20260612165344-Madison Marie-Foley-Submission: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 15:17, 16 June 2026

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 |requestedamount=30,000
 |othermoney=Right now my family does not have the means to help pay for retreat. So far I have reached out to close sangha members to help pay for the upfront costs and pre-retreat and have received from generous sponsors a total of $4,900.  I have a personal savings account of $6,800.
+|letterofmotivation=When I was an angsty thirteen year old, my parents sent me to spend the summer with my God-fearing Grandmother in North Carolina, who promptly signed me up for Bible Study Camp at her local church. While I was begrudgingly walking the few sweaty blocks from her house to the church that very first day, I noticed a book sitting lonely on a bus stop bench. Without thinking, I grabbed it and stuffed it in my bag.
+During the lunch break, I wandered off alone and sat underneath a big tree and began to read.  It was a book about the Buddha's life story, from birth to death.  I became instantly enthralled by his story and related deeply to how the young Prince felt when he looked outside his privileged castle walls. I had experienced a similar feeling, not finding any of the adults around me to be very happy. I also had a deep concern for humanity's situation, for the environment, and beings, especially animals.  At that moment, a wish to awaken burst into my heart and I vowed then and there that I would follow in the Buddha's footsteps and pursue awakening.
+Much to my Grandmother's dismay, it was not Jesus, but Siddhartha Gautama who I came insistently asking her about that day. When she had nothing to offer me as far as wisdom goes, I turned to the internet to look up anything I could find about the Buddha. I even instant messaged my friends back home, stoked to tell them all about what I found out about enlightenment. Even then, the wish to awaken was inside of my heart, just waiting to bloom.
+When I first met my precious teacher Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, he said to me, "Oh it's you, I know you!" Even though it was the very first time we had met, I felt the exact same way.  I burst into tears, and we embraced like old friends.  It felt like coming home. I could finally relax. I have been following and serving Rinpoche and his immense activity ever since, and it is my sincere wish to offer my practice to my Teacher and to all beings. Pursuing the ultimate goal is the only way I will possibly feel content in this life and it is my wish to not waste a single moment more and to practice with a genuine heart full of love.
+I am not academic at all, I have no degrees or decoration, am not particularly bright, I do not know any Tibetan and I haven't formally practiced very much, but I think you should consider my application because of the sincere motivation and my devotion to my Teacher, to the dharma, to the Buddha and to my sangha.  I am willing to put up with any discomfort in order to do so, and willing to do whatever it is my Teacher and Lamas instruct me to do.  What I do have that will be my greatest strength is the grit and determination required to practice in this lineage, and I have complete and utter faith that Rinpoche is guiding my mind. I have been working diligently these past years in order to generate enough merit in order to be able to practice, and now that the opportunity has arisen for me to do so, I really wish to not to squander a single second of it.
+Thank you so much for considering my application, I am incredibly grateful that this grant exists for people like me who need financial support in order to be able to practice.  It would truly be an honor to receive it.
 |FileHaveAcceptLetterUpld=2026-06-16_Madison Marie_Foley_-_Acceptance_Letter.pdf
 |AcceptLetterAuthorFirst=Lama Tenzin