20260205100937-Fiona-Rose-Submission: Difference between revisions

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 |requestedamount=18720
 |othermoney=Personal savings and family donations
-|letterofmotivation=It is my deep aspiration to do the three year retreat under the guidance of my teacher Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, and retreat master Drupon Lama Tenzin Sangpo. I have been a student under their guidance since 2009.
+|letterofmotivation=The immensity of the endeavor and aspiration to do the three year retreat cannot easily be put into words.
-The shorter retreats that I have been able to do previously, have proven to me how important retreat is to gain insight and strength in one's practice. They have given me a firsthand experience in the way that Buddhist practices can powerfully affect the mind.
+I might begin by touching upon the most essential and extraordinary point: the teacher, and a doubt-free trust in his lineage. Trust is a rare and precious thing.  I met Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche in 2009, and although I felt an instant connection to him, our relationship as teacher-to-student has been able to strengthen steadily for a period of 17 years.
-I feel that practice over time has helped me to disarm many habitual impulses, reactions that I may have had, especially in the more difficult situations in my life. How I relate to events that have had the potential to sway me into a ‘fight or flight’ mode, instead with more calmness and more openness. And in turn, I saw that openness has a real effect on those together in the situation with me.
+My motivation to do the retreat is based entirely on a deep-rooted faith in the instructions that Rinpoche has entrusted to us.  I have often heard his heartfelt assertion: “please don’t waste these precious instructions”. This is the core of my motivation and aspiration, and forms my commitment to practice.
-This insight - that simply by remaining calm and open - one actually can have a strongly positive influence on how things play out, for oneself and for others, has formed a deep motivational impulse to practice in long retreat. I wish that I can develop complete stability in my practice, so that I can benefit people around me, so that love is felt rather than stress, in all times and in all situations.
+Growing up in South Africa, in the unfathomable time of apartheid, my childhood wish was to connect, to not be kept apart, to not bear witness to the stupidity and suffering that racism enforced upon us. In retrospect, I might call the pain of having to grow up in apartheid, one of the first ‘blessings in disguise’ pushing me to leave the country with its division of the world through dark egoistic notions and concepts.
-I have faith that my heartfelt wish can be met by fulfilling the practices of the three year retreat. I greatly long for the supportive conditions that this opportunity provides, where I can be immersed in practice within a disciplined and non-distracted way.
+This push led me straight into the lap of my life-long source of refuge, the three jewels. I have never forgotten the descriptive metaphor of a blind turtle that rises up from the depths of the sea: what chance could there possibly be for its head to surface right into the center of a golden ring that happens to be floating upon the vast ocean?
-I had spoken to Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche last year about doing the retreat, he was delighted with my request. I started making preparations, but then there were personal complications with my aging mother's health, and I did not apply.
+Hearing these words in Nepal at the young age of 22 from my first teacher of refuge, Geshe Lama Konchog, forms round-circle, where past and present motivation merge:  to not waste this precious life.
-Sadly, my mother has now passed away - she died on December 5th. Since her passing, I consulted once more with Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and with Drupon Lama Tenzin in early January in France. They both encouraged me to do the retreat if possible with my family.
+Having witnessed the passing away of many who are dear to me, including both my mother and my sister recently in December, the awareness of impermanence is close to my heart. I look towards the 3 year retreat as a rare opportunity where I can embrace solitude and contemplation without the distractions and entanglements that one has in work and family life.
-My family - my husband and 2 young adult daughters - are wholeheartedly supportive of my wish. I am so grateful for their encouragement to embrace this rare opportunity to gain in-depth practice experience.
+I wish to wholeheartedly dedicate myself to understanding, experiencing and realizing the cherished instructions and teachings that I have been fortunate enough to receive throughout my life.
-I have managed to gather sufficient funding and family support to cover the costs of the first 17 months of participation.
+I’m grateful for the kindness and supportive encouragement to do retreat that I have received from my family, my husband and two daughters, and have conviction that the merit of practicing in retreat will benefit them and others through sincere love and prayers of dedication.
-I wrote to Lama Drupgyu / Anthony Chapman on 28th January to enquire about the possibility of still applying for scholarship, and was overjoyed to hear that I would be welcome to submit an application to do the three year retreat this year, for consideration for a scholarship beginning in January of 2027.
+Rejoicing in the unique and precious opportunities for contemplative retreat that Tsadra Foundation makes possible, I look forward with tremendous hope to your kind consideration of my application.
-I rejoice in the unique and precious opportunities for contemplative retreat that Tsadra Foundation makes possible, and I look forward with tremendous hope to your kind consideration of my application.
+Sincerely, Fiona Rose
-Sincerely, Fiona Rose
 |FileHaveAcceptLetterUpld=2026-03-3_Fiona_Rose_-_Acceptance_Letter.pdf
 |AcceptLetterAuthorFirst=Drupön Lama Tenzin