Summercamp 2012 Portugal

Details of Rinpoche's Summercamp 2012 in Portugal have been announced. All details can be found on the Bodhicharya Portugal website
People are making suggestions regarding transport on the Bodhicharya Ireland Page on the INTOUCH site. The Irish group is only visible to members. If you are an  member of Bodhicharya Ireland and have logged on to the communities website wishing to join the Irish group discussions, please send an email to us  and we will sign you in. 

7th Annual Bodhicharya Summercamp 2012 to be in Portugal

Lama Tsering Paldron (with a little help form her friends) has valiantly undertaken to host the annual International  Bodhicharya Summercamp 2012 in Portugal,  information so far is:

From 14 to 20th July 2012
Casa da Torre – Centro de Retiros
Soutelo – Vila Verde – Braga
PORTUGAL
Click on Bodhicharya INTOUCH  and register to receive regular updates closer to the time.
The closest airport to the venue is Porto.

The current study text is by Dagpo Tashi Namgyal  Moonbeams of Mahamudra, (Clarifying the Natural State) which Rinpoche began to teach  last year. 
The text, in English and also in Tibetan is available from amazon.com


Tsering runs the Humkara Dzong Buddhist Centre in Portugal.
For the first six Bodhicharya Summercamps hosted by Bodhicharya France, Tsering has  been the official translator for the French speaking sangha. She is a published writer and poet, and you can read some of her beautiful work on her INTOUCH page.

Fundraising for those who've been affected by the Earthquake in Sikkim.

 The Rigul Trust has set up an earthquake relief fund, to help those affected by the Earthquake in Sikkim in September.   Ringu Tulku is now back in Gangtok and will oversee how the funds are used. If you'd like to contribute please go to the link at the bottom of the page, or go to the new community website, Bodhicharya  INTOUCH    and sign in for regular updates of Rinpoche's activities.

SIKKIM EARTHQUAKE RELIEF WORK FUND
A devastating EARTHQUAKE of 6.9 in Sikkim and parts of northern India last week has been followed by 50 further after-shocks of up to 3.9 and has caused terrible destruction to buildings, loss of life and injuries, and closed roads challenge rescue efforts. The death toll is now 130 people but many more bodies are trapped in the rubble of buildings.

The remoteness of much of this underdeveloped mountainous region and road closures from land slips hasmade it a very difficult task to get any help to the region and 9 villages are still completely cut off. With rescueteams facing difficulties to reach some far-flung quake-hit areas in Sikkim, hundreds of survivors are trekkingout of their cut-off villages, crawling sometimes to negotiate dangerous stretches where landslides and heavyrain have loosened huge boulders which have come down the mountainsides. Entire areas are cut off becauseof landslides - and more often than not people are without clean water, adequate food supplies, medicine andtelephone contact with the outside world. Sikkim's hospitals have seldom been so full.

Disaster Relief by Rigul Trust

In the last two years we have set up two emergency appeals, one for the survivors of the Yushu earthquake 2010 and one for the Ladakh flood disaster last year where we supported the relief work that Khenpo Rangdol, Principal of Kagyu College, Dehradun was in charge of. 100% of all donations went to these projects. We also helped fund emergency relief work in Yushu province of Tibet and now we have an ongoing sponsorship programme for 14 little children who were orphaned as a result of Yushu earthquake. We sent money for the buying and distribution of barley.

And in Ladakh we sent money for emergency relief and the reforestation of trees. Khenpo Rangdol went to Ladakh, oversaw the projects and distributed the money.

This is background information for you to know that all of what we do is overseen by Rinpoche, 100% of your donations gets to the targeted projects. We are extremely careful with whom we deal with and Rinpoche always has the last say.

To donate please go to link :  Sikkim Earthquake Relief Work Appeal

100% of all donations sent through this secure PayPal site will go to the Sikkim Earthquake Relief Work. PayPal accepts all currencies.

Earthquake in Sikkim and Nepal - Rinpoche and family are safe.

Village in eastern Nepal where the earthquake has hit hardest.

Following news of an earthquake on the border of Sikkim and Nepal yesterday, Sunday 18th September, we have heard that a number of people have died, including some in Kathmandu, where the British embassy collapsed but there's no news yet from the more remote regions of the hill districts, where roads are precipitous, and the region is prone to mudslides.  
Rinpoche was in Delhi and due to travel to Gangtok today, however he will now travel Nepal instead. 
 He has written from Delhi with news:

Pelling, western Sikkim

" There was a 6.8 earthquake in Sikkim, Nepal and North India which lasted for over 40 seconds the epicentre of which was in Sikkim. The roads to Sikkim are badly damaged. 18 people are so far reported dead and many with injuries. Gangtok is relatively safe and none of my family and friends are affected so far. There were 3 more shocks and people lived outside all night. The extent of damage to life and buildings is not yet known as roads and mobile communication are broken to remote places.
I was going to Gangtok today from Delhi but going to Nepal till roads are open again.
We are all well".

Sankuwashaba, east Nepal

So far it is thought that the most affected area is on the Nepalese side, around Sankuwasabha National  Park region, much of this area of the hills can be accessed only by foot or small plane. Here the villagers live in tiny hamlets on the hillsides in houses of bamboo and earth, 60 km walk from the  10 km length of dirt road that is their lifeline to the outside world.  Many towns in Sikkim including Gangtok are built on vertiginous slopes, with houses built on and against the hillside one on top of another, up to 5 stories high.  At present roads are impassable  from Siliguri to Gangtok, as well as in the outlying areas of Sikkim.  Many hydro-electric dams are being built in Northern Sikkim that supply India with water and electricity. This area is also affected by the earthquake and  there are reported casualties.

There will be further news updates on the Bodhicharya.org news page.

Reflections on Bodhicharya Summercamp 2011

This year, Bodhicharya Summercamp moved south - it was held in the village of Vassieux-en-Vercors, in the department of the Drome in the Rhone-Alps region.  Vercors is known for it's prominence in World War Two as a refuge for the French resistance fighters,  on 21st July 1944, German troops entered the village of Vassieux on parachutes launched from gliders,  and killed all 120 resistance fighters based there, along with the 72 remaining villagers, mainly women and  children.  Since then the village has been rebuilt and has become a testimony to the strength of the human spirit.
Ringu Tulku had  requested  a change of venue this the 6th year of summercamp  so that families with children could attend, and  childcare was provided enabling parents to attend teachings on 'Mahamudra - the Moonlight', by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, [1511-1587] as a natural continuation from the previous summercamp teachings, 'Pointing Out The Dharmakaya' by the 9th Karmapa, Wangchup Dorje.
Rinpoche described this as one of the more elaborate explications on Mahamudra, and in the introduction by Lobsang Lhalungpa, who translated the text itself, he states that it is 'neither a students manual nor a self explanatory book........it is studied under the guidance of a chosen teacher'  and that on detailed study and reflection, 'The distinct Mahamudra meditation will then reveal ways of achieving instantaneous insight into the innate perfection of every perception and thought'. 
Thus the teachings elaborate in great detail the path to enlightenment.

Rinpoche gave two -  two hour teachings on each  day, morning and late afternoon,  so there was plenty of time for other activities.  These included a visit to a local Greek Orthodox Monastery,  lectures on Scale Relativity from astrophysicist Laurent Nottale,  Rinpoche told Tales from the Jataka for the children (some also took refuge in a very touching ceremony), and of course music, dance, hikes, pony treks and afternoon coffee in the local cafés.

A new departure is the launch of the Bodhicharya In Touch website, which has been sponsored by Rager Ossel, designed by Ireland's website whizz Paul O'Connor and mentored by Minna Stenroos amongst others. It is a community interactive sight that allows the whole  of the Bodhicharya communities to meet, form groups and share ideas.  Bodhicharya Ireland has a it's own private forum for sharing ideas and projects with each other and Rinpoche.  

A decision was taken to rename what has been Bodhicharya France Summercamp to become the Bodhicharya International Summercamp, and plans are now underway to find a venue closer to an airport for easier and less expensive travel and as soon as news becomes available it will be posted on the In Touch site.

Buddhist Network Ireland update: Dzigar Kongtrül to visit Ireland

Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche will be teaching in Dublin on the weekend of 14th & 15th July.  

All details and booking can be found on the Buddhist Network Ireland website.  The Buddhist Network is working on behalf of Buddhist communities from the mainstream practice lineages and traditions established here in Ireland.   There are regular updates on teachings, retreats and visits so if you are interested to receive news of what is happening in other Buddhist communities in Ireland we recommend that you check the link above.

Two new working groups from the Buddhist Network Ireland

Buddhist Network Ireland (BNI) is looking for members and friends of the Buddhist community who'd like to become more involved in a practical way with the BNI activities, specifically in the following areas.  (As you are registered here on the Bodhicharya Ireland news page and have received this, that includes you).

It is widely acknowledged by many within the education system that there has been a growing lack of  emphasis on an ethos of kindness and consideration for others.   At a recent conference on Science, Meditation and Education in Sikkim where there is a very high incidence of suicide amongst the young, the Dalai Lama and many eminent international meditation teachers talked about the importance of including a spiritual dimention in the school curriculum using a secular set of references - in other words we need to find ways to allow our young people to experience and express their inherent  kindness and inner knowing.
See Bodhicharya e-magazine 'Many Roads' for a full report on talks given by HH Dalai Lama,  Ringu Tulku, Robert Thurman, Alan Wallace, Rinchen Khandro and many more.

Here in Ireland members of BNI would like to either join with an existing group - there are a few pilot schemes already underway in schools in some parts of the country - or on forming a new group who'd be interested to help develop a programme for engagement within the Irish education/youthwork  system, offering courses by and for  schools, students, teachers Please see the invitation from BNI below.
The second proposal is to form a group of people who will work together to help support and guide those who are terminally ill and their families, especially where a Buddhist funeral service is requested.
The topics under that heading below are  prompted by hearing that the Irish Government plan on changing the current practice of carrying an organ donor card if one wishes to donate at the time of death, to that of a card stating that the carrier does not wish to donate. The topics dealt with by the group will be broader than the list below but for those interested to consider the implications,  you will find there are  articles on the subject by clicking  here  and also  here .

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche has often answered questions on the topic of preparation for death, see for instance his talk on the topic in Thailand.

Working Group :  "Kindness in Education"
Buddhist Network Ireland is wishing to set up a working group that
has expertise or an interest in Education, and that wishes to advocate and
advise on how to develop further Kindness in Education (such as schools
and colleges). This would definitely include mindfulness as a kindness to
oneself (and others).
Areas of interest would be
- how to go from an aspiration of kindness to a realization of kindness in school
- how to use mindfulness to aid the health of the individual and the school system
- how teaching kindness can be a preventative approach to reducing bullying behaviour.
- how mindfulness can enhance learning and make it more enjoyable.
- etc.
Please contact info@buddhism.ie

Working Group :  "End of Life Care"
Buddhist Network Ireland is wishing to set up a working group that
has expertise or an interest in "End of Life Care".
This group will advocate for "End of Life Care" in the following areas amongst others,
- medical practitioners not to presume consent to retain organs.
- medical practitioners not to over-prescribe drugs at time of death.
- advocating for allowing a 3/4-day delay before autopsy (if required) etc.   
Please contact info@buddhism.ie