Winter Solstice 2004

Dear Friends,

As the days shorten and the fires are lit every morning and evening at home, the Community Building grows like a mushroom. The roof is now on and before the end of the year we'll have it enclosed and wintered in, you can see it on the cover of this card. This is a huge accomplishment, and it has been possible because of the work and generosity of many of you. We wanted to take this moment to thank everyone who has worked on or financially supported the Manifesting the Mandala Capital Campaign. Thank you! We are doing great! We have now raised approximately $1,380,000!

The big recent news is we just received a marvelous gift of $500,000 from Lynn Hays and Nancy Nordhoff. It is a leadership gift for Phase 2 which will include the three-story Tara Temple which will house large statues of the 21 Taras and a library. Phase 2 will also include retreatant housing for you when you come to group retreats.

Now we need your help to raise $350,000 to complete Phase 1! We are living at the time when Buddhism is arriving in our country for the first time which creates the rare opportunity to be instrumental in establishing the Dharma here. Please help us keep the momentum of the buildings going and close the gap between Phase 1 & 2!

We are looking forward to an exciting summer here. Please watch the website for details and we'll send the catalogue out in early 2005. Here are the broad strokes so far:

Programs at Tara Mandala 2005
March 17-20 Equinox Sublime Green Tara (see below)
June 29-July 3 Sublime Green Tara
July 8-12 Chöd
July 16-24 Family Retreat
July 30 -August 28 Month Long Intensive
Session 1 July 31-Aug 8 The Path, Life and Teachings of the Buddha
Session 2 August 9- 18 The Great Mother Prajna Paramita and the Mind Trainings
Session 3 August 19-28 Vajrayana and Mandala of the 5 Dakinis
Sept 9-11 Nature Writing, with Clare Walker Leslie

Also we are also in the process of finalizing Khandro Rinpoche, Nichang Rinpoche, Lama Wangdor, Clare Walker Leslie who teaches nature writing and Jeremy Taylor who teaches dream work, so keep checking the website. The best way to stay current with what is happening at Tara Mandala is to get on Taranet by contacting info@taramandala.org. We send out periodical newsletters on Taranet with photos of the new buildings and other developments.

I'll be in Europe most of the spring (see the website for details). I am particularly excited about the Green Tara retreat at the Chalice Well which lies at the base of Glastonbury Tor. Last year when I went to England to teach at Gaia House, I went to visit Glastonbury. I sat on Glastonbury Tor, a small hill that stands alone like Ekajati Peak with the same shape. In the middle of doing Green Tara on the Tor, I saw a bridge between Ekajati Peak and the Glastonbury Tor and this bridge had to do with Green Tara. As it happened we were able to reserve the Chalice Well quest house which gives private acess to the Well, an ancient site of the feminine. The water runs red from this Well as it comes from deep within the earth. Hopefuly some people will be able to do both retreats to help reinforce these bridges.

We are now welcoming Charlotte Rotterdam and Pieter Oosthuizen our new co-directors from Naropa University who move to Tara Mandala December 1. Our other big news is that Charlotte is pregnant and expecting in May of 2005! We had designed the job as a shared position with her and Pieter collaborating with this eventuality in mind and its very exciting to think of the first baby at Tara Mandala. We also look forward to the sixth visit of Adzom Rinpoche and his sister Jetsun Khacho Wangmo Rinpoche. We will be doing a Tara Drubchen a practice that goes on twenty-four hours a day for a week. This will really bring great blessings to Tara Mandala and emanate her compassionate action out to the world.

Along with the capital campaign please consider joining Sustaining Sangha. This is the life blood that keeps our office going year round. Capital Campaign funds are not used for operating expenses. You can now donate on line on our secure website see www.taramandala.org. We look forward to seeing many of you in the coming year and hope you continue to hold Tara Mandala in your practice of generosity.

Happy Solstice and New Year,

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