The Internet Newsletter of Jewel Heart
July, 2003

In this issue:

· Rimpoche News
· Having a Spiritual Practice that Works in Everyday Life
· Upcoming Tsoh Days
· Vajrayogini Initiation , Ann Arbor, July 19
· Medicine Buddha Retreat, August 1-3
· Jewel Heart Summer Retreat, August 3-9
· Rimpoche's Visit to the Netherlands, April 12 to May 4, 2003
· Video Documentary About Rimpoche Available Online
· The Healing Dimensions of Tibetan Medicine
· Philip Glass "Dreaming Awake" CD Fundraiser
· Jewel Heart's Double Merit Coffee
· Chapter News

WELCOME TO ANOTHER ISSUE OF E-JEWEL, THE JEWEL HEART EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Your Jewel Heart eNewsletter, eJEWEL is published on a monthly basis, with Madonna Gauding serving as editor. Look for it sometime in the first weeks of the month. Back issues are available by clicking on the appropriate months in the upper right hand corner of your screen.

If you are receiving this newsletter and are not a pledging member of Jewel Heart, consider becoming one to help support this and other Jewel Heart activities. Email: donations@jewelheart.org or call Debbie Burr at 734 994-3387.

RIMPOCHE NEWS
Rimpoche resumes Monday night lectures at Renaissance Unity, 7:00-8:30 pm,
June 30 through August 18 (no teaching August 4 because of Summer Retreat)
Cost is $10 per session.

Renaissance Unity
11200 E. Eleven Mile Rd.
Warren, MI
Phone: 586.758.3050

HAVING A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE THAT WORKS IN EVERYDAY LIFE
A Teaching Given by Gehlek Rimpoche

I keep on saying that we need to have a spiritual practice that corresponds with the movements of society. It has to be a spiritual practice that can change all our activities into spiritual work. Although the way society functions is not great, it is not helpful to use all our energy fighting against it. It is better to find a way to make the best use of it. There are ways and means of progressing with the very life and activities we have. The important thing is to correct your motivation, correct your mind. Even doing your laundry, waiting in line at the bank, or buying your groceries can be turned into spiritual practice, if you shift your mind toward unlimited love and unlimited compassion. We have a big problem with this because we half agree, but another part of our mind thinks,"This is not going to work." We think it is necessary to do mantras, circumambulations, prostrations, etc. We think we should not sleep, take vows of chastity, and vows of poverty. We think we need to suffer. It is not actually necessary to do all those things we think are necessary. It is not. Somehow people have this idea in the back of their minds. Because of this you are not getting it.

Bodhimind has to be the motivation behind every single thing you do. In the morning instead of crying for coffee, you should cry for a good motivation. Instead of yawning and wiping your eyes, you should wipe out your selfish mind and open your eyes to the motivation of compassion and caring. If you do this, every single thing you do during the day will be influenced in a positive way. When you do that you are progressing. This is how you develop the ultimate jewel of the mind, or the jewel heart.

Whether you like it or not you are living in this society. Fighting the current in society does make a difference, but the amount of energy that you spend on that you could spend differently. Our total and overall aim is to attain happiness for all beings. Trying to change society is not going to make everybody enlightened. It is not even going to make you enlightened, let alone all sentient beings. If you are a spiritual practitioner and you are interested in making the people that you care about happy once and for all, there is a way to make your life function within society and have both spiritual and temporal success. You can do this because of your mind, because of your motivation. The key lies in the motivation.

We have been blind. How many times have you read about bodhimind or "bodhicitta?" How many times have you looked into it! However we fail to see that there is a hidden treasure here. Here is the key and our eyes have passed over the key a number of times. We have failed to pinpoint and pick up that key. Bodhimind changes everything into the spiritual path. As long as it is not negative by nature and sometimes, though rarely, even things that are negative by nature can become positive. This is the treasure we can pick up in Mahayana Buddhism. This is what we need today. We are not living in the 17th century with plenty of time for saying mantras and living in caves. Nobody will have the time or the opportunity. We have to recognize this and think about it very carefully. We need to make use of the opportunity we have.

-Edited by Aura Glaser (Ann Arbor)

UPCOMING TSOH DAYS
July 9 (10th-Lama Chopa) Note: The tsoh for July 6th in Ann Arbor is cancelled
July 23 (25th- Vajrayogini) Tsoh date for Ann Arbor is July 20th

VAJRAYOGINI INITIATION, ANN ARBOR, JULY 19
Rimpoche has kindly agreed to give a Vajrayogini initiation and lead a Vajrayogini self initiation on Saturday, July 19 at Jewel Heart Ann Arbor., 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. All those who have previously received a full Maha anu yoga tantra initiation are welcome to attend.

MEDICINE BUDDHA INITIATION AND RETREAT , AUGUST 1-3, 2003
Gehlek Rimpoche will confer the Medicine Buddha initiation and will give detailed instructions on how to meditate. The initiation and retreat will take place at Menla Mountain Retreat Center, Phoenicia, NY. For more information, or to register contact Angie at (212) 807-0563 or angie@tibethouse.org

JEWEL HEART SUMMER RETREAT, AUGUST 2-9, 2003
The 2003 summer retreat, EVERYDAY MATTERS: BRINGING THE SACRED TO LIFE, will take place August 2-9, at Albion College, Albion Michigan. For complete information and registration form, go to www.jewelheart.org and click on "What's New." The deadline for the early registration discount has been extended to July 14th. Registration closes July 25, 2003.

Special Retreat Events:
The Heart Shrine Relic Tour will be displayed at some time during the retreat. This collection contains relics from the Chinese, Tibetan and Indian Buddhist traditions, including relics of Shakyamuni Buddha, as well as his heart disciples Maudgalyana, Sariputra and Ananda. Also included are relics of Lama Tsong Khapa, Atisha (whosse stupa is included, Milarepa and other holy beings.

Dr. Tsering Lhamo will be available for personal consultations during the Jewel Heart Joyful Summer Retreat in Albion, Michigan. Call Hartmut at: 734-994-3387 Ext.5 to book a follow-up or new appointment. (see article below)

RIMPOCHE'S VISIT TO THE NETHERLANDS, APRIL 12 TO MAY 4, 2003
From April 12 to May 4, 2003 Gehlek Rimpoche visited Jewel Heart in the Netherlands. The first few days were dominated by the presentation of the Dutch translation of Rimpoche's book GOOD LIFE, GOOD DEATH. The Dutch title of the book is VOOR DE DOOD NIET BANG, which translates into English as "No Fear of Death." The presentation of the book took place on April 12 in Utrecht, one of the larger cities in the Netherlands, in a church that was built in the century in which Atisha brought Buddhism to Tibet, as Philip Glass pointed out in his introduction. Philip Glass had flown over from New York especially for this occasion and supported the presentation with the performance of his piece MAD RUSH, which he had written for the Dalai Lama's visit to New York in 1979. He made a great impression on all who were present. With a mixture of profound understanding and disarming humor, which we know of Rimpoche so well, he went into the topics of his book.

In the next few days Rimpoche gave lectures in different cities in the Netherlands. The subjects he chose were also themes from his book. The title of his first lecture was LOVING UNDERSTANDING, WISE COMPASSION. Love and compassion are seen as two sides of one handkerchief - one cannot exist without the other. When there is love without understanding it becomes blind love, and understanding without love leads to dogmas. The second lecture was THINKING OF OTHERS, LOOKING AFTER YOURSELF. Everyone knows the old saying 'what comes around, goes around' and we all know it to be true, yet we usually hesitate to make our own interests secondary to the interests of others. Our ego makes a distinction between 'me' and the rest of the world, whereby it sees 'me' as the most important. This stands in the way of a free flow of love and compassion to other sentient beings. It is therefore of the utmost importance to start working with the manifestations of our ego.

Rimpoche considers his lectures as very important. However, personal spiritual development requires a long-term investment in oneself and more in-depth study. For this reason there were two retreats in Nijmegen. The theme of the first retreat, which was attended by a hundred people, was ODYSSEY TO FREEDOM. In this retreat the whole Lamrim was covered. On the final day Rimpoche gave the oral transmission of the FOUNDATION OF ALL PERFECTION as well as the root text of THE THREE PRINCIPLES. The retreat gave all the listeners much inspiration and plenty of material to work with. After the Odyssey retreat some sixty people took part in a Vajrayana retreat, in which Rimpoche gave initiations of Heruka and Vajrayogini and taught on the SIX-SESSION GURU YOGA.

Rimpoche's visit finished on May 4 with a Tara blessing. The blessing took place in a very inspiring atmosphere. This was caused by the many teachings we received in the previous weeks, which enabled us to develop new inspiration and motivation. Another factor which contributed to this unique atmosphere was Rimpoche's special connection with White Tara. White Tara sprung from Avalokiteshvara's tear and is the symbol of love and compassion. According to the tradition her first words were "I am here to help". We compare this with Rimpoche, who helps us follow the path to developing love and compassion.

The Dutch Buddhist Broadcast made a beautiful documentary of Rimpoche's visit to the Netherlands, with extensive dialogues between Rimpoche and Philip Glass on guru devotion, impressions of some of the rituals he performed and excerpts from a talk by Alan Ginsberg. They showed Rimpoche's comments on several subjects, among other things on the death of Alan Ginsberg and on how to transform ordinary death into extraordinary death. The background music by Philip Glass made this very professionally made documentary even more special. The program was broadcast twice in June on one of the main national channels.

-Albert Mund (translation: Inge Eijkhout) Jewel Heart, Holland

VIDEO DOCUMENTARY ABOUT RIMPOCHE AVAILABLE ONLINE
The Buddhist Broadcasting Foundation website http://www.omroep.nl/boeddhistischeomroep/ has a great collection of Buddhist documentaries. Most are in Dutch, but some are in a mixture of Dutch and English. Click on "Televisie" in the upper left corner, then, "Programmering." Eventually click on "Archief" and you will find a documentary titled MEESTER ALS LEERLING which is about Rimpoche and Philip Glass. It was taped during Rimpoche's recent visit to Holland. It can be viewed on most computers using the free media software, Real Player.

THE HEALING DIMENSIONS OF TIBETAN MEDICINE
Dr. Tsering Lhamo spoke to the Ann Arbor Jewel Heart sanga and community participants June 12th on the origins and practical applications of a ancient system of holistic care known as Tibetan Medicine. Dr. Lhamo graduated in 1997 from the foremost school on Tibetan Medicine, Men-Tsee-Khang (Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute of H. H. Dalai Lama) and has worked extensively with senior Tibetan doctors in Clinics in India and Nepal. For those unfamiliar with Tibetan Medicine, Dr. Lhamo spoke of the many aspects that contribute to one's state of health, including spiritual and karmic causes.

Tibetan Medicine is based on Five Basic Elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Space and Three Humors derived from the Five Elements: Wind, Bile, Phlegm. The three humors maintain and improve good health and cause disease when imbalanced.

Dr. Lhamo mentioned two visible causes of disease: diet and lifestyle, and emphasized how the stomach function is the "keeper of health" and proper digestion is very important. She quoted the age old saying, "What you eat is what you are." She said that in the western culture she sees this as an area of concern. Lhamo also shared that her experience with patients in the United States show large numbers having chronic and degenerative diseases like arthritis, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, or a combination of these diseases. "Cancer," she noted, "is seen as a byproduct of untreated digestion problems and its symptoms are related to energy imbalance."

In contrast to our western medical system of treating the symptoms, Tibetan Medicine focuses on the "root" of the problem and how to rejuvenate the body as a whole. She shared the analogy of "Don't always look for the flowers, and don't deep cutting them or the leaves, they will grow back. Look down to the root."

The following two days Dr. Lhamo gave personal consultations. The days were fully booked and it was a wonderful opportunity for people to learn more about themselves and this ancient system of healing. A consultation was 40-45 minutes and the fee was $75.

The method of diagnosis in Tibetan Medicine includes the following:
-Pulse Taking
-Urinalysis
-Questions

After these three areas are completed, Dr. Lhamo would made dietary and lifestyle recommendations and prepare a combination of Tibetan Medicinal Herbs for a two month period. The cost of a two month's supply of herbs is $65 and is mailed to each person the following week. These special combinations are prepared specifically for the individual, it is not like the system we are used to; going to the drug store to get a bottle of pills. The combination is responsive to the individual's complete system pattern. In our western system, we are treating the symptom and everyone gets the same pill, i.e.. for Cholesterol.

Assisting Dr. Lhamo, I had a chance to hear comments from others and they were very impressed about what she could tell them about their health and well-being through these methods of diagnosing. There is definitely a place for Tibetan Medicine in our lives. Our future well-being depends upon the integration of ancient knowledge of healing. We are blessed to have people like Dr. Tsering Lhamo to assist us in understanding and discovering our responsibilities and inner connections to our well-being.

* Dr. Lhamo will be available for personal consultations during the Jewel Heart Joyful Summer Retreat in Albion, Michigan. Call Hartmut at: 734-994-3387 Ext.5 to book a follow-up or new appointment.

Additional Resources:
Website: www.tibetan-medicine.org

Video: "The Knowledge of Healing", Dr. Tenzin Choerak and His Holiness. Directed by Franz Reichle

Book: "Health Through Balance", by Yeshi Donden, Snow Lion Publications

If you would like to order the book or video, contact the Jewel Heart Bookstore.

-Christine Gross (Ann Arbor)

PHILIP GLASS "DREAMING AWAKE" CD FUNDRAISER
"Dreaming Awake" was recorded by Philip glass and released in a limited edition of 500 CD's. the piece will never be recorded again. This solo piano composition (about 17 minutes long) is a personal offering to benefit Jewel Heart. The CD, encased in a special portfolio, is $150 plus $13 shipping. Outside the US: shipping is $26. ($140 each tax deductible for US Citizens). Please make checks payable to Jewel Heart.

To order by mail send payment to:
The Looking Glass Studios
Attn: Kara Bilof
632 Broadway, Suite 902
New York, NY 10012

JEWEL HEART'S DOUBLE MERIT COFFEE
The idea is simple, as a way to channel money into the Jewel Heart general fund, we've committed to selling "Fair Trade" organic coffee to Sangha members.

1. "Fair Trade" coffee is grown by small farmers, creating a high quality product in an environmentally sustainable way, then marketed cooperatively to ensure a fair return to the growers.

2. Jewel Heart members buy the coffee and the profits from the sale go to Jewel Heart. Money that would normally go to any old normal coffee seller can now be kept within the Jewel Heart sphere of influence.

Jewel Heart will receive about $5.00 for every bag of 12 oz coffee that you purchase for $12.00 which includes the cost of shipping.

What kind of coffee? organic, "Fair trade" coffee, from Cameroon.
Parent Crop: Jamaican Blue Mountain, 1913 stock
Farm Size: Small farmer (2 to 4 acres)
Farm Type: Mixed food crop organic farming
Picking: 100% hand picked
Certified Organic

If you have a Paypal account you can purchase this coffee online with a credit card.

If you don't feel comfortable using paypal and completing a transaction on line you can simply mail a check along with your address to:

Thomas Repasky
123 Glendale N
Ann Arbor MI, 48103

Your coffee will be shipped within 48 hours via USPS.

-Thomas Repasky (Ann Arbor)

CHAPTER NEWS
Ann Arbor / Detroit
On June 14, The Sangha Committee sponsored a Free Sentient Beings Picnic. Those who attended released worms, originally destined for fishermen's hooks, back to the wild. Rimpoche, and 50 Jewel Heart members, friends and family attended.

On June 28, The Sangha Committee sponsored a garage sale, held at John Madison's house. The sale generated $400 for Jewel Heart. Thanks to all who donated items and worked at the sale.

Cleveland
Mala Workshop: Creating and using meditation beads Sat. July 12, 1-5 pm

Come learn how to make a 108 bead Buddhist mala, and how to use it to support mantra meditation. We will cover various types of beads and stringing materials. Those who want to can also make wrist malas.

The fee of $25 includes materials for a 108 bead gemstone mala (rock crystal, snowflake obsidian, rose quartz or picture stone) with silver or gemstone spacers and guru bead. Other materials may be specially ordered.

For more information contact Anne 440-576-1190 aewarren@apk.net.