[Relics Tour] Event Details and Schedule

Dear Ones,

Last updated: 10/29/2009 (highlighted in red)

We are very excited to have the Maitreya Project Relic Tour come to Kurukulla Center! We hope to see you over the weekend and wanted to share some of the event details with you.

Parking

Our center is located in a residential area. Therefore, please be very mindful when parking to ensure our neighbors' driveways are not blocked. Parking on either Magoun Avenue or Washington Street (parallel street) is possible - there is a gate on Washington Street to enter our property through the yard, where you will see our Kalachakra Stupa being built. Please feel free to enjoy the garden and circumambulate the stupa before coming inside.

Entering the Center

Facing the front of the Center, please enter through the front door and make an immediate right into our library/living room where you'll see a DVD playing an explanation of the Maitreya Project. Then continue through the room into the main Center area, leaving your shoes and coats in the racks. It is okay to wear your shoes inside the Center; but keep in mind that shoes are not allowed inside the Gompa (main altar area). Exit from the Center will be through the side door, where your shoes and coats will be.

Schedule

Friday (10/30) 7pm - Opening Ceremony

• Approximately 45 minutes for the ceremony itself. Remainder of the evening will be for general viewing of the relics.
• Nick, our Center Director, will get us started with general announcements and introductions.
• Dekyi-Lee and Cristian Cowan, our Maitreya Project ambassadors, will talk to us about the Maitreya Project and the Relic Tour.
• We will all join in prayer - most likely a sutra recitation.
• There will be a Buddha bath offering, followed by unstructured viewings of the relics.

Saturday (10/31) 10am - 7pm - Unstructured Viewings of the Relics

• All-day, unstructured viewings of the relics. We encourage you to circumambulate both inside and outside the Center, contemplate in sitting position, pray, meditate or simply enjoy the surroundings.
• As part of the viewing there will be blessings, where a relic is lowered onto the crown of your head while mantras are said by the person giving the blessing.
• Also part of the viewing, a Buddha bath will be available. As you pour a ladle of water over a baby Buddha, you imagine all impurities and imperfections are washed away.
  
• We will have a 1-hour animal blessing session outdoors in the backyard from 1pm to 2pm. To ensure the safety of both people and animals, at all times small animals (including cats) must be in carriers, and dogs must be leashed. Even if your animal companion is very calm at home, please keep in mind that this is an unfamiliar setting with many animals of different species - unpredictable behaviors are very likely to occur and could cause fear and aggression to arise in otherwise very calm animals. Subject to change and weather conditions, so check back regularly.

Sunday (11/01) 10am - 5pm - Unstructured Viewings of the Relics

• Same as Saturday. Animal blessing will be from 11am to noon.
  

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to drop us a note at RelicsTour@Kurukulla.org.

Much love,

Sean González,
Assistant Director,
Kurukulla Center