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Almost five years ago, in the late summer of 1998, five or six Kurukulla Center
volunteers gathered together to launch a campaign to purchase a building. We
had been a "Center in a box" for long enough. The Friends Meeting
House in Cambridge was a very convenient place for us, but we were tired of
lugging the Center cushions up from the basement, pulling our flimsy (but portable!)
altar out of the closet, and unpacking our holy objects from their box. Our
beloved teachers also urged us to think, not just of ourselves, but of the benefits
that we could bring to all sentient beings in the Boston area in the years to
come.
At that first meeting we recognized that we had a ways to go before we would
be in a position to purchase property. Our financial records were incomplete
and our regular membership rather small (about 30 people). We had at that time
an offer of $35,000, if we could raise that much in matching funds. At that
time we wondered, "Where will this $35,000 possibly come from?"
Under the guidance of a professional fundraiser, we spent two years stabilizing
our finances, fostering a sense of community among our members, and building
support for the purchase of a building. In the fall of 2000 when we officially
kicked off our fundraising campaign, we had already raised $140,000 towards
our goal, along with $75,000 in pledges for the next few years! We felt immense
gratitude to our teachers — Geshe Tsulga, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Ribur
Rinpoche — whose kind teachings had inspired so many students to participate
in building a Center together.
In June of 2001 we purchased an old nursing home at 68 Magoun Avenue in Medford,
a town that was unfamiliar to most of us at that time. We began the huge effort
of reclaiming the property from its long history of neglect and abuse. It was
difficult not to get discouraged from time to time — many carpenters we
consulted suggested that we sell the property immediately to avoid the myriad
problems we faced. Despite all fears, however, dozens of volunteers labored
on and six months later we had a very livable, attractive Center.
Our grand opening in January of 2002 was both the culmination of a great effort
and the start of a new chapter in our history. Each year we face new, major
challenges — enlarging the gompa, improving the heating system, replacing
the roof — along with a constant stream of minor repairs. Through many
gifts of volunteer time and money, both large and small, we managed to meet
those challenges.
A gift to our Building Fund is not just a gift to ourselves, to those of us
who happen to be here now, but to the future, to those who will follow us. We
like to try to imagine where Kurukulla Center will be 50 years from now, who
will be the students, and who will be the teachers. If one had perfect faith
in our teachers and in the Dharma, it might be possible to imagine clearly how
bright our future is and how much benefit the Center will bring to Boston.From
our experiences of the last five years, we know we'll continue to be amazed
at the results of our collective efforts.
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