Property:Letterofmotivation
From Tsadra Foundation Advanced Contemplative Scholarships
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My main motivation to do and continue doing retreat is to fulfil my Teachers wishes and aspirations, for myself and other sentient beings. They have advised me to be here, so I wish and pray to remain here, as my heartfelt aspiration is to fulfil all their wishes. To be able to recognize the nature of mind, the nature of all phenomena, the truth, things as they are and be able to just be aware for the sake of every single sentient being.Awareness is the sun that nurtures and gives sense to everything by allowing us to see things as they truly are. By not being aware of how things truly are and believing in the existenceof non-truly existentphenomena,we live a spinning endless dualisticself-centered dream with all its karmic consequences. I recognize Tibetan Buddhism to be a pathless path to be able to simply recognize and see this truth, and by doing so to be able to live more fully the freshness of the moment and act more freely and spontaneously withour surroundings and whatever happens. I wish and pray that every single sentient being would just simply recognize their own intrinsic nature, their so-called ‘Buddha nature’. Traditionally, I wish for them to achieve so-called enlightenment, the recognition of their own nature, their natural state of being, so that we can all be free of the non-existing chains of delusion and suffering. +
Dear Tsadra Foundation,
I think iam ready for the Retreat of three Years. The Importnace is the achievments of Enlightenment to liberate other Senitient Beings from their Sufferings.
Iam currently translating a Book for the Professor Robert Thurman, The Essenz of True Eloquenz.
I want to contine this while in the Retreat!.
I do undertstand very well the Nature of Samsar, in this Life i had gone many many Circles already.
I love to to the Retreat to deepen my Buddhanature to clear negative Karmas and to train my Mind
extensivly.
I had been a Bhuddhist Nun for 3 Times in Asia. But often their were Language Barriers, which lead to Frustration.
I do understand the Nature of the Mind and the Arsing of Suffering, and i do like to cultivate more Compassion for myself nd for my Fellow Human Beeings.
I have a strong Connection to Kagyu Lineage and to the Jonang Lineage.
and a Retreat would so much more ensure my going in the right Direction and to fullfill my Dharma.
Becoming truly enlightned is very diffcult while living in the modern World.
Therefore a Retreat is very beneficial.
I have a strong Disciplin and s strogn Dedication to help end the suffering of those Beings, a Retreat would be now i the right order of my Curriculum in this Lifetime in this Body, any other things would be only wasting time.
I would be truly blessed if i got the Chance for the 3 Year Retraet and to receive the full Scholarship, because i would have a Chance to proof my Decication and my Gratefullness to the Lama.
For your kind Consideration of my Application, The Karmapa and The Tai Situ Rinpoche would have a very genuine and sincere Applicant!
Best, Ivonne Tiesler +
I've been preparing for the 3 year retreat for a few years now.
In this life I had the blessing and wonderful opportunity to find the Holy Dharma and a perfect teacher with Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche.
Not only did I find the sacred Dharma and my perfect teacher, but I had the honor and blessing of receiving teachings from this teacher.
Not only was I blessed to have received the teachings, but I was able to contemplate and apply them to my everyday life.
My motivation is really to achieve enlightenment so that I can eternally help beings get rid of suffering and the causes of suffering until everyone achieves full enlightenment.
Now I am 57 years old (58 in July), Rinpoche is alive to offer us the necessary empowerments and teachings.
As everything is impermanent and as I am no longer young I believe this is the perfect time for the 3 year retreat. +
I really enjoy living in retreat. It seems to be one of the most helpful things for improving my kindness, clarity, and wish to help others. I also love working with people, and have spent many years counseling others, both as a student counselor and as a lama. Both are activities that I find very rewarding, and in this group retreat I hope to do both. Heidi Koppl and I have already been discussing ways I can be a resource to other retreatants, both as someone who has done three-year retreat before and as someone who has spent over two decades helping people get through tough times and difficult situations in their lives. Afterall, we know issues will come up. They always do when living in community. So having the opportunity to train in retreat while also working to help the retreat group live in community more successfully is a dream come true for me.
I feel so commited to this endeavor that, at Gomde’s urging, I’ve flown out to France early to lend my building skills to the workers who are finishing the renovations to the retreat area. It feels wonderful to be plastering the walls of rooms that will be filled with prayer and meditation! I have high aspirations for this whole group, and feel so honored to be a part of it. What an adventure!
So in short, I ask that Tsadra consider my application, because I aspire to do whatever I can to make this three-year retreat feel like a success to all participants. Of course everyone understands success differently. For some, simply completing the retreat will feel like a huge success! Others may be looking for certain insights, or confidence in the methods of training. I know my first three-year retreat often feels like the best thing I ever did with my life. And then, when I lead a short retreat at Gomde California or in Mexico, and afterwards people tell me how much they cherished that experience, I find that helping people learn to do retreat, and just helping them work through the process of being in retreat comes in at a very close second. I can’t think of a better use of my life than to bring these two things together.
I thank you for your kind consideration.
I have been very fortunate to have previously participated in the past two retreats at Palpung Thubten Choling, and am whole-heartedly wishing to complete a third retreat. After graduating with a Masters degree in social work, and spending time volunteering abroad in developing countries, I knew I wanted to do something with my life that would be of benefit to others. However, I felt like pursuing the professional path of my degree would always leave me feeling like I wasn’t doing enough to truly help others. That my role as a social worker might only provide my clients with a temporary alleviation of their struggles. It wasn’t until I had the great fortune of meeting my Lama and being introduced to Tibetan Buddhism, that I finally felt as if I had encountered something that could potentially provide real benefit to myself and others. Throughout my past two retreats, I have tried really hard. I have kept to the schedule to the best of my ability, attending all group chanting and participating fully in whatever role was required of me. I have pushed myself through both physical sickness and emotional distress, and I never gave up on my practice. I have had to tattoo the words of patience and persistence in my mind, and recall every bit of encouraging words spoken by my Lama to pull me through any challenges I have faced. I know first-hand that retreat is not easy, but I also know that sometimes our greatest strengths can come from our greatest challenges. I want nothing more than to continue on my path of intense retreat in hopes of understanding and experiencing the truth of our situation, so that I may be of real benefit to others. I know I need to go back into retreat and to devote my time and energy into my practice, while also assisting the other retreatants in whatever capacity I am able to do. Because I have lived at the monastery since completing graduate school, I do not have the means to pay for my retreat. I am asking for assistance to pay for my retreat, because it is important that I financially contribute to my retreat, but am not able to do so. Not being able to financially contribute to my retreat would put a monetary strain on the entire women's retreat.
I remember how the first Buddhist teachings I received touched me so deeply that I had this strong feeling that this is what I had been looking for all my life. And since that time I have put all my heart and energy into study, contemplation and meditation.
I did my first solo retreat very soon after taking refuge, under the recommendation of Ayang Rinpoche, in his monastery in Kathmandu. Since then, I did quite a few solo and group retreat. It’s just something I really like and strive for, something that makes me happy (even if sometimes it can be difficult, especially when one has to face honestly his own defilements). I have this strong urge to do a three year retreat that I can’t really explain rationally. It’s just what I really want to do from the depth of my bones, the core of my heart.
I am extremely tired of creating suffering for myself and others, of circling in these never ending scenarios the mind creates. I deeply wish to clear away these destructive egoistic patterns, to get free from it.
As an high school teacher, I always have been touched by my students and always tried my best to help them, to guide them, to teach them curiosity, openess and love ; even when I didn't know anything yet about Buddhism.
As a practicionner, I aim to transform in order to benefit other beings the best I can. I want to be a good human being, with a good heart, an open mind, kindness, clarity and compassion. Someone who is open to others suffering, who puts oneself into their shoes, and does his best to help them in whichever way can be. I am confident than the more this mind is tamed, the more one is be able to help genuinely, spontaneously.
But for that to happen, it is necessary to untie the tight knot of ego, that obstructs and creates barriers between oneself and others. I feel that this process of transformation I aim for comes by the means of retreat : It is the perfect opportunity to look deeply into and to work with one’s mind in order to replace, patiently and kindly, negative habits with virtuous ones.
Lama Tenzin Sangpo told us once how important it is for us to learn well in order to pass the Dharma on to the future generations who will look to us us once we are the old ones. I feel responsible towards them. I genuinely want to learn as much and as authentically as I can so I will be able to inspire them to practice the Dharma.
Finally, this three year retreat is what my main teacher,Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, recommended me. He told me that this is very good for me and that I will do well. I trust him and will do my best to respect his wishes by doing a good retreat.
I thank you for your kind consideration.
Letter of Motivation
The Dharma saved my life.
I met the Buddha’s precious teachings about 7 years ago when I became friends with a practitioner who had just completed a 3 year retreat. It was then that he introduced me to Tsoknyi Rinpoche. After watching many of his teachings and reading and learning from my new friend, I was looking forward to attending my first one week retreat with him in October of 2015. It was everything I was needing and longing for and nothing I was expecting. By the end of the retreat, I knew from the depths of my heart that I had encountered something incredibly precious. So, when I learned about taking refuge, it felt like the natural next step.
After that week, I started doing Rinpoche's sitting practice of “Handshake." This is much like Shamatha without support. I also started doing regular chanting, reading and studying. However, as a beginner, my consistency with practice was up and down over the next number of years. But I always continued to attend Tsoknyi Rinpoche retreats whenever I could. I also started to go to Palpung Thubten Choling regularly to attend practices and teachings and volunteer my time as much as possible.
Then Covid-19 arrived in Spring of 2020 and devastated my physical, mental and emotional world. I underwent many personal hardships and struggled deeply with my practice or lack there-of. I started to give up. I started to give up deeply. On everything. Until I reconnected in a new way. And, then a shift. A longing and reaching out for what I always knew to be true. There was a clarity of not surviving without it. The sacred Dharma. I realized more than ever that I had to stay close and practice more deeply. It was a profoundly important lesson in impermanence and the cycle of Samsara.
A few months later I discovered that a 3 year retreat would be offered at Palpung Thubten Choling the following spring. I knew nothing could be more meaningful and immediately set my mind towards asking Lama Tsering if I could join the next retreat. How blessed I am that he gave me permission! Since that moment, I have been doing everything I can to prepare. This includes learning Tibetan, studying, getting my affairs in order and doing all I can to secure funds for the cost.
I understand how precious this opportunity is and I don't want to waste it! I have been blessed with a precious human life and I want to develop the strongest foundation I can to wake up and help myself and all sentient beings in any way I can. Any help you can provide towards this aspiration would be appreciated beyond measure!
As you can see from my Dharma CV, all my life as been dedicated to the study and practice of Dharma, and my main goal has been to be at the service of others sentient beings through contemplative dedication.
From young age i had many visions capabilities, and because of these my teachers always introduced me to Zogchen contemplative practices.
I have been taught that this is the way i could be of most service to others. That is why i would be very grateful to be able to fulfill the wishes of my masters. +
My gurus are Garchen Rinpoche, Tulku Nyima Gyaltshen Rinpoche and Gyurmed Lordrö Rinpoche. When we are with them, or just thinking of them, they bring tranquility and ease into our minds. Whenever they speak, they show us how to view things correctly, thus untangling our twisted emotions and opening our minds. Whenever interacting with them, we feel loved and looked after as if we are their only child, thus giving us encouragement and strength to walk forward on the path of the Bodhisattva.
How wonderful my gurus are! I would like to be like them. To be like them I have to follow their path. All of my gurus gave me the same instruction that I need to diligently meditate with great love and the wish to help all beings. If I am able to do a long term retreat like Milarepa, Yeshe Tsogyal, Dilgo Rinpoche and all the great beings in the past, it will be very helpful to accomplish my wish. Therefore, I have been inspired to do long term retreats since my early days of following Budha dharma.
Furthermore, every retreat I have done, whether short or long, always brings significant experiences to deepen my understanding of the truths of compassion, emptiness, and their union. Thus, my own meditation experiences also have inspired me to do a three year retreat.
Although I had already finished my Uncommon Nongdro 10 years ago, and wanted to enter the three year retreat after that, I was unable to do so at that time.
Due to my own serious illnesses a couple of times, then my husband’s illnesses, and then my dog was paralyzed for 2 years requiring around the clock care. Not long after that, my mother became very ill, also needing around the clock care. In addition, I had quite a few translation requests, therefore, I have not been able to do it till now.
Among other things, there are so few opportunities now due to the pandemic, this a very precious opportunity to me, therefore, I really want to do this three year retreat.
Since everything is so impermanent, the freedom that I have to do a retreat now might be destroyed by any sudden incident. Therefore, I am very eagerly looking forward to this opportunity of the 2023 three year retreat program in Garchen Buddhist Institute.
I would like to take this precious chance to concentrate on practicing and to actualize the teachings of compassion, emptiness and awareness which I have learned in the past 22 years. In doing so, I hope that my compassion for others continues to grow genuine and vast. Thereby, enabling me to be more like my gurus, having the wisdom to apply skillful means to help others become free from suffering.
These are the reasons that I am asking for your support. I believe that we have the same goal of helping others to become free from suffering by practicing and realizing the Buddha dharma– the truth.
I aspire to do a three-year retreat for the potential opportunity to attain Buddhahood and as a practical space to cultivate realization. Furthermore, I feel that my early experiences, my background in psychology, and my involvement with dharma make me a good candidate for the scholarship.
For a lot of people, myself included, the aspiration of attaining Buddhahood seemed to be a spiritual fantasy. After having spent a year at Garchen Buddhist institute and having received the teachings, it seems like an attainable possibility with enough persistence and perseverance. His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche, in one of the dharma talks, expressed that while one can teach dharma based on the book knowledge, ultimate benefit for oneself and others arises through realization of the teachings in practice. Personally, I took it to mean that without direct experience and realization, the learning is incomplete. This goes in accord with the Buddha’s teachings of the importance of liberating self in order to be able to liberate others.
I had a direct experience of it in my personal experiences of meeting my mentor, with his limitless love and compassion. He helped me to make use of my early childhood neglect and a variety of other adverse circumstances. These experiences give me an appreciation for the importance of a spiritual life, as opposed a life lived out being dazed and confused, in jail or in a mental health institution per my understanding of psychological patterns. Having said that, the ongoing study of psychology, both as an educational and personal endeavor, makes it utterly clear to me the hoops that I need to jump through in order to heal myself and to be of maximum benefit to beings. In addition, my involvement with dharma helps me see the persistence and perseverance that other practitioners bring to practice. This continuously inspires me on my path and shapes and reshapes the ways in which I approach mine.
Overall, I feel that in my heart the decision has been made. It is painfully obvious and at the same time it is the only thing that makes sense - do a period of extended practice under the guidance of a sufficiently accomplished practitioner. In the present circumstance it manifested as an aspiration for a three-year retreat at GBI. In writing this essay advancing my candidacy, I can feel my arrogance and ego stirring. I hope all the people who are interested and can benefit from the three-year retreat have an opportunity to do so. Thank you for taking on the challenging task of considering our applications and I rejoice in our communal merit.
Thank you,
Pavel.
Practices within the Vajrayana tradition are, by far, the greatest inspirations in my life, and I regard them as the most valuable and transformative in nature. They have also allowed me to experience a sense of what I feel is perhaps most closely akin - to awakening in it’s true sense".
It can be said with conviction that my inspiration to complete the Three-Year Retreat has, for many years, been based on my motivation toward a greater understanding of the relationship between self, other, and the essence of mind, and wakening bodhicitta.
Practice has moved me to better understand the nature of elements present in experience that we forget are not necessarily bound by the trappings of concept, emotion, and the mental elaborations we loosely place upon them. I long to increase this focus in a meaningful way, one which is, as much as possible, free of my own confusion and attachments.
I sense the vast quality of mind and its endless expansions and contractions and see myself stumbling along with the occasional experience of overwhelm within that process. I also observe others doing the same. This has provided for my heart a longing to understand myself and all “existent” beings.
Pursuing the knowledge and practices which develop freedom from self-concern in its truest essence, is most vital. I increasingly grow to understand the aspiration to benefit others as most important, and perhaps most needed in our present time, for our own, and for our environment's survival where fear, anxiety, and the extremes of complacency and reactivity appear to be on the increase.
I wish to enter the 3-year retreat for the above reasons and because, for some time, I have experienced a notable turning away from samsaric experiences and attachments. Within my field of inner (and external) vision I see karmas that are perpetually cycling and moving profoundly within us every day. If anything, it has become clear over time, as an individual how karma binds us within our lives and in relationships. It seems to hold us, for lack of a better expression, to delusiveness. For me, this quality has become more palpable in a way that has increased since prior times. It is very difficult now for me politely escape the sense that we are all, to some extent, sleepwalking, as we are driven by past experiences and entrenched perceptions.
It is not due to a need to escape, or to remove myself from the world entirely that I wish to enter the 3 -year retreat, but rather to seek refuge in the truest sense. I feel this moment is with hope, and that it is necessary to further explore what is needed to truly benefit beings through practice, and a more profound understanding of Dharma. These are my reasons for requesting your consideration. Thank you Sincerely for your great effort.
Dear friends at Tsadra Foundation,
It is a pleasure to be sending in this application, as I have been waiting for the opportunity to do the three year retreat for several years now. The past three years at GBI, the three year retreat was postponed, and I have kept my life simple enough to be ready for it. This coming year, it is finally commencing, so it looks like my time has come. I have seen again and again, that time in a retreat container has softened my heart and brought forth compassion, understanding, and a relationship with wisdom. During retreat practice, I am reminded that nothing could be more important in a human life. So how could I not apply?
The conditions for this particular three year retreat are quite ideal, as Garchen Rinpoche is staying on site. Further, Drupon Rinchen Dorje is the guiding teacher, and I have really come to trust him as a teacher. I also feel strongly connected to Chakrasamvara and Vajrayogini, and so much of the time is spent with those practices. So how could I not apply?
Throughout my adult life, I have consistently dipped into retreat practice, and for someone who is quite young still, I feel I have the responsibility to take another step. I carry a unique mix of life experiences… time as a monk, time living in the forest, time living in other countries, experience in somatic therapy. I feel this mix of experience has prepared me well for this retreat, and it’s output will be a greater capacity to be of service to others.
To be honest, I am quite tired from filling out both these applications. A friend alerted me that the deadline was today, and so have scrambled a bit to get all of this together. I am happy to speak more in the future so you can get to know me a bit better, as my words fade out now.
Warmly,
Teja Forest Campbell +
In a general sense, having this body and conditions is very rare and I wish to do what is more meaningful and beneficial, for me and others.
It is also the best way of repaying the kindness of both my parents, who have given me life and sustenance; and the best offering for my teachers, who have given me the invaluable gift of Dharma and refuge.
Also, since I have no certainty about the time of my death, I decided that the best time to do it was whenever it was possible.
Regarding this retreat specifically, I want to do it because it carries the precious teachings,
transmissions and blessings of my lineage, which I want to learn and practice. Regardless of the results of the practice, at least I want to make a connection with it, hopefully to be able to practice the teachings in this and in future lives.
I hope that through doing this retreat, I will be able to purify my mind and accumulate merit, so that there is a bigger chance to give rise to authentic compassion and wisdom, and with that one day I may be able to help others in a much more vast and effective way.
On a practical more immediate level, I hope this retreat may give me more insight into my mind, and
through that, I may be able to understand and help others in a better way. I would also like to keep volunteering and helping in any way I can in Drikung Dharma centers wherever I stay, and I hope that practicing in this way may help to create better conditions for this too.
Also, I know that whatever I learn and experience in retreat will be a source of inspiration for other areas of my life. Being a music teacher interested in mindfulness, body awareness, art and movement, I know that there are many points of connection and interrelationship of these areas that can be of benefit for others in different contexts.
I believe that you should consider my application because your support would result in a beneficial interdependence for both parts and beyond. From my side, I come from a part of the world where Dharma is less developed and spread and where there is no financial support for initiatives like this. As you may notice, Dharma has been a fundamental part of my life and a main motivation, and has been that way for a significant period of time in my life. It is my intention and greatest wish to practice and serve the Dharma and benefit others to the best of my ability throughout my life. I believe that completing this retreat will help me to learn and discover new paths and ways for realizing this wish.
I also think that there is a lot of work to do in the Dharma for the communities with which I already have connection: the Spanish speaking population, South America, Chile, and the Drikung Kagyu lineage. I would be very happy if through this retreat and further study/practice I can make any significant contribution in this regard.
Considering the above, I am sure that your support would be of good investment regarding your mission and values, which I hope to help realize.
I would like to attend the three-year retreat first with the motivation to become a better human being so that I don’t remain a cause for the suffering of others, and then to be better able to genuinely help other humans in this world of increasing materialism, greed, natural catastrophes and pain. I deferentially make the aspiration to use this as a starting point to eventually gain liberation, so that I help all sentient beings to achieve true freedom from suffering.
The teachings emphasise the importance of retreat in gaining genuine realisation, and both Mingyur Rinpoche’s wandering retreat and Lama Rabsang’s commitment to live his life around his meditation box despite being the resident lama of Palpung Wales, have inspired me. Now that my own practice has slowly matured and become more stable, both teachers have given me their blessings for this and I feel that I am ready to commence long retreat.
Through my study and practice, I’ve tried as best I can to gather most of the causes and conditions for entering retreat, but gradual renunciation has made me see much more clearly how distractions still abound in my life. I can also see the limitations of trying to help others beyond a certain point. It is thus increasingly obvious to me that the most useful thing to do in my life is to consolidate my dharma practice through formal protracted retreat, as it would provide me with support, blessings and much less distractions.
I’m determined, dedicated, and committed to the lineage and my gurus to do what it takes, and I am grounded and realistic about the challenges of retreat, wishing for it to establish a strong foundation and momentum for future practice.
I humbly submit that if I were to be given a scholarship enabling me to do this retreat, I would be 100% committed to completing it with as much heart as I can. I wish to repay the kindness and generosity of the patrons of the scholarship through creating merit from my efforts to share with them and all other beings. I also understand that through my success, I will karmically plant the seeds for others to receive sponsorship in future.
Investing in my retreat would be beneficial to others after I complete the retreat, as I have no family responsibilities, nor any fixed agenda for my life afterwards. I would thus be willing to be guided by my teachers as to how best to spend my time afterwards to benefit others in the best possible way.
And why this retreat? I am British, speak no Tibetan and feel I would be best supported in a retreat with other westerners. This retreat is the only one in the world done entirely in English and, done in three yearly instalments separated by two gap years, enabling retreatants to mix and worldly life, and making it easier to sustain a high level of motivation for a year at a time rather than for more than three years continuously Mingyur Rinpoche told me he too felt I would benefit from the two gap years.
From a very young age, my vision of the environment and of life appeared to me very different from the normal vision of the people with whom I was related, leading me to confuse myself in the deepest part of my interior due to not finding answers to multiple questions about the causes of existence and suffering in the world.
This made me give myself to the search for Truth. Finding in Buddhism an answer to all my concerns, after a period of study and reflection on the teachings of the Buddha, I practiced and dedicate myself in body, speech and mind to the Dharma.
A blessed disease, which almost took me to the next existence, gave me time, then, to use the convalescence of this disease to perform all the retreats with my root Lama, V.V. Lama Djinpa, who awakened my longing for the final awakening.
My compassion and wisdom have been increasing since then giving my whole existence to the Dharma. With the clear the vision of the uncertainty of whether it will be tomorrow or the next life that will come first, I have sat here in Caneto, the spiritual legacy of my root lama, until the Awakening for the benefit of all beings.
OM MANI PADME HUNG HRI +
I want to be fully trained in the practices of Trungpa Rinpoche and Thrangu Rinpoche so that I might be of better help to people who are on the path of Dharma. I am hoping after I conclude my retreat the war will be over in my country so I can go back and establish Dharma as it was taught by Trungpa Rinpoche... and hopefully, through this retreat, I will get more enlightened and become a better human being. +
Being in the midst of my first three-year retreat, I see how now more than ever, as times become more insecure and people more and more distracted and stressed, the authentic Dharma is desperately needed. In order to help the Dharma flourish in the West, we need strong traditions, stables centers of practice, and excellent practitioners who show the myriad ways the Dharma works to improve the lives of individuals and also society. While there are many ways to practice and inspire others to do so, for me, I feel a strong wish specifically to practice the way Tibetan yogis and yoginis of times past practiced: through deep retreat and a life of solitary practice with the aim of realization in one lifetime.
My deepest wish which is that this work and practice in retreat can be of real benefit to others, if only to inspire other practitioners to see that a contemplative life in retreat, or that retreats of any length will deepen their practice, strengthen bodhicitta, faith, and wisdom, and that contemplative practice is both worthwhile and doable and the most valuable way we can use the limited time of our precious lives, for our own benefit, and even more importantly, for the benefit of society and all sentient beings.
Though I am only a little over 2 years into my first three-year retreat, I can say with confidence that retreat suits me. I find it fulfilling, exciting, rich, and feel downright cheerful every morning when I wake at 3 a.m. knowing I have a day of practice ahead of me. I love the Dharma and I love the Vajrayana and never feel daunted by or bored by the repetition, rituals, practices or schedule. I’ve held silence the majority of the time and feel greatly benefitted by it. I don’t feel drawn to the world anymore, nor do I feel retreat life lacks anything but truly feel there is nothing else in this life for me to do than what I am doing now. I feel stable, well prepared for longer and more solitary retreat, and able to carry any adversity that arises onto the path. I hope to be exemplary in my practice and conduct in order to always inspire others to dive deeper into their own dharma practice. In doing so I hope to personally uphold and carry on my lama’s lineage, strengthen the Vajrayana Dharma in the West and show that traditional Tibetan Buddhism, with no alterations, can work to being Westerners just as it did for off of the practitioners of the past in Tibet, so there is no doubt that the Dharma is in itself complete to tame our minds and bring one to full and complete purification and realization. With Khentrul Rinpoche’s support, I believe the fruition of these aspirations is reachable.
My sense of urgency for spiritual awakening has steadily increased over the past few years. This is due to several factors. The COVID pandemic was a major reminder for me that life can be turned upside down in an instant. I have had multiple personal life events that have quite abruptly reminded me of this truth as well. At the urging of my teacher Lama Sidney McQueen-Smith, contemplating death is a big part of my practice. More and more I realize that I need to take the opportunity for spiritual practice when it arises. Also, as I continue down the dharma path, the depth of suffering in myself and the people around me becomes clearer and clearer. I want to be of service as much as I can.
One of the beautiful things about the Gampo Abbey 3 year retreat is that it is broken up into 3 cycles, with a year back home between cycles. This will allow me to stay connected to my community, and make sharing the benefits from the retreat more realistic for me.
The timing of the retreat also aligns well with my personal life. 2 years ago I started what I thought would be a stable and lucrative career in Massage Therapy. While I do enjoy the work and want to continue with it, I have yet to build a consistent practice. 1 year ago my girlfriend and I began planning to get married and start a family. Due to several unexpected events, we broke up 6 months later. Both of these events helped further remind me of impermanence. They also mean that I have the ability to to commit to this retreat without major disruption to my home life. My parents are both in their early 60s and healthy, and I would have major hesitation about doing this kind of retreat when they’re older and they require more support from me.
I have had the huge fortune to be exposed to Zen, Tibetan and Theravada schools of Buddhism. However, my heart is firmly with the Kagyu lineage, and I felt a strong connection to it as soon as I was introduced. I see this retreat as a way deepen my connection and devotion to the lineage and its teachers and practices. Doing this retreat will also offer me the support of practicing alongside other practitioners, and give me the change to offer that support as well.
I strongly believe that I am ready and suited for this retreat, and my teachers do too. I also strongly believe that I am a worthy candidate for the scholarships, and that it will help me benefit beings around me.
Thank you so much for your consideration.
Practice has been my life. I went in 3-year retreat with Group E (2004-2010) at Sopa Chöling. Although the retreat was certainly challenging, I had profound joy doing it and it changed my life. I certainly became more patient and mindful. My purpose in doing this a second time is to go deeper with the practices and to work with my karma in view of multiple lifetimes. I want to loosen the grip of fixation, develop more compassion, tolerance and strenght in a world that surely needs it. I also promised the Druppon I would help her in every way possible. +
I have been a Buddhist for many years, and feel I have a long way to go ,many lifetimes. I would like to spend the rest of my life in deep practice, so that I can ensure a good re-birth, and hopefully help many sentient beings find and practice the Dharma.
I spent 14 weeks at Gampo Abbey during the winter of 2021, and realised a contemplative life was my calling. Pema Chodron is a wonderful teacher, and she certainly inspired me to consider doing the 3 Year Retreat. I found the environment around Gampo Abbey very conducive to practice, and I
made good friends with a few of the fellow participants.
I feel you should consider my application because I am certain that I can do the whole retreat, I will always have a job that I can continue to do in between the times I am in retreat. I know for sure it will be very challenging, but I'm up for the challenge. I am 74 years old and in good physical condition due to the nature of my work. Ive been a landscaper for nearly 40 years.
I am divorced, and have one daughter who is 33 years old. In a month she will graduate as a massage therapist. She lives in Vancouver , and is very independent +
