Vajra North – Rigdrol Dechen Ling ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MINUTES Thursday, March 31, 2011 7 p.m. @ Whitehorse Public Library In attendance: Rick Buchan, David Galloway, Trish Eccles, Stacey Jones, Bonnie MacDonald, Vicky Aschacher, Johanne Lalonde, Wyk Parish, Paulette Comeau & Natalie Edelson 1. 5 Min. Meditation 2. Johanne moved to adopt agenda, Rick seconded it. 3. Rick moved to adopt minutes of last year’s AGM, Bonnie seconded it. 4. Business arising from minutes of last AGM: • Coordinator’s Binder has been completed and is in use. • Letter to Lama Drimed inviting him to Yukon – letter was not sent. • Reggie Ray Visit- nothing materialized. VN did not hear back regarding details. Reggie Ray is now in long term retreat. • Stupa Project- nothing has moved forward on the Stupa Project. Vajra North has asked Lama Padma to make contact with his contact in Nepal and we haven’t yet heard back. This was the only outstanding item from last years AGM. 5. Chair’s Report: Trish read report of 2010 review of VN activities. Dave moved to adopt report, Wyk seconded it. 6. Treasure’s Report: Rick walked group through report. Stacey moved to adopt report, Trish seconded the Balance Sheet. a. Resolution to waive audit requirement. Dave moved to waive the audit requirement, Johanne seconded it. b. Funding Initiatives: Summarized fund raising initiatives for 2011: City and HPW spring garbage pickup, waffle stand, regular donor program, annual garage sale, Raven Recycling account. Johanne asked if the other recycling center downtown had an account system like Raven does. Stacey called and set up an account under Vajra North. People can now take there refundables to P&M Recycling, 607 Ray Street downtown and ask to have your refund donated to Vajra North as well as to Raven Recycling. The only person that can pick up the money is Cheryl Buchan. Action Item: Dave to add VN Recycling Account at P&M Recycling 607 Ray Street to the fundraising page. 7. Election of Directors: Trish Eccles and Shawn Verrier are not standing for re election on the Board. Rick, Cheryl will stay on the Board for another 2 year term. Bonnie MacDonald and Wyk Parish are new to the Board and are in by acclimation for a 2 year term. One Director vacancy still exists on the Board. Stacey and Dave are in mid term with one year remaining. 8. Motion to amend Bylaws to include dispute resolution clause. Be it resolved that the bylaws of Vajra North – Rigdrol Dechen Ling Society be amended by adding the following provision: 14. Any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the Society’s bylaws or the rights of a member or the powers of a director or officer shall be submitted firstly for resolution by way of mediation; and only if participation by the disputing parties in a mediation process fails to bring about a satisfactory resolution shall the dispute be submitted to an arbitrator under the Arbitration Act. All members present voted to amend the bylaw to include the dispute resolution clause. 9. Chagdud Yangsi Enthronement Offerings: Chagdud Rinpoche’s incarnation is now 5 or 6 years old and will be enthroned this summer. There is a list of items if people want to donate toward a specific offering. VN Directors voted to donate a Red Tara statue for Yangsi’s personal shrine. There is currently about $850 donated from the sangha that will be donated. The deadline to send it to Jigme Rinpoche is today. The Board also discussed donating the sangha donations towards rugs for the Tromage and Chagdud Monasteries. Rick will send a bank draft tomorrow. People can also help by sponsoring Lama Padma and Susan’s travel to enthronement. Lama Padma will be here in April; people can give to him directly or donate through the Amrita website. 10. General Planning for Upcoming Year: a. Lama Visits 2011 i. Easter Weekend April 21-24 Lama Padma ii. First Weekend in October Jigme Rinpoche iii. First or 2nd weekend in December Khentrul Rinpoche iv. Cheryl has been in contact with Lama Khadro and there is a possibility that she may want to come back while she is in North America b. Lama Zangpo’s open house: April 30-May 1 weekend Lama has invited the sangha to his cabin for an open house – more details to come. By June he will be out of retreat and we don’t know what his plans are after that. c. VN’s Current Practice Schedule: i. Monday Shamatha – White Swan, 5:15 pm- 6:15 pm ii. Red Tara- 1st & 3rd Wed of the month 9 Cedar Cresc. 7 pm iii. Monthly Tonglen – 1st Sunday of each month- White Swan 10-11 am iv. P’howa – each full moon time and location TBA each month v. Khentrul Rinpoche streaming teachings – 1st Wed of the month, 9 Cedar Cresc. vi. Rick mentioned that he would be interested in stating up a study group again, possibly once per month. If people are interested contact Rick. d. Ngondro weekends: there has been talk of people meeting in a house. Sangha members are working on getting it started. If anyone has questions contact Dave Galloway. There was a discussion on the value of group practice. People like it because questions can be answered, there is enthusiasm, support and it is inspiring. 11. Opportunity for questions, answers, recommendations or comments from the membership: a. Q. Johanne asked if there is a debrief after retreats to comment on what went well or not A. Yes the board discusses each retreat. There was a lively debate around the design of posters with varying opinions on how much information they should contain vs. them being eye catching. People thought that it might be a good idea if there are people with skills in this area to help with the design work. Wyk asked the question who designs the posters currently. Generally the person coordinating the retreat does it. Action item: David to add the Board Meeting date, time and location to the website calendar if people want to attend a meeting. b. Q. Wyk asked if there might be a better way to let people know what volunteer roles need filling when we are hosting a teacher. Could the tasks be posted on the web for people to sign up for? A. Rick thought that a personal touch was more appropriate. Sangha Requests: 1. Chopen Training – perhaps we could invite Chris to come to train a few people- Johanne 2. Weekly Ngondro Practice with a possible quarterly retreat practice. Bonnie had a great suggestion. Try to set it up so that people would commit to say 4 or 6 weekend retreat dates and pay upfront to secure the venue. That way the retreat cost is covered and those who can not afford it could participate without having to worry about cost or if more people turned out the cost for everyone could decrease. 3. Lama Khadro – follow up P’howa retreat- Stacey 4. Dalai Lama to visit Whitehorse – Wyk 12. Meeting Adjourned 8:40 p.m.