The SAKYONG'S  NAPA VALLEY MARATHON CAMPAIGN FOR SURMANG

1 m  photo by Sean Raggett  copyright 2008les  (training in Boulder, winter 2008)

              
SPRING 2008

To kick off the final 16 month push to complete the construction of the Surmang shedra, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche ran  the Napa Marathon on March 2, 2008.  Please click on Spring 2008.  

To find out more about how things were at the Marathon,  please click on  Napa Valley Marathon.

To see our new page about "Behind the scenes of the Sakyong's Marathons,"   click here:  behind the scenes

Several joyous and Lungta raising wine tasting parties have been held and will be held soon  to help raise money for the Napa Valley Marathon campaign.  Read more at Wine Tasting Parties.

It is still possible to make a donation for Surmang in honor of the Sakyong's Marathon.   Please go to MAKE A DONATION on the right hand column of the FUNDRAISING PAGE

Welcome:

The Surmang region and monasteries in eastern Tibet have, for many centuries, been the home of the Trungpa tulkus (incarnate lamas) and a major place of practice for Tibetan Buddhism. This spiritual tradition was severely disrupted by the Chinese invasion of Tibet in the 1950s, following which the practice of Buddhism was forbidden for many years and the Surmang monasteries were razed to the ground.

During this period, the abbot of Surmang, Chögyam Trungpa XI Rinpoche, after escaping into exile, became one of the first and most influential teachers of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, founding the Shambhala network of contemplative centers.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, successor to his father as the head of the international Shambhala community, has now accepted major responsibility for the rebuilding of Surmang, working closely with the people of Surmang. A crucial element is the shedra (school) for monastic and lay students. At present, there is no school in the Surmang Dutsi Til valley.

The Konchok Foundation, founded in 2001 by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche together with Lady Diana Mukpo (widow of Trungpa XI Rinpoche), provides financial and other support for the rebuilding of Surmang, especially the Surmang shedra. Support is also provided to the Trungpa XII Tulku and to a number of monks who are undertaking extended group meditation retreats in the area. The foundation also provides some resources to other monasteries closely associated with Surmang or with Mipham Rinpoche.

Beyond the specifics of these efforts, the Konchok Foundation is helping to initiate a remarkable coming together between two communities of people, Tibetan and Western, who share a common dharma lineage tradition but are distant from each other geographically and culturally. Exchange visits have now included travel by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche to Surmang in 2001 and 2004 and by Surmang Khenpo Tsering Gyurme to North America every year since 1999. Commencing in 2004, the two communities began working jointly together on the rebuilding of Surmang. In the next several years, we will also be working together on educational programming in Tibet, and on teaching visits to the West.

Please contact us for more information.