December 27th, 2006---Late updates!

This shot is from almost two weeks ago. Ani Yeshi and Ashley are applying our concrete stain to the lotus petal! What was amazing is we had a 75 degree day here in Maryland in the middle of December! Just what we needed to get this done!

The posting is a bit of a challenge right now as blogger is switching over to google, and I'm having issues with access to this account, but I think I'm working it out...I hope...: )

In any case, there's lots of activities heading our way this weekend and we're hoping some of you out there might be curious enough to come by and check it out! You can just watch if you want, don't worry!

Of course, the temple and Stupas are available to you 24 hours a day every day, whether you're Buddhist or not. It is our sincere hope you will take advantage of the tremendous blessings offered here, all you see on these pages is dedicated to keeping it all here for you!

Youth Program, 12.17.06

As Buddhists, we begin all activities, classes, and practices with opening prayers. We use this time to set our intention to be of benefit to all sentient beings.

Once our intention is set, we all get to work!

Each child chooses a box for an adult male or female & a child male or female. Then they set to work filling them with gifts.

Next, they made cards for each gift…

Everyone worked hard at making each card and gift just right.

Now it is time to take the gifts outside.

Where are we going? To the stupa of course! We include the stupas in our practices as much as possible.

We all go to the stupa to make wishing prayers with every gift box that they might be of benefit to those who receive them.

Finally, the boxes are ready to go! The kids load Ani Samten’s car with their gifts of compassion and love.

December 16th, 2006

Yeah...we haven't really kept up on the blog I know. But we're back at trying to! The project we worked with today was the lotus petal in front of the temple. Tara and I spent last Saturday grinding (with our beloved angle grinder!) off layer after layer of paint. The last layer had begun to completely flake off, forcing us to seek better solutions.

Our ultimate goal is to recast the whole thing using glass aggregate in concrete, which will never flake off, even with foot traffic. After much investigation (and some darn high hopes) we ultimately surrendered to our time frame and devoted ourselves to an intermediate step (something clearly had to be done now). The weather, quircky as it is, supported us by bringing us a 60 degree weekend in mid-December. So we took up the task of applying concrete stain on the medallian (more durable than paint...though the color choices are very limited so forgive the lack of punch in the final colors).

In this shot you can see we went for the whole system when we purchased the stain, from prep to topcoat...

The first step in the process (after many hours of research, discussion, and finally a walk through Home Depot to evaluate options) was a thorough wash of the medallion. We used products specifically designed to prepare for the stain... 

After the wash was etching, which involved a pretty toxic smelling chemical (we're pretty use to that now...) 

After washing, etching and thorough rinsing we sped up the drying process a little...
Once it was dry we applied a bonding primer to facilitate adhesion since we were applying over paint (recommended method). The primer needed 8 hours to dry, so we'll be finishing up the stain tomorrow...

We utilized what sunlight was left in the day to fix the brocade in the Long Life Stupa gau. It had come loose in places, so we brought our handy JB Weld and made sure the fabric adhered to the velcro. So the goal is to complete the staining of the lotus petal tomorrow, on a sunny, warm December day! We'll be contending with some traffic out there...

As always, it is our hope that you will come see these amazing sources of blessing for yourself. The Stupas, temple, and land are all here for any being that seeks a refuge or place to unwind. No need to be Buddhist---and we won't make you work either!

December 11th, 2006

It was a long time coming I know! This is a photo of Migyur Dorje with the wall completed---totally!! It's been a busy month for your Stupa crew, we've both moved into a new house in Poolesville (well, new to us). We've been working out at the temple as always, but the move has taken up all our "spare" time! Now we're settling (it's still an evolving process) but we're back online and ready to keep you all up to date.

Our responsibilities at the temple have expanded, so we'll be sharing all our adventures with you here! Of course, you can always come out and participate in person! We all love what we do, and we'd love to share the opportunities! Of course, you don't have to work to enjoy the Stupas and temple, they're both available to everyone, whoever you are, 24 hours a day. It is our sincere hope you'll come out and see it for yourself!