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February Newsletter 2024

Writer's picture: KSD LondonKSD London



Dear All,


Welcome to the February newsletter which has a distinctly South African flavour to it. First of all, there's the opening of the KSD Johannesburg Temple on the 15th and 16th of February. Apart from being good news in its own right, Lama Zangmo will also be down there, taking part in the opening and giving teachings. In addition to that, the last article in this month's newsletter is by our own Joelle Peeters who writes about the retreat led by Donal Creedon that she undertook at the Tara Rokpa Centre which is 240km north of Johannesburg. Of course if Joelle had kept an eye on our website, she'd have realised that Donal's teaching at the London Centre again later this month. Oh well!!!! More info below.


Now, on to slightly more local news!


The Skills Auction to raise money for Dolma Lhakang, Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche's monastary in the autonomous region of Tibet. We can only have an auction on the 27th April if there are skills being offered, and so far.... there's not a lot! If you know how high and remote the monastary is, then you'll know they need all the support they can get! If there is anything you can offer - and you can see a list of the sort of things we're looking for on the website, please don't hesitate to step up and help out. Your time and effort will be very much appreciated as well as helping support a very worthy cause. You can read about Dolma Lhakang and see a video of a vist there by Rinpoche on the website of the Akong Memorial Foundation.


Also on the 27th, Barbara Pfeiffer will be sharing her memories of travelling to the Tibetan areas with Akong Rinpoche. Between 2004 and 2012, Barbara travelled with Rinpoche for a least a month each year, visiting all the ROKPA projects in the region. For more information and to book your place for this fascinating talk, please visit the event page on the website.


Taming the Tiger - while we're talking about Rinpoche, amidst the many things he achieved in his lifetime, was the creation of Tara Rokpa Therapy and the writing of a book, Taming the Tiger, intended as a gift to Westerners to help us understand and tame our own minds. Not only do we have an extract from Taming the Tiger below, but on the 8th-9th March there will be a weekend course led by Brion Sweeney. For more information and to book your place, you know where to go. .


The Tibetan Doctor will next be available in KSDL on the weekend of the 22nd - 23rd February. To make an appointment for a consultation please contact Doctor Soktsang directly. If you want to check Dr Soktsang's availability in 2025, the dates of his attendance at the Centre are available on the website.


Winter Wanderings with Sarah Sheehan wraps up with its final two sessions - this Thursday, 6th February and then on the 20th. I don't know if Sarah will be moving on to Spring Wanderings in March or not, but for now you can definitely join Sarah for a cup of chai in our cosy tearoom while looking into the various difficulties that arise in our day to day experience.


To find out what else is going on, and to get those dates in your diaries, just visit our "What's on" pages on the website...and get that diary / calendar ready to fill. And to keep an eye on any other news from the Centre, just visit the News section on the website.


So until the March newsletter, enjoy the gradually lightening days, keep your eyes out for signs of spring and have a great month.


Best wishes,


David Bates

Newsletter Editor


 

On Longing, Loneliness and Bodhicitta. A Buddha-eye With Donal Creedon



We are delighted to welcome Donal Creedon once again, on the 22nd - 23rd February. This weekend you can go on an excursion into the heart of the human condition as well as ‘ the way seeking mind’ (bodhicitta). Bodhicitta is the force of awakened intelligence and affection that can course naturally through us. If only we know how to set it free. Alas, we cannot ignore the undercurrents, the secret snares tugging from beneath, the longings, the loneliness, the ‘samskara’ or underlying afflictions.


The weekend will comprise teaching, meditation instruction, a little practice as well as discussion. We will ask how can we live in truth (dharma) in the great City.


“Dónal Creedon has studied and practiced for many years with Buddhist masters of the Kagyu practice lineage in Kagyu Samye Ling as well as in India and Nepal. This involved many years of retreat, including several traditional three year retreats at Purelands in Samye Ling.


For more information, and to book your place on this weekend, just visit the course page on the website.


 

The Seven Points of Mind Training with Lama Zangmo


Starting on Saturday 22nd March, Lama Zangmo will start teaching this new monthly course, which runs up until December.


For centuries Tibetans have used the seven points of mind training with a series of fifty-nine slogans as a skillful method for training the mind and cultivating limitless compassion.


Using the text The Great Path of Awakening and other commentaries which contain clear, precise instructions, Lama Zangmo will give instructions with emphasis on using the practice to meet ordinary life situations with loving kindness and Bodhicitta.


The course is suitable for both Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike, but some familiarity with the Buddhist teachings is a plus.


Please note: When booking onto this course it is a requirement to attend all the dates in full (with the exception of serious illness) and give it priority over other activities.


For more information and to book your seat, please visit the event page on the website.


 

Akong Tulku Rinpoche - The Freedom to Act


"The freedom to act for the benefit of everyone – to know how most skilfully and appropriately to apply our help – depends largely on the ability to transcend any sense of the world as something fixed, solid and substantial. Once we are free of this limitation, our awareness can increase in range and scope. From a basement, for example, only the very immediate environment can be seen; from a rooftop rather more; whilst from a mountain we can look down on many rooftops. From an aeroplane, however, vast areas and entire countries come into view.


In the same way, the attention and understanding of a wise person are not restricted to his or her own concerns, nor to a rigid, unyielding idea of the world. With detachment and objectivity, situations are seen more clearly, as they are, and there can be mindfulness of everyone’s needs and problems.


Compassionate awareness like this will enable correct and skilful means to be applied as needed. So our responsibility is to try to increase our awareness, see the whole situation, be willing to help other people with their problems and not to be narrow-minded. This way everyone will benefit."


This is an extract from p78 of Rinpoche's book "Taming the Tiger"



 

My Retreat in the African Bushveld - Joelle Peeters



"On a cold December day I left Kagyu Samye Dzong London to go to South Africa for a residential retreat at the Tara Rokpa Center (TRC) in the Groot Marico district of South Africa. The Centre is in a beautifully wild part of South Africa about 240km North of Jo’burg.


TRC is a peaceful centre in the African bushveld, bounded by perennial streams,

and surrounded by rolling hills, on 280 hectares of land. The environment is pristine, the air and water are unpolluted and the night sky is so clear that one can see many, many stars.


It was established under the guidance of the late Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche, who was both a meditation Master and a Tibetan Medical Doctor. Akong Rinpoche had a vast 1000-year vision for the Centre as a place of peace and refuge for all beings, irrespective of their backgrounds. TRC have Implemented Akong Rinpoche’s vision

by having four wings of activity: healing therapies, environmental preservation, spiritual development and community activities. These serve to accomplish his vision of supporting people to develop wisdom and compassion.


Donal Creedon was running a retreat entitled “Echoes from an Empty Sky”, to explore some verses from Lord Gampopa’s “A String of Pearls”. The retreat was conducted in noble silence from late evening to midday, at which time there was the opportunity for personal reflection and time in the beautiful nature in and around the centre's grounds.


Our daily routine began with a fire puja followed by a mixture of meditation sessions and an instruction/exploration of a chapter from “A String of Pearls”.....


To read the rest of Joelle's article, you can find it on the website. And if Joelle had kept her eye on our schedule, she'd have realised that Donal will be teaching in the Centre this month anyway (see above!!!).


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Kagyu Samye Dzong,

15 Spa Road, Bermondsey

London, SE16 3SA

Kagyu Samye Dzong is part of the Rokpa Trust,

Registered Charity Number 1059293

Contact Us: 

(+44) 020 3327 1650

ksdlondon@samye.org

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