icarusancalion

Okay, many of you know that our temple was closed for public assembly March 1st. The results are in about separating the prayer room from the main temple as well as other matters:

Update on the Temple Renovation

( Good news: we can go ahead. Any building we do will have to be on the temple side of the street. )

Financial Report
Here is an income and expense report for the Temple Renovation Project. (Yay, transparency!)


This Sunday they're having the web-a-thon to bring in Friends of KPC. They're looking for small regular donors because this project is going to be ongoing for years. I have a $15 a month donation I give to the Amitabha Stupa mortgage as part of the Friends of the Amitabha Stupa in Sedona, AZ.

Over the last three weeks I've been painting. I've painted on my Mondays off. I've painted before work on Tuesdays. I've painted after work on Wednesdays. I've led groups of painters on Fridays. I've touched base every night with, you guessed it, painters. I've even had high school students to cut in around the lighting.

The room went from primed, to a ceiling coat, to shining white above, to finally sleek cool turquoisy green walls -- all on fast forward.

My one-wall-a-week project launched into light speed with the announcement Yangthang Tulku was coming. If you paint an Air Base before the president visits, surely you wouldn't have blue tape around the room when the venerable spiritual master visits.

I didn't think we could do it. But my enthusiastic friend M. kept going, and so I stepped up the pace alongside him.

Yangthang Tulku sat in the prayer room for hours the other day, just basking. Jetsunma said the place looked "clean." Yeah.

Now I'm looking forward to not hunting through the dirty laundry for things to wear. It'll be good to have the dishes washed again, maybe take in a movie. I bought new blankets the cats are enjoying.

The temple's hosting Rinpoche's teaching IN A TENT on the lawn.

Why? Because we still can't hold public assemblies. The current temperature today: 46 degrees.

He's 90 years old and there's a heated, attractive temple not 20 feet away, but the county won't let us.

Great news. Razoo's up to $11,000!

Let me back up here.

As many of you know, my temple was shut down for public assembly March 1st. We'd been working with the county for several years as we did the renovations to get the Use & Occupancy permit for the temple (the land's zoned residential). It was going slow and the temple lapsed on some requirements. Temples don't tend to be rich, and while people get excited about "Yay, let's build a stupa (or monastery)!" the response to "Yay, let's put in a sprinkler system!" is somewhat tepid.

Then the county lowered the boom.

If I'm looking for a silver lining, I could say that since we own the land free and clear, these renovations will stabilize the temple. They've been hanging over the place for some time.

It was scary at first--what they require is Major. I thought my plan to put in a solar system for a few thousand bucks was expensive. But the changes they want are so extensive, we're almost better off building a new temple in the Peace Park (it's under consideration).

The head of the temple, Jetsunma, is our biggest donor so far. She's selling her clothes, she's sold furniture, she's looking at selling an antique butterchurn, and she's having jewelry she's been given appraised. I wish I could buy these things and give them back to her, but I can't.

So instead I've offered my eBay account to sell some of her more unusual jewelry.

Such as a Thai amethyst and white gold nose ring.

Yes. Nose ring.

You guys like nose rings, right?

( Cut for pretty (large) image. )

See eBay listing

Beautiful, richly colored purple amethyst from Thailand.

Nose ring custom-made and professionally appraised at a value of $425. Stone can be reset.

Offered for sale and once worn by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, the first American woman to be enthroned as a reincarnate Buddhist Lama. The proceeds from the estate sale go to save her temple in Maryland from closure: The story is here.

As for myself, well, possibly I could start making earrings to sell on Etsy? Or maybe knitted toys?

I'm open to suggestions.

And Buddhist stuff, having nothing to do with temple renovations, closure, or other bad news.

Here we have a wonderful translation of the Chod (offering of the body) practice into English:



Beautiful stuff. Chod is the most Tibetan of Tibetan practices, the only one that original within Tibet itself.

The Gazette came out with an article about our temple closure.

...The extent of the needed renovations hasn’t yet been determined, but the county is working with temple members to assess their options and develop a plan for repairs, said Claire Waggoner, the temple’s president.

Meanwhile, the call for donations and help is going out to the temple’s members and past visitors, as well as the surrounding community, Waggoner said, adding that help from local contractors who could assist in the physical renovations would be particularly welcome.

The grounds of the temple and its adjacent 65-acre park are still open to the public, but the temple cannot hold public events. Its gift shop is closed and many classes and prayer activities are cancelled, threatening to stop the flow of donations the temple depends on to operate, Waggoner said.

“At the point where we have the most need for funds, we don’t have the ability to raise them,” Waggoner said. “We’re totally funded through donations, and have regular, very generous members who offer support.”

The temple’s round-the-clock prayer vigil — unbroken for nearly three decades — will be maintained privately by the site’s resident monks and nuns, and can included a limited number of guests

“We’ve kept the doors open for 28 years,” said Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, the temple’s founder and spiritual director, who created the 24-hour vigil. “So many people ... have been helped in times of difficulty by finding a place to come and be at peace.”

Yeesh. This is the first I've heard of the underground water tank.

The funds that have just come in (you can see how much here) are paying for the plans. Whatever we submit, we're going to be bound by, so we're being very careful.

In the meantime, we really ought to be allowed to continue to hold events. Claire's right. That's how we pay for the renovations. Without them, we're in trouble. I mean, we've had the Use & Occupancy permits in the works for a while. We just lapsed on a few requirements through lack of funds. Pretty much every church in the country's been struggling with fundraising in this recession. We're not alone in that.

Behold, a petition! To ask that an exception be granted to allow us to continue to hold events.

Please sign. And signal boost, if you would.

Oh, thank god.

The temple can reopen to visitors.

We can't have group events until we do all the renovations, but we spoke with the Interfaith Advocate from Montgomery County and people can visit the temple, come and go as before -- we just can't hold classes.

Which, er, for a place that's supposed to be for Buddhist classes, isn't ideal.

But!

The classes are still being webcast every Friday and Saturday. We're having all-outdoor events for the spring, summer, and fall (not sure what we're going to do about winter -- yeah, it's gonna take that long).

Here's the official word:

In a meeting with the Interfaith Advocate from Montgomery County, we were informed that we can open our doors, that visitors can come and go, taking advantage of the many blessings the temple has come to offer. The Prayer Room will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week once again for ANYONE seeking a place of spiritual refuge. You will be welcome to meditate quietly or pray, and take in the wealth of blessings offered by the statues, thangkas and crystals.

Not all functions of the temple will be able to continue until we are able to navigate the permitting process of Use and Occupancy and make the necessary renovations to ensure public safety and accessibility, but for those who have come to count on KPC as a place of peace, refuge and blessings the doors will once again be open to all regardless of faith.

We cannot hold events inside the temple, but will continue to offer events outdoors in order to continue with KPC's mission of offering the Dharma. In just a few weeks KPC will host Khenpo Norgay who will be offering teachings and empowerments associated with Phowa, a powerful Buddhist practice to prepare for the time of death. Though this event will be held outdoors, KPC will do it's best to ensure you are comfortable while enjoying this precious opportunity.

Please continue to support us in our effort to come into compliance with the county. The renovations required to ensure the safety of all will require everyone's ongoing support, as they will be very expensive. Please donate. Meanwhile, all are invited to come and partake of the many blessings of KPC.

To learn more please visit: www.tara.org

Annnnd now to raise ten quadrillion dollars. Because I don't want to be taking classes in a snowbank.

Mike's a new guy, helping me paint the prayer room. I mentioned to John that he knows how to do maintenance.

John: "Oooh, boy, don't let that get out...."

Yep, we have a lot of maintenance issues. And Mike's nice enough that I can see him run ragged before he has his own spiritual practice habits together. We all can. He admits that it happened when he was on retreat in New York. The main maintenance person assumed he was paying for the retreat through a kind of work-payment arrangement, because he willingly did so much. She mistakenly made use of him like he was an employee. It pulled him off of a lot of the retreat. :(

Ani Dorje, who recognized a fellow "work yourself into the ground" person, has run interference for him. Between Ani Dorje, John, and myself, we're hiding the fact that he does maintenance.

In the painting project, he offered to caulk some cracks in the join between the walls and ceiling. We're not on a tight time frame, I'm moving slowly, deliberately, cautiously. But because of his job, his schedule got jammed up, and Ani Dorje found him caulking at 11pm (during his prayer shift, which is a no-no, but he's new) -- and it turned out he had to be at work at 4am the next morning.

Aw, crap.

Conscientiousness is one thing but if he hadn't done the caulk then we would've just painted a different wall, no big deal. The prayer vigil is the priority.

She took the prayer shift and sent him home to get some sleep. And asked me to help her look out for him.

Then he offered to bring all sorts of tools and supplies for the project. Oh! Much to learn. "No, no, no," I told him. "Bring them, but keep any tools in your trunk -- unless you're willing to have them disappear."

I explained this was a temple with a couple hundred people and a lot of work being done. Folks will see a tool they need, think it belongs to the temple, use it, and not put it back where they found it (heck, it might not even be the same person returning it). Poof! Bye-bye paintbrush-ladder-dropcloth-hammer-mallet-five-in-one-tool-screwdriver. People have lost hundreds of dollars worth of tools before they've figured it out.

Namely: Ani Dorje has. Ted's lost, oh man, I'm not even sure how much. Over a grand, I'm sure, because his were expensive power tools. (Now you have to sign a contract in blood to borrow a palm sander from Ted.)

I explained, "If you have a project, your trunk becomes your rolling toolbox."

He'll get up to speed. And hopefully, with friends looking out for him, not the hard way, like we did. :D

I have a friend who's very sick. She has stage four cancer, it was stage four the moment they discovered it, and the nausea has slowed her treatment schedule lately (though hopefully she'll be back on it).

Not coincidentally (I've talked to Jetsunma about her on Twitter), Jetsunma's giving teachings about what to expect at the moment of death.

What To Expect When You're Expecting ... (Death)

Sorry, couldn't resist the Cake or Death moment.

Of course, my first thought when you say "prepare!" is to write a will. Which I did (though I haven't finished because the website sneaks a charge in at the last minute even though it said it was free and darn it, isn't that just the way?). I know that if I contracted a deadly illness I would pro-cras-tin-ate about anything that reminded me that I had a deadly illness, so better to do it while I'm healthy.

And stock up on pillows.

No, really. Pillows. Read on.

Almost every morning these days I do my little morning practice. It's very simple. And honestly, I confess I do it half asleep because I'm sooooooo not a morning person.

I recite the Bodhisattva vow, and then if I have time, I do a little mantra recitation and stuff. (Stuff these days being something called ngundro.)

One morning about, I dunno, a month ago, I didn't do it. I had time but I went straight to the computer and got on with my day. Probably rebelling against routine.

That day at work, I watched myself get pissy about little shit. Someone misfiled some binders! Oh, heavens!

Normally I'd just put them in the right place, but I watched as old habits reared their ugly snake-heads (well, I like snakes, but I was hissy-mad, irritated, "How could they be so lazy as to just stick the binders on the shelf without even bothering? It takes three seconds...." crank-crank-cranky-crank). I left a nasty little notes for the alphabetically incompetent.

Hunh.

I used to be like that all the time. Getting on people's cases about petty crap that doesn't matter.

I went back and removed one of the two notes (couldn't find the other) and decided to do my practice every morning, without fail. Even half asleep, that little bit makes a difference.

Anyways, I had some fandom wankiness come up today, and I didn't bite. Four years ago, I would've gone berserk.