Many of you have heard about the tragic earthquake in Jyekundo, Kham ("Yushu").  The damage and death toll at Thrangu Monastery, in particular, is very grave.

 

             Hung Kar Dorje Rinpoche, the abbot of Lung Ngon Monastery in Golog, and the Spiritual Director of Blazing Wisdom Institute, personally oversaw the delivery of enormous amounts of relief supplies delivered by truck to Trangu Monastery and surrounding villages in early May, working through the Qinghai Geysar private foundation in Golog and in conjunction with Lodro Nyima Rinpoche, the abbot of Trangu Monastery.

 

             Thirty monks brought ten truckloads of food, fuel, blankets and tents all the way from Golog, and handed out an additional million RMB to desperate villagers in the region.  Continuing deliveries of tsampa flour, butter and other essential supplies are in process as well.  Nearly ten thousand people have received direct assistance in this way.

 

            Blazing Wisdom Institute continues to seek to to assist Thrangu Rinpoche's existing centers, students and charitable organizations in North America in their efforts to deliver funds for emergency and immediate relief for the affected monks and nuns in Kham.  No doubt there will be a campaign over time to rebuild and restore the monastery, but our focus right now is on immediate relief.

 

            Those of you who wish to help out right away may support the relief effort via the Himalaya Children's Fund.  Please visit their website at: http://www.rinpoche.com/hcf3.html , and follow the instructions for donating online, or for donating by check made payable to "Himalaya Children's Fund" with a notation to designate funds for Thrangu Monastery relief effort. 

 

                  Alternatively, donations may be made directly to our sister U.S. charity, Golog Blue Valley Foundation, by visiting our website at http://www.bluevalleyfoundation.org/.

 

            Thank you for whatever you can do to help our brothers and sisters.