January 31, 2008

Dear Dharma Friends,

Happy New Year! This Losar (Tibetan New Year of the Earth Mouse, 2135) our center will host a very special celebration with the Gaden Jangtse monks. The festivities will start on Losar Eve, Wednesday, February 6, and continue all night, finishing on Losar morning, Thursday, February 7. You are welcome to join at any time.

Geshe Sherap, Dr. Tenzin and the Gaden Jangtse monks’ tour will offer a whole-night chanting of Yamantaka and Palden Lhamo sadhanas from 7PM on the 6th until 5AM on the 7th, then after a short tea break, they will conduct the concluding ceremonies accompanied by a small fire puja outdoors.

The whole-night event will start with extensive offerings to the Buddha, bodhisattvas and the dharma protector Palden Lhamo. We will offer a new golden-colored robe to the main Shakyamuni statue in our prayer hall. Several large tormas and a 6-foot butter sculpture will be offered to Palden Lhamo. The chanting will have three main areas of focus: 1) confession of all downfalls, 2) wish-fulfilling prayers and 3) eliminating obstacles to long life. Please join us to make this day a special new beginning. We would like to dedicate these practices to the long-life of all our spiritual teachers, especially to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and Khen Rinpoche Lobsang Tsephel.

This is also the day we will make special thanks to our sponsors, and supporters. We will be replacing the offering room dedication list; a final dedication will be made to people on the old list before we commence the new one. A copy of the Offering Room Request Form can be printed out here. If you would like to request the center to dedicate prayers to your loved ones throughout the coming year starting on Losar, this is the time to do so. Daily prayers together with extensive water bowl, light and incense offerings will be made for every day of the Earth Mouse year on behalf of all names received.

In anticipation of the Losar event on the night of the 6th, we will have a cleaning party this coming Sunday, February 3 at 10AM. Lunch will be provided to all those who come. Please join us in preparing our center with a fresh look for the new year. We will replace all offering items in all the cabinets, on the altars and in the offering room. You are welcome to bring honey, jams, chocolate, candy and liquors packaged in nice-looking boxes or jars to make the offerings as beautiful and as bountiful as can be.

We are pleased to announce a new set of courses and programming in the coming year. First of all, Geshe Sherap will be offering two new 8 weeks courses starting mid-February, 2008. Details of these courses will be announced in our next newsletter. Secondly, we will, for the first time, offer a comprehensive two-year Classical Tibetan Language Course starting this April/May to be taught by Katy Fradet (biography of Katy and details of the new Tibetan language course will be distributed in later emails and flyers).

We are also very excited to welcome another resident teacher, Geshe Jamyang Chozin Rinpoche to our center this April (more announcements about this soon).

We wish, through these additions to our programming, to be able to offer more diverse and in-depth spiritual programs to all of you in the coming year.

We are committed to providing services to the community that are as meaningful and effective as possible with the limited resources we have. Thank you for all of your support over the past years. We value your opinions and would like to hear from you.

Please join us for Guru Puja with tsog this Friday, February 1 at 7:30PM. Tsog offerings are always welcome.

For events and schedule of Ganden Jangtse Monks' Tour, please visit www.gadenmonks.org for details.

Dedication

Prayers and dedications of merit are requested for Carlos Araju, a high school aged cancer sufferer and for Tom, diagnosed with esophageal cancer.

Inspirational Quote

Whenever I lie in samsara’s prison,
Trussed by tight ropes of grasping self
I pray that you, like a loving mother to her only child,
Pluck me from this ocean of pain.

--The Splendor of an Autumn Moon, Tsongkhapa, transl. Gavin Kilty