SUPPORTING
THREE YEAR RETREATANTS
If
you are interested in being a part of retreat by offering
financial support, information on the tax deductible scholarship
fund is available by contacting the Drupon
see box below for details. You are also welcome to sponsor
individual people, though this is not tax deductible.
It
is such a great joy to see the conditions come together
for this kind of retreat practice! We wish our
three year retreatants all the best in their aspirations
to practice for the benefit of all.
INDIVIDUAL RETREATANTS SEEKING SUPPORT (not tax deductible)
Sharon Price plans to
do the Three Year Retreat with Group F beginning
September 2005.
When Sharon applied for retreat, she had been working
at the same job for 15 years. Once accepted for retreat,
she applied for and was granted a leave of absence for
the first year. In preparation for her leave of absence,
her employer was setting aside 25% of her pay. This was
to be paid out during her leave of absence to cover at
least part of her retreat expenses.
In
January 2004, Sharon took the leave of absence early to
take care of her mother who had cancer. She spent the money
that had been set aside on living expenses. Later, Sharon
retired from her job with a small pension in order to continue
taking care of her mother. The money from her retirement
will pay $12,000 toward the retreat.
Sharon
needs to raise $12,000 to pay the balance for retreat.
**************
Wishing
to attend the Three Year Retreat,
Sharon
Price
5060
Henderson Street
Los
Angeles, California 90032
Mary DeRouen (Group F)
July, 2008
Dear Fellow Practitioners,
I have had the extremely good fortune to complete Phases I and II of the 3-year retreat with group F (Sept, 2005 – July, 2006 and Oct, 2007 – Aug, 2008) and look forward to completing the last phase (now called III/IV) in 2009 – 2010.
I would like to introduce myself as one humanoid to another on this path. I am from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where I came across a little Dharma Study Group (in 1980) that met behind the offices of Curtis Steele and Nancy porter when they lived there. I was skeptical about “Buddhists” but connected strongly with meditation practice and with the way Chogyam Trungpa presented the teachings.
At that time I had a husband, two young children, and a career as a school social worker. At this time, I have no husband, children in their mid-thirties (and 3 grand children) and have been retired for 10 years. I moved to Boulder, Colorado, the day I could retire with benefits.
So I have since worked extensively with the care of elderly people and, also, tried to start a real estate investment business. (Have you heard of Nouvoux Riche?!) Most of my retirement fund was lost as I sought to make my fortune (just a small one). The plan was to be able, then, to be on retreat regularly and to have seed money for a program to match donors with practitioners wanting to do retreats/programs.
I have pieced things together until now, have paid off all my debts, and have paid (with gratitude for help from a few sponsors) for this retreat through the present time.
I am asking for your help to completely meet the expenses of the last phase of this retreat. What ever you can give to my Gampo Abbey retreat fund, the world will receive great benefit ! My costs will be :
- retreat phase III/IV : 8,900$
- round trip airfare/about 4 shuttles : 1,000$
- Miscellaneous living expenses for 11 months; 1,000
(candles, incense, books, vitamins, Xeroxing, staff gifts)
GRAND TOTAL…………………………….10,900$
For me, this path into compassion and away from reinforcing my separate identity continually deepens and fills me with amazement. I am so grateful for this opportunity and so grateful that I have come across the dharma in this lifetime !
It is said that both the practitioner and his or her patrons accumulate much merit by extending themselves to each other in this way. I am glimpsing that it is through the accumulation of merit/blessings that our paths of awakening unfold. If you feel a particular connection with the blessing of retreat, then please consider financially supporting me.
Yessica
Ulloa plans to do the Three Year Retreat with Group
F beginning September 2005.
Santiago, April 2005
My
dear friends on the path,
Greetings
to you all.
Traditionally
it is said that there is a very close connection in retreats
between the practitioners and the patrons who make their
retreat possible.
The
thought of doing this retreat arose in me in these last
few years because the more I go through this path, the more
I feel the need to deepen my practice and understanding.
For me it has been a choiceless decision – something
that has been so clear and simple, something that needs
to be done.
I
still need much help. In this spirit, I write to ask your
assistance. Any support you could send would be very much
appreciated, and I realize that some of you may not be able
to give at this time – thank you for any good wishes
you can send my way.
If
you can help support my retreat, I think the best would
be to send any financial gift directly to the Abbey in my
name, care of the financial office. In this case, there
is no tax deduction benefit, just good merit!. To do it
please contact Trime at finance@gampoabbey.org
Please
consider that this letter is very much a free invitation
to join me in this journey of deepening practice and devotion,
an invitation from my heart.
Yours
in the Dharma, Yessica Ulloa
For
more information contact:
Susan Chapman, Drupon
C/O Gampo Abbey
Pleasant Bay, NS B0E 2P0
susan@gampoabbey.org
|
|
|
