Monlam Moments: Day Three

Building Bridges: A Monlam "Love" Story

When Amy McCracken and Bonnie Snyder began their shift as volunteer ushers at the first North American Monlam, they knew they would be responsible for ensuring a good experience for Monlam visitors. Little did they know they would also be building historic bridges in the midst of an historic event.

On the first morning, they met a group of 10 Vietnamese Buddhists from a temple in Virginia, and began helping them with what might have been a major obstacle: a glitch with FM broadcast equipment for translation of the teachings into Vietnamese.

"The group had come with two translators - Hao Ton and Sue-Sue Luu from Viet Nalanda Foundation - ready to translate the teachings," Amy said. But when the equipment wasn't available, the group moved ahead and decided to stay and participate, just the same.

Over the next few minutes, Amy helped facilitate the purchase of six sets of Monlam prayer books, and Bonnie showed the two monks and one nun and laypersons to their seats.

Amy said she felt an immediate bond with the group, led by The Ven. Thich Kien Khai, Abbot of Hoa Nghiem Vietnamese Buddhist Temple of Fort Belvoir, VA. "I had studied with Thich Nhat Hanh," she said. "And I felt a connection with them immediately."

The faith and devotion of the group was special, Bonnie said. "They were just so open and present and joyful," she said. "It was a beautiful unfolding for them, to be part of this event. They kept saying, 'We are here at the first, the very first, Kagyu Monlam in America."

It wasn't long before something else was sparked in the little group.

"One of the monks, Thich Thong Chau, told me he was looking at the artwork in the shrine room [at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra] - the thangkas, the statues, the elaborate painting all around the room," Bonnie said. "And he said it inspired him to make a wonderful gift."

The gift was a little memory stick - a small computer flash drive, less than the size of a stick of gum - that contained literally thousands of photographs that Thich Thong Chau had taken over the last five years of traveling around Buddhist Asia.

The artwork, of paintings, statues, and other sacred objects, had a special meaning for the abbot, who told Bonnie he was inspired to begin the collection of photographs by an unusual dream.

"He told me he had a very long dream of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa," Bonnie said. "He said the Karmapa told him to begin collecting this artwork."

Over the next five years, the monk traveled to Cambodia, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and other places, making high-resolution photos of breathtaking artwork.

In that moment in the KTD shrineroom, Thich Thong Chau was inspired to make a gift of the collection to His Holiness' monastery in America.

"It was a true offering of the 21st Century," Amy said. "It was a gift of digital pictures on a memory stick!"

The formal offering to KTD was arranged with the help of Bonnie, Amy and KTD External Affairs Director Tom Schmidt. Also assisting was Minh Tran, a business professional from Washington, DC who had just tagged along on the trip at the last minute.

Thich Thong Chau first offered the collection in front of the large golden Buddha statue in the KTD Shrine Room, and then showed the photos (with the help of a laptop computer) to KTD Abbot Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche in his room at the KTD temple. The memory stick - with the special art collection - now stays at KTD.

The group left on Wednesday with great delight and appreciation for the historic visit to Monlam.

This was just one example of the truly international flavor of Amy and Bonnie's work.

"We also met two lamas from Hong-Kong, and spoke with Vera Za, who had just helped with the Sixth Kagyu Monlam in Hong Kong," said Amy. "That's been the fun part for me - the women from the kitchen who make the tea, standing in the doorway will ask to share the Monlam prayer book and we will chant together. … Here we are in New York, but it's an international gathering."

Sue-Sue also informed us that the Viet Nalanda Foundation website has numerous materials and teachings of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa translated into Vietnamese. She asked us to share this link with you: http://www.vietnalanda.org/karmapavisit-ktcnj2008.html

Sue-Sue and her husband Sy provided translation services in connection with His Holiness's US visit in 2008 at KTC New Jersey.


Keepin' it Green

KTD and the Monlam organizing group made extensive efforts to reflect the wishes of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, and to minimize the environmental impact of the first North American Kagyu Monlam. Rather than using throw-away plastic bottle, each guest and volunteer received a stainless steel water bottle upon entering the event, and was asked to refill it at convenient water stations. The dining room utilized only ceramic or biodegradable dishes, and attendees were urged to reuse paper tea cups. After each meal, kitchen staff helped diners to sort their trash, making sure that all recyclables wound up in the proper containers. All food served at Monlam was organic.


Milarepa Children's Chorus


After the empowerment, the Milarepa Children's Chorus, under the auspices of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, offered three songs of realization, dedicating the merit of their performance to the long life and good health of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche.

Their concert included: Butterlamp Offering Song, All These Forms, and An Aspiration for the World.



Members of the Chorus are:
Khachoe Rongae
Lexi Carin
Natasha Kresch
Thinle Rongae
Minub Rongae
Yeshi Tsemphel
Otto Leichliter
Brice Cooper
Joseph Horowitz
Dechen Wangmo
Tsering Karma Zangmo
Tenzin Dolma
Koby Horowitz
Leon Aharonian
Sonam Karma Chamtso
Karma Namgyel
Tsering Lhakyi
Jamyang Wangmo
Kelanu Ranganth
Rochelle Weithorn, Artistic Director. Paul Griffin, Chorus Director.