Dear Sangha Family,
Every taste of dharma we have experienced is a gift we’ve received due to the kindness of others. It is an offering to us from our teachers, especially our beloved DPR, who tirelessly shares with us the wisdom of this great lineage. And it’s a gift from countless practitioners before us, including our own fellow sangha members. Sustained by Rinpoche’s unceasing efforts, our sangha’s hard work has built – from nothing – the Nalandabodhi we know today.
So, like those who walked this path before us, we step forward to take our turn to uphold this lineage of teachings. We honor these gifts by personally applying the instructions, and by doing all that we can to make this wisdom accessible to others in this day and age, and for many years to come.
When we donate to our Nalandabodhi Maintaining the Mandala Fund, we make an offering towards the care of our three jewels: our genuine teachers, our genuine lineage teachings, and our genuine companions on the path – just as lucky dharma students have done, out of gratitude and love, in every age.
Here’s what one person shared, after attending a program organized by Nalandabodhi in 2013:
“I used to feel that I didn’t have any compassion, outside of occasionally close friends and family. Now that I know that buddha nature manifests as compassion, I can work on ‘dusting off’ that which has been obscured until it shines through. Also, having a process to work with this during my meditation makes this more doable.”
This is just one example of the positive contribution Nalandabodhi makes to our troubled world. Embodying the vision of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, our sangha offers this person–and countless others–the rare chance to connect with the heart of awakening.
The amount of our offerings is not what matters; what matters is that when each of us participates in creating an awakened environment that helps everyone, we strike at the root of the confusion in our troubled world. The nightly news reminds us how extraordinary it is to have genuine help to offer. Cutting samsara at its root is precisely the point of the Nalandabodhi path that Rinpoche and the lineage have laid out for us.
As Rinpoche said, “I appreciate you prioritizing contributions for maintaining this mandala. Every little effort you make in supporting our mandala makes a big difference. It is not really a financial issue but rather an issue of connection and commitment. All your donations are applied to the activities of dharma, so therefore, it is a practice of generosity and accumulation of merit.”
Or via mail: Maintaining the Mandala Fund, NalandaWest
3902 Woodland Park Ave N.
Seattle, WA 98103 USA.
Questions? Contact: fundraising@nalandabodhi.org
So, this holiday season, when so much of our culture is mired in consumerism, be a part of planting the seeds of genuine happiness for all by giving at whatever level you can. Every little bit matters. Let’s give thanks for the abundance of this moment!
