Past Issues: February 03 | March 03 | April 03

The Internet Newsletter of Jewel Heart
May, 2003

In this issue:

· Rimpoche News
· Having a Spiritual Practice that Works in Everyday Life
· Upcoming Tsoh Days
· A "New" New York State of Mind: Exploring Garrison Institute
· Summer Retreat, Everyday Matters: Bringing the Sacred to Life
· Jewel Heart Hosts First Story Hours for Kids
· Jewel Heart's Double Merit Coffee
· Member News
· Chapter News

Welcome to another issue of e-JEWEL, the Jewel Heart email newsletter.

Your Jewel Heart eNewsletter, eJEWEL is published on a monthly basis, with Madonna Gauding serving as editor. Look for it sometime in the first weeks of the month. If you are on the Jewel Heart email list, you will be informed when a new issue of eJewel is posted on the Jewel Heart web site. A link from your email will take you there.

If you are not a member of Jewel Heart, consider becoming one to help support this and other Jewel Heart activities. Email: donations@jewelheart.org and someone will get back to you.

RIMPOCHE NEWS

Rimpoche's Schedule

May 23-26, Rimpoche at the Spring Retreat at Garrison, NY

May 29, Rimpoche resumes Thursday night teachings in JH NY

June 3, Rimpoche resumes Tuesday night teachings in Ann Arbor

June 7/8, Rimpoche will teach at Jewel Heart Cleveland on the Three Principal Aspects of the Path

June 29, Rimpoche will be at Renaissance Unity at 9 am and 11:30 am for their Sunday Services

Rimpoche resumes Monday night lectures at Renaissance Unity at 7:00 - 8:30 pm.
Rimpoche will be speaking on the following topics:

June 30 Reincarnation - Fact or Fiction

July 7 Looking at Life through the Wide Angel Lens of Karma

July 14 Fear & Fearlessness

July 21 Dealing with Depression

July 28 Impermanence - Denial of the Passing Moment

August 4 Ego & Self

August 11 Revolutionizing the Quest for Self-Fulfillment

August 18 Ethics in the Modern World

Renaissance Unity address:
11200 E. Eleven Mile Rd.
Warren, MI
Phone: 586.758.3050.

-Kathy Laritz (Ann Arbor)

HAVING A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE THAT WORKS IN EVERYDAY LIFE
A Teaching Given by Gelek Rimpoche

I keep on saying that we need to have a spiritual practice that corresponds with the movements of society. It has to be a spiritual practice that can change all our activities into spiritual work. Although the way society functions is not great, it is not helpful to use all our energy fighting against it. It is better to find a way to make the best use of it. There are ways and means of progressing with the very life and activities we have. The important thing is to correct your motivation, correct your mind. Even doing your laundry, waiting in line at the bank, or buying your groceries can be turned into spiritual practice, if you shift your mind toward unlimited love and unlimited compassion. We have a big problem with this because we half agree, but another part of our mind thinks, "This is not going to work." We think it is necessary to do mantras, circumambulations, prostrations, etc. We think we should not sleep, take vows of chastity, and vows of poverty. We think we need to suffer. It is not actually necessary to do all those things we think are necessary. It is not. Somehow people have this idea in the back of their minds. Because of this you are not getting it.

Bodhimind has to be the motivation behind every single thing you do. In the morning instead of crying for coffee, you should cry for a good motivation. Instead of yawning and wiping your eyes, you should wipe out your selfish mind and open your eyes to the motivation of compassion and caring. If you do this, every single thing you do during the day will be influenced in a positive way. When you do that you are progressing. This is how you develop the ultimate jewel of the mind, or the jewel heart.

Whether you like it or not you are living in this society. Fighting the current in society does make a difference, but the amount of energy that you spend on that you could spend differently. Our total and overall aim is to attain happiness for all beings. Trying to change society is not going to make everybody enlightened. It is not even going to make you enlightened, let alone all sentient beings. If you are a spiritual practitioner and you are interested in making the people that you care about happy once and for all, there is a way to make your life function within society and have both spiritual and temporal success. You can do this because of your mind, because of your motivation. The key lies in the motivation.

We have been blind. How many times have you read about bodhimind or bodhicitta? How many times have you looked into it! However we fail to see that there is a hidden treasure here. Here is the key and our eyes have passed over the key a number of times. We have failed to pinpoint and pick up that key. Bodhimind changes everything into the spiritual path. As long as it is not negative by nature and sometimes, though rarely, even things that are negative by nature can become positive. This is the treasure we can pick up in Mahayana Buddhism. This is what we need today. We are not living in the 17th century with plenty of time for saying mantras and living in caves. Nobody will have the time or the opportunity. We have to recognize this and think about it very carefully. We need to make use of the opportunity we have.

-Edited by Aura Glaser (Ann Arbor)

UPCOMING TSOH DAYS

May 25th (Vajrayogini)
June 9th (Lama Chopa)

A "NEW" NEW YORK STATE OF MIND: EXPLORING GARRISON INSTITUTE

Philanthropists (and JH sangha members) Diana and Jonathan Rose extended an invitation to all JH members to lunch on Saturday, April 19th, 2003 at their newly opened Garrison Institute. (www.garrisoninstitute.org) As a former New Yorker who still treks back to the city regularly, we signed up fast, and adjusted our flight schedules back to Ann Arbor accordingly. Saturday morning found us trekking into Grand Central via subway from Queens, and then hitching a ride on the Hudson River Line up to Garrison, New York. This train ride is one of the most stunningly beautiful trips available on the East Coast-it snakes alongside of the Hudson River for miles, through forests and marshes. April 19th was a temperate, robin's egg blue-sky day, with forsythia and flowering trees coming into bloom along the riverbanks. Before we even arrived at Garrison, the mood for the day was established: expectant, curious, and creative. Upon arrival, we were treated to a delicious lunch, a tour of the facilities led by Diana Rose, a shamatha meditation session led by Joan Hurley, and a yoga class led by Om Yoga teacher Brian Liem.

What we noticed first is that the Institute is huge and beautifully restored. It sits on 93 acres, most of which is owned by another non-profit organization, the Open Space Conservancy (www.osiny.org). The land is rich in American history-in 1790, a carriage road on the property was the escape route used by Benedict Arnold after his attempted surrender of West Point to the British, during the Revolutionary War. (We all know how well that plan worked). More recently, Capuchin Franciscans maintained a 72,000 square foot monastery on the grounds. Here, the monks meditated and taught in the tradition of St. Francis of Assisi from 1923 through the 1990's. In March 2003, this monastery was purchased by the non-profit organization The Garrison Institute, and the Roses, who founded the Institute, undertook the job of renovating this mammoth structure.

The results of their efforts are inspiring. The main meditation room is a small cathedral, with the original features beautifully restored. The rooms for visitors are apportioned with beds and dressers from King's Chosen, an Ann Arbor, MI establishment that sells furniture made by the Amish communities in the Midwest. The solid maple floors throughout the Institute are accented with custom ordered rugs from the Jewel Heart Store. The Roses have also created a special apartment for Rimpoche's use, whenever he is in residence at the Institute. The first JH event scheduled at the Institute is the NY Spring Retreat May 25- 28th, when Rinpoche will give extensive White Tara teachings.

So what's ahead for this new non-profit? Well, the Garrison Institute has outlined ambitious plans in its brochure and mission statement. Four program areas have been identified: 1) international peace and reconciliation 2) spirituality and environmental preservation 3) healing in nature and society through traditional spiritual practices and 4) the individual in society-facing new challenges of the 21st century. It was clear to us as we boarded the train in the late afternoon back to the city, that Diana and Jonathan Rose have a strong sense of stewardship about the Garrison Institute and are eager to put its goals into action. It will be exciting to see how the Jewel Heart sangha (as a community) interacts with the Garrison Institute in the coming years. Thanks, Diana and Jonathan, for an uplifting afternoon.

-Elizabeth Hurwitz (Ann Arbor)

SUMMER RETREAT 2003, Everyday Matters: Bringing the Sacred to Life

We long to experience our lives as meaningful. Now, more than ever we are in need of a spirituality that gives us methods to deal with everyday challenges and is compatible with the demands of modern life. We need an effective way to bring insight and heart to the ordinary circumstances of daily life.

Join us as Gelek Rimpoche offers practical guidance for working with our every experience through cultivating a fundamental change in our perspective on life. By utilizing time-tested methods we too, can learn how to transform our lives by transforming our attitude.

This is preliminary and tentative information on the Summer Retreat. Please stay tuned for all the details which should be available during the next few weeks.

When: August 3 - 9
Where: Albion College, Michigan

—Kathleen Ivanoff (Ann Arbor)

JEWEL HEART HOSTS FIRST "STORY HOURS" FOR KIDS

From March through May, Jewel Heart in Ann Arbor presented a series of four events for children called "Story Hour." These were designed for children six-years old and older and included a story or two, an activity, and treats at the end. This was the first offering by local JH members who met earlier this year to discuss programming for children. The first Story Hour was hosted by Debbie Burr, the second by Stephen Nose (pictured), and third and fourth by Sandy Finkel.

During the second Story Hour, Stephen read a story by Jasper Tomkins entitled "The Catalog.'' It is the tale of three mountains who order their favorite animals from a mail-order catalog. The ensuing troubles and resolutions cause the reader (of any age) to think about relationships in a caring and loving way. The children loved this story, so the sequel, "The Mountains Crack Up!," was read as well. At the end, this photograph was taken and will be sent to the author to tell him how much everyone loved his books.

Pictured from left to right are Tom, Brett, Lucy, Stephen, Sally, Robert, Hanna, and Nicholas. We're all looking forward to what's next!

-Madonna Gauding (Ann Arbor)

JEWEL HEART'S DOUBLE MERIT COFFEE

The idea is simple, as a way to channel money into the Jewel Heart general fund, we've committed to selling "Fair Trade" organic coffee to Sangha members.

1. "Fair Trade" coffee is grown by small farmers, creating a high quality product in an environmentally sustainable way, then marketed cooperatively to ensure a fair return to the growers.

2. Jewel Heart members buy the coffee and the profits from the sale go to Jewel Heart. Money that would normally go to any old normal coffee seller can now be kept within the Jewel Heart sphere of influence.

Thus I have heard you get double merit!

It's a way to recycle Sangha members' money back into Jewel Heart. The growers get a fair return on their efforts. Jewel Heart members contribute both to the Sangha and to the growers while enjoying an excellent product. Jewel Heart will receive about $5.00 for every bag of 12 oz coffee that you purchase for $12.00 which includes the cost of shipping.

What kind of coffee? organic, "Fair trade" coffee, from Cameroon.
Parent Crop: Jamaican Blue Mountain, 1913 stock
Farm Size: Small farmer (2 to 4 acres)
Farm Type: Mixed food crop organic farming
Picking: 100% hand picked
Certified Organic

What more do you want? It's a good deal.

If you have a Paypal account you can purchase this coffee online with a credit card by simply clicking here. If you don't have a paypal account you can sign up for one using this link also.

If you don't feel comfortable using paypal and completing a transaction
on line you can simply mail a check along with your address to:

Thomas Repasky
123 Glendale N
Ann Arbor MI, 48103

Your coffee will be shipped within 48 hours via USPS.

And if neither of those work, you can grab either Thomas or Louis and
force your cash on them or make your purchase through the Jewel Heart
Store which will be selling the coffee for $10.00.

-Thomas Repasky (Ann Arbor)

MEMBER NEWS

This section of e-JEWEL is dedicated to keeping us all informed of what's happening with individual members of Jewel Heart who have any news they'd like to share. Please email any information you'd like distributed to eJewel@jewelheart.org.

Robert Kasperzak's wife Stephanie gave birth to a daughter on Mother's Day! What great timing. Her name is Maya Senovia Kasperzak. How cool is that? Now Nicholas has a baby sister.

CHAPTER NEWS

ANN ARBOR / DETROIT

ADDESS: 207 E. Washington St. Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
PHONE: 734-994-3387
FAX: 734-994-5577
EMAIL: office@jewelheart
URL: www.jewelheart.org

Suggested minimum donation for Teachings - $5. Ann Arbor also has a Fragrance Free Policy - We ask that those participating in Jewel Heart events kindly refrain from wearing perfumes colognes, or other scented products in consideration of other people's allergies.

White Tara Practice - Sundays 11:15 am - 12:15 pm
Staff - These sessions are meant to provide a time and place
for those wishing to practice guided White Tara Meditation as a group. All are welcome. Suggested site donation: $5.00

Meditation session - Sundays 10:00 am 11:00 am
Staff - These session s are available for all those who wish to join with others in sitting meditation. All are welcome. Suggested site donation: $5.00

NEW YORK

ADDRESS (CENTER): 260 West Broadway, NY 10013
PHONE: 212 966-2807

ADDRESS (OFFICE): 33 Katonah Aveune, Katonah, NY 10536
PHONE: 914 767-0024

Suggested donation for Teachings $15 / Suggested donation for classes - $5
For a detailed listing of New York programming, go to the Jewel Heart web site at www.jewelheart.org, click on "Chapters" then on "New York" for more information.

CLEVELAND

ADDRESS: 2670 W14th St., Cleveland, OH 44113
PHONE: 216-556-4858

Cleveland has a full schedule of programming as well as their own newsletter. Go to the Jewel Heart web site at www.jewelheart. org, click on "Chapters" then on "Cleveland" for more information.

H Penor Rimpoche's Visit

Khenpo Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche will be speaking at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Wednesday, June 25th at 5pm on the Wisdom of Manjushri. This event is free and open to the public. The Museum asks that anyone interested in attending call to reserve a seat at the CMA Ticket office at 1-888-CMA-0033 because seating is limited.

The monks from Namdroling Monastery will be performing the traditional Tibetan Black Hat Lama Dance on Saturday, June 28th at 8pm at the Family Life Center of the Federated Church, Chagrin Falls. Tickets are now on sale for $10, or the group rate of 10 or more is $8. They will also be building a sand mandala which will be open for public viewing.
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More details on the visit of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche in June are available at www.palyulohio.org . These teachings are open to all who wish to attend.

CHICAGO

PHONE: 847-256-3176
EMAIL: chicago@jewelheart.org

LINCOLN

PHONE: 402-435-7679
EMAIL lincoln@jewelheart.org
MEETING SPACE The Gathering Place, 1448 E Street, Lincoln, NE

Thursdays 7:00 pm Weekly practice sessions.
Call for details and to confirm all scheduled events.

SAN FRANCISCO

PHONE: 415-248-2656
EMAIL sanfran@jewelheart.org
Regular meetings continue twice monthly on Tuesdays; call for details.

NIJMEGEN

ADDRESS: Dominicanenstraat 2b, 6512 GX Nijmegen, The Netherlands
PHONE: +31 24-322-69-85
EMAIL: info@jewelheart.nl

Jewel Heart Netherlands has extensive programming and its own website. Go to http://www.jewelheart.nl/ for more information. The website is available in both Dutch and English.

MALAYSIA

PHONE: 011-606-952-7961
EMAIL: malaysia@jewelheart.org

Weekly Vajrayana discussion held every Wednesday. Weekly Lam Rim discussion held every Friday at the Muar Buddhist Society. Call to confirm details of scheduled events.

SINGAPORE

PHONE: 011-65-3348-566 ext 23
EMAIL: singapore@jewelheart.org