Lion's Roar SymbolLion's Roar Title

In this issue...
H.H. Dalai Lama Visit
Garden of 1,000 Buddhas
Buddha Barn Opening
Garden Directors
Namchak Foundation
Ewam Santa Fe
The Bodhisattva Vow Remarks by Rinpoche
The Bodhisattva Vow Reflections
Committee Contacts
Buddha Garden Directors
Chris Riebe and Steve McCluskey

Buddha Making
Luke Hanley - Arlee
Alli Troxel - Missoula

Communication and Public Relations

Dr. Georgia Milan

Finance Committee
Diana Syester

Ewam MT Contact

Luke Hanley

Ewam Website
Check out our new
look and get the latest information about The Buddha Garden as well as Ewam International.
www.ewam.org

Ewam is on Facebook.
The Buddha Garden is also on Facebook. 

Or follow the Buddha Garden blog. ewambuddhagarden.
blogspot.com
Featured Links
Learn the Tibetan language by conference call with Lama David Curtis Tibetan Language.

Missoula welcomes Anam Thubten Rinpoche
Feb 19-21, 2010.
January 2010
Volunteer Award
Pola Rest has donated her precious time this month attending meetings, doing research, helping with The Missoula Buddha Barn, and much more.  Thank you, Pola, for all that you do for Ewam!
New Ewam Staff
Charlie Pearl has graciously agreed to move into the Sangha House in Arlee as Ewam's new on-site grounds manager.  Thank you, Charlie, for your expertise and generosity!
Meditation in Arlee
Mon/Wed/Fri 8-9am
Green Tara Practice
Ewam Shrine Room

Tuesdays 7-9pm

Ewam Practice
Ewam Shrine Room

Wednesdays 7-8pm
Arlee Meditation Grp Hanging Art Gallery 92555 Hwy 93 Arlee

Thursdays 7-9pm

Dinner and Dharma Sangha House
Call Charlie for details 406-726-0555

A sangha that sits together, fits together.
Sangha Gathering
Ewam sangha
Losar celebration (Tibetan New Year) gathering, potluck, and updates at Ewam in Arlee, MT Sunday,
Feb 7, 2010 at 1pm. 
Call for information 406-726-0555.
Humorous Wisdom
Four monks sitting on a breezy day
Youngest monk sighs
"Ah, flag is flapping"
Older monk replies
"No, wind is flapping"
Next oldest monk says
"Ah, mind is flapping"
Elder monk (Briskly)
"Mouths are flapping!"
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Lion's Roar Newsletter
Vol 5  Issue 1  The Bodhisattva Vow
Monday, January 25, 2010
Rinpoche Birthday Photo at PKL


Dear Friends,
Letter from Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche, Jan 15, 2010

GREETINGS FOR THE NEW YEAR - 2010!
Presently, our world is experiencing strife, war, epidemics, economic instability and many other ills.  It is evident that these violent, unfavorable, and often times barbaric circumstances are caused by increasingly strong mental afflictions.  Consequently, the collective merit of sentient beings has diminished while strong negative forces have increased.  To resolve this situation we must enhance the collective merit by cultivating bodhichitta, the enlightened mind, and engage in altruistic activities based on the philosophy of non-violence.  This will help to prevent degeneration and accelerate universal peace, just as the qualities of water can extinguish a fire.  There is no doubt about this.  more
Dalai Lama (hands in prayer pose)H.H. Dalai Lama to Visit MT
Consecration of The Buddha Garden 

His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama has officially accepted Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche's invitation to consecrate the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas in Arlee, Montana.  The Garden is being dedicated as a Peace Center and pilgrimage site for people of all religions and walks of life.  Already people are gathering with enthusiasm, gratitude, and ideas for completing the Garden and hosting His Holiness.  Rinpoche will be inviting Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi (the reincarnation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche) and other Tibetan Buddhist teachers and lineage holders to this important event.  Rinpoche is specifically going to request Nyingma Dzogchen teachings from His Holiness for Buddhists in a private setting.  The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and surrounding communities will be participants in the planning and sponsoring of events, from forum discussions to public speeches.  Different topics and sites are being discussed.  All levels of Montana government will also be involved as well as the Interfaith communities and Buddhist sanghas.  more
Buddha.Prayer Flag The Garden
of 1,000 Buddhas

Jocko Valley, Arlee, MT

Many years ago Rinpoche had a vision of the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas constructed on this sacred land.  The Garden was surrounded by these mountains in Arlee and shaped like a lotus blossom with the Garden in the center.  Rinpoche recognized that this land is a sacred site and had been blessed by prayer for many generations by the Native American people.  The original dream had included the 1,000 Buddha statues, but with the increasing violence after 2001, Rinpoche added the central statue of Yum Chenmo (Prajnaparamita), the Mother of all Buddhas, in order to help beings realize their true compassionate natures.  Underneath this central statue are items to represent the suppression of negativity, in the central area are sacred relics to increase peace and vitality of the earth, and within the statue are numerous texts of the Heart Sutra.  There are also the relics of the Buddha and many masters of the past.  In 2009, the 40-foot pavilion of steel and copper was erected over Yum Chenmo.  The garden is a complete mandala that represents the Buddha's teachings and represents the Peaceful Buddha Activity.  The entire garden is dedicated as a Peace Center. 
more

Donate to the Buddha Garden!

Buddha Barn_Missoula Buddha Barn Grand Opening
Hand Casting Buddha Statue Studio
1800 Trail Street in Missoula, MT

This charming facility near The Good Food Store in Missoula is open and ready to host the hand casting of the 600 Buddha statues needed to complete the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas!  From lovingly making the Buddha statue mold from the original bronze, to carefully preparing each mold, to mixing and pouring the concrete formula, the process of hand casting each 2-foot tall Buddha statue for The Garden of 1,000 Buddhas offers blessings to everyone involved.  Buddha statue pouring instruction classes will now be offered at The Buddha Barn Hand Casting Studio in Missoula on Wednesdays from 6-8pm and Saturdays from 1-3pm.  Contact Allison Troxel for more information at 406-218-9813Buddha statue pouring instruction classes will also be offered at Ewam in Arlee on Thursdays from 6-8pm and Sundays from 1-3pm.  Contact Luke Hanley for more information at 435-640-0864.  Anyone interested yet unable to attend the regularly offered classes may call either Allison or Luke to schedule a time to volunteer.
Buddha Statue at Dusk The Buddha Garden Directors
New Directors, more momentum

Ewam welcomes Chris Riebe and Steve McCluskey as the new Directors of the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas.  Chris and Steve look forward to their springtime move back to Arlee as Directors of the Garden.  From planning and implementing to contracting and construction, Chris and Steve have already begun working in their new positions and with the help of many hands are making great headway in gaining momentum on the project.  
The Namchak Foundation
By Lama Tsomo

Three years ago, Rinpoche sent Dr. Tashi a formal letter, asking him to revive the Namchak Lineage in Tibet.  Soon after that, Dr. Tashi asked me to help with both the planning and financial support for this mission.  I agreed, and approximately 18 months later, Dr. Tashi submitted the plan to Rinpoche.  He happily approved the plan.  Last summer, Dr. Tashi and I updated and further fleshed out that plan and presented it to Rinpoche.  Rinpoche approved of the plan and the mood was celebratory.  more
PKL_Lama Dancing Ewam Santa Fe Grand Opening
by Ludwik Turzanski

On Saturday afternoon, November 14th, the hoard of shoes, outside the door of the little stucco building on Luisa Street in Santa Fe, indicated that whatever was going on inside was well-attended.  What was occurring, after weeks of sprucing up and painting, was the Opening Ceremony of a two-day celebration to consecrate Pema Khandro Ling, the first city center of Ewam in America!  more
Canopy over Yum 1 The Bodhisattva Vow
Remarks by Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche
July 20, 2003 Arlee, MT

How do the Buddhas of the three times - the past, present and future - become fully and perfectly awakened?  The principal cause is bodhichitta, love and compassion.  What is the nature of bodhichitta, this heart and mind of awakening, and how do we bring it about?  These are important questions for us to understand as we prepare to take the bodhisattva vow.  more
The Bodhisattva Vow
Reflections of Jenny Bondurant

The July 2003 Shedra was wrapping up in Arlee.  A warm hot, dusty week.  But on Sunday I was privileged, along with about twelve others, to be present at the bodhisattva vow ceremony, the day after Tulku Sang-ngag gave the talk that is also in this newsletter.  I took this vow for the first time in 1980 and have renewed it many times since.  I was delighted to be doing so again but I was viewing it fairly conventionally.  What happened was far from conventional!  more
Anam Thubten Weekend Retreat
The Holiday Inn Parkside Missoula, MT
Feb 19-21, 2010

The Tibetan Language Institute is hosting Anam Thubten Rinpoche for a weekend meditation retreat at The Holiday Inn Parkside in Missoula, MT from Feb 19-21, 2010.  As an accomplished teacher and author of the book No Self, No Problem, Rinpoche will help us focus on unburdening ourselves from mental habits that cause unnecessary suffering and to realize our natural state which is the inner dimension of peace, joy, and love.  For more information contact the Tibetan Language Institute at [email protected].
Volunteers Working on Canopy Ewam Seeking
Bodhisattva Volunteers

Call to action!

Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche has told us many times that this is our garden.  It is up to us to finish it.  It will take all of us working toward this one goal to make it happen.  Fund raising letters will be sent out soon to rally the support needed to propel this phase of the Buddha Garden creation. 
Gifts of every kind are welcome.  You are a true bodhisattva when you give even small amounts of money, time, and service.  If you have a skill you wish to contribute, just call us and we will put you to work!  We recognize that financial times may have been challenging for everyone recently, yet the merit earned through volunteering is unmatched when dedicated.
Newsletter Contact
Thank you for sending your committee updates, photos, stories, and information by the 15th of each month to
Deborah Hicks
406-642-3695

Next month's topic: Merit
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