How to Support Tashi Gatsel Ling Buddhist Center

Organized by Tashi Gatsel Ling Buddhist Center

Nuns, shelter, Dharma, flowers - Maine, USA

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.