Tashi Gatsel Ling Buddhist Center

Hi everyone! My name is Julie Thorner, and I’m raising money for a cause that means a lot to me. Tashi Gatsel Ling Buddhist Center does incredible work, and I’ve seen firsthand how much of an impact they make in the lives of others.

The Spiritual Coordinator, Venerable Tenzin Dasel, is my teacher and last year I went to Ladakh with her to support the nuns. However, this year Ven. Dasel had to return from Ladakh early, due to a health concern. She and visiting nuns live in this beautiful yurt that she helped Tashi Gatsel Ling to establish with the support of so many kind donors.

However, although she has lived without a vehicle for the past decade, the Tashi Gatsel Ling community is concerned that her health condition now requires that a reliable vehicle is at the yurt site in case of an emergency.

Her plan was to walk up the hill and continue to ask the community for transportation support. But her current level of mobility makes this impossible.

Please join us in raising funds to purchase a reliable car to allow her to reach community engagements at the local Bates College, where she is a volunteer Buddhist Spiritual Advisor. In addition, she visits local high schools to teach the importance of meditation and mental hygiene. Tashi Gatsel Ling is also hosting many leading Indian Buddhist nun practitioners and it is important to be able to drive to pick them up, as well as practical to reach the grocery store.

The car will be the property of Tashi Gatsel Ling registered non-profit. We are happy to send an email to you as a tax deductible donation.

Every contribution, big or small, makes a real impact. Even just a few dollars can help move this mission forward and reach those who need it most.

If you can’t donate right now, sharing this fundraiser is also incredibly helpful. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. It means the world to me.

Thank you for taking a moment to read this GoFundMe request.

This donation is to ensure a Buddhist nun has adequate shelter to support her meditation, spiritual practice, and teaching in mid-coast, Maine, United States.

Meditation and Buddhism are blossoming in the West, benefiting more and more people. But fully trained and ordained Buddhist nuns in the United States are very rare. As we build the practice of meditation in the U.S., we hope also to nourish this tradition of supporting its highly trained nuns and monks.

Buddhist monastics take a vow to refrain from accepting money for their worldly activities, focusing their immense diligence on spiritual practice and working to guide others on the path. Traditionally, Buddhist monastic life is made possible by donations of food, clothing, shelter, and support. Therefore, asking for assistance is a fundamental part of Buddhist monastic life. In this tradition, Tenzin Dasel, ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Llama in 2017, humbly requests assistance with housing and shelter.

As a monastic, Tenzin Dasel properly has no “home.” She spends six months each year in India living in nunneries and six months in the United States, responding to requests for teachings. She has recently been invited to install a yurt (robust tent) on land in Maine as a shelter and a base from which to practice and teach.

All donations will be used for the purchase and installation of a yurt, wood stove, and water collection system, enabling Tenzin Dasel to shelter and practice the dharma through all seasons.

Once Tenzin Dasel is firmly planted as a seed for the dharma through this funding request, the longterm vision for the land and yurt is for it to become a site for hosting other female Buddhist monastics from Tibet, India, Nepal, and the Himalayan region in order to facilitate intercultural exchange through mutual practice and education.

Please support Tenzin Dasel’s humble request so she may continue to practice and teach the dharma, facilitate Himalayan monastic instructors, and foster the work of Buddhist nuns in the United States.

------------------------------------------ Tsunma Tenzin Dasel ------------------------------------------

Venerable Tenzin Dasel is a 1988 graduate with a BA from Bates College and holds a Master of Theology, Summa Cum Laude, from Bangor Theological Seminary.

She has been studying and practicing Buddha Dharma since 2002 and in 2017 ordained as a Buddhist nun with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama.

She actively supports several nunneries in India, and served as assistant to Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo and her nunnery, Dongyu Gatsal Ling in Himachal Pradesh. VTD teaches internationally and is on the Board of Directors of the Alliance of Non Himalayan Nuns (ANHN), a small but dedicated community of women ordained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, practicing with strong commitment and enthusiasm to bring about the greatest benefits of Dharma for the happiness of all.

FMI please visit Tenzin Dasel Biography

---------------------------------------- Tashi Gatsel Ling Center ----------------------------------------

Mission Statement 2023

Tashi Gatsel Ling contributes to whole-community engagement by providing contemporary practical applications of Buddhist wisdom and compassion in a welcoming environment. It is a vehicle to explore and engage in reliable practice: meditation, study, teachings, engaged Buddhism and retreats led by Buddhist monastic teachers. We aspire to cultivate the profound benefit of a full sangha as established by the Buddha: ordained monastics and lay practitioners supporting each other in Dharma. Our vision is to establish an Eco-Dharma Buddhist Center in mid-coast Maine for visiting Tibetan Buddhist monastics, and particularly female nuns supporting both lay and ordained through intercultural learning and practice.

Tashi Gatsel Ling is a registered 501 (c)3 non-profit organization and donations are tax deductible.

For more information: Tashi Gatsel Ling Website

-------------------------------------------------- Yurt -----------------------------------------------

The Yurt is a size 24’ and will include essentials needed in four season Maine weather, including Insulation, a dome opener, snow wind kit, stove flashing, standard hardware and perimeter blocking as well as a cable tie down, and bug screen. The estimate for crating (excluding shipping) is $22,090

This does not include the costs to build a platform and floor. Nor does it include costs for a wood stove, composting toilet and sink. We estimate these final costs will bring the budget to at least $25,000.

Manufacturer: Pacific Yurt

Web: Pacific Yurt Website

You can make a difference by donating today to Tashi Gatsel Ling Buddhist Center.

 

Tashi Gatsel Ling Buddhist Center of Maine is delighted to be the first Dharma center in the United States to invite two Geshe Mas in January 2022 for a month long visiting teachers role.

 

The Geshe degree was traditionally only awarded to males, but under the guidance of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, the first class of Tibetan and Himalayan females graduated with this degree after 20 years of study. Comparable to a PhD in the west, they hold Doctor of Buddhist Philosophy as well as high tantric studies.

 

Please read more about this at Lions Roar  and see more photos here.

 

Please join us in making this “Female First” a memorable event and amazing start to 2022. We are raising $5,000 to cover the airfare and their expenses while here and greatly appreciate your support.

 

Your generous act of Dana will help authentic Vajrayana Buddhism continue to take seed in the west through ordained female sangha teachers guiding the way. Thank you for your kindness and support.