E-News: November/December 2014

  
Dear Dharma Friends,

We send you warmest holiday greetings and hope you are well. 


We just wrapped up our last event of the year, working with New York Cares and Metro Baptist Church/Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries to help distribute food staples to 90 people and their families. It was hard to say goodbye at the end, as we were enjoying each others' company and the natural high from practicing the good heart.

Bodhgaya Stupa -
one in New York in the future?
As we take a break to rejuvenate, we look forward to 2015 - when Shantideva  Meditation students will receive teachings from Geshe Tenley, Ven. Amy Miller, Ven. Fedor Stracke, Ven. Tenzin Chogkyi, Geshe Thubten Sherab, and Ven. Robina Courtin. 

We also plan to start Animal Liberation practice in January, with great thanks to Desmond Hosford. We'll be saving the lives of worms about to be used for fishing bait and will offer the worms to a composting facility after performing the liberation ceremony. It should be a win-win-win, for the animals, the people saving lives (who accumulate positive karma for a longer life), and the environment.

Please stay tuned for more details and how you can get involved.

As the Center has witnessed a flourishing of activity this year - teachings, meditations, study, practice, community events, and volunteer service - our needs to sustain this activity on an organizational level continue to grow. 

To help sustain this growth, we are so happy to announce that Leilani-Kali Rivers has joined our Board of Directors and that Bonnie Costa has taken on the role of Communications and Event Manager. The great hearts of these two beings match their high level of professionalism and talent. As you will read in our e-news, other gifted and kind people have come forward to offer their talents and skills in new and meaningful ways.

Your financial support is an integral part of our ability to sustain our growth in activity. Thank you so much to those who have contributed to our appeal. We have received $1,386 towards our goal of $10,000, and 8 new members have joined to contribute regularly. Thank you so, so much to each person who has come forward.

Yet as you can tell, we are still quite a bit away from our goal. There is still time to contribute. Each offering will help us do more for the benefit of others.

Wishing everyone a happy new year in an abundance of ways - and may we grow stronger, wiser, happier, and freer, with great compassion and joy in our hearts.

Oceans of Love,
Jennifer

Director

Shantideva Meditation Center - FPMT NYC

   

Upcoming Events
Tuesdays from 7 to 8:30pm
at Jewel Heart

 
Whether you aspire to take a break from the hectic pace of urban life, want to learn simple meditation techniques, or wish to benefit from the collective energy of practicing with a group, please join us every Tuesday for Becoming Your Own Therapist - Shantideva Meditation's weekly meditation offering. 

Wednesdays January 7 - February 25 from 7 to 9pm
at Jewel Heart

DB - MIND

 

In this module, we will examine what the "mind" is, what its nature and function are, and how it affects our experiences of happiness and suffering. Discovering Buddhism (DB) study groups are geared for students who wish to deepen their understanding of fundamental Buddhist concepts.


To register, please click here.  


Public Talk and Daylong Retreat with Geshe Tenley
Friday, January 30 and Saturday, January 31 
at Jewel Heart
 
Identifying and Fighting Back Afflictive Emotions
 
In this public talk and daylong retreat, Geshe Tenley will explain why negative emotions can create much suffering for ourselves and for others, and how we can replace them with wholesome emotions such as love or contentment. Geshe Tenley will also comment on Shantideva's well-known and much revered work, Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life.

To register, please click here.
Upcoming Pujas
 
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 practice 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! There is now no need to register in advance.

 

 

Medicine Buddha Puja purifies and heals on all levels - physical, mental, spiritual, and environmental. This puja is considered particularly powerful for people who are sick or have recently died.

Friday, January 9 from 7 to 8:30pm at Jewel Heart Center.   
 

 

 

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.

Friday, January 23  from 7 to 9:00pm at Jewel Heart Center. 

 

 

Green Tara Puja is known to quickly remove the many inner and external obstacles to our worldly success and spiritual development, helping us to accomplish our goals and bringing us closer to enlightenment.

Friday, February 6 from 7 to 8:30pm at Jewel Heart Center.    

Rejoice - Recent Dharma Activities
Entering the Bodhisattva Path with Geshe Thubten Soepa

 

In a public talk and retreat on November 21-23, Geshe Soepa offered an overview of the first three chapters from Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life. Our heartfelt gratitude to Geshe Soepa for his kindness and wisdom. Please enjoy the audio recording of these teachings and view photos from the retreat on our Facebook album. If you attended the retreat, please take a moment to fill out this short survey to help us better our programs. We hope all benefited greatly from these teachings.   

 

Thank you to all our volunteers and to Tibet House for use of their space.

 

Entering the Bodhisattva Path with Geshe Thubten Soepa

Overcoming Obstacles on the Path to Enlightenment
 
On November 1, Ven. Thubten Chodron, Abbess of Sravasti Abbey, led a daylong retreat at Jewel Heart. In these teachings, Ven. Chodron shared her deep insight into overcoming obstacles on the path to enlightenment. Please enjoy the audio recording of these teachings and view photos from the retreat on our Facebook album. If you attended the retreat, please take a moment to fill out this short survey to help us better our programs. We hope all benefited greatly from these teachings.   


Thank you to all our volunteers and to Jewel Heart for use of their space.


Overcoming Obstacles on the Path to Enlightenment

His Holiness the Dalai Lama in NYC
 
From November 3 to 4, several members of Shantideva Meditation Center had the fortune to be present at His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teachings on the Essence of True Eloquence by Lama Tsong Khapa, hosted by Tibet House US and the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center, at the Beacon Theatre.   
Discovering Buddhism Study Group - Introduction to Tantra 

 

Students completed the tantra module of our Discovering Buddhism Study Group. We were delighted and fortunate to have Ven. Fedor Stracke via Skype answer our questions. In addition to Ven. Fedor, we extend our heartfelt thanks to Gustavo Cutz for facilitating this module. 

The Shantideva Meditation Center Holiday Party 2014!
 

We painted beautiful stupas and Buddha tsa tsas to be offered to the Mahabodhi stupa being constructed at our sister center in California, gave out gifts for our volunteers, members, and benefactors, and enjoyed the delicious refreshments - and each other's company!  

Please view photos from the holiday party on our Facebook album. 

Compassion in Action 

On December 20, in association with New York Cares, Shantideva Meditation Center volunteers gathered to help set up, distribute food, and clean up at a Client-Choice Food Pantry near Port Authority. Many thanks to the volunteers who helped distribute food to 90 families/individuals in less than an hour. 
Book of the Month
 
Congratulations to Danielle Walker for winning a free copy of Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Ven. Thubten Chodron.
 
Book of the Month is a new collaborative project between Shantideva Meditation Center and Wisdom Publications. Once a month, we present a book published by Wisdom that corresponds with a teacher or study topic with which Shantideva Meditation has actively been involved.

Organizational News
 
Welcome and Thanks to Our New Volunteers

 

Shantideva Meditation is deeply grateful for all the volunteers who come together to help share the Buddha's teachings. They do so with great generosity of time, effort, skill and heart. 

We are delighted that Leilani-Kali Rivers, Esq. has joined our Board of Directors, bringing her legal and fundraising experience, as well as her wonderful heart, to help support the success and stability of our organization for the benefit of others.

We are also fortunate that Bonnie Costa has taken on regular responsibilities related to communications and managing events. Her organizational talents and enthusiasm are wonderful gifts for all of us.

Our dear Tara Baltazar will continue to offer service by communicating our activities with the wider community and working on special communications projects. Lana Popovic, a longtime supporter of Shantideva Meditation Center, has stepped forward to assist with communications for Visiting Teacher Events and pujas, and Mercedeh Mirshamsi has offered her graphic artistry talents.

We also offer many thanks to Damion Badalamenti, who is managing our new Book of the Month program, and Lauren Coleman, who is our Center's liaison for the new Buddhist Working Group for climate change emerging in New York. Steve Utzig has kindly taken on increased responsibility related to our audio and technology, and Desmond Hosford will help us with programming material and managing registration.


Shantideva Meditation is Looking for Volunteers

For the new year we will be looking to expand our volunteer positions. If you are interested in managing or helping to manage the Compassion in Action events with NY organizations and being part of the Communications Team managing social media, please contact us.

Annual Appeal

 

We hope you will contribute to our Annual Appeal, with a fundraising goal of $10,000 and a membership goal of 10 new members.    

 

Your support is critical to our stability and success. Please join our community of supporters by contributing to our Annual Appeal today. Every dollar will make a positive difference!  

 

   
About Us

Shantideva Meditation Center is dedicated to cultivating wisdom and compassion through the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism within the New York 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 email Shantideva Meditation or visit our website! 
 
Like us on Facebook 
 
fpmt mandala