15 October 2003

Dear Dharma Friend,

Welcome to the very first issue of our Shambala Trust Newsletter, a news bulletin to keep you informed about our latest events and activities.

If you were fortunate enough to participate in any of the events featuring teachings by Ven. Sangye Khadro (Kathleen McDonald) here at the Findhorn Community in September last year you already know that there are exciting times ahead of us.

We have launched a new leaflet to promote our events and activities and in particular the creation of Dorje Naljorma Centre for Retreat and Meditation, a project that we have held in our hearts for many years and which is now moving forward.

It's up to us to make the centre happen! Please take a good look at all the different ways you can contribute to this exciting project.

We hope you enjoy reading our newsletter and we pray that all our actions and activities will be for the highest good of all living beings throughout space.

With much love and best wishes,

Thomas Warrior
(Chairperson of Shambala Trust)

Finally it's happening! After a long gestation stage our vision for the creation of a Dharma centre to benefit students and practitioners of all Buddhist traditions in the local community is now moving into a more active phase.

It all started about 8 years ago when Thomas had a powerful vision during a retreat at Kopan Monastery in 1995. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama appeared in his meditation with a clear message suggesting the creation of a dharma centre in the northeast of Scotland. The centre is to be a place of inter-religious exchange and to serve the needs of students and practitioners of all Buddhist traditions in the area.

Dorje Naljorma is the Tibetan Name of the popular female Tantric Deity, Vajrayogini, who is a representation of complete Buddhahood in female form.

When Thomas and his family visited Kopan Monastery in November 2002 Lama Zopa Rinpoche suggested Dorje Naljorma Centre for Retreat and Meditation as the name of our building project. This residential centre will have a multi purpose meditation room, a Buddhist library, facilities for individual and group retreats and accommodation for students and teachers. We aim to build in a suitable location - preferably within the Findhorn Foundation Community - within the next three years. We estimate the cost to be around £300,000.

We are currently implementing a number of fundraising activities to move the project forward. We have just launched our new membership programme that will offer you a number of benefits, such as free access to Dharma books, transcripts, tapes and videos as well as reductions on courses and events and discounts on all our merchandise in the Shambala Shop, for a small yearly membership fee. If you have a great fundraising idea please don't hesitate to contact us straight away!

We welcome your donations, no matter how big or small. If you would like to make a regular donation please fill in the Banker's Order Form or the Credit/Debit Card Form on this site. If you are a UK tax payer please also fill in the Gift Aid Declaration Form on this site. This will entitle Shambala Trust to reclaim 28% in tax from the Inland Revenue on every £1 you donate.

One of the most effective ways to support our building project is to offer us a long term interest free or low interest loan. Please contact us for more details if you can help us in this way.

And last but not least, we always need dedicated volunteers to support the work of the Trust. At present we are looking for a skilled fundraiser, an architect and builder(s) who would like to help design and build Dorje Naljorma Centre, as well as volunteers to help with administrative tasks. Please contact us if you have skills in these areas and feel drawn to support us.

It's been great to have Venerable Sangye Khadro staying with us in the community for 10 days. She was on a very busy schedule which included a public talk in the Universal Hall on September 11 followed by a weekend workshop on How to Meditate and three evenings of teachings on The Stages on the Path to Enlightenment, various meditations and meetings with representatives of the Findhorn Foundation and New Findhorn Association, plus many private interviews with individuals to support them on their spiritual paths.

For those of you who haven't had the privilege of meeting Sangye Khadro, here is a quick biography: Venerable Sangye Khadro was born Kathleen McDonald in California in 1952 and has been a Tibetan Buddhist Nun for almost 30 years. In the last three decades, she has been travelling around the world, teaching, studying and doing retreats. An inspiring role model and a wise counsel, Ven. Sangye Khadro is one of the foremost teachers of Buddhism in the West today. Her warm, gentle and unassuming manner of teaching paired with her ability to present the Dharma in a contemporary and personal way has been touching and transforming the hearts of spiritual seekers around the world. Kathleen is also the author of the best-selling Dharma book 'How to Meditate', an excellent introduction and beautifully simple guide book on Buddhist meditation.

Thanks to some great PR work from Jeremy Slocombe and support from Richard Coates, Kathleen's visit had very good coverage with the media. There were articles about her talks in the Forres Gazette and in the Northern Scot and we even managed to produce an interview with Moray Firth Radio on her arrival, featuring Sangye Khadro’s work, the talk in the Hall, and Thomas Warrior on building a Dharma Centre in the community. Unfortunately, we missed recording or even listening to the programme, so if you have heard it or even recorded it, please get in touch with us.

The good PR work was reflected in very good attendance of all the events. Sangye Khadro's talk on peace, compassion and loving kindness on September 11 in the Universal Hall attracted some 200 people, and the two workshops had attendances of between 25 and 45 people. The general feedback from participants was very good. People praised the high quality of her teachings, her wisdom and her gentle and loving manner. Kathleen made many new friends and followers during her time here and when she was confronted with the all important question at the end, she replied: "Yes, I'll be back."

There is good news on the financial side as well: we raised over £1000 after expenses for the charity!

On this occasion, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to The Findhorn Foundation, the New Findhorn Association, the Universal Hall team, the participants and all those volunteer helpers who supported the Shambala Trust with generous donations, practical help, advice, prayers and good wishes during this special event. May the positive energy we created with this event be for the benefit of of all living beings everywhere!

Mindfulness Meditation events in the tradition of the Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh:

• Mindfulness Meditation, Mondays, 5:15 pm - 6:15 pm in the Park Universal Sanctuary. Contact: Helene Fisher, Tel. 01309 690796.
• Mindfulness Day, 1st Saturday of the month, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm at "Cove Sea". Contact: Paul Tingen, Tel. 01343 813114.
• Mindfulness Morning, 2nd Saturday of the month, 10:00 am - 12:15 pm in the Park Building Sanctuary. Contact: Susanne Olbrich, Tel. 01309 690006.
• Mindfulness Afternoon, 3rd Sunday of a month at Cawdor (by Nairn). For details contact Carrie Bates, Tel. 01667 404762.

Vipassana Meditation Practice, Tuesdays, 8:15 pm - 9:15 pm in The Park Building Sanctuary. Contact: Jane, Tel. 01309 674568 or Chris, Tel. 01309 676001

Green Tara Meditation Practice, Thursdays at 8:00 pm in the Park Sanctuary, Everyone welcome! Contact: Eva Ward, Tel. 01309 691142

Tibetan Buddhist Study and Practice Course, Tuesdays at 7:30 pm. For more details please contact Thomas Warrior, Tel. 01309 690690

Ven. Robina Courtin’s visit in 2005. Ven. Robina has visited our community on two occasions before, giving a number of inspiring public talks and leading meditation workshops, and we have invited her again to visit us in 2005. We hope to have more details about her visit in the next issue of this newsletter.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s visit in 2005. In a joint venture between the Shambala Trust and the Findhorn Foundation we have invited the great Tibetan Buddhist master Lama Zopa Rinpoche to visit and teach in our community. Watch this space for more details in one of our next issues.