caption

Spring 2007

 20th PARINIRVANA ANNIVERSARY OF TRUNGPA XI RINPOCHE COINCIDES WITH SURMANG REBUILDING EFFORT

September 2006                           courtesy Gaye Carlson

The 20th anniversary commemoration of the parinirvana of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche this spring coincides with major developments at his home monastery, Surmang Dutsi Til in eastern Tibet.  As described in Born in Tibet, the Vidyadhara had put great effort into building a shedra at Surmang before he was forced into exile in 1959 and Surmang was destroyed.  Now the new shedra is only 18 months away from opening.

The first classes of the new shedra are expected to start this fall, conducted in tents.  The shedra will be open to women as well as men, lay people as well as monastics, children as well as adults.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

courtesy Blair Hansen

In addition to providing a permanent seat for Trungpa XII Rinpoche, the shedra (school) will provide spiritual and secular education to an estimated 150-200 students, once it is in full operation.  (72 students will live in the shedra complex itself.  Others will live in nearby villages until such time as additional housing can be constructed.)

There is a further auspicious coincidence this spring pertaining to Surmang.   One of the major terma texts received by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche during his time in Tibet is a maha ati yana Avalokiteshvara sadhana.  A copy was recovered by the Vidyadhara’s nephew Karma Senge Rinpoche and passed on to Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, and it has just been translated into English for the first time by the Nalanda Translation Committee.  Karma Senge Rinpoche is expected to offer transmissions of the sadhana this spring.

As the 2007 building season gets under way at the shedra, the construction focus is shifting to the huge amount of finishing work needed to prepare the 25,000 sq.ft. building complex for occupancy.  Aside from the central roof over the lhakang clerestory, the main structural work has largely been completed.  However, the interiors need to be insulated and plastered.  Windows and doors need to be installed.  The plumbing for the in-floor heating system, as well as all of the other systems work, needs to be installed and the subfloors poured, followed eventually by the finish flooring.  The entire complex will need to be painted, inside and out.

Chökyi Senge

Trungpa XII Rinpoche

All of this work, and the operation of the school as it opens, and continuing support for the young Trungpa XII Rinpoche, are only possible with the continuing generosity of donors here in the West.  Surmang is an extremely poor region with no schools operating at present in the valley.

Artwork.  It is traditional to have various artwork included in the lhakang (main shrine room) of the shedra.  If you would like to sponsor or co-sponsor any of the following, that would be wonderful.  The plans call for 30 wall murals, the painting of which will cost $800 each.  There are 18 murals planned for the ceilings that will cost $1,000 each.  There are 8 copper gyaltsens and 3 sertoks (spires) for the roof that will each cost $300.  It will be most desirable to have large statues of Sakyamuni, Manjusri, and Padmasambhava.  Please let us know if you might like to sponsor one of these statues.

Wayen.  Konchok Foundation has agreed to assist with building a shedra at Wayen in the Golok region of Tibet.  This is now in the planning phase so the major construction will be taking place after the Surmang shedra is completed.  Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche has made a strong connection with Wayen, which is closely associated with the previous Mipham Rinpoche as well as with King Gesar.  Bob and Lindy King will be traveling to Wayen this summer with Lama Chonam to help advise on the building plans, which are expected to be significantly less complex than Surmang.  If you would like to make a donation specifically for the Wayen shedra, please feel free to designate your donation in that way.

Gifts.  Khenpo Tsering is making arrangements for a special dharma gift for anyone who sponsors one of these artworks, or otherwise makes a donation of $250 or more this year.  In keeping with this spring’s theme of the commemoration of Chögyam Trungpa, this will be a reproduction on fabric of a newly commissioned thangka of the Vidyadhara.  We are also providing all donors this year with a copy of a photograph of the Vidyadhara and his teacher Khenpo Gangshar taken in the late 1950s.  Also, if you donate this year and you have not already received the 2005 gift of a relic from the kargenma (the castle which served as home to the Trungpas) or the 2006 gift of dutsi prepared from the Dutsi Til mother dutsi—please let us know and we can send those to you.

Spring campaign.  Your support is crucial so that the 2007 Surmang building season can get underway.  If you can help, please go to Donate Now.  Donations may also be mailed.  In the U.S.—please make checks payable to the Konchok Foundation and mail to: Ginny Lipson, Shambhala Center, 1345 Spruce St., Boulder, CO 80302.  CANADA—please make checks payable to Shambhala International with “Konchok Foundation” in the memo line and mail to: Terry Rudderham, Shambhala International, 1084 Tower Rd, Halifax, NS  B3H 2Y5. 

Thank you!

Karma Senge Rinpoche with monk and nun at Surmang shedra    September 2006

courtesy Gaye Carlson