“Impermanence is the essence of our human condition.”*
Dear Friends,
Impermanence is one of the most difficult and most inevitable forces in the universe for us to comprehend, especially when it comes to the impermanence of life itself. Losing one’s mother is perhaps the deepest primal pain we experience, yet we must figure out how to cope with the grief. My way of coping with losing my mother is to continue to realize her dreams.
My mom, India Supera, always said since you can’t take anything with you when you die, your legacy is what you leave behind in kindness, love and good works. During her life, we saw how she brought this wisdom into practice. Her lifelong body of good work became even more apparent in the last few months of her life when we were inundated with gratitude from all the people she had helped and inspired. It is easy to feel that the love she gave out, exponentially created more love. Feeling this is inspiring and fuels our drive to continue where she left off and to send that crazy amount of love back out like a boomerang.
Our goal is to continue India’s legacy of giving and inspiration through the Feathered Pipe’s programs and ‘good works’ long into the future. Please consider generously donating in India’s honor. Here are a few ways:
— Sponsor a project: Projects include both one-time and ongoing goals such as the Feathered Pipe Scholarship Fund, Veterans Yoga Project Teacher Training for Veterans, our archival multimedia and book project, new accommodations, healing garden, bathhouse, solar and hydro-electric power and more. Donate here.
— Donate stock: You can transfer stocks directly to our brokerage account. This is a tax-deduction for you, you don’t pay capital gains and neither does Feathered Pipe if it sells the stocks. Genius!
— Leave a legacy gift in your will: What better way to be honored and assured that the money is an investment for the future.
— Donate your time doing what you do best: Right now, for example, one person is finding and writing some grants for us and another is offering free business consulting. These are highly skilled people who are volunteering their time and it is heartwarming and helpful!
— Help us network: Do you have connections who can help us? (Editors, writers, CEOs, engineers, destination wedding planners, etc). Please, put us in touch.
— Donate something fun: During A Celebration of India’s Life in July, we will hold live and silent fundraising auctions to raise money for ongoing ‘good works’.
Learn more here.
Aside from miracles, it takes a lot of work and money to maintain the Ranch as a sanctuary and refuge for healing and rejuvenation, shining in all its glory.
With love and gratitude,
Crystal Water
Feathered Pipe Foundation Executive Director
*This is the opening sentence of Tarthang Tulku’s book Gesture of Balance. When I was a toddler and we stayed in the in the Honeymoon Cabin at the Ranch during the summer, my dad, Laughing Water, used to read passages from this book as my bedtime stories. He swears that this became one of my first sentences. It has stuck with me my whole life and I’m still trying to truly grasp its profound meaning.