KMC Newsletters

Kailash IRC News ~ April 2008

2008-04-20T19:13:00+00:00

The walls between some of the rooms are finished.

On the top floor we changed the wooden floor that was creaking too much.

The Swiss way of fixing a wash-basin!

Lukas our tiler from Vairochana Zentrum at work

Making sure the tiles will fit.

The ‘freshly made’ kitchen floor . . .

. . . and the cooking stove waiting for being mounted.

Bjorn’s outfit was appropriate for visiting the notary but maybe not quite for helping out at Kailash!

The kitchen being installed . . .

. . . and the result in red . . .

. . . and white.

Mila came from England to fill our Buddha statue.

She seems to love the view.

Mila at work.

Mila and Yolanda who will be gilding the Buddha statue.

Mila fixing the stupa.

Yolanda’s fingers are not only agile when cleaning the Buddha . . .

. . . but also when preparing nice Swiss chocolate for the break!

The stupa had to be refilled.

Over Easter it snowed heavily in Switzerland.

Easter at Kailash.

Swiss Easter bunnies ;-)

Starting with the scaffolding after Easter and good news for people who don’t like the sun – ever!

And snow again.

While inside the old doors and frames have been removed.

The new metal door frames are being installed.

What a mess again!

Palden helping with the door frames – he has many skills.

The work is done and it looks already quite clean again.

Now as the weather and temperature are good it is time for the new roof.

Don’t worry, the lorry won’t be put on the roof – just the material.

This time our order for the blue sky worked.

And once again precision work from the helicopter crew . . .

. . . to put the material on the roof . . .

. . . and not to crash into the chimney.

Sepp Karlen our roofer with the beautiful old stones that will be replaced on the roof.

Palden on top of Kailash.

The new skylight for one of the top rooms.

View from the village to Kailash . . .

. . . and from the roof to the village.

Yolanda has many talents. . .

. . . and Palden mutates slowly into a Swiss making the famous rösti . When you visit Switzerland you must be sure to try this dish!

KMC Washington ~ April 2008

2008-04-20T19:03:00+00:00

White Tara Empowerment in May at KMC WA

Gen Khedrub granting the empowerment

Crown blessing during the White Tara empowerment

White Tara shrine

White Tara offerings

White Tara empowerment shrine offerings

Stewards for the empowerment

Empowerment shrine

Empowerment Tormas

One More of the whole shrine

Heather Rocklin, RT from Mahasiddha Buddhist Center leads the final puja and meditation

Heather reviewing the teachings

It was a beautiful and powerful day

On NKT Day, KMC WA hosted a day class called ‘Heart Jewel Nectar’

Tamara Cartwright, a student on TTP, leads the meditations

On May 14 and 15 many KMC WA students celebrated Buddha’s Enlightenment Day with a fasting and purification retreat

KMC Texas ~ April 2008

2008-04-13T12:45:00+00:00

Spring is in full bloom…

at KMC TX.

April started with time out of the city…

for some Sangha fun…

and virtue of course…

at our out-of-town retreat

Everyone received many blessings…

and had a meaningful time together…

listening to Geshe-la’s Kadampa Way of Life teachings.

Back home, classes are in full gear…

…with Sunday morning GP…

and a new FP class…

.. who are quite taken with the Universal Compassion teachings.

We are so happy to have new members in our community.

TTP is also having a lot of fun…

…studying Guide to Dakini Land.

Generating strong minds of faith…

…in the Great Dakini…

…brings great peace.

And students from all three programs…

…enjoy doing puja together…

…making special offerings…

…with great devotion…

…to our beloved Spiritual Guide

…and all the Heroines.

April is also a time for…

…engaging in the purification practice…

…of 1000-armed Avalokiteshvara.

Fasting is part of the purification

For some, waking up early is the purification!

But one resident is not interested in fasting. Maybe in his next life!

KMC France News - April 2008

2008-04-07T09:57:01+00:00

The roofers have started to work on the main facade

Not easy to keep an happy mind when it rains so often !

Having no roof offer very nice views

We can see the result of their work on the right

The shrine is now finished. The next step is to put all the statues back inside

The artists are working now on the wheel and 2 deers

Our new step is to work on the 2 large bathrooms in the chateau

Thierry and Yann

Fred

Pascal scraping the wall in the reception hall

KMC California ~ April 2008

2008-04-01T12:24:00+00:00

Come on in … Everyone Welcome!

You can never have too many flowers!

Hopefully those speakers belong to KMC!

Registration started bright and early

Helpful stewards

Waiting to enter the Empowerment

The Empowerment of Je Tsongkhapa with Teachings on Guru Sumati Buddha Heruka

Gen-la Dekyong sharing Ven. Geshe-la’s teachings

So many old friends and new faces

Dining al fresco

Once again … filled beyond capacity

Gen-la Dekyong

The sound of sincere prayer

Exquisite offerings are everwhere you look

Manjushri KMC ~ March 2008

2008-03-31T10:19:00+00:00

Spring time in the woodlands at Manjushri KMC and it is time to get ready to open up for the visitor season . . .

We have been rebuilding our Conservatory Cafe.

And putting in LOTS of effort . . .

. . . to complete work on the Temple Garden.

Everything is now in place both outside.

. . . and inside . . .

A beautiful offering to the Buddhas and to cherish our visitors.

Our Easter course gave people a chance to meditate . . .

. . . and just to relax . . .

. . . and enjoy the peaceful environment both inside . . .

. . . and outside, with even some snow at Easter time this year.

Our new cafe is proving very popular and now serves light lunches too.

At weekends residents lead house tours . . .

. . . and in the week school groups are visiting.

Out on the site of the future studio the steel work is now in place.

The ground has been excavated once more . . .

. . . to prepare for the laying of the floors.

The protection nets are in place ready for the roof to be constructed.

We hope that you will visit us soon to see for yourself!

KMC Brazil ~ March 2008

2008-03-30T09:40:00+00:00

Artwork

Frames doe Five Buddha Families

Casting the frames

Patient work

Final details of veranda pillars

Making theTemple floor humidity proof

Good Heart Square

Preparing camping sites

Repairing erosion that occur ed previously on the main access

Final phase of the main access pavement

One more rainwater pipe

Rainwater pipe detail

KMC Germany News - March 2008

2008-03-30T08:48:00+00:00

In recent weeks, a vast amount of meaningful activity continued…

The future Vajrayogini Meditation Room has been prepared – here, sanding the door –

‘Action painter’ Kelsang Jampel paints windows and cases

The shrine cabinet from England is assembled, with the kind help of Gen Ananda’s father

The Buddhas who moved from Berlin are being re-dressed

Alex and ‘his two sons’ fix the shrine’s final sheet of glass

And Je Tsongkhapa finally has come to reside at our Tushita-like KMC Germany…

…Ready to listen to our prayers

Also the floors for the future residential rooms have been sanded, oiled and waxed…

And beautiful parquet appears again

Furniture has been assembled…

And eight very comfortable Kadampa rooms are now furbished

At our our future main Meditation Room, paint removal is completed

And re-painting walls and ceiling is under way

New Meditation Room windows are replacing the old ones, which are in bad condition

The plumber completed his job – with Yorkshire copper pipes, of course

Also the new fire water pond has been excavated

And by now is half-filled with water

The two lorries with which our Berlin city Centre was moved to the KMC last weekend

With many helping hands, the Centre removal was magically accomplished in one day

After a few hours of chaos…

… the KMC starts looking habitable again

Except for the office – right now located in the basement electricity room where our EPC continues

The KMC Community wishes you a happy NKT Day and says Thank you for all NKT-ITP support

KMC Mexico ~ March 2008

2008-03-29T10:33:00+00:00

Removing obstructions

Clear appearance

Purifying negativity

Reestablish the Pure Land

Pupe offerings

Melodious drum…

…eliminating obstacles

Tsog delights

Imagine a Pure Land

Accumulating merit

Precious Dharma and Sangha Jewel

Sharing wisdom

Accumulating wisdom

…auspicious results

Creating causes …

Pure view

Pure deeds

Pure environment

Pure enjoyments

Serious meeting on how to improve…

…mmmm great success!

Venerable Geshe-la’s present life disciples at breakfast

Venerable Geshe-la’s future life disciples at breakfast

Creating a Pure Land

Looking foward to receiving you at KMC Mexico!

KMC Italy ~ March 2008

2008-03-29T10:06:00+00:00

Easter has arrived here in Italy

The calm before the Russian group arrives at Hotel kadampa – and KMC Italy hosts it’s first Easter

Waiting for the group of 50 Russian’s to arrive – all the keys in order!

The orange room ready for the guests

Preparing for their evening meal – Italian style

The result a perfect foccacia

The daily task of keeping the rooms free from dust

The more we dust, the more seems to appear!

Getting the rooms ready

Enjoying lunch after the Easter course

Our Barrister

The view from one of the guest rooms