A Poem for 2012

Ringu Tulku has sent his new year greetings in the form of an aspirational poem for 2012.  As he suggests, let's aim for a new awareness and try to hold a stable place in the midst of so much change. 

Happy New Year 2012

The year Two Thousand and Twelve has arrived.

Some say this is the end of the world.

Others predict it will be the beginning of a new awareness.

We have just lived through a challenging and eventful year

And it certainly will be another year with lots happening.

But what is the use worrying about the future?

We need to live today the best we can

And create causes for a better tomorrow.

Let us celebrate the freedom of choice that we have.

Who says I cannot make a difference?

I can make a difference to myself and around me.

Isn't that making enough difference to my world?

My mind goes to those brave men and women

Who offered their lives as lamps for the freedom of others.

My heart is moved by those who came forward to help

People in distress through natural or man-made calamities.

Human spirit of compassion, courage and longing for freedom,

Neither can be crushed by power nor bought with gold.

Let us celebrate that undying human spirit!

Happy New Year.

Rinpoche is currently in Sikkim, and leading a New Year Retreat at his meditation centre organised by a group from South Africa.  

Cheerful Sky

click in image to enlarge.

Could this be the best gift ever? Wishing everyone peace and wellbeing for the Christmas season, from Bodhicharya Ireland

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.