Vision and Vocation of Guépel Ling

What are the wishes motivating our activity in Croizet?

August 2008

Basically the association offers a place where a great variety of activities (mostly dharma) can take place; the association offers the frame within which practitioners can organize themselves and set up the activities they wish. Whoever wishes to offer activities in agreement with the dharma is most welcome to this place within the structure offered by the association. We are a multinational group operating according to French law; we try to make it easy for foreigners to participate in the courses (always bi-lingual) and in the community life.

Guépel Ling proposes to:

Communicate the dharma in a way easy to understand for beginners like us.

Create a place where parents can have an easy contact with the dharma accompanied by their children.

Offer regular meditation sessions and dharma practices in small groups.

Respond to the needs of the lay community (people living in the vicinity and course participants): support the path of lay practitioners and offer them adapted teachings (see what can be done in the monastery and what is suitable for Guépel Ling).

In explaining the spiritual path and in our exchanges we emphasize our own personal responsibility for our practice of the dharma.

Encourage wholesome ways of acting, increase merit and wisdom (which is the meaning of the name “Guépel Ling”).

Facilitate exchanges with members of the monastic community (serve as a bridge).

Encourage meetings of the dharma community living in and around the monastery for a deep sharing in the larger sangha.

Support the activity of Dhagpo Kundrol Ling Monastery, maintain a fruitful relation with the monastery and complement its activities wherever this seems helpful and possible.

Support the activity of the Dhagpo Kagyu Mandala.

Offer a place where we can make the experience of living and practising together in the dharma as a sangha. Offer a complete dharma experience where all aspects of life are included in “all-around dharma” events where people can actually live, practice, work, eat, laugh and dance in the same place together working on themselves and learning from each other.

Offer a place where larger festive events within the community can be organized.

Offer exchanges with practitioners of other buddhist traditions.

Offer a dharma place within the world-wide dharma community where practitioners from other countries feel welcome and can stay for a few days while visiting Dhagpo Kundrol Ling.

Offer dharma courses, group retreats or other dharma activities which would be difficult or impossible to organize in the temple or in Dhagpo Kundrol Ling monastery (Semdrel, psychotherapy, exchanges on ecological themes and similar topics).

Organize retreats for the lay community (like the 3-month-retreat in winter), individual semi retreats, combining sitting practice and work, “meditation and action” courses; semi retreats for parents with children and residential retreats (not necessarily part of the official programme).

We cultivate an ecological vision trying to be as respectful of the environment as we can, both in our projects and behaviour.

What Guépel Ling is not:

–          it is not a place where anyone lives constantly (the place has to remain neutral).

–          it is not a place for long term retreats (maximum 3 months).

–          it is not a place for retreats like in the monastery hermitage (full time, with meals provided).

–          Guépel Ling does not offer meals to people sleeping on site; everyone does their own shopping and cooks their own meals.

–          it is not a centre where we need to maintain a constant teaching activity.

We therefore wish to be a multi-purpose dharma house where dharma practitioners can meet, socialize, get to know each other, connect to each other and give each other sangha support.

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