Acting President's Report - June 2021
photograph by Trudy Gold
According to Garchen Rinpoche: In prison in Tibet, the great Dzogchen Khenpo Munsel Rinpoche taught me this: “The extent of your realization will be known when you encounter difficult circumstances. You will not know the extent of your realization when things go well.” In a Dharma sense, then, the pandemic has been a great opportunity for Dharma practitioners. With the pandemic restrictions coming to an end, we can look back and see how central the Dharma and the DCC courses, retreats and meditation groups were for many people in our community. (http://wearebuddhamind.blogspot.com/2017/08/adverse-circumstances-and-realization.html) I feel great appreciation for the DCC teachers and staff whose great efforts allowed our members to have this support during the time of COVID-19.
After receiving the strong vote of confidence from the Members’ Meeting of May 29, the board filed an application with Corporations Canada (CC) to postpone the AGM. CC contacted us and informed us that we have until December, 2021 to hold the AGM. A notice to “Hold the Date” will be coming in the near future.
In the meantime, all members were sent information about the June 27 board meeting. We were pleased that several members who had expressed interest in running for the board attended as auditors. A spot on the DCC website is reserved to give the date of the upcoming meeting (usually the last Sunday of the month at 10:30 Eastern time) and the most recent approved Minutes. The agenda for the upcoming meeting will be posted a few days prior. You can find the heading Board Meetings and Minutes in the drop-down menu for News on the DCC Home page.
To fill the Temple Project Direction role that Travis Olsen’s resignation has left vacant, President Shelane Donoghue and Vice President/Treasurer Monique Truax, asked Fund-raising Chair David Berry to meet with them regularly, following Travis' absence, to move forward with the Temple Project. Both Shelane and Monique were away in June, and David took the opportunity to attend to other boards in their absence. As promised, a Temple Town Hall will be planned soon.
With Shelane and Monique away, I held a watching brief to support the staff, along with our HR Consultant Tracy Sheridan. The staff are in close contact with Peterborough Public Health around the rapidly changing COVID rules and trying to plan for both teaching and dining spaces for group Fall retreats. Solo retreats have already re-commenced.
The Monuments project will be active again this summer, with several volunteers scheduled to come and work on the Chorten this week.
With in-person retreats a real possibility for the fall, the Programme Committee has planned a rich feast from August through December, including the return of Lama Lena and Lama Mark, plus retreats with our Resident Teachers Terry Hagan and Mala Sikka, as well as DCC regulars Lama Linda Hochstetler and Jack Connelly. Many of these retreats will be dual-mode, offered through Zoom as well as in-person. This depends on the preferences of the teachers and the nature of the retreat.
Christine Wihak
Secretary and Acting President