Dear Sangha and Friends of Ripa Ladrang Foundation:
“Year of the Fire Monkey”
As the “Year of the Fire Monkey” is underway, we wish you all auspiciousness, the fulfillment of your wishes and aspirations, good health and prosperity.
Our founder, His Eminence Terton Namkha Drimed Rinpoche has always characterized the purpose of the Ripa Ladrang Foundation with one word: Virtue. Our core mission is the preservation of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism; the teachings and activities of His Eminence and the Ripa Lineage Buddhist Masters; humanitarian aid to communities in need and the preservation of Tibetan culture and arts. Through your generosity, the foundation has been able to accomplish a great deal in recent months:
Following the 2015 Earthquake in Nepal, Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche launched the Mero Gaon – ‘My Village’ project. We began by ‘adopting’ the village of Kulay, home to some 275 inhabitants and started to rebuild the 55 homes that were destroyed in the quake. One year later, we have 10 houses under construction and nearing completion. Even though it has been more than one year since the earthquake, Mero Gaon is still the only project in the district that has been able to start construction! So far, we have raised about 20% of the funds needed to rebuild all 55 homes. View Mero Gaon Website
As you may remember, the Nepal Monastery was also damaged in the earthquake. While additional reinforcement work will be needed in the coming months, your donations made it possible to quickly provide much needed repairs in preparation for the Gongter in the fall of 2015.
Sponsorship support for the Gongter Transmission in October 2015 gave us the privilege and opportunity to have His Eminence bestow the full transmission of his collected mind treasures (Terma) at the Rigon Tashi Choeling Monastery in Pharping, Nepal. The transmission of over 19 volumes of his written works over two weeks was given for the first time to thousands of students gathered from around the world and was nothing short of breathtaking. View images from the Gongter
Sponsorship for the current population of Monks in the Ripa Monasteries in Nepal and India. Many of you continue to support the Monk Sponsorship Program and we are happy to report that the monasteries are growing and prospering. There are currently 130 monks living and studying at the Nepal Monastery and at the Orissa Monastery in India there are 215 monks. Your continued sponsorship of monks is essential for the education, room, board and medical care of this largely underprivileged group of students.
Updated and improved Ripa Ladrang Foundation website (thanks to the generosity of the Digipowers team). In our last membership survey, you asked for expanded and improved communications and content. In response, we have significantly increased the frequency of our communications via the website, e-mail, online newsletters, Twitter and Facebook. We have also expanded the available digital content, including a new Ripa Ladrang YouTube channel. View YouTube Channel
Although Rinpoche is getting older and has been traveling less in recent years, in response to a request from his students, he expressed a desire to visit the U.S. if the circumstances were correct. We are fortunate that he has agreed to visit the U.S. in late summer 2016 (August and September), for the first time in several years. Again, your donations to the foundation will help us support the travel and other expenses for his visit and teachings. We have also been very pleased to sponsor the teaching tours of Dungsey Lhuntrul Rinpoche to New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco in June and July, and Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche’s visit to New York in September, for a number of events at the Rubin Museum, including the introduction of a short film on the Mero Gaon project and Nepal earthquake.
If you have not made your donation this year to the foundation or have not renewed your membership, I encourage you to do so. This is very easy to do via our website by clicking here. Since our foundation is staffed completely by volunteers, each Dollar, Pound, Euro, Franc, Ruble and Rupee of your donation goes directly to the programs you designate, after basic expenses like program accounting, tax preparation and merchant fees for credit card donations. It is your membership dues that pay for all the basic services needed to keep the organization functioning. Surplus membership funds, if any, are used to help sponsor His Eminence’s teaching tours in the Americas.
I would like to personally express my deepest appreciation and thanks to the board of directors of the foundation (Myriah McGorrill, Pam Miller, Suma Chander, Jim Miller, and Joshua Green), whose tireless efforts make our activities possible; and to all the volunteers who are pillars of support for the foundation and activities of the Ripa Lineage.
On behalf of the Ripa Ladrang Foundation, I thank you all for your continued support of His Eminence, the Ripa Lineage and our many projects.
Alan Goldstein
President, Ripa Ladrang Foundation
