2014 Harvest of Peace Celebration

Fall is nearly upon us. This is a time when many of us experience change in our daily routines and the course of our lives.  Some are headed back to school, starting a new job, or moving to a new state. We have the opportunity to incorporate these changes into our daily practice and contemplate what this might mean for us.

While we are experiencing these personal changes we are also getting ready for the Harvest of Peace  Community Celebration and Potluck on Sunday, September 21st. This is one of the nyida days in our Shambhala lineage where we celebrate the change from summer to fall. This year we are also celebrating some changes to the financial structure of Shambhala as an organization.

Typically we have a large fundraising campaign for Shambhala Day in the spring and Harvest of Peace in the fall, where the funds have previously gone to the center of the mandala. This year instead of trying to fundraise for a short period in order to benefit the center of the mandala we will be launching the Unified Giving Campaign.

Unified Giving is an opportunity to switch from giving directly to the center of the mandala to making donations directly to our local center. For the Shambhala Lineage this is an opportunity to adequately distribute funds between the center of the mandala and each individual Shambhala Center. Each Shambhala Center will give up to 25% of their membership donations and income directly to the center of the mandala on an annual basis.

    As individual community members of Fort Collins Shambhala Meditation Center, a portion of up to 25% of any fee or donation will be passed on to the center of the mandala. What this means is that our monetary generosity not only benefits our center but ultimately benefits every aspect of our Shambhala culture. By our generosity to the center of the mandala through our local donations, we support teachings from the Sakyong and senior teachers, as well as countless benefits that we see on a daily basis i.e.: free public sitting,  consistent and vibrant class offerings and a substantial generosity policy.

Understanding the benefits of Unified Giving, I encourage you to make a donation during Harvest of Peace.  Our aspiration as the FCSMC is to raise a total of $2000 during HOP.  $1500 will stay at our local center and $500 will be given to the center of the mandala.

I invite you to attend Harvest of Peace on Sunday, September 21 from 2:00 – 5:00 P.M.  During the afternoon program we will have further discussion about Unified Giving and it’s long term effects and implementation. If you are unable to attend you can mail a check made out to FCSMC at P.O. Box 1336 Fort Collins, CO 80522.

Yours in the vision of offering and generosity,

Greth Patterson
Center Director
FCSMC