In May of 2006, the Board of the Bon Foundation elected new officers and new Board members. The officers are: Karan Shelley, President; Kit Sawyer, Vice-President; Susan Newstead, Secretary; Frances Baker, Treasurer. The board members are: JoAnn Clough, Catherine Granett, Jeffrey Granett, Jonathan Kramer, Mary Lanier, Vasilka Nicolova, Dixie O'Connor, Joseph Optiker, and Alysia Trombla. It is a wonderful group and I greatly enjoy working with them.

At the invitation of the Bon Foundation, the Menri Trizin gave the second part of the A-Tri Dzogchen teachings at Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY in May 2006. 130 students from all parts of the U.S. as well as Canada, Mexico and Europe were in attendance.



I am very pleased to tell you that the Trizin has agreed to return to give the third and final part of the A-Tri Dzogchen teaching--again at Garrison Institute--October 30 to November 4, 2007. You can find complete information on this website.

A very important milestone for His Holiness and Menri Monastery is the recent publication of the Bon Kanjur and Tenjur, the main sacred texts of the Bon religion. The Bon Foundation sponsored the Tibetan Yungdrung Bon Library Scanning Project to address the preservation of sacred texts. The 179-volume Kanjur is a collection of Bon canonical works written by Tonpa Shenrab and the 334-volume Tenjur is the commentarial literature or "supporting texts for the Word" of Tonpa Shenrab. These scanned texts are the result of two grants from the Reed Foundation and the technological and scholarly support of E. Gene Smith and Khedup Gyatso, both working under the careful direction of His Holiness himself.

I visited Menri with other members of the Bon Foundation Board. We were warmly received and given every opportunity to see how the support of the Bon Foundation is at work at Menri. As I saw the new library, the main treasurer's house, the construction at the Dialectic School, the construction for a new water tank, I felt heartened and hopeful. It is an enormous accomplishment and a credit to His Holiness' leadership that Menri is now a stable, physical presence, encompassing a monastery, a library, a Dialectic School with 105 monks, hostels and a school for 440 children, and 43 nuns at Redna Menling Nunnery, the only Bon nunnery outside of Tibet. His Holiness building campaign for Menri will be culminated in a glorious celebration of the dedication of the Tibetan Yungdrung Bon Library in April 2007.

The Bon Foundation has chosen to express its commitment to the future of Bon by raising money for the daily and educational needs of the members of the extended community: monks, nuns, and children--refugees all. During his 2006 visit to the United States, we promised His Holiness that we would also raise money for his current "Menri Projects" which he regards as crucial to the completion of his responsibilities. Menri Projects are also described on this website as the Abbot's Wish List.

As I close this report, I want you to remember that forty years ago, the handful of people who comprised the Menri community were living in mud buildings with tin roofs, and they did not have enough to eat. Through His Holiness' devoted leadership and your faithful support, Menri has become a place of learning and religious practice where the Bon tradition flourishes. The Bon Foundation seeks to do all it can to help him do this. We ask for your support in this effort.

Yours in Bon,

Karan Shelley, President