Sunday, 7/5/2020, Amitayus Practice Celebrating H.H. Dalai Lama’s 85th Birthday

June 16, 2020
To our beloved community,
We grieve the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery which were extremely disturbing. They are only the latest victims in a long line of deaths of African Americans at the hands of police or racist whites; and there are many more whose deaths have not been publicized. These three incidents shine a clear light on the prejudice and danger that our Black Communities are forced to face on a daily basis. For hundreds of years Black Americans have been made to live as second class citizens and denied full participation in American society. For many of us, it’s hard to fathom the pain that they go through on a daily basis.
The Buddha taught that just as the sun shines on all beings without discrimination, so should we shine our loving kindness and compassion on all without any exceptions or qualifications. The Buddha also taught that we should always equip our compassion with wisdom. To develop wisdom, we must train our mind to see through our own concealed biases, hatred, and fear. Being able to see them clearly enables us to take responsible actions to amend them.
The way forward must be guided by loving kindness towards all. Life is precious. Black lives matter.
Our condolences go to the families and friends of all who have lost a loved one to racist violence, including the family of Antwon Rose who lived less than a mile from our center. This violence impacts us all and needs to end. We grieve and stand with you all in this struggle for equality and dignity.
We strive to work together with all our might towards the goals that all beings live in peace and happiness, that all be free from suffering.
With loving kindness,
TRTCC Board
H.E. Garchen Rinpoche will give teachings in between prayer sessions.
To download the practice materials please click here: http://www.rinchencholing.org/Text/Monlamtextbook.pdf
To watch the event: https://www.youtube.com/user/rinchencholing/videos (During the event, please go to LIVE.)
ALL ARE WELCOME
Saga Dawa is a sacred month in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, celebrating the birth, enlightenment and parinirvana of the Buddha. As a tradition to observe this sacred occasion, people refrain from eating meat, meditate on the welfare of others, and take actions to extend their meritorious deeds to benefit all beings.
Three Rivers Tibetan Cultural Center will be holding a special practice session this Friday, June 5th, the full moon day of the month, at 7:00 pm, with Ven. Lama Kalsang leading the Buddha Shakyamuni practice and the recitation of the King of Aspiration Prayers of Noble Samantabhadra’s Deeds.
TRTCC will make this occasion available on Zoom. Information to join will be sent to our sangha group in an email. If you are not on our mailing list you can join by subscribing to our list: https://www.threeriverstibetancc.org/subscribe/
We will also make it available to a limited number of people who would like to attend in person. We can only accommodate about 10 people at our center so please send us an email to threeriversdharma@gmail.com if you would like to attend.
Even during this difficult time, we hope you can participate and continue to practice, in whatever form that is available to you, to rejoice in the enlightenment of great beings, develop great virtues, and experience peace and happiness.