In this issue we focus on what it means to be a patron of Buddhism. Over the past ten years, Khyentse Foundation has published a series of biographies on the great patrons of Buddhism. This month we continue the series with a brief portrait of the late Gerard Godet.

 

For the artists and collectors in the sangha, we are happy to announce the Ashoka Portrait Project. We also introduce Marco Noailles, who is instrumental in keeping Khyentse Foundation's finances picture perfect.

 

Please see the KF web site and our Facebook page for news about recent grant activity, including our support for Mongolia’s first Youth Buddhist Summer Camp. Keep an eye out for reports on the joint financial aid fund that the Foundation established with Ranjung Yeshe Institute in Nepal; an update about our support of KEAP, sending Theravadin monks to the Postgraduate Institute for Pali and Buddhist Studies, Kelaniya University in Sri Lanka; Rinpoche's presentation at the INEB conference in Bodhgaya and much more.

 

Can you identify the images in this month’s photo banner? If you can, it’s likely that you’re a student of Buddhism and have a connection with Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, that you have attended his teachings, and that you know something about the rich Rimé lineage that he holds. Who better to support Rinpoche's vision for the future of Buddhism. Khyentse Foundation carries out that vision and depends mainly on the generosity of Rinpoche's close friends and students. This system of patronage channels the stream of support, enriches it with sound investing, and then distributes it with Rinpoche's guidance and the guidance of the board of directors. It is a system that accepts any contribution. small or large, from any source, and transforms it into meaningful, effective support of the practice and study of Buddhism, now and into the future. In Rinpoche's words, the foundation is "nurturing the seeds of awakening for students and practitioners worldwide."

 

What would 100% sangha participation look like?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m sure we don’t have to worry about many of the younger generation of Buddhist leaders from different lineages. Each lineage has very good facility when it comes to dharma training. But if they are going to face the world, they need to see the world, they need to really understand how the world works. And for that, so far, there is still not really any facility offering such training. I wish that we, Khyentse Foundation, can offer some kind of assistance to young leaders like the 17th Karmapa, who are still very young and emerging. Also to some of the Sakyapa Dungses, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s yangse, Dudjom Rinpoche, and many others of the younger generation. I wish to bring some of these younger lamas to institutions like Stanford University for just 20 days to offer them a crash course on leadership. I’m sure their bodhicitta and compassion and wisdom leadership are very good, but they need to also understand how to lead in the modern world.

 

I also wish that many of these rinpoches will go to places like China to be exposed to some of the Chinese academic institutions like Peking University. There they could have a crash course on how the Chinese think. These are just a few ways I am seeing that Khyentse Foundation can help shape the future of Buddhism.

 

from the August, 2009 Communiqué.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 SIDDHARTHA'S INTENT

The latest issue of Gentle Voice with a special focus on retreat is now available online.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently, Rinpoche asked us to collect images of great patrons of Buddhism to create a gift for some of the patrons of Khyentse Foundation. In our search we were disappointed to find only a scant few images of the great King Ashoka. It got us thinking, and now we are happy to announce the Ashoka Portrait Project.

We invite the artists in the sangha to create portraits of King Ashoka and submit them to us for an online auction. We will collect digital copies of the artwork, and next year we will auction them off to support the activities of the Foundation. All visual media will be accepted. Artists will be responsible for mailing the portraits to the winning bidders.

Please submit a digital version of your Ashoka portrait by May 1, 2012.

For more information about King Ashoka, read the KF Communiqué article about his path to becoming a patron of Buddhism.

 

 

 

Rinpoche is making his third film this winter and has issued a statement on Facebook: "I have been asked by people if they can come to Sri Lanka while I shoot my film, many of them wishing to help me make movies. But the best way to help me is by not showing up."

 

He also posted some lovely photos of Tara DiGesu Mizner's storyboards as a teaser of what's to come. 

 

 

Rinpoche recently attended the royal wedding of the fifth King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel

Wangchuk, to Jetsun Pema, in Phunakha, Bhutan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We've seen it happen many times. When people take the time to sit down and understand the whole story about Khyentse Foundation and the matching funds program, a light goes on in their eyes. Suddenly they see the enormity of these activities, the necessity, the long-term possibilities, and the great merit in being a patron. We love to hear from our friends and supporters about their decision to become regular contributors to the matching funds program. All monthly contributions are automatically doubled through the program, thanks to a group of anonymous matching funders. In many ways, the matching fund program is the lifeblood of Khyentse Foundation. Here is a sweet note from Ella Milligan about her decision to join.

 

By Ella Milligan
Over my lifetime I’ve been on the receiving end of so much generosity, both material and otherwise, a lot of which has enabled me to study dharma, do retreats, and travel to teachings.

When I look at the opportunities I’ve had, I almost feel a little guilty that I’ve been so lucky. I mentioned this one time to a good friend who was letting me use her cottage for a retreat. Her reply was, “Don’t feel guilty. When you’re able to, I’m sure you will help support other people’s practice—that’s what happened to me.” Her comment lingered in my mind, and I somehow trusted that she was right.

 

It’s been a few years since I joined Khyentse Foundation's regular matching funds program. I thought I must have been one of the last to sign up, but I was surprised to read in the last newsletter that only about half of the students attending a recent teaching of Rinpoche’s had ever contributed to Khyentse Foundation. I’m not able to give a lot each month, but when I give, I know that the benefit is not just matched but multiplied. My few dollars each month are contributing to a huge investment.

 

My guilt hasn’t necessarily gone away, but alongside it I feel really happy that I can help support the dharma, other people’s practice, and most of all Rinpoche’s wishes and activities.

 

 

 

If you would like to share your matching funds story, please send it to us. We love to hear what inspired you to join and how it makes you feel to be part of the KF ocean of activity. And if you have not joined the Matching Funds Program, please do! Every dollar you donate will be matched, doubling your contribution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Khyentse Foundation is a funding organization: We don't operate projects directly, we channel resources to people and institutions who share our vision. For that reason, we have a small executive office of key players. Marco Noailles is one of those keys. He has been the treasurer and a member of the Executive Committee since the inception of Khyentse Foundation. Despite having a very busy full time job, until recently, Marco has been doing all the bookkeeping and accounting for Khyentse Foundation and 84000. It's not a glamorous task, but it is essential. At the tenth anniversary celebration, Rinpoche singled out Marco to thank him for his selfless hard work.

 

Originally from northern Minnesota, Marco graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston IL with a major in Economics. Few people know that Marco helped establish a number of food co-operatives in Wisconsin, and that over the years he has lived on various goat farms throughout the midwest and northwestern United States. Marco met Choygam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1972 and soon thereafter moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he helped with the start-up of Naropa Institute. He attended the 1975 Vajradhatu Seminary, where the second of his three sons was born.

 

He moved to Karme Choling in Vermont in the early 1980s, where he became the business manager and eventually the controller. Later he moved back to Chicago and worked at a CPA firm for 10 years, eventually becoming a CPA. He met Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche at the cremation of Trungpa Rinpoche in 1987 and became a dedicated student of Rinpoche's in 1992. Marco now lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife Penny and their son Mila. He is also a devoted grandpa to his granddaughter, Lucy.

 

Marco is an accountant in the National Payroll Services division of the Financial Services Organization of Kaiser Permanente, a nonprofit health care organization with 165,000 employees.

 

Despite his very busy schedule, when Cangioli Che approached Marco to help establish a foundation to support Rinpoche’s activities in 2000, he accepted instantly. "I wasn’t certain what I was getting into, and I've tried to keep pace with the rapid evolution of KF ever since," he says. "Needless to say, it has been an extraordinary experience working for KF. I am constantly amazed by Rinpoche’s vision, delightfully challenged by the development of KF and 84000, and grateful beyond words to assist in whatever way I can to help Rinpoche’s aspirations be actualized."