May News & More..

Happy May dear friend, I hope this note finds you happy, healthy, and enjoying the new season's gifts, wherever you are! Here in Vermont it has been a slow start to spring but as you can see in the photo, it is surely happening. To be honest, I like a slow start to the spring season, it offers a nice pace to really watch things come alive and soak up all the magic, and there is SO MUCH magic! Peepers singing, birds running around making nests and preparing for their sweet little new arrivals, shoots and flowers popping up and blooming after a long cold winter in the dark underworld. And black bears - I just watched 2 scramble up the ridge as I went to the kitchen sink to get some water, so beautiful! Wow - how fortunate we are to get to watch and experience and coexist with all this magic happening! Truly amazing!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Death and rebirth over and over..what a gift!

It has been busy around here with hosting an array of private retreatants and, of course, working on all the spring chores this place has to offer, ha! We are currently in the midst of hosting a series of Tuesday evening drop-in meditation sessions and we still have 3 more to go so it's not too late to join in. We are also planning to offer more silent retreat sessions (both daylongs and full weekends) later in the season, so stay tuned for more info on those. For those considering private retreat, we still have some decent availability so reach out if you are considering that, we'd love to have you and booking sooner than later is strongly encouraged.

In the spirit of Spring, I am excited to share some news with you all: Some seeds I have been sowing are beginning to sprout..let me explain. Very soon, in just a few weeks, we will be welcoming a new/familiar face [back] to Milarepa Center as a residential volunteer and I will be slowly sinking deeper and deeper into retreat here on the land. I have been working on setting up a small private retreat hermitage for myself that will allow the center to continue to have the main private retreat cabins, Ensapa and Marpa, available for all of you! FYI - I will still be available for the bigger, overall center needs and direction, but the idea is that our new resident will be watching over the center and taking care of the day to day needs as I sink into retreat more.

This November I will begin my 10th year as Director and I am so excited to finally be able to take some dedicated time for longer retreat! As some of you already know, I have been in/out of retreat for about the last 1.5 years, taking retreat time whenever and wherever I can while also balancing my many other responsibilities, life situations, and all that goes into being a human! Back then, I came to realize that instead of waiting for the perfect causes and conditions to come together so I could get into retreat, I would simply start where I was with what I had and so I began. That was almost 2 years ago now. And then, 2 months ago, I deepened my retreat practice even more by giving up my outside full-time "money making" job (my "big girl" job as I called it) and committed to going deeper and making more space in my life for retreat practice; it was a very scary decision to let go of making real money, good health insurance, a retirement plan, and so on, but it felt like the right thing to do so I did it.

Then, a few months ago, while in a shorter retreat contemplating on and praying that I might someday, somehow be graced with enough freedom to be able to do longer retreat (a prayer I have been making for many years), a message came in from an old dharma friend asking for a reference because he was thinking about going back to a center for awhile to offer service. Ha! And we all know the reality of impermanence so I am taking things day by day, planning as best as I can, and trusting that whatever needs to happen will...but here I am, following the thread...seeing the sprouts of the seeds I've been sowing...

Welcome [back] Dave!

I am so very excited to welcome David Desiderio back to Milarepa Center as a residential volunteer later this month! Dave will be getting familiar with care-taking the center and supporting all those who come here for retreats as well as taking some time for his own practice. We look forward to everyone meeting him (or reuniting with him again) next time you are here for retreat!

Here, Dave shares a bit about himself:

"David Desiderio originally from Malden, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, has a background in youth residential care. He has spent his career supporting adolescents with a range of emotional and behavioral challenges, focusing on fostering structured and supportive environments.

David became a student of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) in 2011 through the Kurukulla Center in Medford, Massachusetts. He was also a participant in Milarepa Center's past work-study program in both 2012 and 2013, which deepened his connection to the dharma and to Milarepa Center.

Next time you visit the center, you'll likely see Dave filling in for Dawn while she is on retreat, ensuring that all those who come to Milarepa Center feel supported while on retreat."

Okay, that's enough for now, but stay tuned for more updates, news, and musings and have a look below at some opportunities to come visit the center if you are not planning a retreat anytime soon. I hope to see you here some time, some way! Take good care of yourselves and one another.

Be well friends,

Dawn

Drop-In Meditation Sessions

Tuesday May 5th, 12th, & 19th

6:30pm - 7:30pm

We still have 3 more drop-in meditation sessions happening on Tuesday evenings! Meditations will focus on sitting with others, away from the external distractions of the world, coming into relationship with the quiet space within ourselves and reconnecting to our own hearts. All are welcome, offered by donation.

Join Us!

Center Open House, Potluck, & Welcoming Dave

Saturday, June 6th

12pm - 4pm

Join us for an open house and potluck to welcome Dave back to Milarepa! Please bring a PREPARED vegetarian/vegan dish to share - we will prepare a dish to share also, as well as having cold drinks, tea, coffee, etc. available.

Come visit the center, read in the library, meditate in our gompa, walk in the woods, welcome/meet Dave, catch up with one another, see the retreat hermitages (if not in use), and enjoy good company and some food!

Milarepa Center Receives a Very Beautiful Gift!

On March 17th, 1959 His Holiness the Dalai Lama fled Tibet. The escape was a perilous two-week journey across the Himalayas, reaching India on March 31, 1959, where The Dalai Lama established a government-in-exile in Dharamshala and remains living there today.

Recently, we received a gift from a local Milarepa member who was cleaning out their house and came across this Life Magazine from May 4th, 1959 covering the story of His Holiness' escape! We are so happy to have such an amazing piece of history now living in our library. The magazine will be available for guests to read while here but we ask that it does not leave the library so that all can enjoy it! And a big thank you to the donor, you know who you are, and we deeply appreciate such a thoughtful gift!

Becoming a "Friend of Milarepa" or offering general donations to Milarepa Center helps ensure the continuation of our center and helps to cover our operating costs. See our website for more information or to make a donation.

Thank you!!

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