Lama Shenpen
Dear All,
I regret not having been able to keep you up to date with all my news over the summer. We have had some wonderful events and visits over the last few months, and all sorts of developments around plans for upgrading the Hermitage and the building of the new Dharma Hall, also the installing of the wonderful new woodburner in the inglenook fireplace in my sitting room. This was a large part of my 80th Birthday present from you, such a generous gift. Thank you everyone who contributed to it. Now I will be cosy even if there is a power and fuel outage, and I will be able to cook for us all too! It has an oven and stove top for cooking.
I am writing today to tell you about Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso’s stupa consecration that is happening in Nepal at the beginning of November. Some of you might have seen the pictures from Tekchokling of the new shrine room that has been built above the room where Rinpoche spent the last years of his life. The finished building looks amazing.
Last year we were offered the opportunity to order a stupa of our own to house some of his relics, so I accepted the offer on behalf of the Sangha so it will be ready and available at the beginning of November when the main stupa will be consecrated. Lama Dashon has offered to go to pick up our stupa and escort it back to the UK. He has been consulting with Thomasz and Jacek about the best way to do this, because Thomasz has ordered a stupa for his centre in Poland and has been researching the best option for doing this.
I am sure many of you will want to make an offering of some kind in order to make a connection with Khenpo Rinpoche and the stupa, so we are opening it up for anyone who would like to make a connection to contribute to the cost of the stupa, the fetching of it, and towards the consecration event we will have to arrange once it is here and has been filled. We are still working out the details of when and how that event will happen. It will be yet another opportunity to make a connection with it. Of course it is all part and parcel of the new Dharma Hall project, as it will be an important ingredient in setting up the shrine to make the Dharma Hall a powerful sacred space.
You can make your donation HERE stating that it's towards the KTGR stupa at the Hermitage
Just for your interest, the stupa itself is just over 2 feet tall and silver plated. It costs about £3000. Sponsorship of Lama Dashon’s travel expenses and so on comes to about £2000. Then there are the costs of making an offering for the consecration event in Nepal and for the contents of the stupa and so on. All in all I expect £6000 at least.
Please do not hesitate to make just a small offering as a way of making a connection. Just a few pounds makes a connection, and more substantial donations can be added to the offerings we make at the consecration in Nepal and later here in the UK.
I hope to send you a bit more news in the near future.
For now I am just wishing you all happy Dharma days!
With much love,
Shenpen