Watch the Video of Khaita Dancers Participate in NYC International Dance Parade

Watch the whole film and you will see Amanda's amazing Lotus mobile to contain the sound system. Special Thanks to Bret Bourman of SSI for organizing our community participation, Lauri Denyer for her gorgeous costumes, NYC Ling-- Kundroling and last, but not least, our Khaita Dancers who put so much energy and joy into their performance. The Khaita Dancers were the only representatives of Tibetan dance and music in the parade.


 

Registration for Tsegyalgar East Summer Celebration Now Open

Registration is now open! 

The retreat organizing team is busy planning for your visit. We would like to plan ahead as accurately as possible. Please consider registering today! We have a small gift for the first 50 people registered.

**REGISTER**

Visit the Full Schedule Here!

Some Preliminary Photos of Khaita Dancers in NYC

                           

Tseyang's 10th Birthday Celebration, May 28, 2016

Yeshe Tsomo invites you to Tseyang's 10th Birthday Celebration

Saturday, May 28th, 1pm

18 Schoolhouse Road, Conway, MA 01341

We hope to see you at the birthday party

Some Happenings Around Tsegyalgar East

Over the past year Librarian/Archivist at Tsegyalgar East, Marit Cranmer, embarked on a mission not only to refurbish the library environment at Tsegyalgar East but initiate a number of key projects to enhance its use. 

The library is now host to an ever growing selection of contemporary books on Tibetan Buddhism and culture, teaching texts on Tibetan language, and a repository of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu's audio and video Teachings for over 30 years. Eventually there will be a listening station for digital recordings of Rinpoche's retreats.

These days the Library when not occupied by the Tibetan Medicine program is a great place for reading and studying. Here you will find a broad selection of  Santi Maha Sangha reference books on reserve put together by Lynn Newdome for her year-long course on the SMS base text, The Precious Vase by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu. These include a treasure trove of original sources quoted in the text such as Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on Shentideva's classic Bodhisattvacaryavatara and Jigme Lingpa's, Stairway to Liberation among others. Key works by Longchenpa and Mipham Rinpoche and many contemporary publications such as Joseph Goldstein's Mindfulness commentary on the Sati Patthanna Sutta commonly known as The Four Foundation of Mindfulness, considered a key for beginning meditation in the Buddhist tradition, are also available. Great works by contemporary Tibetan masters fill the shelves from all the lineages. 

***

In preparation for the Khaita dancers participation in the 10th Annual International dance parade in NYC, Lauri Marder is working to provide newly designed costumes for both male and female dancers. A tremendous effort went into the designs and execution of these costumes down to every detail. We look forward to seeing the final results in the performance.

Another hand-crafted item for the upcoming parade is Amanda Pollock's clever Lotus Mobile to house the sound system needed to project the music for the parade. 

***

Khandroling Paper Cooperative  met on Sunday, May 15 for a day-long workshop dedicated to Tibetan drawing as part of an ongoing series focusing on the elements. Sunday's class worked with the various manifestations of Flames taught by Dara Juels using home videos of her Tibetan husband, Yangjur who trained in Tibetan arts. 

[Brenda, Paul, Sheryl and Dara  watching the video]

[Flames used in butter sculptures on Torma]

[Madeleine at work]

Brenda Lilly brought in a new Lotus origami example she created to accommodate the the Mani mantra with six petals (instead of eight in our previous template) and the final HRIH inserted in the center. 

Khandroling Paper Cooperative welcomes new members Paul Lewis from Pittsfied, MA and Kichung Lizee aka "K" from Shelburne Falls (who will teach two Calligraphy workshops in the Fall).  

[K's calligraphy for MU, seed syllable for  emptiness]

Visit the Khandroling Paper Cooperative blog for the full 2016 WORKSHOP Schedule and OPEN STUDIO dates, here.

[Paul, K, Brenda, and Sheryl happy artists]

Photos by Amanda Pollock, Dara Juels, and Jacqueline Gens

This Month of May Donate for our Tsegyalgar E/W House at Dzamling Gar

The following article about raising funds for furnishing the Tsegyalgar East/West House in Dzamling Gar can be can be read in the Mirror online

[Rosa, Rinpoche and Monica visiting the Tsegyalgar model apartment, reprinted from the Mirror]

Per Rinpoche's instruction we are aiming to complete furnishing all apartments by the end of this month. (..hurry!!) 

Now you can help furnish our TE house in Tenerife and make our 2 apartments usable for upcoming retreat with Rinpoche!! (and if ready, use it) 

On completion of furnishing our apartments they will then be available for rent at a cost of $55 per night. These rental monies will be then applied towards our Dzamling Gar House costs. 

If you'd like to participate and make a monetary donation, it is very simple: 

Check Our Wishlist - see what we need (furniture selected by our Architect) 

Make a Pledge - write your name next to items you wish to donate for 

Donate Now - (PayPal) - send your online payment

 [dzamling gar / tsegyalgar east/west used as model house]

You can also send a check to: * Please clearly state purpose of check - 

DCA (Dzogchen Community in America)

PO Box 479, 18 Schoolhouse Rd, 

Conway Ma, 01341 - USA

For more details on making a donation 

you can write to the Yellow Gakyil 

at yellowgakyil@tsegyalgar.org

Thank you all for your 

generosity and participation.

Tsegyalgar East Gakyil 

Attachments area

Tsegyagar East Gakyil Report

[Rinpoche's cabin on upper Khandroling]

Dear Vajra Brothers and Sisters,

It is the year of the Fire Monkey and things are certainly jumping: May is almost over!​ First, thank you and congratulations, we did it! Our support and enthusiasm for The Khandroling Summer Celebration of Practicing Together has manifested! 

​Click here for the details!

​You can always keep up to date with events and happenings at Tsegyalgar East on our home page 

​tsegyalgar.org . You can look on the front page to the left. Our web Goddess, Nancy Paris, 

​updates these pages many times a week with new information. Take a look!

• ​There is interest in reviving the Farm Coop, If you would like to be a part of this effort contact Amanda redgayil@tsegyalgar.org or Tim secretary@tsegyalgar.org. Last meeting of the Co-op was May 12th. Work is being done to weed raspberries, which will be for sale once they ripen. Blueberry plants are maturing and new additional ones are being planted by Nary this Spring.

• We continue to work with International Dzogchen Community (IDC) to finalize our formal affiliation. We are finalizing the wording of our charter revision and the affiliation agreement. Right now Enrico Dell'Angelo has the documents and we expect to hear from him very soon. Once the documents are finalized, the community will have the opportunity to vote on it. All documents have been scrutinized by our lawyer to assure that our non-profit status will not be affected.

• Additionally, ​we are also working on some clarifications regarding advertising and use of social media with communications for and about our Tsegyalgar East and our community. We will be in touch soon with more about this.

• We are thrilled to share that we have begun work on Rinpoche's cabin on Khandroling, started this week with scaffolding put up and the removal of the old roof starts Monday. ​All the trees around the cabins that were a fall hazard have been removed.

• Two properties have come up for sale. One is the Provost land which abuts Khandroling. It has been viewed by many community members and discussion is underway about the possibilities with this property. The other property is the house and land next to the Gar.there is an informal fact gathering happening at the moment which will be presented to the gakyil for further perusal and discussion.

Fiscally, our current savings is at about $90,000. However, we actually have a budget of almost $200,000 for fixed expenses for 2016, including administration, operations, properties, insurance, KPI rent, etc. As you know, in recent years, $100,000 plus has been made annually from Rinpoche's yearly visit to the Gar. Since He is not visiting this year, we need to secure other means of income. We are aiming to increase our fundraising efforts and will be in touch soon with more about this.

We continue to follow our master’s guidance and direction in collaborating and contributing to the development  ​of our International Dzamling Gar. This includes two main projects for us at this time: ​Dzamling Gar Gompa and Tsegyalgar East &​ West House at Dzamling Gar​

​
As always if you are interested in finding out more and wish to attend a Gakyil meeting or wish to add an agenda to the gakyil meeting write Tim, the secretary, ​secretary@tsegyalgar.org 

​Our next meeting will be March 13th at 9:00am EST. To read the minutes of the previous meetings CLICK HERE.

With love and appreciation,
The Tsegyalgar East Gakyil​

Two Summer Positions Available at Tsegyalgar East

Dear Vajra Brothers and Sisters,

We are once again inviting practitioners to come and spend the summer on our beautiful land at Khandroling, where our Master received the Terma of the Vajra Dance. There will be opportunity to practice either alone or with other community members, and to enjoy beautiful western Massachusetts.

There are two work study positions available this Summer on Khandroling. Also Tsegyalgar East may be looking to hire a second Geko so anyone interested in that position should apply for Geko assistant work study position. See opportunities outlined below:

Assistant to Retreat Coordinator: July 24 - August 7th

Help with preliminary set up of retreat events, all over "right hand person" to Anastasia Ezequelle setting up and running retreat. 2-3 Days of being on site point person during the retreat.

Compensation:
Free camping on Khandroling for two weeks
Free entrance into Summer Celebration RetreatAssistant to the Geko: Arrival date June 19th

Helping Jeremy Keaton perform all Geko duties on the land and some aspects at the school house. Should be good with tools, handy fixing things, strong able to lift up to 100lbs, have a good work ethic and ability to both collaborate and take direction. This work study position could lead to position as second Geko for Tsegyalgar East for the right candidate.

Compensation:
Free camping on Khandroling for two months
Free entrance into Summer Celebration Retreat
Stipend of $75/per week

Contact: redgakyil@tsegyalgar.org and geko@tsegyalgar.org

Malcolm Smith to Publish his Translation, Buddhahood in This Life-- The Great Commentary by Vimalamitra

Photo reprinted from Facebook]

Buddhahood in This Life
The Great Commentary by Vimalamitra
Translated by: Malcolm Smit

Discover a profound text that has influenced Tibetan teachers for generations. Buddhahood in This Life is a complete translation of the earliest Tibetan commentary on the Dzogchen secret instructions.

Available for the first time in English, Buddhahood in This Life presents the Great Commentary of Vimalamitra—one of the earliest and most influential texts in the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It explores the theory and practice of the Great Perfection tradition in detail, shows how Dzogchen meditation relates to the entirety of the Buddhist path, and outlines how we can understand buddhahood—and even achieve it in our lifetime.

- See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Buddhahood-in-This-Life/Malcolm-Smith/9781614293453#sthash.lcW3TAlV.dpuf

Malcolm Smith is a graduate of the Shang Shung Institute’s School of Tibetan Medicine (2009) and has been a student of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu since 1992. He is a veteran of a traditional three-year solitary Tibetan Buddhist retreat, a published translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts (in Treasures of the Sakya Lineage, Shambhala, 2008), and was awarded the Acharya degree by the Sakya Institute in 2004. In addition, he is a licensed massage therapist and has cross-trained in Ayurvedic bodywork at Kripalu’s School of Ayurveda. He lives in Ashfield, Massachusetts.

Khaita Dance News

[Photo by Amanda Pollock, Lauri Marder's exquisite costumes in the works during rehearsal]

For those planning on participating in the NYC International Dance Festival Parade, here is the rehearsal schedule.

Tsegyalgar East

Thursday, May 12
5-7PM: Rehearsal

Saturday, May 14
10-12 and 3-5: Rehearsal together with the N.Y. Kundroling Dancers
Our New York Dancers are invited to Tsegyalgar for a day of preparing Khaita for the parade. to arrive on Friday for the Puja, and stay in the dorm at the gar.

Thursday May 19
5-7PM: Rehearsal

Kundrolling NYC 

Friday, May 20,
4PM: Orientation & Full Cast Run Through (+ Costumes, Prep and Prop Storage).

Saturday, May 21
10:30AM - Departure: Final Call Meet-up.

at Parade - Manhattan
11AM or 12PM: Parade Vehicle and/or Participant Line-up -- times are TBD by parade. Details to follow.
1PM: Parade Starts
3PM: Parade Ends
3-5PM: DanceFest, Tompkins Square Park.
8PM: Dance Parade’s After Party for participants.

For further information visit: http://www.shangshung.org/home/newyork_loves_khaita/

Shang Shung Institute of America Events and News

Traditional Tibetan Cooking with Yeshe
Saturday May 14th and Sunday, May 15th, 2016
From 10:00 AM – 3:30 PM EST

United Congregational Church of Conway
44 Whately Road, Pumpkin Hollow
Conway, MA 01341


The Shang Shung School of Tibetan Medicine is seeking committee members. SSSTM is licensed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is working to seek accreditation as a fully recognized school of Tibetan Medicine at the federal level. 

To learn more about this committee and express interest in joining, contact the Institute 

Shang Shung Institute of America
18 Schoolhouse Road
P.O. Box 278
Conway, MA 01341
USA

Offices of Administration
E-mail SSI Administration
Telephone: 413-369-4928
Fax: 413-369-4473

Shang Shung Institute of America is sponsoring Khaita dancers and the Tibetan Derge dancers in the 10th Annual Dance Parade and Festival in NYC on May 21, 2016. 

For further information visit the SSI website at 

http://www.shangshung.org/home/newyork_loves_khaita/

Hospice Training with Dr. Phuntsog Wangmo in Dzamling Gar

In January when I saw the announcement about the Tibetan Medicine Hospice Training which would be held in April 2016 at Dzamling Gar, I decided I wanted attend. For a long time, I have thought that I need this kind of course because, not only do I feel the need to prepare myself for my own death, but also if possible, I would like to be ready to help others during their process of dying.  To continue, read here.

Article and photo reprinted courtesy of the Mirror 

Update on our Recent Community-Wide Meeting and Dates for Viewing the Provost Property

About thirty members of the local Dzogchen Community met on Wednesday evening, May 11 in the yellow schoolhouse gompa to discuss the availability of the Provost property on Barnes Road on the southern border of the Upper Khandroling property. Another four individuals attended via live Skype.  In 2013, we noted the passing of our good neighbor Mr. Roy Provost here. The property consists of 60 acres with a relatively new house, 2 car garage with a studio, 2 cabins, a sugar house and a pond asking price 375K.

The meeting began with Joe Zurylo outlining the details of the property upon hearing from the Provost family who contacted him about the property before putting it on the market. Following his presentation, there was a Q and A regarding many details such as road access, property boundaries, septic system, zoning, winter plowing, condition etc. Afterwards, everyone present expressed their personal visions, comments, misgivings and consideration for the purchase and its financing. There is still much to explore here. If you are interested, please take part in the viewing listed below and the next scheduled meeting. 

Many thanks to Jeremy for facilitating the Skype communication, Tim for taking minutes and  Amanda for running such a fine meeting. Well Done!!!! 

This weekend we are being given the opportunity to view this property: 

Saturday May 14 at 1:00PM - John Foster will introduce.

Sunday May 15 at 1:00PM - Vern Harrington will introduce.

There will be another meeting to follow up .

Wednesday, May 18th at 7:30PM in the Schoolhouse


{photos by Jacqueline Gens}

Lower Khandroling Farm Update

Over the past couple of weeks Nary and Jeremy with Martin and Amanda have met some days on the farm to organize the greenhouse and shed, weed, prune, and dig. Jeff Smith did some tilling on the tractor. Here is the most recent update: 

• Vlad took invited his herb teacher to take a wild craft walk looking to identify native plants and herbs on Khnadroling. He proposed a series of wild craft walks beginning during our summer celebration

• Martin is now treasurer collecting donations to cover farm expenses. 

• Bret and Lauri are preparing for the Khaita Dance performance in NYC

• Jacqueline is working on Khandroling Paper Cooperative programs and events for the summer including a table at the River Walk festival in Shelburne Falls and specific dates for local farmers markets. She will plant some calendula, flax and horse raddish for the paper cooperative as wel as her own plot. 

• There are now bees in some of the hive boxes inside the electric fence. Amanda is in touch with other beekeepers. 

• One Hugelkultur bed has been started near the bee hives.The photo below is not ours but similar. If you are unfamiliar with this type of gardening, please follow th elik above to read more. On upper Khandroling we have many heaps of branches from our clear cut suitable for this type of construction. 

• Pruning of the 3 apple trees near the driveway is progressing. There are 5 or more other apple trees on the other side of the house, alongside the creek that can be pruned.

• There are three rows of blueberries that were planted in 2013. Posts have been installed to mark each end of the rows and blueberry bushes have been uncovered by weedwacking each of the rows. There are about 174 blueberry bushes that have survived. The next step is to pull out by hand the grass/weeds along the three rows so that the rows can be covered to prevent so much surrounding overgrowth and less effort spent on maintenance. In between the rows can be mowed. Weeding will be very time consuming and labor intensive, so as many hands as we can get out here, the easier it will be. We can plant more blueberry bushes in the gaps in the rows. Some bushes didn't survive for various reasons.

• After we are done with those three rows, the lower three rows can be re-tilled and covered. Then we can work on transplanting the 50 or more blueberry bushes from other garden beds near the barn.

• These are just a few of the things that have been done since the last update that was sent out. If you have any comments or questions for me personally, you can respond directly to this email or you can send them to geko@tsegyalgar.org. 

Jeremy and Nary are on the farm most says. Write Jeremy at geko@tsegyalgar.org at least 24 hours before you plan on coming out to the farm. Anyone who wants to plant their individual garden is welcome to do so. We have everything here. Just donate some time on other projects Nary and Jeremy can direct you to. 

Our next meeting is Thursday, May 19 at Lower Khandroling Farm beginning at 6:00 PM

Register for Summer Celebration July 31-August 7, 2016 Now

Follow the link here

Save the Date for an Open House on July, 2, 2016

Revised Housing Information at Tsegyalgar East

For those of you planing to join us July 31 - August 7, 2016 for Tsegyalgar East's Summer Celebration of Practicing Together on Khandroling, or to dance and practice with us any time, please note the wide choice of accommodations available for you.

Visit the revised Accommodations section of our website Links below), where under the Private & Group Housing Options link you will find information about Tsegyalgar East's dormitory in the yellow Schoolhouse in Conway, and more, including affordable offerings by community members to stay in their homes, as well as standard local motels and Inns.

Privacy and some luxury can be found in the various Bed & Breakfasts in the area. Each B&B is special; prices are based on the expectation of a weekend stay. If your stay will be longer, you may negotiate a price reduction with the host.

This week we note the passing of our neighbor and friend Lucille Thibault, who ran the Bull Frog Bed & Breakfast on the Ashfield Road for the last thirty years, ever since Tsegyalgar was new. Lucille was 88 years old. She never had a website or an email address, but our visitors found her just the same. Condolences can be sent to the family at 1629 Conway Road, Ashfield, MA 01330.


The following links indicate the wide variety of housing options when visiting Tsegyalgar East:

General Accommodations page for Tsegyalgar East
Camping on our Retreat land, Khandroling
Affordable Private and Group Housing options nearby
Tsegyalgar East Dormitory contact geko@tsegyalgar.org
Local B & B establishments


We look forward to your visit.

News from Tsegyalgar East

The Khandroling road sign is now completed and in place. Many thanks to Joe and company for getting it done. 

There will be a meeting on Weds, May 11, 2016  at 7:30 PM in the Schoolhouse to discuss the availability of the Provost property for sale adjacent to Khandroling.  In 2013 we noted the passing of our good neighbor Mr. Roy Provost here. The property consists of 60 acres with a relatively new house, 2 car garage with a studio, 2 cabins, a sugar house and a pond asking price 375K.

The following photos were taken by Joe Zurylo of the property. After our meeting, we will report further details and proposals presented to the community for consideration.

This meeting is open to everyone. Here is the Skype access information:

"OPEN TO ALL: Discussion Regarding Buckland Property (Neighboring our beloved Khandroling)"

This is a preliminary presentation to inform our Community of the News we have received.
Please, join us!

HOW TO JOIN OUR WEBCAST:

Here is the Skype name to connect to: tsegyalgar.east

(NOTE: There is a PERIOD between tsegyalgar.east)

***Everyone please MUTE your microphones unless you are the one talking. This is very important or there will be background noise and feedback, making it harder for others to hear who are connecting with Skype.***

People can also type in questions or comments into the Skype interface and someone can read them aloud to everyone present.

You can download Skype here: https://www.skype.com/en/download-skype/skype-for-computer/

**You can also download Skype onto your Mobile Phone, Tablet, SMART TV, device from here. Connecting through Mobile devices may lack stability. **

We will try to start Skype at least 10 minutes early for people to start connecting.

If people have technical difficulties, they can email geko@tsegyalgar.org and we will do our best to help you.



Thank you All,

Tsegyalgar East