|
Khyentse Foundation is a
global team of volunteers, and our opportunities to meet face to face
are rare and extremely productive. In September the Khyentse Foundation
board of directors and advisors met in California to discuss the progress of the past year as
well as the directions we are heading in the future. Read about
exciting developments in the Foundation’s work in spreading the
Buddhadharma worldwide, including a reports on a new initiative for Buddhist studies in academia, changes in our team, and the new Khyentse Award. You’ll also find a link to Rinpoche’s address to the board of directors, news about an upcoming calligraphy auction to support Lotus Outreach, and much more.
|
|
PHOTO: Bel Pedrosa, Investment Committee chair, and Richard Dixey, advisor.
|
|
SHARING THE MERIT
An
anonymous donor who made a substantial donation to Khyentse Foundation
earmarked for the Buddhist Literary Heritage Project sent an
encouraging letter to the board of directors, which we read during the
board meeting. The donor talked about the practice of ultimate
generosity and the responsible use of donation dollars, and urged
Khyentse Foundation to have the Bodhisattva’s courage to “…seize the
opportunity and provide with urgency.” Read the letter.
When
you support Khyentse Foundation projects, you protect and uphold the
Buddha’s teachings. No amount is too small (or too big) in our
collective effort to keep the Buddha’s wisdom teachings alive.
The most effective way to support
Khyentse Foundation is to join the matching funds program. Every dollar
you donate will be matched by a group of committed donors. Donate Online.
NEWS FROM THE BUDDHIST LITERARY HERITAGE PROJECT
Huang Jing Rui, Executive Director
The
BLHP held a marathon four-day planning meeting in September. Huang Jing
Rui, the newly appointed BLHP Executive Director, attended from
Singapore. The BLHP website will be up soon. In the meantime,
check out the project’s Facebook page.
NEWS FROM DEER PARK INSTITUTE
Deer Park has a new blog,
and it’s packed with information about the institute’s programs and
activities. Check out the articles on “Eco Handicraft,” “The View of
Buddhism and Hinduism,” “Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo Packs the House,” and
“Volunteering at Drophen School,” a first-person account by a speech
pathologist and special educator about volunteering at an adult day
center serving people with physical, emotional, and mental
disabilities. Deer Park has become a center for the study of classical
Indian wisdom traditions and a place where many of Khyentse
Foundation's supporters seek teachings and guidance.
NEWS FROM SIDDHARTHA'S INTENT
Check the Siddhartha’s Intent site
frequently for communications from Rinpoche and updates on SI
activities around the world. There are still openings for the 2010
North American Dharma Gar.
|
NEW APPOINTMENTS
|
|
Khyentse Foundation welcomes the following new team members:
- Suresh Jindal, KF advisor
- Raji Ramanan, member of the board of directors
- Jim Nelson, advisor to the investment committee
- Chantal Gebbie, country representative for Australia
- Julie Chender, country representative for Canada
- Chou Su-ching, country representative for Taiwan
Khyentse
Foundation thanks Jain Feng, Christian Rhomberg, and Jill Robinson for
their hard work and valuable contributions during the past years, and
we look forward to their continued support in less official capacities.
|
|
|
|
AND THEN...
Coming in the next issue:
An update on the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center. And keep an eye out for a major overhaul of the KF web site.
|
| |
|
Khyentse Foundation is now on Facebook.
We will be posting volunteer opportunities, news, and other updates. Join us!
 |
| |
|
|
Khyentse Foundation Upgrades
Its Workload
Report From the 2009 Khyentse Foundation
Board of Directors Meeting
“As followers of Shakyamuni Buddha, I think the best thing that we can do is what we in Tibetan call dzin-kyong,
to protect, uphold, and keep the teaching alive. That’s our job. And
not only one or two teachings of the Buddha, but every one of them,
every single one.”
—Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Address to the Khyentse Foundation Board of Directors Meeting, September 26, 2009, Pasadena, California
Executive Director Cangioli Che presents to the board.
In March 2009, the participants at the Translating the Words of the Buddha Conference
asked Rinpoche and Khyentse Foundation to take on the task of starting
to organize the Buddhist Literary Heritage Project (BLHP) so that,
within a few years, it can become an independent organization. This
September, Rinpoche reminded the Khyentse Foundation board that, in
spite of the magnitude of the BLHP, other Foundation work remains as
significant and essential as ever.
“Khyentse
Foundation and I have offered our services as much as we can, we have
pledged ourselves to BLHP. But this does not mean that the other things
that Khyentse Foundation has been supporting, like scholarship
programs, publications, and monastic education, have suddenly become
less important. They are equally important, I think. Just like the
universities, there is so much interest from the younger generations
these days. And we can’t afford to tell ourselves, ‘Well, we need to
translate the Kangyur now, so maybe the universities can wait 5
years, 25 years, 100 years.’ This is something that we cannot afford to
do. We cannot let go of any of these projects. In other words, I guess
I’m saying that we have to do much more.”
Rinpoche concluded by saying, with a smile, “I think we have just upgraded our workload much more.”
REPORT FROM THE INVESTMENT COMMITTEE
The
board heard reports and updates from all of the KF committees. The
report from the investment committee was essentially reassuring.
Although the Foundation lost 10% of its assets during the worldwide
financial downturn of 2008-2009, our loss was significantly less than
that of the S&P 500 or of our synthetic benchmark, which were down
28% and 19% respectively. And, since July of this year, there has been
substantial recovery. It is also important to know that although our
loss reduced our previous investment gains, we did not lose any money
ever donated to Khyentse Foundation.
Another
encouraging development is that in spite of the financial turmoil, we
received close to our target of $1million in donations in fiscal year
2008-09. Because of this unyielding and continued support from our
monthly and one-time donors, we are able to significantly expand our
2009-10 budget. For the first time in the Foundation’s nine-year
history, our budget for project funding will exceed $US1 million in the
coming year.
MORE EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS
- The
English program at Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute
(DKCLI) in India, where KF supports approximately 500 students, is now
offering both full- and part-time courses, as well as classes for monks
to study at an advanced level. The objective is to train qualified
Buddhist teachers for the English-speaking world.
- In
addition to our existing scholarship programs, the scholarships
committee is working with our advisor, Professor Peter Skilling, to
implement his idea for Khyentse Awards. These awards are
intended to encourage and support the study of Buddhism as well as
increase awareness of the Foundation. The awards will be made through
selected universities to students chosen by their faculty for
excellence in Buddhist studies. We expect to start with one or two
centers of excellence and to expand the program in the future.
- A
new education initiative involves exchange programs to bring Tibetan
scholars and khenpos to have teaching, study, and living experiences at
universities in the West. In 2010, two DKCLI scholars will take up
residence at the Sakya Centre in Washington, D.C. and spend four months
as visiting scholars at George Washington University. Another DKCLI
khenpo will begin a similar program at UC Berkeley.
The
Khyentse Foundation 2009-2010 Budgets and Activities (a PowerPoint
presentation), presented and approved during the board meeting, is
available upon request. To receive the presentation, send an e-mail to info@khyentsefoundation.org.
|
|
THANKS TO THE UNIVERSITY STUDY VOLUNTEERS
The KF Global University
Study would not have been possible without the valuable contribution of
the following volunteer data collectors from more than 20 countries:
Julie Adler, Dr. Tamas Agocs,
Venerable Aggacitta, Ani Dianne Cadwallader, John Koon-Chung Chan,
Tenzin Chosang, Christine Conlon, Marie Crivelli, Andreas Doctor, Abbie
Duchon, Paloma Fataar, Greg Forgues, Tom Gwinn, Rosalina Ho, Amy
Holmes, Huang Jing Rui, Nisheeta Jagtiani, Craig Kaufman, Nikki Leger,
Ana Christina Lopes, Laura Lopez, Jill Robinson, Louise Rodd, Kimberly
Post Rowe, Matthew Schojan, Linda Smith, Antonio Terrone, Jean Thies,
Doris Wolter, Rosemary Wong, Jun Xie, Siew Chin Yong |
|
| SPECIAL BOARD REPORT |
KF GLOBAL UNIVERSITY STUDY IDENTIFIES PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
By Sydney Jay, Research Director
The Global University Study
research project is a Khyentse Foundation initiative to identify the
best ways to support the academic study of Buddhism worldwide. Just one
third of the way through the study, our advisory committee and research
team have already identified four preliminary findings.
In the first of our four
findings, we categorized universities into three “buckets”: centers of
excellence, resource universities, and corresponding universities. This
“three buckets” structure is the result of discussions with our
advisors, Gene Smith and Professor Peter Skilling. This is a very
useful structure for identifying critical leverage points and for
generating insightful recommendations for support.
Our second finding suggests
that KF can have a high impact by focusing on strategic actions that
are smaller in scope and cost and that can be accomplished relatively
soon. For example, we could partner with institutions to host a
workshop or symposium for foundations on making informed decisions
about funding academic chairs or institutes. We could also provide
funding and organizational support for scholars from monasteries in
India and Tibet to visit universities in the West and for professors
from Western universities to visit Asian and Himalayan Buddhist
universities and institutes.
ART AUCTION TO BENEFIT LOTUS OUTREACH
Features Calligraphy by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Lotus Outreach is
thrilled that Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche has created seven pieces of
original calligraphy for an exclusive auction to benefit the
organization. The auction will take place virtually over a seven-day period, from December 7 to December 17, and 100% of proceeds will go toward supporting Lotus Outreach's charitable initiatives in India and Cambodia.
Originally established in
1993 by Rinpoche to support children's education for Tibetan refugees
in India, Lotus Outreach has grown to specialize in serving those who
fall outside the reach of existing government and charitable
initiatives. Today, they provide education and rehabilitative services
to victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The
organization offers preventive health care and income-generating
opportunities to isolated
and impoverished communities. They ensure community food security,
support sustainable agriculture, and help to establish safe, clean
sources of water. They advocate for access to education for the rural
poor. And they provide nonformal education and skills training to
those on the margins of their societies.
Thank You for Reading
|
|
