The Marpa Foundation
for the study, practice, and support of the Buddha Dharma

A non-profit religious corporation, federal tax I.D. 77-037-8622

August 29, 2009

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Tek Chok Ling Nunnery in Kathmandu! I hope this letter finds you well. I write to you now to update you about Khenpo Rinpoche, His Holiness Karmapa’s advice to Rinpoche’s students, Marpa Foundation, and our future plans.

How is Rinpoche?

I am happy to be able to tell you that Khenpo Rinpoche is doing fine here. Rinpoche’s health appears stable and he is eating and sleeping well. The nuns are taking very good care of him. He spends most of his time alone. He has not been answering students’ questions, except to say things like: “If you do this, it is equality, and if you do not do it, it is equality,” “I do not know what is best for you to do, but I pray that whatever you do is of benefit to sentient beings,” or “I do not have an intention about what you should do; you should follow dependently arisen mere appearances.” When people have come to see him, he generally has given them a short blessing and said a few words about appearance-emptiness, equality. Occasionally he goes to the new shrine hall to watch the nuns sing and dance, and sometimes they come to sing to him on his patio. For exercise he likes to walk back and forth on the upper level of the nunnery several times a day.

The nunnery itself is beautiful—it is like a peaceful oasis in the middle of Boudhanath. If you come to Kathmandu, please visit. It is located on Sarmik Marg in the Milantorl district of Boudhanath, across from Thrangu Rinpoche’s monastery’s Hotel Ngudrup.

The nunnery has a new Dondrup Guest House (the green painted building on the left) that will be open from October 2nd for both lodgers and retreatants (for bookings, please contact Chime Dorje at chimedorje@hotmail.com or +977-985-108-9953).

How to Communicate with and Visit Rinpoche

Although Rinpoche is not answering students’ questions via email or in person, he is usually willing to give short blessing-interviews from 8:30-10:00 a.m. daily. Since his energy level fluctuates, there is no way to schedule an interview in advance. However, if you are in Kathmandu and you would like to try to see Rinpoche, you are welcome to come and request a blessing if he feels well enough to see people that particular day.

Please be aware that Rinpoche may decide to leave for his nunnery in Bhutan at any time.

If you would like to make an email request for blessings from Rinpoche for yourself or others, you may do so by contacting Rinpoche’s attendant Tsepak Dorje at tashidorlama@hotmail.com.

There are several topics that students asked Rinpoche about many times over the years, to which he gave fairly uniform answers, for example, concerning what students should practice when they are close to death, what prayers to recite for the sick or deceased, and how to do certain kinds of retreats and practices. If you would like to know what Rinpoche has said in the past in response to a specific question, please feel free to contact me at ktgr@attglobal.net.

His Holiness Karmapa’s Advice to Khenpo Rinpoche’s Students

Rose Taylor and I were very fortunate to meet with His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa in his residence at Gyuto Monastery in Dharamshala, India, on August 17th and 19th. This was our first opportunity to meet privately with His Holiness since Rinpoche’s health began to decline. We conveyed Rinpoche’s personal message to His Holiness, and explained Rinpoche’s health situation to him as per Rinpoche’s instructions. We also took the opportunity to offer Rinpoche’s Five Compositions of Definitive Meaning and teachings on The Hevajra Tantra to His Holiness.

His Holiness was very warm, sympathetic, and perceptive in his understanding of Rinpoche's situation. His advice to Khenpo Rinpoche’s students is as follows:

Rinpoche has given many teachings and instructions. It is rare to meet a yogi whose practice is as good as Rinpoche’s is. So Rinpoche’s students should study his teachings, ascertain their essence, and put them into practice. We do not need to think that we must become like Rinpoche in one lifetime, but especially while Rinpoche is still with us, we should put extra effort into studying and practicing his teachings.

Nunneries Update

Coming to Kathmandu has given us the opportunity to meet regularly with the heads of Rinpoche’s nunneries in Bhutan and Nepal, Rinpoche’s longtime attendant Karma Dargye, and Tsepak Dorje and Chime Dorje, Karma Dargye’s two sons who currently serve Rinpoche.

These meetings are going very well. We are implementing new programs for the nuns’ health, nutrition, and education. Licensed professionals will help us to analyze and improve the nuns’ diet, and will give them regular physical check-ups. New teachers are giving the nuns both secular and Buddhist instruction over the course of an uninterrupted academic calendar, which includes regular formal exams. We are also following His Holiness Karmapa’s instructions on protecting the environment by recycling waste, using solar energy for a significant portion of the nunneries’ electricity, planting trees, and other measures.

The nuns are also training in lujong with Rose Taylor, and will continue to do so daily.

Ari Goldfield and Rose Taylor Update

Since the nuns are taking such good care of Rinpoche, and he is doing well here, Rose and I plan to leave Nepal and move to the San Francisco Bay Area (we will arrive there at the end of September). We will return annually to Bhutan and Nepal to spend time with Rinpoche and the nuns. In the Bay Area we will establish a new office for Marpa Foundation; continue to translate and publish Rinpoche’s teachings; and with those who are interested, we will happily share the incredibly profound and beneficial Dharma that Rinpoche so kindly taught us by teaching and writing ourselves.

His Holiness Karmapa has very kindly given us his blessings to do this.

Thanks to everyone for your invaluable friendship and support. All of these activities are possible only because of your help. We hope to see all of you sometime soon.

Sarva Mangalam,

Ari Goldfield