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SHANTIDEVA
MEDITATION GROUP
FPMT NEW YORK CITY
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E-NEWS: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche
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Dear Shantideva Meditation Friends,
Warm wishes for a happy, peaceful, and auspicious New Year in 2011.
We thank our precious Spiritual Director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and all of our teachers for their compassionate guidance and example as we continue to offer dharma teachings and practice together. It is through the kindness of our gurus that we have been able to help bring the Dharma to New Yorkers during this past year.
Looking back at 2010, we have been fortunate to receive teachings from Geshe Thubten Sherab, Venerable Amy Miller, and Venerable Fedor Stracke. Through FPMT's Discovering Buddhism study group series we completed the modules "All About Karma," "Refuge in the Three Jewels," and "Samsara and Nirvana." We also enjoyed gatherings including a dinner with Geshe Sherab's former students from Kopan, a film screening of Mystic Tibet, and an event at the Rubin Museum of Art.
During the late summer, we managed a smooth transition in leadership with the steadfast commitment of our amazing volunteer team. In an effort to build on-going collaborations, in the Fall, we reached out to other groups in New York and connected with FPMT teachers and sister centers, including Milarepa, Kurukulla, and Guhyasamaja Center. We launched a bi-monthly e-newsletter, held regular planning meetings, and began the process of not-for-profit incorporation.
Some of us shared experiences at teachings with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New York, the Kalachakra initiation with Venerable Choden Rinpoche at Milarepa in Vermont, and the precious retreat with Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Light of the Path, hosted by Kadampa in Black Mountain.
Looking Forward
Now, during these next few months of 2011, we are pleased to welcome back Venerable Fedor who offers an intensive teaching on the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination.
Exploring the topic will provide deeper understanding for ideas discussed in the "Samsara and Nirvana" Discovering Buddhism study group that met this October and segues into the next module, "How to Develop Bodhichitta," beginning in January, followed by "Transforming Problems" planned for later in the Spring.
Coming up in March, we are pleased to welcome back Geshe Thubten Soepa, who will offer a teaching on the topic of Eight Verses for Training the Mind.
Please take a look at this and future e-newsletters and notices for more information and join us in meeting our goals to study and practice together, to create a harmonious FPMT sangha within New York City, and to serve all sentient beings everywhere.
With warm wishes and oceans of love,
Mary Esbjornson,
Shantideva Meditation Group Coordinator
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TWELVE LINKS OF DEPENDENT ORIGINATION
A Weekend Intensive with Venerable Fedor Stracke
Friday, January 14, 7-9 pm & Saturday, January 15, 10 am-5 pm
Jewel Heart Center
Learn how happiness is established and suffering is avoided. In Buddhism, "Dependent Origination" describes how things come to be, how they exist, and how they cease to be. According to this teaching, no beings or phenomena exist independently of other beings and phenomena.
Explore Shakyamuni Buddha's explanation of how delusion and karma bind sentient beings to samsara, causing us to be reborn into suffering again and again.
Illustrated pictorially in the Tibetan "Wheel of Life," there are twelve links in the evolution of cyclic existence: ignorance, karmic formation, consciousness, name and form, six sources (sensory fields), contact, feeling, attachment, grasping, becoming (existence), birth, and aging and death.
Understand the Tibetan Buddhist path to liberation from suffering and the peace of nirvana. Suitable for students at all levels.
Venerable Fedor Stracke
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| | Venerable Fedor Stracke |
Venerable Tenzin Fedor was born in 1967 in Germany and has been a Buddhist monk since 1988. He has spent more than ten years in Sera Je Monastic University studying for the esteemed Geshe degree, which he is now close to attain. He was one of the founders and the first director of Sera Je IMI house, a complex especially built for the Western monks studying at the monastery.
During his time in India he also attended many of the public teachings given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on a variety of subjects in both Dharamsala and south India. Fedor has been teaching in FPMT centers since 1988 and from 1996 has also served as Tibetan interpreter for various FPMT and non-FPMT geshes.
Location and RegistrationJewel Heart Center, 260 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013 Located one block south of Canal Street on the corner of West Broadway and Beach Street. Entrance is via St. Johns Lane, the alley on the west side of the building. Subways: take: the 1 to Franklin Street or the A, C and E to Canal Street.
Suggested Donation: $60 for the entire weekend; $20 for Friday evening only; $50 for Saturday only. Donations support direct costs including space rental, transportation, and materials. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Please let us know if you will attend the workshop by e-mailing: Shantideva Meditation Group with VEN FEDOR in the subject line and provide your full name, city/state, and phone number.
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DISCOVERING BUDDHISM
How to Develop Bodhichitta
Fridays, January 28, February 4, 11, 18, 25
7-9 pm
Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew
The Discovering Buddhism study group will continue with a five-week series on "How to Develop Bodhichitta" beginning January 28. Discover practices that develop our innate qualities of compassion. Learn to apply these techniques to generate the mind of bodhichitta, known as the very heart of Buddha's teachings.
Discovering Buddhism is an FPMT program designed to give students a solid footing in the teaching and practice of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism. Includes studying the Buddha's teachings, discussions among peers, and guided meditations. The study group is open to new and continuing students.
Facilitated by Charlotte Lowson with George Cuesta assisting. Charlotte has been a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism since 1994. In 2000-2002, she attended the FPMT Masters Program at Istituto Lama Tsong Khapa, Italy, and completed the Philosophy of the Middle Way, or Madhyamaka Section. She has also completed two Vajrasattva retreats.
Among the materials to be studied are: Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, by Pabongka Rinpoche; How to Expand Love: Widening the Circle of Loving Relationships by His Holiness the Dalai Lama; and The Awakening Mind, by Geshe Tashi Tsering. Other handouts and reading materials will be provided at the first session.
Location and Registration
Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew, 263 West 86th Street, NYC, 10024
Between Broadway and West End Avenue. Subway: take 1 train to 86th Street
Suggested Donation: $10 per session or $40 for the five weeks. Donations cover the cost of space rental and materials. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.Register in advance (which is required) by January 21. Please send an e-mail to Shantideva Meditation Group with BODHICHITTA in the subject line and provide your full name, city/state, and phone number.
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SAVE THE DATES
Upcoming Weekend Intensive with Geshe Thubten Soepa
 | | Geshe Thubten Soepa |
Geshe Thubten Soepa will be in residence in New York as part of his North American regional tour. Geshe Soepa will offer a teaching March 18 and 19 on the topic of Eight Verses for Training the Mind at the Jewel Heart Center.
Please watch for future mailings providing details about these and other upcoming programs.
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RECENT EVENTS
Venerable Amy Miller Teaching
We rejoice that our weekend on Meditation and Practice in Tibetan Buddhism with Venerable Amy Miller in December was a very special teaching and community-building experience. Amy left her mother's bedside in Philadelphia to be with us and we were all so grateful for this extraordinary act of generosity. We dedicated the merits of the Dharma teaching to Marian Miller who passed away a few days later surrounded by loved ones.
 | Venerable Amy Miller with Students
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WITH GRATITUDE TO OUR VOLUNTEER TEAM
Shantideva Meditation is grateful for the dedicated, smart, and loving people who are creating positive conditions for the future of our FPMT center.
Special thanks to Charlotte Lowson for facilitating the Discovering Buddhism study groups and to our volunteer team: Jeffrey Caspari, George Cuesta, Gus Cutz, Peter Davis, Lana Popovic, and Mila Wilson. We also extend a warm welcome to new volunteer, Antonio Jaquez and thank Louise Light for her advice about planning our website.
Last month we gathered for tea with Shantideva Meditation friends after a tour at the Rubin Museum of Art. See photos below.
As our organization develops, we welcome new people to help with a myriad of responsibilities. At this time, we are seeking help with graphic design, mailing list management, organizing teachings, and outreach to diverse communities. We also seek bro bono professional legal and financial services.
If you are interested in sharing your ideas, skills, and resources for the benefit of our community and all sentient beings, please e-mail Mary Esbjornson at Shantideva Meditation Group.
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Shantideva Meditation Group is dedicated to developing the good heart by cultivating wisdom and compassion through the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism within the New York City area community.
We are a study group affiliated with The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), which is based on the Gelugpa tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught by Founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe and Spiritual Director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
For information about Shantideva Meditation Group please e-mail Mary Esbjornson, Coordinator at Shantideva Meditation Group. To learn more about the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition visit FPMT. |
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