E-News: September/October 2013  
IN THIS ISSUE
Practices for Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Teachings with Geshe Kelsang Wangmo and Venerable Lhundup Nyingje
Save the Date - Venerable Robina Courtin Coming in December
Thangka Painting Workshop with Carmen Mensink
Rejoice - Recent Dharma Activities
Dear Dharma Friends,

 

After our short summer break it is great to be in New York City with exciting Dharma events and amazing teachers coming through Shantideva Meditation.

 

In October, we look forward to teachings with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Beacon Theatre and the energy and enthusiasm that these events generate in the community. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Mongolia, August 2013

 

Only two years ago, history was made when His Holiness authorized the Institute for Buddhist Dialectical Studies to confer the Geshe degree upon Kelsang Wangmo, the first woman to be awarded that recognition. It is an honor to co-sponsor a teaching with Tibet House and to welcome Geshe Wangmo on her first visit to the United States

 

We are also pleased to present Venerable Lhundup Nyingje, another accomplished woman practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism in New York for teachings with His Holiness. Carmen Mensink is also visiting from Amsterdam and offers a fantastic painting workshop working with auspicious symbols. In December, we look forward to the return of the incomparable Venerable Robina Courtin, who will offer an intensive retreat, refuge ceremony, and other events to be announced. Please stay tuned!

 

Hosting FPMT teachers and Sangha is a blessing and Shantideva Meditation welcomes greater participation from our community in supporting them. With gratitude to those who have already opened their homes or made offerings, we invite every student who has benefited from visiting teachers, to consider contributing to the Shantideva Teachers Fund.  

 

Most important, we ask Shantideva Meditation students join other FPMT center and practitioners around the world to continue prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche's good health and long life. Please see below specific practices to do and read Rinpoche's message of thanks. 

 

With warm wishes and oceans of love,

Mary

Mary Esbjornson, Director
Shantideva Meditation Center 

F P M T  N E W S


Practices for Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Health and Long Life

 

Shantideva Meditation Center joins with other FPMT centers to make prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche's long life. 

 

Read this message of thanks from Rinpoche.

 

According to Ven. Roger, it is very important for us to continue doing prayers and practices for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, especially at this time when we know there are obstacles for Rinpoche in 2014 and 2015.

 

Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drolma) was very clear for students especially to help by doing as much of the practices as possible: 

  

If you take a little time to think of how each of us has benefitted so much from Rinpoche's teachings and example ... such a source of inspiration for practice! It is easy to make a little time with others or alone to generate a good motivation and do one of the practices requested. In fact, dedicating any merit created from any virtuous action you do to purify the karmic view of seeing the Guru as unwell is beneficial.

 

One practice that Shantideva Meditation students may easily do at home is to recite the Hayagriva mantras as much as possible.  This mantra is open for anyone to recite; there is no empowerment necessary.  Please send us your mantra count so we may report back to FPMT. 

 

  
V I S I T I N G   T E A C H E R   P R O G R A M

Journey to Freedom: The Meaning of Retreat
A Teaching with Venerable Lhundup Nyingje
 

  

Tuesday, October 15 from 7-9pm
Jewel Heart Center
260 West Broadway
New York, NY 10013

 

      

  

Venerable Lhundup Nyingje (Paula Chichester), a long-time retreater and student of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, shares her experiences, lessons, and hardships from years of solitary retreat.  Speaking of the deepening of Dharma understanding coming from retreat, Ven. Nyingje has called it a "beautiful experience beyond words ... the fruit of that experience is so indescribable."

 

Ven. Nyingje will also be available to answer questions such as: What is the proper motivation for going into retreat?  What are the types of practices one can do in retreat?  What is the importance of the guru's blessings?  How is retreat important in progressing on the path to enlightenment?  How does one create the causes and conditions for going into retreat?  How might we know if and when retreat is right for us?

 

This evening is appropriate for anyone curious about Ven. Nyingje's unique experiences or about retreat in general.  Ven. Nyingje will also lead us in a brief group meditation.

   

Suggested Donation:

 

$20.  Donations may be made online or at the door.

 

Registration:

 

To register, please click here.

  

About the Teacher: 

  

Since 1980, Venerable Lhundup Nyingje (Paula Chichester) has devoted her life to attaining the realizations of the path to Enlightenment by following the advice of her teachers, mainly Lama Thubten Yeshe and Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche. She spent 25 years completing two great mantra retreats in Lama Tsong Khapa's Ear Whispered Lineage. She is also a scientist, healer, dancer, and musician.  

 
Related Links: 
 
Mandala Magazine Interview: Transforming Hardships into Realizations
Mandala Magazine Interview:
Jumping off the Cliff in the Footsteps of Naropa  
Mandala Magazine Interview: The Great Retreat: Yamantaka 

 


What is the Self?   

A Teaching with Geshe Kelsang Wangmo  

  

Co-Sponsored with Tibet House

Wednesday, October 16 from 7-9pm
Tibet House
22 West 15th Street
New York, NY 10011

 

      

   
From a Buddhist point of view, the underlying cause of all our negative emotions, of our unwanted pains, problems and difficulties, derives from an active and deep-rooted misapprehension of reality. Hence, a major part of the study and practice of Buddhist philosophy is dedicated to counteracting such misapprehension.

During her lecture, Geshe Kelsang Wangmo will discuss some of the principal reasons and debates presented in the Buddhist scriptures that are concerned with understanding reality. Reflecting and contemplating these may enable us to identify the innate misconceptions we hold consciously and unconsciously and to replace them with an understanding of reality -- in particular, with an understanding of who we are and how we really exist. This in turn is key to our personal development, positive relationships, and to living a more compassionate and meaningful life.

 

Shantideva Meditation Center is thrilled to co-host Geshe Kelsang Wangmo, who in 2011, made history by becoming the first, and currently only, woman to be awarded a Geshe degree.

   

Registration: 

  

Please note that for this event, registration is through Tibet House.  
To register, please go
here

 

Discounted Rate for Shantideva members/students: $22.50. Use Promotional Code: shanti2013.
    

About the Teacher: 

  

Venerable Geshe Kelsang Wangmo was born and raised in Germany. In 2011 she was awarded the Rime Geshe degree after completing her studies in the traditional Geshe curriculum of the Great Canonical Texts study program at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD) in Dharamsala.  This seventeen-year course focused on study and debate of the Five Great Canonical Texts according to the Gelukpa tradition as well as several semesters of study and debate in monasteries of the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Sakya traditions. 
Since 2004 she has taught Buddhist philosophy classes following the curriculum of the traditional Geshe study program, in English, to Westerners living in Dharamsala.
 
Related Links: 
 

S A V E   T H E   D A T E S   -   D E C E M B E R  6 - 8 and 10


Venerable Robina Courtin 
 
Friday Evening Public Talk and Weekend Retreat

December 6-8 at Tibet House 

 

Refuge Ceremony

December 10 from 7-9pm at Jewel Heart Center

 

We eagerly anticipate the return of Ven. Robina Courtin, who will lead a weekend retreat on death, rebirth, and karma from December 6-8 and bestow refuge vows on December 10. 

 

We hope you can join us.  Stay tuned for more details!

 

 

 

About the Teacher:

 

Ven. Robina Courtin has worked full-time for Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche's organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, since her ordination in the late 1970s. Over the years she has served as editorial director of Wisdom Publications, editor of Mandala Magazine, executive director of Liberation Prison Project, and as a touring teacher of Buddhism. Her life and work with prisoners have been featured in the documentary films Chasing Buddha and Key to Freedom.    

 

Ven. Robina is known for her straightforward and energetic teaching style, helping us discover the potential of our own minds with clear explanations about Tibetan Buddhism and how to apply it to our lives.


S P E C I A L  C O M M U N I T Y  E V E N T


The Eight Auspicious Symbols: Lotus Flower & Parasol

Thangka Workshop with Carmen Mensink

  

Thursday, October 24, 6-9 pm

Space in Member's Building (address provided upon registration) 

42nd Street, b/w 9th and 10th Ave, NYC 10036 

 

In the Tibetan tradition, a highly respected spiritual master (like His Holiness the Dalai Lama) is welcomed by a painting of the Eight Auspicious Symbols in front of a Buddhist temple. One may also find these symbols depicted on walls or as decoration on fabrics and furniture. They bring good luck, prosperity, health, and harmony.

In this evening workshop we will focus on two of these symbols: the Lotus Flower and the Parasol. After a short presentation on the origin and meaning of these symbols, you can choose to draw either the Lotus or the Parasol, according to traditional thangka patterns. No drawing experience is needed. At the end of the evening, you will receive the remaining grid-measurement to work with at home.
 

 

Materials to Bring:

 

Ruler, HB pencils (preferably a mechanical pencil), and an eraser. Colored pencils are optional.

 

Suggested Donation:

 

$35. Advanced registration required; you may pay online or at the door.   


Registration: 
 
To register, please click here.
 
About the Teacher:
 

Carmen Mensink was born in The Netherlands (1972, Zwolle) and graduated in 1995 as a graphic designer at the Academy of Arts in Kampen. Afterwards she completed a specialization in Typography at The Hague Royal Academy of Arts in 1996. Since then she has worked for many years in design and advertising. 

 

After becoming a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, Carmen met her thangka teacher in 1999, the famous Andy Weber, got hooked by the ancient tradition and craft of Tibetan thangka painting, and began her long study with him. Years later, Andy asked her to start teaching.

 

Carmen, who is a member of our sister FPMT Center in Amsterdam, lives in the Netherlands and teaches thangka courses in Europe, as well as thangka classes in the United States.  

 

  
D I S C O V E R I N G   B U D D H I S M   S T U D Y   G R O U P 
Samsara and Nirvana

 

Wednesdays, September 25; October 2, 9, 23, 30; November 6 from 7pm - 9pm 

Tibet House (Small Room)
22 West 15th Street

New York, NY 10011

  

In this module, we will examine what "samsara" is and how we are stuck in it, and what "nirvana" is and how we can achieve it.  We will also explore how to develop the determination to be free from suffering, and how to empower ourselves with practical tools to deal with and eliminate disturbing emotions forever. 

 

We will address such questions as:  What is renunciation?  What is liberation?  What is the difference between liberation and enlightenment? What are the twelve links of dependent-origination?

 

Discovering Buddhism (DB) study groups are geared for students who wish to deepen their understanding of fundamental Buddhist concepts.  Shantideva Meditation works with a version of the DB home study program, which includes transcripts of teachings by qualified Western teachers, presentations by facilitator, Gustavo Cutz, discussion among peers, and guided meditations.  

 

Readings and meditation transcripts offered by FPMT will be provided to students after the first session; readings include The Four Noble Truths by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Anger by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.  Other readings that may be studied include the book The Meaning of Life by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and passages drawn from Wish-Fulfilling Golden Sun by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and from Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand by Pabongka Rinpoche.

 

Suggested Donation:

 

$50 for the 6-week series (or $10/session) to help support direct costs, including space rental, Dharma materials, and administration. Please register in advance, as space is limited to 20 participants. To receive the full benefit of the study group, it is recommended that students attend most sessions in the series.

 

Registration:

To register, please click here.

About the Facilitator:

 

Gustavo Cutz has worked at Wisdom Publications in Boston and has been an active volunteer with Shantideva Meditation for the last three years, most recently interpreting/summarizing Geshe Thubten Soepa's teachings on The Four Noble Truths, The Eight Worldly Dharmas, The Six Perfections, and The Eight Verses of Thought Transformation. He also facilitated the DB modules, Death and Rebirth, Mind and Its Potential, The Spiritual Teacher, and All About Karma.

  

 
 P U J A S   A N D   P R A C T I C E S 

   

Pujas are offered twice monthly beginning at 7pm 

Jewel Heart Center 

260 West Broadway

New York, NY 10013

 

Shantideva Meditation students gather regularly for pujas, a ritual where prayers are offered to enlightened beings to request blessings and invoke help. Pujas help clear away obstacles and allow practitioners to realize their worldly and spiritual aspirations. Come as an observer or participant in this highly beneficial practice within a supportive community.     

 

Shantideva Meditation's altar for Guru Puja with Tsog
Guru Puja with Tsog lays the whole path to enlightenment on our mindstream, connects us more strongly to our teachers, and allows us to quickly and effectively accumulate merit and purify negative karma.          

 

Medicine Buddha purifies and heals on all levels -- physical, mental, spiritual, and environmental.  It is considered particularly powerful for people who are sick or have recently died, and for bringing both temporary success and the ultimate success of enlightenment.           

 

Green Tara puja is especially swift in helping to grant wishes and quickly remove obstacles to our worldly success and spiritual development, helping us to accomplish our goals.

 

You may wish to bring a small offering of food or flowers to create merit (positive energy). Please contact Jennifer Kim to request a dedication for yourself or someone else to be recited during the puja.

You are also invited to sponsor an entire puja (suggested $60) or sponsor partially via this link or to make an offering at the door. 
 

 

RSVP  Guru Puja with Tsog             Friday, September 27
RSVP  Medicine Buddha Puja          Friday, October 11
RSVP  Guru Puja with Tsog             Friday, October 25

 
C O M P A S S I O N  I N  A C T I O N 

NY Common Pantry 

 

Saturday, November 2 from 11:45am - 3pm

Yorkville Common Pantry

8 East 109th Street, NYC 10029

 

Compassion in Action offers opportunities for Shantideva Meditation students to volunteer for social service organizations as a group. Through hands-on, shared experiences in helping, we seek to develop our capacity for compassion and generosity.
  

Volunteers are needed for our next Compassion in Action project where we will sort, package, and distribute culturally appropriate and nutritionally balanced food packages at the NY Common Pantry.

  

Registration:

 

Click here to RSVP by Wednesday, October 16.  Space is limited.  Details will be sent with your confirmation.

 

For more information, contact Shantideva Meditation. Special thanks to Bonnie Costa for coordinating.

 

R E J O I C E   -   R E C E N T   D H A R M A   A C T I V I T I E S       

Buddha Nature - The Potential of the Mind:
Teachings with Venerable Fedor Stracke   


On July 19-20 at Tibet House, Ven. Fedor Stracke presented an overview of Buddha Nature, the fundamental nature of our mind that is present within us as a natural attribute, and discussed how the mind may gradually transform to become free of the obscurations of ignorance, anger, and attachment.  Ven. Fedor also led meditations and answered questions from participants.

  

Some of the students after the retreat with Ven. Fedor at Tibet House

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Ven. Fedor for making the time and effort to teach us. 

Thank you also to the volunteers who joyfully offered their time and skills to plan and coordinate: Jennifer Kim for event coordination; team leaders: Tricia Clark, registration; Tara Baltazar, communications; Ann Marie Witzel and Cynthia Greene, hospitality; and Allan Tarantino, audio editing. Thanks also to volunteers: Meg Sweetland Baker, Sandra Benedict, Lauren Coleman, Bonnie Costa, George Cuesta, Tess Gorriz, Mercedeh Mirshamsi, and Jesse Willard.  

We also wish to acknowledge Ganden Thurman and Tibet House for making their beautiful space available to Shantideva Meditation. 

Listen to the audio recording of Ven. Fedor's retreat. For more photos from the retreat, visit our Facebook album.

  

Compassion Day

  

Thank you to those who participated with Shantideva Meditation Center in Compassion Day, organized by the FPMT North American Region in honor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's 78th birthday.  We hope you enjoyed the guided meditations and rejoicing in the ways compassion makes a positive difference in our world.

  

Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, "The more good heart there is, the more peace in the world, in the country, in society, in the family, in your own life. There is more happiness if you have more compassion. So, therefore, one of the very basic things for the meditation center is compassion - teaching and practicing compassion."

   

As part of Compassion Day, Shantideva Meditation launched its new Compassion in Action initiative. Volunteers gathered to assist the Riverside Park Conservancy in an environmental project. Weeding and watering the new flowering perennial plant installation allowed the new transplants to survive the summer months until becoming well established and could survive with minimal care.  It also created a safer space for people to run or walk in the area.


Special thanks to Bonnie Costa for coordinating, the anonymous sponsor of this project, the volunteers who participated, and Riverside Park Conservancy.

 

For more photos from Compassion in Action, visit our Facebook album.

 

Discovering Buddhism Study Group

 

In June and July, students of the Discovering Buddhism Study Group studied and discussed what it means to take refuge in the Three Jewels -- Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha -- and the essential practices of refuge. The group also discussed the advantages of taking lay vows, and the role such vows can play in enhancing our spiritual growth.

 

Many thanks to all who participated, and special thanks to Gustavo Cutz for facilitating the study group; to Ven. Fedor Stracke for leading the final session in person and joining us for tea afterwards; and to Jewel Heart Center for use of facilities.



Meditation in Our Tradition: 

An Experiential Workshop for Beginners    

 

In July and August, students attended an experiential meditation course in order to understand and practice Buddhist meditation techniques such as calm abiding, vipassana, visualization, and analytical meditation.  Students had the opportunity to share reflections on the experience and ask questions. Many thanks to George Cuesta for leading this workshop and to Jewel Heart Center.

  


O R G A N I Z A T I O N A L  N E W S


Opportunities to Offer Service  

 

Would you like to get to know our community, participate in organizing events and resources, and help develop our dynamic and harmonious FPMT Center in New York City?

 

Shantideva Meditation Center activities are organized by a team of amazing volunteers who are devoted to serving the Dharma and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, our Spiritual Director. As a practice, offering service is a wonderful way to make your life meaningful, generate merit (positive potential), and be of benefit to others.

 

Tasks are made lighter when taken on by many rather than a few, and as new people step forward and offer to help, we are relieved and thrilled.  

 

Assist with Dharma Events

 

Volunteers are needed to work with Co-Spiritual Program Coordinators Jennifer Kim and George Cuesta in creating a beautiful sacred space and making altar offerings for pujas and Dharma teachings; to respond to requests for prayers and dedications from our community; and other spiritual program tasks. Benefits include learning and practicing with others.  

 

Offer Your Home for Visiting Teachers and Members' Events

 

Shantideva Meditation is looking for people with lovely homes who may be able to host FPMT teachers during the next year.  This is a wonderful way to support the sangha -- one of the three jewels -- and create positive karma, as it benefits the center and the community.  Teachers typically prefer private, simple, and quiet accommodations in Manhattan. We are also looking for convenient and spacious spaces to host potluck gatherings and other community events for our members and volunteers.

 

For for more information or to express your interest in offering service at Shantideva Meditation Center, please contact Shantideva Meditation Director, Mary Esbjornson. We thank you for your kindness and generosity.

 

P R A C T I C E    G E N E R O S I T Y


 

Please join Shantideva Meditation Center's Circle of Friends and support our efforts to present retreats and public talks with visiting FPMT teachers, meditation classes, Discovering Buddhism study groups, pujas, and community events and activities serving our New York City community.

 

There are many opportunities to make donations -- at Dharma teachings, in sponsorship of a puja, around one of the Buddha's holy days, during our annual appeal, or at special events.

 

At this time, we invite you to make contributions to our Shantideva Teachers Fund, established on International Sangha Day to ensure we have the financial resources for teacher and sangha offerings and related expenses. It also supports contributions to the Lama Yeshe Sangha Fund and Long Life Pujas for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche on behalf of students of our center.

 

We wish to thank the generous donors who have contributed to this fund during July and August:

 

Agnese Bisofa, Tricia Clark, Ellie Coven, Thomas Kyle Fischer, Augusto Giacoman, Marianna Janicelli, Navtej Nandra, Laura De Ponte, Michael Shorr, and Andy Spreitzer.

 

To create positive potential to collectively keep the wheel of Dharma turning, please consider making a donation via the link below.

 

 

 

Thank you for your kindness and generosity!



In giving we not only find wealth while in cyclic existence
but we achieve the zenith of prosperity in supreme enlightenment.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama


 


A B O U T   U S


Shantideva Meditation Center 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 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 more information, please e-mail Shantideva Meditation or visit our website! 

Find us on Facebook
 

To learn more about Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, go to FPMT.