Michael Dunn and Melissa Buschey's blog

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Link to Photos 1: Photos 2:

Link to Purpose:

We were both blessed to have our family visit us in November, and think that the trip was very successful in sharing what we are trying to do here, with those that we love so much.

Here are a few photos from those visits:

Melissa on the mount.

Nancy and Kevin.

Grandma June with Melissa in Chiricahua National Monument

My parents, Michael and Patrica, with Melissa and I near the Dome.

Melissa and Michael invite You to help with our Three Year Retreat.

As we make final preparations before going into retreat on December 30^th 2010 we are finalizing our budget to carry us through the full three years of expenses.

Over the last 2 years, we funded the building of the new retreat house (see photos here!) and all related expenses thanks to good jobs in New York City.  From now until March 2014, our full-time jobs will be meditation and therefore we would like to offer you an opportunity to help us with our food and related expenses over the next three years.

Food - $14/day for the both of us

Propane Gas - $20/month (for our refrigerator, stove and heaters - yeah!)

Miscellaneous - $25 /month (this would be items not carried on our regular food list, like cleaning supplies, medicines and most important of all - chocolates! )

Listed below are some ways to contribute to our Three Years of silent meditation.  If there are other ways you’d like to contribute please contact us at modunn@gmail.com or melissabuschey@hotmail.com.

Financially*:

• Sponsor us for only a dollar-a-day** (Donate)
• Sponsor our food for a month: $420 (Donate)
• Heat us for the winter (Dec-April): $100 (Donate)
• Help us get through those rough spots with a donation for chocolate and all things comforting: $25 (Donate)

Materially:

• We will happily accept care packages with items such as nuts and dried fruits, spices for cooking, chocolates, sweaters, shoes, etc.  Please contact us at modunn@gmail.com or melissabuschey@hotmail.com for more information.

Your time:

• Come to Diamond Mountain for a month or a year and help support our family of 40 retreaters by becoming a care taker.  Contact Venerable Chandra at venerablechandra@gmail.com for more information.

We would not be able to undertake such a monumental task without you in our lives.  Your support is greatly appreciated.

All of our love, Michael and Melissa

* For all donations, choose Cabin 20 from the drop down option and provide comments in the Special Instructions field if you wish.

All of your financial donations will go through Diamond Mountain, which is a 501(c)(3) organization under IRS regulations. Your contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

**The Dollar-a-Day program is a recurring charge to your credit card for $30 per month.

For the past 2 weeks with the help of several amazing workers, Michael and I helped put up the stucco netting on the outside of Connie's Bear Valley Palace.  (Thank you Karen, Tassie, Dennis, Sierra, Koko, Ben and Kendra, Connie and our straw house expert John Ruez.)

Melissa painting...

Michael stuffing our puffs:

And here's Connie hard at work...

We all safely arrived Saturday morning by Jeep and RTV to Kristin's site.  Her site is pretty remote and for those of us not used to off-roading you felt at times like you were on a safari and at other times like you were on a roller coaster!    Grant, dharma student/ actor/ builder spent numerous weeks preparing the foundation, doors and windows.

 Around 10 of us were able to come together Saturday morning to put up the walls!  

We learned to cut the bales when necessary, how to cut and bend re-bar,

And we put muscle to work lifting the bales...

and driving in the re-bar.

Grant's Mom to the rescue with Pizza for lunch (and ding-dongs for dessert :)

For more images please visit:

http://picasaweb.google.com/melissabuschey/KristinSStrawBaleRaising#

Retreat is a goal of all spiritual practitioners in all traditions throughout the world. In the lineage of Buddhism as it was supported and flourished in Tibet, the goal is to strive for retreats ranging from 1 month to 3 years at a single time, and up to 12 years overall in the course of ones life.

A spiritual practitioner’s life is divided between three activities. In Tibetan they are called Tu Sam Gom, which translates as Spiritual Study, Contemplation and Meditation.

In the traditional monastic environments of India and Tibet a spiritual practitioner would take monastic vows, and enter a period of intense study and contemplation under the guidance of senior teachers. This takes the form of studying the ancient source texts, memorizing many of them, then debating them extensively in the sport of bringing knowledge to others based on what you know. This usually lasts for a period of 15 – 20 years. Public debates and oral examinations are required in order to move to the next level of teachings, ensuring the student has a solid foundation in the their studies.

Then comes the next phase, that of meditation which is undertaken in deep retreats. This usually occurs outside of the monastic environment in remote locations, with periodic support for food and other amenities. It is during the stage of meditation that a practitioner works to deeply realize the truth of the teachings they have studied.

This level of realization requires a deep stillness and great concentration in order to stay single-pointedly on the object of your meditation, a level of stillness that is achieved only through the practice of removing oneself from the outside world in order to dwell in the inner quietude of solitary retreat. It is as if there are two wings required in order to achieve ones spiritual goals, that of learning and that of meditation. 

At Diamond Mountain University, we have an environment which supports both wings of a spiritual practitioner. A foundation of 18 courses in Sutra teachings of Lord Buddha was provided over a period of 6 years. After which another series of 18 courses were taught in the Unsurpassed teachings of Highest Yoga.

This is the minimum that we require for long retreat, and there are dozens more that a student will engage in for the study of meditation techniques, ancient languages, sacred art and dance, yoga and more. With this foundation of learning, the traditional Great Retreat is undertaken in order to apply these teachings in their ultimate form, for the deep truths that one strives for will only occur in states of deep meditation.

It is for this goal that one engages in deep retreat.