In this past month, Phakchok Rinpoche made a connection with and twice visited the Denjong Pema Choeling Academy, founded in 1980, near Pema Yangtse Monastery in West Sikkim. Rinpoche and some of our global Samye sangha joined together to make initial donations to the school and its 150+ students.
During his second visit, Rinpoche gave an uplifting talk for the young students and taught them the breathing practice for developing compassion — may all beings be happy (the exhale) and may all beings be free from suffering (the inhale). Before and after Rinpoche’s talk the students chanted, with such purity and energy, several memorized prayers, including the Vajra Six Line prayer, and it truly touched all who attended.
Together Rinpoche and some of our Samye sangha made a combined cash donation for general use and also donated a new water tank, curtains for the windows, many months worth of sanitary pads for over 30 of the girls, new uniforms for over 150 students, and fruits and some money for each student.
For many years, Phakchok Rinpoche has wanted to create a dedicated branch of Samye’s activity to focus purely on acts of giving for those in need. Now, on this Dakini Day, Rinpoche is pleased to share that this branch will now be known as Samye Community Outreach.
To continue this connection and support for this boarding school, Rinpoche has requested four of sangha members to oversee this effort: Iwona from Poland, Fleur from Australia, Karin from Austria, and Diana from Denmark. During their recent visit to the school they made a connection with the principal, teachers, and students, and they each gave a motivational talk to the students in their assembly hall. The four ladies have documented the needs of the school and will continue to learn more from their communication with the principal.
If you would like to learn more about the current needs and future plans for the school, please contact Fleur (fleurvickers@gmail.com).
