T H E S A K Y O N G L A D R A N G
Our Future: Building Strength in the Year of Retreat
Please take a moment to view the video above from The Sakyong Wangmo regarding the Sakyong's Year of Retreat. Please read Shambhala’s President, Richard Reoch's the letter to the community below Dear Friends throughout Shambhala, We have the future in our hands," the Sakyong told gatherings throughout the mandala this summer. "Shambhala is the paradigm shift the world is waiting for." The future he talked to us about was the future of the human race and the future of our planet. "We need to prove that gentleness is the way to build enlightened society," he said, "especially when the whole world is trying to convince us that aggression is the way." We hold this radiant vision in our hands, deeply intertwined with the future of our lineage and the future of our mandala. As the Sakyong Wangmo wrote to us recently: "It is up to the students to create the auspicious circumstances that enable the guru's life to be secured for the benefit of the world and sentient beings". It is all the more poignant to reflect on this on the eve of our beloved Sakyong going into his year of deep retreat -- a vital and life-preserving necessity for him and for all of us in his sacred mandala. In preparation for this decisive juncture in his life, he has created the Sakyong Ladrang, a legal structure that will preserve and protect the lineage succession, transmissions and properties. Together with the leadership of the Shambhala mandala as a whole, we are launching a major funding appeal to establish a far stronger ground for our lineage than we have ever had before. The Sakyong has been deeply touched by the tremendous generosity that so
many people have offered to free the core of our mandala from operating
debt, support local centres and fund the recent Shambhala Vision campaign.
This summer many of us heard him say: "I no longer feel so alone." Now is
the time to devote our energies to the long-term strengthening of the
lineage and mandala for the future, which is what this appeal is all about. To read more about our appeal, how the funds will be used to sustain and strengthen both our lineage and our mandala, and to find out how to make your offering, please CLICK HERE. We are writing to you now, before the Tenshuk ceremony and the fourth Shambhala Congress in November in the hope that we can start making these offerings to him at that time. However, as our goal is high, we will continue the campaign throughout his year of retreat. Whenever you make your offering, we will arrange for you to have online
access to regular short reports and photos from the Sakyong's retreat,
prepared specially for us by Rinpoche's kusung as a mark of our deep
appreciation for your connection with him.
Joshua D. Silberstein, Chief of Staff of the Sakyong Ladrang
• To Learn More about the Sakyong's Year of Retreat, visit the Retreat FAQ Page
• To learn more about the Sakyong Ladrang, click HERE to read or listen to an interview with the Ladrang's Director of Finance, Suter DuBose
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