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2009 Menla Retreat Schedule

  2009 Menla Retreat Schedule

 

 

 

Architecture for Tibet

Architecture For Tibet
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Architecture for Tibet is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of Tibetans living in exile in impoverished regions of Arunachal Pradesh, NE India. We design, fund and construct buildings that respect and enhance the natural and cultural qualities of these regions, and create places of well-being and self-improvement, from which Tibetan values of compassion, patience and generosity can strengthen and spread.

We are focused on the well-being and education of Tibetan children. Towards that end, we create sound environments for these children to learn in, so they can go out into the world with real hope of Tibet's cultural continuation.

Our Project
Architecture for Tibet's current project is an Academic Center for the Manjushree Orphanage in Tawang, Arucnachal Pradesh, in the high Himalaya of Northeast India. The new, light-filled Academic Center will replace the present schoolhouse, which is falling apart and not large enough to accommodate the number of children.

The proposed two-story building will contain not only classrooms, but a library, a multi-purpose space, a computer and language lab, and a large Nursery Environment, for the youngest children to learn, play and be cared for in. Within this place, the children can cultivate a true sense of friendship while gaining the knowledge they need to overcome their difficult circumstances.

The building is "green": Temperature is regulated through a combination of geothermal and solar-based technologies, creating a warm environment during the harsh winters and a dry, airy place in summer, when the region receives heavy rains. This will enable the children to be comfortable, healthy, and active within their learning environment throughout all the seasons.

History of Manjushree Orphanage
In 1998, Lama Thupten Phunsok founded Manjushree Vidyapith Orphanage and Free School to assist orphaned, destitute and disabled children living in Tawang, the land of the Monpa, tribal people of Buddhist faith.

Today Manjushree serves 150 children in residence (11 are disabled), and 37 day students from nearby villages. Manjushree offers a modern education in accordance with Indian Government standards from nursery to class 5, and also teaches the children to read and write in the Tibetan language. Resident children above class 5 walk to nearby Government schools. The devoted faculty of 10 educators and 7 support staff not only teach and impart values of love and compassion for all, they also live on-campus and care for the children around the clock.
 

 

Lama Pema Wangdak receives Ellis Island Medal of Honor

Lama Pema Wandak receives
Ellis Island Medal of Honor

 

The Venerable Lama Pema Wandak, director of the Palden Sakya Centers and the Vikramasila Foundation, has been chosen by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations ( NECO ) to receive an Ellis Island Medal of Honor in a ceremony on Saturday, May 9, 2009.

Lama Pema Wangdak is the first Tibetan to receive this award, which ranks among this country’s most prestigious and is officially recognized by both the US Senate and the US House of Representatives. Six Presidents of the United States have received this award as well as many Members of Congress, prominent scientists, athletes, entertainers, corporate executives, and philanthropic entrepreneurs.

Each year, NECO awards the Ellis Island Medals of Honor to outstanding American citizens who live a life dedicated to community service, promoting American values, and building bridges between ethnic communities living within the United States and abroad. NECO was created in 1984 with the belief that the diversity of the American people is what makes this nation great.

NECO's Executive Director, Rosemarie Taglione, notes in Lama Pema's nomination letter that his "position as a leader and a teacher of peace, tolerance, and diversity is to be celebrated. Our country and its citizens benefit from your insight and wisdom."

A monastic since the age of seven, Lama Pema is a student of His Holiness the Sakya Trizin and other teachers of the Sakya order of Tibetan Buddhism. A graduate of the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Benares, India, he received his Acharya ( master's ) degree from Sanskrit University in 1980. In 1982, His Holiness the Sakya Trizin sent Lama Pema to teach in the United States as the first of the younger generation of Tibetan teachers of the Sakya Order. Lama Pema became an American citizen in 1990.

For more than 26 years he has been guiding western students, teaching the tenets of Tibetan Buddhism in the New York City-city area at the Palden Sakya Centers, while also traveling and teaching at Dharma centers around the world. A skilled communicator and Sanskrit scholar, who speaks three languages ( English, Hindi, and Tibetan ), Lama Pema is accessible to his students who are drawn to his gentle wisdom and compassion.

His humanitarian efforts include the creation of the first Braille system in the Tibetan language and the Vikramasila Foundation, programs of which include the Pema Ts'al ( Lotus Grove Schools ) in Nepal and India. The Pema Ts'al school for Tibetan children was founded in 1995 in Mundgod, South India, on behalf of the children of the refugee community of Tibetans who have lived there since the early 1960s. In 1999, a monastery school was founded to educate ethnic Tibetan students from the Kingdom of Mustang, Nepal. The students receive a traditional Tibetan monastic education, as well as studying subjects such as English, science, and math.

Ms. Taglione continued in her letter to Lama Pema: "The Buddhist community is as diverse in New York City as it is around the globe. Your role as a spiritual leader in this great city is no doubt as challenging as it is rewarding."
Continuing to serve the Tibetan community of New York as both a spiritual and cultural adviser, Lama Pema frequently works on projects that enhance the knowledge of Tibet--its religion, art, history, and language.

About the Award and Ceremony:

Established in 1986 by NECO, the Ellis Island Medals of Honor pay tribute to the ancestry groups that comprise America’s unique cultural mosaic. Held on Ellis Island, the event is full of pageantry, grandeur, and emotion. All branches of the United States Armed Forces traditionally participate in this event. Dancers in their native costume add to the international flavor of the celebration. A gala dinner in the historic Great Hall on Ellis Island follows the moving ceremony. As a grand finale, a fireworks display illuminates the sky and America’s symbol of freedom, the Statue of Liberty.
For additional information about the Venerable Lama Pema Wangdak, Palden Sakya Centers, and the Vikramasila Foundation, visit www.vikramasila.org .

For additional information about the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations ( NECO ) and the Ellis Island Medals of Honor, visit www.neco.org .
 


 

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An Esoteric Quest for Inner America

  NY Open Center & Lapis Magazine Online present:

An Esoteric Quest for America
August 24-28, 2009

An Esoteric Quest for Inner America
Join Robert Thurman at the NY Open Center's eighth Esoteric Quest, this time on the home soil of America. After seven previous conferences in Europe on the Western Esoteric Tradition, the time has come at this moment of rebirth of the American spirit to search for the Inner America-one known to the indigenous peoples, and a source of deep fascination to many esoteric thinkers from alchemists and Rosicrucians in the 17th century, to Masonic circles around the Founding Fathers, to the Transcendentalists and many writers and artists in the 20th century who have profoundly influenced modern times.

This conference will examine and celebrate the life-enhancing spiritual impulses that emerge powerfully in America: the creative meeting of all cultures and spiritual paths; the natural American generosity of spirit; the "Yes We Can" attitude of optimism and self-belief; and the bedrock commitment to the virtue of equality. At a time when hope is high for a new American Renaissance, please join us for this exploration and celebration of the deepest and best in the soul of this country.

Please visit www.esotericquest.org or contact Andrea Lomanto at 212.219.2527 ext.101.