Friday
Nourishing our Winter Garden
A Message from the Director and the Team at Gampo Abbey
The year 2023 was a period of retreat and renewal for our monastic community. We repaired buildings, fixed lots of plumbing problems, improved landscaping features, and trimmed trees — all while maintaining our commitment to the Dharma and using our monastic forms and training to hold the practice strong.
We’ve weathered trying times within the community. We also faced challenges because of extreme environmental conditions that severely impacted most of our buildings. Yet we finish this year of the Water Rabbit infused with more enthusiasm and belief in what we are doing here.
Each year we pay special attention to preparing the garden for “over-wintering”. We plant a cover crop that continues to nourish the soil and replenish it ready for another productive season. A fallow garden is not inactive — magic is happening in the richness of the soil. In the spring, the cover crop is gently dug into the beds, enhancing the soil’s capacity for productive growth. Likewise, in our monastic community, we have used 2023 as a period to sow seeds for new growth.
In just a few weeks we will welcome Ani Pema Chödrön for another Yarne winter retreat. Soon after we will begin a new cycle of the three-year retreat. I can feel the excitement building, bring on the Wood Dragon!
—Trinkar Ötso (Director) and the team at Gampo Abbey
A Monk’s Journey to Nepal
Karma Lodro Kalsang, a long-time resident and Preceptor at Gampo Abbey, shares the searching questions, awakenings and tribulations he experienced while attending a momentous event in an otherworldly location — the cremation of our Abbot, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, in Nepal.
Gardening Can Grow Your Spiritual Practice!
Lucas Kovacevich, the former Head Gardener at Gampo Abbey, explains how to deepen a contemplative practice in your garden.
Pema Chödron Offers Reflections on Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
During the 49 days following the parinirvana of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche our friends at Karma Changchub Ling in Halifax hosted daily practices. On July 17, 2023 in the Mahasangha room of KCCL, they invited Ani Pema to speak about her long relationship with KTR, Abbot of Gampo Abbey. Her words were loving and candid.
*****
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL NEWSLETTER
Entries filed under Regions
The Sacred Gift: Tradition and Modernity in the Spiritual Art of Nepal – HIGHLIGHT
With great enthusiasm, the Berkeley Shambhala Center is hosting an exhibition of contemporary paintings. You might remember our exhibit, The Divine Feminine in the spring of 2007. The curator, Siddhartha V. Shah, is back along with Barbara Cook bringing still finer, museum-quality work in a major ... continuePosted April 18, 2011 by
Exploring Pure Perception at Senge Ling – HIGHLIGHT
By Russell Rodgers One of the key commitments in vajrayana Buddhism is to experience the world as sacred. Sacred in this context doesn’t mean that some deity proclaimed it so; it just is, primordially, in the present moment of fresh, pristine awareness. In our business, however, we ... continuePosted March 23, 2011 by Michael Foster
A Pinch of Rice – HIGHLIGHT
By S. Marie Vernon The lodge is cozy and comfortable with a huge fireplace that constantly invites us to “come sit by the fire.” It’s our Winter 2010-2011, Weekthun and Oryoki Retreat in North Alabama. Twenty three of us are here for the event with our teachers, Shastri ... continuePosted March 23, 2011 by SMarieVernon
Boulder’s New Rigden Thangka – HIGHLIGHT
The new Primordial Ridgen thangka was unveiled on Shambhala Day in Boulder, and a celebration to commemorate its installation happened the following day, March 6th. Khandro Tseyang led Shambhala’s own Gesar Lingdro dance troupe for the occasion in their second-ever performance to date. Following that, the ... continuePosted March 17, 2011 by
Boulder Welcomes the Sakyong out of Retreat – HIGHLIGHT
Boulder’s newly renovated shrine room glittered on Shambhala Day to welcome Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche out of his year-long retreat. Members of the Mukpo and Ripa families, the Kalapa Council, and Shambhalians from near and far were present to celebrate the new year together with the Sakyong ... continuePosted March 10, 2011 by
A New Kind of Governance
[caption id=”attachment_4404″ align=”alignright” width=”150″ >click here. By Shastri Rebecca Hazell In mid-February, one of several governance conferences around the world was held in San Francisco. Victoria Centre Director Layth Matthews, Practice and Education Director Mark Hazell, and Shastri Rebecca Hazell (me) attended this huge gathering. People came from ... continuePosted March 6, 2011 by James Northcote
Bo Graham – End of Life Story
Hello friends and family of Bo and the Shambhala Mandala, At the request of Acharya Warwick and from the inspiration of my recent time with Bo and his family I want to share with you some of the experiences that we all had together in the last ... continuePosted February 25, 2011 by
Doing Ngondro in Bodhgaya – HIGHLIGHT
Kurt Hofstetter, a member of the Shambhala Centre in Vienna, describes a recent group ngondro retreat in Bodhgaya and shares a gallery of vivid photographs from the experience. During Vajrayana Seminary in 2009, the Sakyong mentioned that doing prostrations in Bodhgaya would be very ... continuePosted February 16, 2011 by Kurt_Hofstetter
Miksang with Incarcerated Youth – HIGHLIGHT
Jake Lorfing describes his adventures and shares photos from teaching contemplative photography to teenagers. We didn’t know what to expect entering the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center to meet the eight girls, ages 14-17, who had signed up for a weekly Miksang Photography class. Four volunteers ... continuePosted February 14, 2011 by
Training the Greatest Gift – HIGHLIGHT
Luc Jacobs describes his experience at the Mukpo Institute, engaging training, study, and meditation to discover that becoming who you already are is a gift to everyone. Mukpo Institute has been in existence for several years now, but somehow it has not attracted that many students, ... continuePosted February 11, 2011 by
Ambassador of Dharma – HIGHLIGHT
As Jennifer Woodhull describes, in September of 2009, the small sangha of Shambhala South Africa waved goodbye to their dharma brother, Johann Verster, as he traveled to Karme Choling for an extended stay. While it was hard to do without him, everyone in South Africa is ... continuePosted February 9, 2011 by Jennifer_Woodhull
Visualizing Sopa Choling – HIGHLIGHT
This is the fifth and final article in a series on Sopa Choling and the three-year retreat experience. In this photographic essay, Laura Kaufman has selected images that celebrate Sopa Choling and highlight the place, with its changing moods throughout the seasons, and some of the ... continuePosted February 1, 2011 by
Life, Death & Three-year Retreat – HIGHLIGHT
This is the fourth article in a series on Sopa Choling and the three-year retreat experience. Sharon Keegan shares how personal experiences of impermanence led her into a three-year retreat, and guided her activity in the world when she emerged. Be sure to read the ... continuePosted January 30, 2011 by
Discovering Enlightened Society at Sopa Choling – HIGHLIGHT
This is the third article in a series on Sopa Choling and the three-year retreat experience. Shastri Chuck Whetsell describes his experience of discovering enlightened society, slogan by slogan, during his three-year retreat at Sopa Choling. Be sure to read the fourth article and click ... continuePosted January 28, 2011 by
Following a Path of Practice – HIGHLIGHT
This is the second article in a series on Sopa Choling and the three-year retreat experience. As Lelia Calder discovered, on the path of practice a three-year retreat may be the next step, however surprising or daunting it may seem. She shares how she arrived at the ... continuePosted January 26, 2011 by
RSS feed for the Regions category
View all posts from authors in Regions: