Mipham Shedra Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist Meditation

January 27th, 2024

Tashi Delek Dear Sangha,

On this anniversary day of Omniscient Longchen Rabjam, it is with great pleasure that I write to share with you two very important developments that are happening at Mipham Shedra. As you may have heard, on Losar, February 10th, 2024, I am going to be leading Mipham Shedra into the next phase of its development through the introduction of two initiatives:
1. An online Member's Portal that is connected to the Mipham Shedra website
2. The Karma Yoga Teams program

A small, dedicated committee of Sangha members have been working diligently for the last number of months on the development of these two initiatives. The Portal and Karma Yoga Teams represent major steps in our journey, both as a Sangha, and for every member. The Portal will be a convenient and powerful support for engaging your community and your personal practice.

On the Member’s Portal, those members enrolled in the curriculum will be able to confidentially track their progress through the various vow levels, as well as their meditation hours, empowerments received, and much, much more. The Portal will also provide a discreet platform for me to see the progress of the curriculum students, and guide them in a more comprehensive manner than I have before.

All members, whether enrolled in the curriculum or not, will register for courses and programs on the Portal, and obtain the membership discount. The Portal will be the new central hub for accessing all of my teachings, for live classes and events, as well as past recordings. It will make it easy for you to maintain your own personal library of recordings of the programs that you have attended, so that you can refer back to them in perpetuity.

All members will soon be required to register on the Portal, and this process will begin with the curriculum students. To facilitate this registration process, all curriculum students will be meeting one-on one online with a member of the Member’s Portal Onboarding Team. These calls will take place between February 11th and February 17th, at a mutually agreed to date and time. Team members will guide students through the onboarding process.

The Member’s Portal will be a major asset for the spiritual development of the students of Mipham Shedra. Having a modern digital system in place that enables me to track the progress of my students will allow me to be of even greater service to my Sangha.
Providing all members with a place to store the recordings of the classes they have attended will allow members the opportunity to deepen their relationship with Buddhism, and my teachings.

The Portal will also benefit the entire staff, streamlining the administration of courses and events.

The second initiative is the Karma Yoga Teams Program. As you know, Mipham Shedra has been run by a small handful of volunteer staff for the past twenty years. These dedicated staff members have worked tirelessly, and done an amazing job in helping Mipham Shedra grow into the wonderful and loving community that it is today. However, the staff have been handling far more work than is sustainable.

I have been acutely aware of the need to reduce their work load, but have not up until now, found a way to make this a reality. Now, with the introduction of the Karma Yoga Teams program, I will be asking the Mipham Shedra curriculum students, as well as any other members who wish to participate, to share in the responsibilities of running our organization.

Giving of your time and energy in this way will fulfill an important part of the vow requirements of the curriculum. Working for Mipham Shedra is an expression of the process of purification that is required as a Buddhist practitioner. All curriculum students will be asked to work two hours a week for Mipham Shedra by participating on teams with others who are working on the same exciting and important projects.
I will be sending you another email in a week’s time with more details of these initiatives.

I am genuinely excited to embark on this journey of the Member's Portal and Karma Yoga Teams with you. Having this infrastructure in place will bring us one step closer to fulfilling our mission of promoting the preservation and practice of Tibetan Buddhism for the benefit of all sentient beings.

With My Deepest Love and Commitment,
Lhoppön Rechung Rinpoche