First of all I want to thank all of you for your support of the Gyuto Vajrayana Center in San Jose. Even in these difficult economic times, Gyuto has benefited from your kind and generous thoughts, words and deeds.
2009 has been a full and exciting year for us at Gyuto and 2010 looks like it will be even more exciting.
I have many things to share with you!
You will see below an update on the next visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the celebration of Gyuto's 10th Anniversary in San Jose, a visit by the Tibetan Prime Minister, Samdhong Rinpoche, plans for the new Gyuto Monastery and Community Center, the Center's teachers for 2010 and the next Gyuto Tantric Choir Tour.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama - Gyuto is honored to host His Holiness again in 2010!
Our most exciting news is that we are hosting His Holiness the Dalai Lama again in the Bay Area! We are very honored that His Holiness has agreed to our request so soon after Gyuto hosted him in San Francisco in 2007. His Holiness will be giving a teaching on October 12th, 2010 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the San Jose Convention Center.
Details on the topic, ticketing and the event itself will be available later in the year. We will keep you up to date via our website and emails.
We are also sponsoring an audience with the local Tibetan and Mongolian communities in the morning.
Please mark you calendars!
The 10th Anniversary of the Gyuto Vajrayana Center
April 2010 marks the 10th anniversary of the Gyuto Vajrayana Center in San Jose. So many people have made this dream come true it is impossible to name them. Some people have made donations, some given their time, some their specialized skills. Some people attend the Center regularly and some send support but have never visited the Center.
Every single one of you has enabled Gyuto to establish itself as a dharma center and to help it grow; in other words, you have helped make the dharma flourish! I can never thank you enough for everything you have done for our Center.
To celebrate our anniversary we are planning a party on April 10th 2010 at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose and I hope you will be able to join us. More information on the schedule, the program and the tickets will be emailed out to you as soon as they are ready.
Special Guest – Gelek Rinpoche!
Gelek Rinpoche will be our special guest to help us celebrate our 10th Anniversary and will give a short talk; Rinpoche is always inspiring to listen to. When Rinpoche gave a 2009 teaching at Gyuto, so many people reserved seats it had to be held at the Convention Center. Rinpoche has said he hopes to give another teaching at Gyuto later in 2010. We will keep you informed on this plan.
The Center
Throughout 2009 Gyuto has been fortunate to be able to provide a broad range of teachings, from many great and accomplished teachers. We are putting a schedule in place for 2010 to include:
Dr. Thupten Jinpa
Another talk hosted by Gyuto in 2009 that had to be held at the Convention Center due to the large number of people who attended was for Dr. Jinpa. His reputation is based not only on his profound scholarship but also his acknowledged excellence as a translator for His Holiness. For many people, all the teachings they have received from His Holiness have been as a result of his skill in bringing His Holiness' profound ideas, thoughts and words to the non-Tibetan speakers in his audiences.
Dr. Jinpa has said he hopes to visit us again in 2010.
Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Dorjee.
Gyuto is delighted to announce that an ex-Abbot of Gyuto, Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Dorjee, is returning to Gyuto in 2010 as our resident teacher! Many of you will remember Rinpoche from his previous visit when he gave many teachings, such as the 'Eight Verses of Thought Training' and initiations including Tara, Chenrezig and the Medicine Buddha.
We have been arranging Rinpoche’s return for a long time and we expect him to be here in May or June after the completion of his three-year Yamantaka retreat.
The Gyuto Foundation - The Gyuto Monastery and Community Center
His Holiness has said many times that we all need to do as much as possible to support our local Tibetan communities to maintain their cultural identity. Here in the Bay Area there are thousands of Tibetans and Gyuto has been developing plans to make His Holiness’ wish come true.
We are planning to build a traditional Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the Bay Area as well as facilities to be used as a Community Center. The monastery will be big enough to enable Gyuto to hold even its largest teaching events as well as quarters for the monks and rooms for retreatants.
The Community Center will have facilities to provide cultural education and support for Tibetans from the youngest to the oldest generation. We are hoping to also be able to house Tibetan refugees and help them enter the community.
One of the most important goals of this project, and again in line with His Holiness' wishes, is that this facility will be used to benefit not only Tibetans but non-Tibetans, not only Buddhists of one school but of all schools as well as non-Buddhist and secular groups.
This project is aimed at being a benefit to everyone in the local community. This is a multi-phase, multi-year project but, as it has His Holiness’ specific blessing, we are confident that it will come true.
At this time we are negotiating the purchase of land suitable for the monastery and center. We have high hopes for the progress of this project in 2010.
If you would like more information on this project or would like to help us please let me know.
The Gyuto Tantric Choir's next North American Tour
We are beginning to plan for the next North American tour of the Gyuto Tantric Choir, which we hope will take place either in 2010 to coincide with His Holiness' teachings or in 2011. We only tour every four or five years and each time we get many requests for the Choir to visit our supporters' hometowns or colleges. If you have a suggestion for a location for a concert, please let me know and I will pass it on to our tour organizers.
On behalf of all Gyuto monks, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting the Gyuto Center over the past decade. Whoever receives this newsletter, you are part of the Gyuto Monastery organization, which was started back in Tibet in 1474.
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