts at various local restaurants. -Deb Burr (Ann Arbor)
TSOH DATES FOR THE COMING YEAR With the Western, Chinese, and Tibetan New Years upon us we thought it would be appropriate to help everyone plan ahead and mark your calendar for the Tsoh days for the coming year. We encourage everyone to celebrate Tsoh days, and for those in Ann Arbor, we invite you to participate in the two Tsoh offerings per month celebrated on either a Saturday or Sunday closest to the actual date. Every 10th day of the lunar calendar we come together to recite the Lama Chopa. This is open to everyone. The Lama Chopa is an incredibly beautiful practice, which richly illustrates and guides us through each stage of the path towards enlightenment. Reciting the Lama Chopa has been said to be one of the best practices for purification. When accompanied by a Tsoh offering, this practices also allows us the opportunity to generate and dedicate great amounts of merit. Again, the Lama Chopa is a practice open to everyone. We welcome anyone interested in developing a better understanding of the principles and motives, which inspire our daily lives. On the 25th day of the lunar calendar, all those Vajrayogini practitioners who have completed the long mantra recitation retreat are invited to participate in the long Sadhana practice/self-initiation and Tsoh. Although the practice is primarily for those indicated, anyone inclined to take part in the Tsoh offering is welcome to come and join in at the appropriate time, simply call ahead in order to confirm the timing. There are two mandatory Tsohs per year for Vajrayogini practitioners, which are indicated on the chart below. Tsoh offerings allow us, students and practitioners, a simple yet profound way to repay the kindness, inspiration, and guidance we receive from our teachers. Tsoh offerings can be done individually though it is lovely to come together as a Sangha. Here, in Ann Arbor we are extremely fortunate to have a beautiful center in which to practice as well as practitioners willing to share their time, experience, insight and unique characters, benefiting so many of us. All Tsoh preparations are bought and set up ahead of time so, we do ask for a monetary donation when attending. If there are any questions concerning the Tsoh please contact Hartmut Sagolla, in the office or Megan Rotko at tsoh@jewelheart.org. -Megan Rotko,
(Ann Arbor)
JEWEL HEART TECH TEAMWORK In January, we finished phase one of our new Jewel Heart computer network in Ann Arbor. All new CAT5e wiring was installed by Mark McClure and Shawn Ike. We also installed a Small Biz Server from Microsoft. New office PC's were built and old PC's refurbished with our Jewel Heart Charity license using Windows XP pro and Office XP. This network allows the office staff to share resources such as contacts and calendar creation. We also established the first backup process both on CDR for offsite storage, and on removable hard drives for onsite storage. We are in the process of building a complete clone of the server to provide offline backup of the entire server. Phase 2 will implement the resources available on the new network. Paul Yurt, Kent Porter and Geoff Lutz spent weeks of volunteer time implementing the network. We will introduce them individually and their contributions in the in future E-newsletters. Over the last 45 days, we finished the installation of a new phone system from Panasonic. This included installing new wiring and editing phone messages. Karla Richardson is the voice of our phone system as well as our Umse. Mark McClure installed the wiring for the new phone upgrade. Please send your feedback or suggestions for improvement to support@jewelheart.org I would like to introduce the Sangha to a member of Jewel Heart IT Team. I hope to make this a monthly feature. Mark McClure primarily operates the soundboard and computer in Ann Arbor for recording and webcasting Rimpoche's "Odyssey to Freedom" teachings from New York City on Thursday nights. Mark assists the full audio/video team with equipment setup and teardown for Jewel Heart special events and retreats, and he works shifts as soundboard and computer operator during these events. Mark also helps with recording presentations by Jewel Heart dharma instructors to support the Jewel Heart courses for spiritual development. He is an IT professional working for IBM during the day. -Jonas Dainius Berzanskis (Ann Arbor)
PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE NEWS Programming Committee members Aura Glaser, Sandy Finkel, Hartmut Sagola and Kathleen Ivanoff have completed work on a new series of courses and workshops for the Ann Arbor sangha, and the larger Ann Arbor community. The Spring 2003 course schedule will start in March, and brochures should be available sometime this month. Meanwhile click here to check out the new course listings. Any questions or comments
for the programming committee can be directed to programming@jewelheart.org
JEWEL HEART STORE OFFERS A 10% DISCOUNT While the rest of the world gears up for war, everybody at Jewel Heart gears up for retreat! Yes, thanks to our collective karma, we have an alternative to war right here in southeast Michigan from February 14th through the 21st at the Jewel Heart Center in Ann Arbor. Thank you Rimpoche, thank you Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. During the retreat the Jewel Heart Store would like to extend a 10% discount to all retreatants for the duration of the retreat. Yippee!! Emaho! The store has taken new directions since the ever-charming Ujjen Tsewang came to town. As you may know, Ujjen lived in India and Nepal for several years after leaving Tibet, and in that time has made several wonderful friends and contacts not only in the carpet business but also throughout the Tibetan refugee culture. Through them he is making all kinds of great merchandise available to us here in the west at unbelievably great prices. Ujjen's legendary carpets are supplied by monks at the Loseling Monastery in India. They operate a carpet workshop in Nepal, which is complete with talented Tibetan refugees who make each and every carpet by hand. So each sale of a carpet benefits both the refugees in Nepal by generating income for them, and also for the monks at Loseling. This huge assortment of consignment carpets go for half the price you would pay for the same quality at other U.S. carpet outlets, mainly for the reasons stated above, there is no real mark-up, just enough for shipping and handling. So look around the house before you come to retreat and visualize the perfect carpet! As I'm sure you've heard, they will make any size, any color and any design you may come up with! These carpets can last a long time and make a great investment. Another great arrangement is with a special artist in Nepal named Tashi Lama. His teacher was a very talented Gyuto monk, and now Tashi is supplying the Jewel Heart sangha with extraordinary Thangkas for your practice and enjoyment. These are not ready-made, off- the-shelf paintings. We've already had exceptional thangkas of White Tara, Ganden Lhe Gyema, Heruka and others come and go very quickly. Through Tashi Lama you may special order any thangka, individualized, in any size, using the best quality brocades from India. We will have some of his beautiful White Tara and Green Tara thangkas on hand at the winter retreat. And then there's all that silver we've received recently. What's up with that? As we've been told several times and read in numerous books, all the great lamas tell us that when making offerings it is best to offer the best quality you can get. Even if you can't quite afford, and have to struggle to get it, that makes it all the more valuable in the eyes of the enlightened ones., ergo. more accumulation of merit. Maybe it's more the process and the motivation of acquiring, than the actual cost of an offering or ritual item, that helps us to accumulate that crucial merit. So anyway, the store has hooked up with the S Company, the best silversmiths in Nepal, to bring us the best we can get. The S stands for Sakya, the clan of Sakyamuni Buddha, so there is an auspicious connection there already. All items are handmade and 99.9% quality silver and gold. We've received offering bowls, mandala sets, ritual vases, rice containers, kapalas, tea sets, butterlamps and one very special prayer wheel, all ranging in prices anywhere from $80.00 to $700.00. As with carpets and thangkas, you can special order any items you may need. We can also order ritual and practice items in copper, brass and other materials if need be. The idea is to have them and to use them with the best motivation we can muster. New Books Path to the Union of Clear Light and Illusory Body by Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden. Here Geshe Loden sets forth the mother tantra, wisdom tantra, or yogini tantra system of the glorious supreme Dakini- the Venerable Vajrayogini. The eleven generation stages and special completion stage techniques of Vajrayogini are explained in great clarity as an aid to practice. This book is priced at $88.00 U.S. and available by special order only from Tushita Publications in Australia and will not be distributed through retailers. You may order individually by e-mailing to jdc@tushita.org, or join a group mailing order by filling out info in the Jewel Heart store. Female Buddhas - Women of Enlightenment in Tibetan Mystical Art by Glenn H. Mullin. It presents an appraisal of the feminine in Tibetan Buddhism and an overview of its prominence in Tibetan art. Vajrayogini-Her Visualizations, Rituals and Forms by Elizabeth English. A comprehensive study delving into the origins of Vajrayogini, charting her evolution in India and examining her roots in the Cakrasamvara tantra. The Svatantrika-Prasangika Distinction-What Difference Does a Difference Make? Edited by Georges Dreyfus & Sara L. McClintock - for the intellectual in you. We now have Rigpa calendars! Great for keeping up with tsog dates and important Tibetan events. Freebies!!!! After visiting www.lamayeshe.com, Lama Yeshes' Wisdom Archives website, we learned that they have a lot of great books that they need to give away. So naturally, we sent away for some to have on hand and give away in the store. Since the supply on hand is limited, it's a first-come, first-serve deal, with a suggested donation of at least $5.00 for shipping and to help the Archive to continue its work for the Dharma. Of course you can go to the website yourself and order the books individually, and check out what's available. Be the first person on your block to have a personalized Jewel Heart shoulder bag. Made of either wool or cotton, emblazoned with the firey Jewel Heart logo, it makes a great book bag, shopping bag, or any other bag you may be into. Look for a new Jewel Heart Store website to be up and running soon, with lots of updates and pictures of the latest merchandise available in the store for online ordering. In the meantime, you can e-mail us at store@jewelheart.org with any orders, comments, questions, or suggestions you may have. Jewel Heart would love to be as helpful as possible in your "Odyssey to Freedom", that's why it exists, so please view us as a resource for any of your practice and ritual needs by giving us your suggestions and ideas for ways we can be helpful to practitioners. To order call 734-994-3385 or email store@jewelheart.org -Beth Locke (Ann Arbor)
CHAPTER NEWS
ADDESS: 207 E. Washington
St. Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 Suggested minimum donation for Teachings - $5. Ann Arbor also has a Fragrance Free Policy - We ask that those participating in Jewel Heart events kindly refrain from wearing perfumes colognes, or other scented products in consideration of other people's allergies. White Tara
Practice - Sundays 11:15 am - 12:15 pm Meditation
session - Sundays 10:00 am 11:00 am
ADDRESS (CENTER): 260 West
Broadway, NY 10013 ADDRESS (OFFICE): 33 Katonah
Aveune, Katonah, NY 10536 Suggested donation for Teachings
$15 / Suggested donation for classes - $5
ADDRESS: 2670 W14th
St., Cleveland, OH 44113 Cleveland has a full schedule of programming as well as their own newsletter. Just click here. Slides of
Thailand Spiritual
practice: why bother?
PHONE: 847-256-3176
Brenda Rosen and Rochelle Winter attended the first dharma instructors seminary weekend Jan 17 and 18 at which plans were discussed for new programming initiatives for Chicago Jewel Heart. Norbert Kramer, major author for the hilarious "Not Ready for Enlightenment Players" musical review performed at Rimpoche's birthday party has been engaged by Jim and Rochelle Winter's Wavelength inprov comedy company to write "a German musical on discipline" for teachers to be filmed as a video for educational groups. The group will next meet for Tsoh on February 11. -Brenda Rosen (Chicago)
PHONE: 402-435-7679
Thursdays 7:00 pm Weekly practice
sessions.
PHONE: 415-248-2656
ADDRESS: Dominicanenstraat
2b, 6512 GX Nijmegen, The Netherlands Jewel Heart Netherlands has extensive programming and its own website. Go to http://www.jewelheart.nl/ for more information. The website is available in both Dutch and English.
PHONE: 011-606-952-7961 Weekly Vajrayana discussion held every Wednesday. Weekly Lam Rim discussion held every Friday at the Muar Buddhist Society. Call to confirm details of scheduled events.
PHONE: 011-65-3348-566
ext 23
MEMBER NEWS This section of e-JEWEL is dedicated to keeping us all informed of what's happening with individual members of Jewel Heart who have any news they'd like to share. Please email any information you'd like distributed to ejewel@jewelheart.org. Robin Olsen, (Chicago) has had her last chemo treatment and is improving daily. Condolences to Kate Glahn, (Ann Arbor) whose father died recently.
CLASSIFIEDS In an effort to unify the Jewel Heart community and to help and support all of its members, eJewel will be offering free classified ads. The classifieds will be organized by city and category, including Nijmegen and the chapters in Malaysia and Singapore. Do you have an item that you would like to buy or sell? Do you have something you would like to give away? Are you looking for or offering employment or housing? Do you have a skill, trade or service that you would like to share with your community? Please write up a very short classified advertisement and email it to ad@jewelheart.org. Please put "JEWEL HEART CLASSIFIED" in the subject line of your email. Because eJewel is available to all on the internet, we encourage the contact information contain email addresses only (no phone numbers or personal information unless you are comfortable the whole world seeing it!) -Kate Glahn ANN ARBOR / DETROIT For Sale: Lakewood Space Heater.(Electric, looks like a little radiator) Very good condition. $20 mgauding@comcast.net For Sale: 3/4 cello with softcase and bow, $550. debbieburr@comcast.net Services Offered: Astrology readings, nourishing delicacies, specialty meals, special occasion cakes. mcr_15@hotmail.com Services Offered: Handyman, carpentry, plumbing, electrical, minor repairs. Call John Moran at 734 332-1647 Services Offered: Piano tuning, repairs, and regulation. Call James Jorah at Pristine Piano Care at 734 253-2007
CHICAGO CLEVELAND LINCOLN SAN FRANCISCO NIJMEGEN SINGAPORE MALAYSIA
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Home | Gehlek Rimpoche | About Us | Membership | Programs | Publishing | Webcasts | JH Store | Calendar | Contact Us 207 East Washington Street - Ann Arbor, MI 48104 - phone 734.994.3387 fax 734.994.5577 |
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Rimpoche News
