Fall Term Ends

Whoa, that was a wild time. Fall Term 2005 has ended and with a bang. 150 camped at DM for the final week and everything was great, no, greater than great.

Many new courses were completed this term and many new faces were present. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next term, which begin January 9.

Sorry I don't have any more photos at this time, but if you want some goodies go to the DmesWiki for course material and audio files. Of course, if you must have pictures, as always, you can visit Diamond Mountain photos on Flickr.

Work Day Photos, again

I just got back from another service day at Diamond Mountain and thought I would share some photos. Most of them are from the yurt-raising that I helped with. Here is just three, the rest are here. Enjoy!

Ferenz's Photos

Friend and talented musician Ferenz has posted some Diamond Mountain photos. They include pictures from classes, photos from the mid-term dinner, and some stunning photos from Bowie.

Thanks Ferenz! Go to the album

Photo-mapping DM

I came across this great website that integrates Google Maps with photos. It's called Panoramio.com It allows people to post pictures while assigning them to specific coordinates. So I decided to have a go at DM. Check out the map below and click on the little balloons to see the photos. If you want to add your own to any part of the world or see larger versions of the pics just go to Panoramio.com. It's free and fun. I guess I'm what Venerable Elly would call a "yogeek."

Mid-Term Celbration

Last night was the mid-term celebration. Everyone met in Willcox at the Desert Rose Cafe where we ate and were regaled with stories and debates from Sera Monastery. After that we ransacked the Rex Allen Movie Theater and watched Constantine.

Sometimes hard-working Buddhists just need to pig out and eat popcorn. It was great fun.

A Successful Service Day

After today we've all got that good kind of exhaustion that comes only from doing hard work for free. And we got a lot done. People gardened, cleaned out the Lama House, worked inside the temple, outside the temple, on top of the temple. Some fixed up the camprground others worked on the road. Here are some images from today's efforts.

In Full Swing

We are now in our second week of Fall Term here at DM and things are going great. There are lots of exciting classes and activites coming up too. Tonight, 150 people will be making torma cakes in the temple as part of the Tantric Course Serires, which will be lead by Ani Pelma. The cakes include ingredients such as ghee, milk, honey, and lots of white bread.

In more exciting news, starting tomorrow, DM will be hosting Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya, a Nepali Tantric Dance master. Prajwal will be giving several classes including a body purification ceremony Sunday at noon. For more info on him you can check out his website, the Dance Mandala Institute

This Monday is the first service day of the term and it going to be a fun one again. If you're coming, be prepared to work and wear proper boulder-moving attire. There will also be some work being done in Bowie and the community center as part of the service. Following the hard labor we will all be trated to dinner in the temple. See you there.