The Baker County press., July 31, 2015, Image 12

12 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015
Local
Baker City gets a sample of ODFW adopts
Tibetan Buddhist traditions amended
Sage-Grouse
rules
• SAND MANDALA
CREATION PROVES
FOCUS OF
WEEK-LONG EVENT
BY SUNNY WERNER
Sunny@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Baker residents were
treated to a rare experience
this month. Collabora-
tion between Crossroads
Carnegie Art Centre’s
Executive Director, Ginger
Savage, a Baker City fam-
ily and the Drukpa Mila
Centre of Salem resulted
in the arrival of Venerable
Karma Namgyel Rinpoche
of Bhutan and the monk
and followers of Drukpa
Mila Center.
The visitors offered
rituals and ceremonies
from the traditions of the
Tibetan Buddhists.
Their visit lasted from
Friday, July 17 until Sun-
day, July 26.
The focus of their visit
was the creation of a sand
mandala.
The sand mandala is one
of the oldest of the sacred
art traditions of Tibetan
Buddhism.
In Sanskrit, “mandala”
means “world in har-
mony.”
The mandala was cre-
ated entirely by hand,
using sand that was made
and colored by Rinpoche;
he had taken chunks of
granite in Bhutan and
crushed them into sand us-
ing only hand tools.
Using only natural lo-
cal ingredients, he then
coloured the sand in the
traditional way.
The results were then
used in the creation of the
sand mandala.
During the course of
creating the mandala, there
were many events open
to the public, giving local
residents the opportunity
to view the mandala as it
was taking shape as well
as observe the beauty and
peace of the room in which
it was taking place.
From entering the
grounds of the Crossroads
Carnegie Centre, where
prayer flags flew along the
wrought iron fences, to
the main downstairs hall,
which had been trans-
formed into a place of
beauty and peaceful wor-
ship, the cultural traditions
of Bhutan were displayed.
In the center of the
room, the Sutras were
displayed, with flowers and
fruit offerings surround-
ing. This particular set of
Sutras belongs personally
to Ven. Karma Rangyel
Rinpoche; it was printed
off the original wooden
forms used for the first
Sutras.
There are 333 books of
the Sutra, and every book
was wrapped in a spe-
cial, specific manner by
Rinpoche.
Bhutan is a fascinat-
ing and beautiful country,
ruled by a young king and
queen. The traditions are
those of Nepal, its neigh-
bour.
One of the most remark-
able points that separates
Bhutan from other nations
is that, instead of focusing
on Gross National Prod-
uct, as other countries do,
Bhutan focuses on Gross
National Happiness.
Having seen, from first
world nations, that the hap-
Sunny Werner / The Baker County Press
Guests were invited to join in a few traditional Tibetan Buddhist dance moves.
SALEM, ORE – The Fish and Wildlife Commission
adopted amended administrative rules for sage-grouse
management in Oregon at its meeting in Salem today.
The new rules require mitigation actions to offset
impacts of large-scale and other developments such as
aggregate mining, wind, solar, and geothermal energy
plants.
Before, ODFW mitigation rules were effectively only
recommendations to permitting entities and not require-
ments for mitigating development impacts in designated
core habitat for sage-grouse. Core habitats are areas
which encompass about one-third of Oregon’s sage-
grouse habitat but support more than 90 percent of the
bird’s populations.
On July 24th, the Oregon Land Conservation and
Development Commission (LCDC) adopted new rules
that would allow limited development in core habitat after
going through an avoidance test (meaning the project
proposal shows other areas were considered but develop-
ment is dependent on unique geographic features of the
site, not feasible elsewhere, and necessary for infrastruc-
ture, economic opportunity or public health safety). The
new LCDC rules also require developments to follow
ODFW’s mitigation rules.
The administrative rules of ODFW and LCDC will
work together to address one of the threats to sage-
grouse identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS): the lack of regulatory certainty in protecting
sage-grouse habitat. That protection is key in the upcom-
ing USFWS decision whether or not to list sage-grouse
as a threatened or endangered species. The USFWS is
expected to make this decision by Sept. 30, 2015.
Both commissions also heard public input from several
public meetings in southeast Oregon earlier in the sum-
mer.
The Commission is the policy-making body for fish and
wildlife issues in the state. Its next meeting is Aug. 7 in
Salem.
Eldercare
conversation
ahead
Sunny Werner / The Baker County Press
The sand mandala was painstakingly created, giving visitors a chance to view
its progress.
piness of citizens had no
relationship to their coun-
try’s GNP, the Bhutanese
determined that individuals
had the right to pursue hap-
piness. Thus they measure
their success by how happy
their citizens are.
The events at Crossroads
during the building of
the mandala included the
opening tea ceremony to
welcome Karma Rinpoche
who has recently returned
from Bhutan.
On Saturday there was
children’s story time, and
mandala art for all ages.
Following, Karma
Rinpoche talked about the
sacred art tradition of the
sand mandala.
The entire week was
filled with opportunities
to learn and participate in
various activities centered
around the mandala and
the Bhutanese traditions.
On Saturday was the
Chenrezig fire ceremony.
The inspiration of this fire
ceremony is world peace
and the spiritual benefit of
all beings. The four-hour
ceremony was held in the
side courtyard of Cross-
roads.
Those who had lost fam-
ily members were wel-
comed to write their names
on a slip of paper and give
that to the fire.
In the same way, people
were encouraged to write
down any difficulties they
were experiencing, and of-
fer those to the fire as well.
On Sunday were the
guru’s dance, performed
by Rinpoche, and then the
dismantling and dispersing
ceremonies.
The guru’s dance is an
ancient tradition, and only
performed by masters who
have reached certain levels
of holiness. Participants
were fortunate in that
Guru Rinpoche has been
a teacher of the various
dances since he was 16.
The dance is offered
to help heal the world as
well as any who view it.
The dancer is following
a tightly choreographed
set of movements, each of
which has a certain mean-
ing and purpose.
The dancer draws with
his body, a three dimen-
sional mandala. The
company present was able
to share in the experience
of Bhutan’s rich cultural
dance and musical tradi-
tions.
The company then pro-
gressed to the dismantling
ceremony. The completed
mandala measured 4’x4’.
The intricate designs and
brilliant colors provided
rich interest to the eye, and
gave inspiration to medita-
tion.
Prayers were offered and
there was a time of chant-
ing and meditation before
the dismantling began.
In Western eyes, it
seemed a waste to demol-
ish this beautiful and richly
detailed creation, but the
reason for doing so is to
show the impermanence of
“things,” a concept basic to
Buddhist teachings.
The dismantling began,
with half the sand being
given to those who were in
attendance as a blessing for
their personal health and
healing.
The other half of the
sand was placed in a spe-
cially prepared vessel.
Once the sand was given,
it was time for the peace
walk.
The Rinpoche, the
monks of Drukpa Mila
Center in Salem and their
followers, along with the
company of attendees from
Baker, walked from Cross-
roads Carnegie Centre to
the Powder River, where
the sand was dispersed
with offerings to the river.
The Buddhist way
teaches that the sand has
become imbued with the
prayers, ceremonies and
meditations, so as it flows
into the river the bless-
ings also flow, to reach all
species in the waters and
wherever the waters flow,
all the way to the oceans of
the world.
Joe Mitchell, a nationally recognized long-term care
Medicaid expert and Accredited VA Claims Agent, will in
Baker City, Thursday, August 13th. He will be offering
a free class designed to provide information to individu-
als and families needing long-term care or assistance.
The Medicaid Asset Protection and Veteran’s Aid
class will be Thursday, August 13, 2014 from 1-3 p.m. at
Baker County Community Connection, 2810 Cedar St..
Topics he will be covering:
• How to qualify for Medicaid, protect assets and
avoid the pitfalls.
• How most of what you have heard about Medic-
aid is wrong.
• Why you need a Medicaid expert on your side.
• “Aid and Attendance” pensions (up to $2,085
per month) available for wartime veterans or their wid-
ows.
This event is hosted by the Baker County Long Term
Care Coordination Team. Registration is not required.
Come and learn so you can make better decisions for you
and your loved ones.
Moose on the loose
Photo Courtesy of the Huntington
Chamber of Commerce
This moose was swim-
ming the Snake River
from Oregon to the Ida-
ho side. A boater went
along side the moose
to make sure the young
fellow made it. They said
the moose laid there for
several hours before
moving on.