Gebchak News, June 2011

By Writer | Published: June 23, 2011

NEWS FLASH – another earthquake – June 25, 2011! Many of you may have heard of a recent earthquake of magnitude 5.2 shaking the region of Gebchak Gonpa! There is no word of any deaths or serious injuries, but many homes were damaged in Nangchen village as well as other villages nearby Gebchak Gonpa. The Nunnery’s kitchen was damaged, now with a quirky lean. Since Saturday (June 25), all the nuns are crowding into a few tents, sleeping outdoors, yet all is well. At the time of this post Wangdrak Rinpoche is with the orphans in the Yushu capital of Jyekundo. Rinpoche reported to us on Sunday, June 26th, that they are all safe and sound. Read more about the earthquake.

Welcome to our new website! It is laden with information about our projects, about Gebchak itself and its nuns. Enjoy going through it:) For practitioners, we highly recommend the interviews with the nuns themselves. There are many new additions including photos and video streams here. In time, our volunteers will upload more so please return to this website.

Outreach is vital and we appreciate it if you could recommend this website to your sympathetic circle of friends.

 

Nuns at the completion of their 3-year retreat.

The Nuns: April 2011 was an important month for all the Gebchak nuns. The democratically-elected leadership roles of disciplinarian, bursar etc. were chosen by the nuns for a new 3-year term. Often those chosen go through a bit of shock as they face three years of giving up their quiet meditation and yoga focus for a new kind of Dharma practice. To honor the new and old leaders there was a festive picnic – and Tibetan nuns know how to enjoy a good picnic! Also in April the last 3-year retreat concluded with 25 seasoned nuns emerging, leaving space for a new group of nuns who began their retreat on the same day. The old nuns will  join one of the 16 retreat divisions and continue familiarizing themselves with their practice for the rest of their lives.

The old temple's pillars.

The temple: In May, with the boon of warmer weather, the old main temple was demolished to make way for a new one. The old temple was hallowed for the nuns as it was blessed by many great lamas and prayer ceremonies over the years. It was with great sentiment that they watched the walls of the old temple come down. By next spring, 2012, the aim is to complete construction of the new ground floor. Meantime, the nuns will crowd in a smaller shrine room for their prayer ceremonies. Check out more demolition photos of the temple here.

A nun watches the old temple come down.

Wangdrak Rinpoche & the orphans: Wangdrak Rinpoche has been primarily at Gebchak Nunnery since April and is extremely busy looking after Nunnery affairs and the 34 orphans in Yushu. The orphans are healthy and going to school, while the youngest stay around the tent homes and enjoy play in the summer weather. Wangdrak Rinpoche thanks you all for your support and reminds you that the nuns keep you in their daily prayers.  The orphans have a new page too on the website.

 

 

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, the inspiration behind DGLI, with Gebchak Gonpa helpers, Cat & Chozom, New York City, June 2011.

Offer support! Dongyu Gatsal Ling Initiative’s partnership with Gebchak Gonpa has been a powerful support helping the Gebchak nuns and the Yushu orphans in Tibet. Through the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Initiative (DGLI) website, sponsors and donors throughout the world can make secure online donations. For those in the USA all donations are fully tax-deductible. Read more about this relationship on our website.

You can also subscribe to these posts via the RSS feed as well as encourage friends to sign-up for our newsletters with email reminders via our website.

With warm wishes and prayers,

Gebchak Gonpa helpers (on behalf of the Gebchak nuns and lamas)

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Tibetan New Year 2011

By admin | Published: February 27, 2011

Gebchak nuns sounding Losar Greetings!

27 February 2011

Dear Friends of Gebchak Nunnery,

As Tibetan New Year approaches on March 5th, the Gebchak nuns and lamas send tidings and wishes for your health and joy in the lunar year of the Iron Rabbit!

The Gebchak Nuns’ Health: The nuns are well and happy as ever, though a few suffer from liver problems and there is the usual lot with eye complaints. The nuns who were sick last year with TB are mostly recovered, thanks to correct treatment and an improved diet. The nuns are living through another inclement winter at 14,700 ft (4500m) above sea level with thick clothing, plenty of food, and warm-hearted meditation practice.

Spectators watch chu-rey ceremony.

Chu-Rey Ceremony and 3-year Retreat: According to Gebchak tradition the nuns’ practice of Tummo (Inner Fire) meditation is tested once a year at the heart of winter, in a ceremony called Chu-Rey (Wet Sheet). This year the ceremony took place in the early morning of January 19th, under a full moon and with the temperature at -13F (-25C). The 64 nuns who participated spent the entire night in yoga and meditation practice, then at the break of dawn walked slowly and solemnly around the entire Nunnery complex, wearing little clothing and white sheets wrapped around their shoulders. The white sheets were soaked in cold water at each of the four directions and then dried off by the nuns’ Tummo heat.

Nuns in retreat.

The fifteen nuns presently in the 3-year retreat center have hair down past their shoulders (that they don’t cut for the length of this intensive retreat) and are due to finish this coming April, when the next group of nuns for retreat will begin. These nuns are the first to enjoy the new 3- year retreat center built by Rokpa International, which is a terrific boost to the nuns’ well-being with its spaciousness and natural light.

Main Temple: The existing main temple was built by in the 1980’s with the only materials available at the time – local stones, mud, and wood, carried and built up by the nuns themselves. Now this temple is leaning on a rotting wooden framework and is dangerous for the nuns to use, but they have no other hall in which to gather for the 20 long prayer cycles (drubchens) they must perform each year.

Drawing of proposed new temple.

Good news – the groundbreaking for a new temple is scheduled for April 2011, with a goal of completing the first storey by the end of September 2011 so the nuns can continue gathering for their drubchen prayer ceremonies. Given the construction infrastructure in such a remote area, the costs are exorbitant. The new temple will therefore be only a simple structure, with large windows to let in natural light so the nuns can easily read their texts. Hopefully, this will lessen the nuns’ eye troubles in the future.

Wangdrak Rinpoche: Many of you have been asking after Rinpoche and we are delighted to report he is in great health, very happy – yet super busy (as you can imagine!). Currently, Rinpoche is in Southeast Asia teaching. This year Rinpoche will not be visiting the USA as he needs to stay in Asia, remaining close to Gebchak Gonpa as its new temple foundation begins construction. He often thinks of his US visit – and holds you in his thoughts and prayers.

Rinpoche with orphans, Losar 2011.

With your help, Wangdrak Rinpoche continues to foster 33 children orphaned by the April 2010 Yushu earthquake. The children are all safe, healthy, and more cheerful as memories from the devastating earthquake fade. Without a central orphanage to house the children together Rinpoche has arranged the children into two groups living in tents, with each group cared for by relatives. Five of the youngest orphans are living in a nomad camp with extended family. Rinpoche continually ensures that the children are cared for, attending school (if above age 7), and provides them with enough food, clothing, and school supplies. The coldest months of winter – from December to March – are the children’s school holiday and they have been enjoying playtime along with Tibetan language classes led by several volunteer monks helping to care for the orphans.

A nun sorts food supplies purchased by you!

The Gebchak nuns’ passion to preserve their unique spiritual tradition in a rapidly changing modern world remains unshaken, and this is possible because they are sustained by the compassionate support of people like you. Dedicating for their sponsors is a central part of the nuns’ lives and you can be assured, and feel a heart connection, knowing that you are held within their prayers. Their gratitude is enormous – because you have made a difference!

With warmest wishes and greetings!!!

Losar card with photos: Gebchak_Losar_2011

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Making a contribution to Gebchak Gonpa is easy. You can offer a general amount, or allocate specifically to the Gebchak nuns, their new temple, or the earthquake orphans through our secure online system.

For USA residents donations are tax-deductible. Checks in US dollars only can be made payable to Dongyu Gatsal Ling Initiatives (write a clear memo for Gebchak, or orphans). Send your US check to: Gebchak Nunnery, P.O. Box 27294, SEATTLE, WA 98165-1794, U.S.A.

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News, December 22, 2010

By admin | Published: December 22, 2010

Dear Friend of Wangdrak Rinpoche and Gebchak Nunnery,

Wangdrak Rinpoche and the nuns of Gebchak send their greetings and heartfelt gratitude for your support of their life dedicated to peace and compassion.

I have received many inquiries asking after Rinpoche, the nuns, and the earthquake orphans, and so here is a timely e-update in the season’s spirit of goodwill. After all – much of this positive news is due to your kind generosity – generosity of finance, in kind/or heart connection!

The Gebchak nuns:

The nuns are well, except for seven diagnosed with TB or liver problems. These nuns are undergoing treatment and their health is improving. The rest of the Gebchak nuns are about to finish their two-month long drubchen (a very intense and powerful retreat) and are preparing for the ceremony in which they display their accomplishment of “Tummo” (inner heat). Gebchak Nunnery is unique on many fronts – the fact that a huge number of women in this community have mastered this practice places them in the highest regard among dedicated Tibetan Buddhist meditators across the globe. On January 20th they will be tested in a traditional manner – they will walk around the temple wearing wet sheets and drying them with their bodies’ heat produced as they meditate. Keeping in mind that the temperatures are about minus 22 F (-30 C), this is a remarkable feat. The value of this meditation is evident in the nunsʼ compassion and profound wisdom, and why they are committed to intense spiritual practice for their entire lives.

New temple:

The current temple structure is about to fall apart and is dangerous. As Gebchak is the largest nunnery of its kind in the world, it is essential the nuns have a communal hall.

Good news – the groundbreaking for the new temple is scheduled for April 2011. Given the construction infrastructure in such a remote area, the costs are exorbitant. Funds are limited so the new temple can only be a very basic structure. Rinpoche intends to make a few trips to Xining to buy materials such as cement with whatever money is donated by kind disciples and friends (like you) for this purpose.

Yushu earthquake aftermath:

Yushu County is still a mass of tents – not a pleasant reality for the bitter Tibetan winter. News of the earthquake aftermath has mostly disappeared from our mainstream media, and yet the tragedy of this quake will continue to impact the region for a long time. Rinpoche has taken responsibility for over 30 children left orphaned from the quake, all of whom are safely accommodated through the freezing winter. Six of the youngest ones (aged 3-5) have moved to nomad areas where they are being cared for by either their own relatives or Rinpoche’s relatives. The 27 school-aged orphans have remained in the tent city of Jyekundo, the seat of Yushu County. Currently, they are on school holidays over the winter. The children have been divided into two groups, and in turn these groups have been assigned to two other larger orphan groups, totaling 60 kids per group! In order to maintain a nurturing and caring environment about five monks oversee each of the larger groups. Rinpoche’s own appointed helper cooks for the children.

This is the winter plan and because of your generous support, Rinpoche has provided the food and winter clothes for the 30 plus orphans under his direct care. All these said arrangements are approved by the governing authorities.

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Wangdrak Rinpoche is the bastion of untiring compassionate energy and we pray you will continue to support his activities. Very importantly, these projects are all within Tibet – and that’s an exciting connection! If you wish, please consider making a donation, no matter how small, online here. Through this secure online form it is easy to offer a general amount or to allocate specifically to the Gebchak nuns, their new temple, or the earthquake orphans.

For those in the USA, your contribution is fully tax-deductible.

Wangdrak Rinpoche and the Gebchak nuns offer their prayers to you, rejoicing in your meritorious actions for the benefit of all!

Warmest wishes and blessings to you and your loved ones for the holiday season.

USA coordinator – on behalf of Wangdrak Rinpoche and Gebchak Nunnery, East Tibet.

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Orphan Update, September 2010

By admin | Published: September 15, 2010

Orphans reading in their tent.

Dear friends,

The orphans of the Yushu earthquake that you have been supporting are still living in tents with extended family members or friends looking after them in groups of three or four. They are rosy-cheeked, runny-nosed and playful, what with the warm summer weather – a big improvement from their colorless faces right after the earthquake. I just spent the last week in Yushu and saw for myself the tent-city that it is now – tent homes, tent restaurants, tent of-fices, tent automotive shops… It will be a tent-city through the next winter at least, until new houses are built for each family by the government. Construction can only happen during the summer months, however, so it will take several years before a new town takes shape.

The 27 orphans have now grown to a lot of 33, with the oldest aged 13 and the youngest aged 2. There is no public assistance provided for their education and up-bringing. So far your money has contributed to the children’s food, clothing and school fees. With a bitter winter approaching, Rinpoche and his noble right-hand-man in caring for the orphans, named Chöten, are stocking up on thick winter clothes for the orphans. They are also building a small house to serve as a nursery for the younger children to live warmly in through the winter and begin learning to read. The older children in classes one to six will continue to attend school in Yushu through the winter, and return to their tent-homes in the evenings.

Wangdrak Rinpoche with orphan.

Tuition and living costs for the orphans in the Yushu school (up to class six) are approximately US$1200 a year per child. Next year the two oldest children will have to move to distant boarding schools to attend class seven onwards. This looks like the only option for them until a new high school is built in Yushu, which will take at least three years. If you are interested in supporting an individual orphan through their schooling please let us know.

Our goal is to be able to provide all of these children with enough education to become self-sufficient in the future. The older girls will have the option of joining Gebchak Nunnery after a few years of school if they have the wish.

We hope that you will continue to follow the story of these dear orphans, share it with others, and help to foster them as much as you are able. We now have a new online payment system where donations can be made for the orphans – please visit the Gebchak Gonpa-Earthquake Fund section here. Donations made within the USA are now tax-deductible. We assure you that your en-tire donation will be spent in caring for these orphans, and we will keep you updated with their photos and news. Your support makes a tremendous difference for these children, who would otherwise have almost nothing.

Supplies for the orphans arrive - thanks to you!

Wangdrak Rinpoche sends profound thanks to all of you for your concern and help. Please keep in touch if you have any questions.

Yours Sincerely,

Ani Chozom; and on behalf of Wangdrak Rinpoche (September, 2010)

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