Subject: 2013 Summer News Letter ! Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies Notice Title : Namgyal Monastery - Summer-Fall 2013 News Update Du Khor Choe Ling This past July Namgyal received the Certificate for Occupancy for the main building that houses the shrine room and Manjushri Library, as well as the kitchen and dining hall. Once we received the CO, Western and Tibetan volunteers worked diligently to prepare for the summer retreats. In particular, the thangka paintings of the Seventeen Nalanda Masters were hung in the shrine room. These thangkas were given to Namgyal Ithaca by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and, hence, are the special treasure of Du Khor Choe Ling. The summer retreats were then held at DKCL (see below). With the completion of the retreats, the Venerables and board members have begun looking ahead to the next phase of construction. The next building to be constructed will have quarters for the monks as well as a residence for His Holiness. We hope to have sufficient funds available to begin construction this fall. To make a donation to support our next phase of construction, please go to our donation page at http://www.namgyal/support/donate.html. Summer Retreats at Du Khor Choe Ling The summer retreats went very well. We had approximately 20 people attend the Chenrezig Retreat and 32 attend Kalachakra. Geshe Dakpa from Namgyal India was not able to come from India. Abhong Rinpoche, who is also a Geshe from Sera Me Monastery and currently lives in the Minneapolis area, taught for the retreat. He was quite wonderful, and we hope to invite him back again in the future sometime. Pictures from the retreat can be found on the Namgyal Facebook Page. Venerable Chokrab has arrived in Ithaca. Venerable Chokrab, a new monk for Namgyal Ithaca, recently arrived in New York. He has been in New York City with Venerable Norbu. At the request of the Sera Je Monastery Center in NYC, they performed a Guru Tsok in mid-August. 2013 Namgyal-Kalachakra India Tour This fall Namgyal Monastery will be hosting a tour to India. The trip will have two parts. Part One will be a trip to Dharmasala to receive teachings and have a private audience with His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Part Two will be a tour of Buddhist sacred sites in India, including Bodhgaya and Dhanyakataka (near present-day Amaravati), the site where the Buddha taught the Kalachakra Tantra. Students may elect to participate in only Part One or Parts One and Two together. The tour does not require that students have the Kalachakra initiation. Currently, there are 26persons signed up. We can accommodate another 8 persons. Deadline for registration and full payment is September 15th. A detailed description of the tour, including dates, itinerary, and costs, can reviewed in the document at the link below. http://www.namgyal.org/img/pdf/Namgyal_India_Tour_2013_Description.doc To register for the India Tour, download and complete the form at the link below. http://namgyal.org/img/pdf/Namgyal_India_Tour_2013_Registration.pdf 2014 Kalachakra Ceremony in Ithaca NY Each year, Namgyal India performs a Kalachakra ceremony at the home monastery during the time of year when Buddha Shakyamuni first taught the Kalachakra Tantra. The Kalachakra ceremony comprises ten days of ritual and practice, including construction of a Kalachakra sand mandala. These rituals and practices are the same as those performed before a Kalachakra Initiation. In the fall of 2013, during his visit to Dharmasala, India, the Namgyal Board President, Venerable Tenzin Choesang, met with His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. During that meeting His Holiness encouraged Venerable Choesang to host a full Kalachakra ceremony at Du Khor Choe Ling. Hence, Namgyal Ithaca will host a Kalachakra ceremony in the summer of 2014. The ceremony will be performed by Namgyal monks from India and Ithaca at Du Khor Choe Ling. Also during this time, teachings on the Kalachakra and other related texts will be given. Attending the Kalachakra ceremony at Du Khor Choe Ling will be a unique opportunity for students and practitioners of the Kalachakra Tantra to observe and participate in this profound set of rituals and practices, as well as gain deeper understanding and insight into the Kalachakra Tantra. The dates for this event will be confirmed later this fall. P. O. Box 127, 412 North Aurora Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 Phone: (607) 273-0739 - Fax: (607) 256-5132 Email: offi[email protected] - Web: www.namgyal.org Unsubscribe from the Namgyal mailing list.