Rinzin and Geshe la will be doing a sand mandala at the The Jones Center for Families in Springdale, Arkansas.  The opening ceremony was held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, October 31, and the closing ceremony will be two weeks later on November 14 at 7:00 p.m.  We will have an offering table, and you are welcome to stop by and visit during the day.  Rinzin will always be there Monday through Friday in the mornings from 9-11, and in the afternoons from 2-4, as well as other times too.  We will also have a smaller public mandala, and Geshe la will be instructing all ages on how to practice this ancient art form.  Bring your children and their friends, and stop by and try your hand!  Again, since Geshe la will be teaching on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the University, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are your best bet to find him at the public mandala.

Weekend Schedule November 3-4
On Saturday, November 3, Rinzin will be working from 8-12 a.m., and on Sunday, November 4, from 1-5 p.m.  Please visit, bring your friends, and any kind of offering you might want to leave for him (fruit, flowers, monetary donations, anything to show him our appreciation for his wonderful work on our behalf.)  Next weekend’s schedule will depend on the progress made during the coming week, but we will post updates here.  Although you’d never know it from watching Rinzin work, the process of making a mandala is a grueling one, mentally and physically, and as the weeks progress, the strain on the body and the mind grows exponentially.  So keep Rinzin in your thoughts over the next couple of weeks, and pay him a visit if you can.  Hope to see you at The Jones Center!

The Jones Center for Families is easy to find.  It’s located at 922 E Emma Avenue in Springdale.

Ven. Geshe Thupten Dorjee, Ven. Rinzin Dorjee, and Ven. Pasang Gelek will present a public Dharma talk, with chanting and meditation, on Tuesday, August 21, at 7:00 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fayetteville.

TOPIC: Buddhist Perspectives on Love and Compassion
DATE: Tuesday, August 21, 2007
TIME: 7:00 - 8:30 pm
LOCATION: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fayetteville
901 W. Cleveland Street, Fayetteville

The three Tibetan Buddhist monks trained at Drepung Loseling monastery in South India. Geshe Dorjee and Rinzin Dorjee currently reside in Fayetteville, and are founders of the Tibetan Heritage Institute of Arkansas. Pasang Gelek recently arrived in Fayetteville for an extended stay from his previous home in San Antonio, Texas.

The talk, sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship, is free and open to the public. Donations will be accepted. A selection of Tibetan prayer flags, malas (rosary beads), calendars, and other items will be available for purchase following the talk.

Geshe Thupten Dorjee, of the Tibetan Heritage Institute of Arkansas, will lead a tsog offering for the benefit of the Tibetan people on Sunday, August 5 from 11:00 am - 12:30 pm. The ceremony is open to the public and will be held at Dramis Hardwood Floors; 2275 S School Avenue in Fayetteville.

Tsog offering pujas are ceremonies that involve making offerings of food and drink to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in conjunction with prayers, chanting, and meditation. They are an excellent method for accumulating merit, purifying negativity, and receiving and giving blessings. Participants are encouraged to bring an offering of fruit, drink, or flowers to the ceremony.

This summer will witness the largest demonstration of solidarity with the cause of Tibetan freedom in the history of Tibet. On July 8, 14 Tibetans began an indefinite hunger strike in Delhi, India in an attempt to force the People’s Republic of China to meet certain demands related to religious and human rights within Tibet. On August 8, hundreds of thousands of Tibetans in India will begin a mass demonstration based on the principles of nonviolence and Gandhi’s tradition of satyagraha, meaning “insistence on truth”. For more information on the hunger strike and upcoming demonstration, visit the web site of the Tibetan Youth Congress at www.tibetanyouthcongress.org.

On July 8 in New Delhi, fourteen Tibetans began a hunger strike in protest of the Chinese treatment of Tibetans in Tibet.  They have assembled a list of five demands.  The strike is organized by The Tibetan Youth Congress, and their website provides a wealth of information concerning the struggle, brief biographies of the strikers, and a way to send a message to the strikers in New Delhi.  Please have a look at this site, as we are moving into the third week of the strike: http://www.tibetanyouthcongress.org/

Tibetan Buddhist monks Ven. Geshe Thupten Dorjee, Ven. Rinzin Dorjee, and Ven. Pema Rinchen will present an evening of Tibetan Healing Chants on Tuesday, July 10 at 7:00 pm. The performance is sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship, and will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 901 West Cleveland Street in Fayetteville.

DATE: Tuesday, July 10, 2007
TIME: 7:00 - 8:30 pm
LOCATION: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 901 W. Cleveland St., Fayetteville

The sacred healing chants of Tibetan Buddhism involve sound, meditation, and visualizations designed to transform suffering and reveal our inherent “Buddha Nature” of peace, compassion, and wisdom.

Geshe Thupten Dorjee and Rinzin Dorjee were born in Tibet and trained at the Drepung Loseling Monastery in South India. Currently living in Fayetteville, Geshe Dorjee teaches at the University of Arkansas and is the founder of the Tibetan Heritage Institute of Arkansas. Pema Rinchin is the resident chant master at Drepung Loseling Monastery.

Admission is free and open to the public. Donations will be gratefully accepted. A selection of prayer flags, malas (Buddhist rosary beads), and other Tibetan-crafted items will be available for purchase after the performance.

The Saturday, June 30 edition of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette will feature an article about Geshe Thupten Dorjee, highly educated Tibetan Buddhist monk and founder of the Tibetan Heritage Institute of Arkansas.

In conjunction with the article, a video interview with Geshe will be available on the Democrat Gazette’s web site at http://www.arkansasonline.com/video/

Geshe and Sidney will be leaving for India on May 7 and returning to the United States, if all goes smoothly, on May 27. Their primary purpose in going to India is to set up a study-abroad trip for the students at the University of Arkansas. This trip would take place in the summer of 2008, and as it is currently conceived would involve three weeks of classroom work here on campus followed by three weeks of travel in India. Geshe and Sidney will be visiting, primarily, New Delhi, Agra (the Taj Mahal), Drepung Loseling monastery in the south of India, and Dharamsala. Current plans are to resume meditation classes on Sunday, June 3.

We will also be creating a Tibetan Heritage Institute of Arkansas blogsite, but we will not be using it until we return. We will, however, post pictures there as soon as we return and provide you with updates on the housing situation for Geshe and Rinzin, as well as on the land that has been offered to us for a meditation retreat.
 

The Tibetan Heritage Institute of Arkansas deeply regrets the tragedy that recently visited the campus of Virginia Tech, and we join with the nation as it mourns their deep loss.

I believe all religions pursue the same goals, that of cultivating human goodness and bringing happiness to all human beings.  Though the means might appear different the ends are the same . . .  I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance.  People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction.  Yet true happiness comes from a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood.  We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share.  Although I have found my own Buddhist religion helpful in generating love and compassion, even for those we consider our enemies, I am convinced that everyone can develop a good heart and a sense of universal responsibility with or without religion (His Holiness the Dalai Lama, from The Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1989).

Geshe Thupten Dorjee will lead a candlelight vigil, on behalf of the University of Arkansas and Fulbright College communities,as an expression of sympathy and compassion for the victims of yesterday’s tragedy at Virginia Tech.

DATE: Tuesday, April 17, 2007
TIME: 8:00 pm
LOCATION: Peace Fountain in front of Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus

Attendees are encouraged bring a candle and cushions or blankets for sitting. There will also be an opportunity to sign an expression of sympathy, which will be forwarded to the appropriate department at Virginia Tech University.
 

Tulku Thubten Rinpoche
returns to Fayetteville for a Public Talk

Tulku Thubten Rinpoche was born in Tibet and took up spiritual training in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism at a very early age. He was recognized as the incarnation of Anam Lama at age 15 by several masters, including Gompa Tulku Rinpoche. Tulku Thupten Rinpoche came to the West in 1992 and teaches in fluent English.
 
“Putting an End to Suffering”
 
Thursday April 5, 2007; 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Location: Saint Martin’s Episcopal University Center
814 W. Maple (across from Memorial Hall)
Suggested donation $2-$5 for students, $10 for adults