Why the non profit?  Why don’t you just create a for profit business structure and find your funding that way?  I must have been asked this question at least twenty times as I wrote the business plan.  I was asked by mentors, friends and my lawyer just to name a few.  So now I will tell you why.

The reason for the structuring of Mamas Fire underneath the non profit of the Sacred Works Project is simply that I wish to be of benefit.  I want to actually make a difference with this endeavor.  I saw a possibility to create something that would support the sacred.  At first I didn’t even really know what that meant, but I didn’t let that detail stop me from trying.  I myself loved working on projects that were sacred in nature.  In my life I have created a documentary (1/2 of one really) on growing up Buddhist in America.  I have written a book taking the life of a Buddhist saint named Tilopa and telling his story with him in a present day American back ground.  I have interviewed seventy four students of Trungpa Rinpoche and have gained as many empowerments from the process.  I have also written near a hundred poems recounting my spiritual experiences.  In all of this I had no outside support with the exception of the documentary as Cathy gave me money to make that happen and I am forever grateful to her for that gift.

With all of this I saw a need. The need was simply a way to change our priorities.  Priorities meaning were we put our financial backing.  The change I wanted to make was to put that backing behind the sacred and those who are working to create it.  I saw how much I had accomplished without support and thought how much more could be done if financial support was made available.  It could then serve someone in a real and direct, paying the bills kind of way to work to bring the sacred into the world.  This in turn would motivate more people to create projects of a sacred nature which would then start to have a direct impact on our world.

In the seventeen drafts of the business plan as many times as the non profit was attacked I never let it go.  I knew that for this project to really be of benefit, it had to not be about the money itself but instead how the money was used.  As the process unfolded I came to understand what I on a gut level I had known all along, the sacred was bodhicitta loving kindness.  A kindness I had felt growing up on many occasions and the very feeling that had driven me to create all of the projects I had in my past.  I wanted to be near it, to have it in my life again.  What better way to accomplish this goal could there possibly be then to create an organization whose sole mission is to support its growth.

I also saw the other side of the coin at this stage in my journey.  Up until this point I had looked at it from the creator’s point of view, the one needing the support.  But, now I saw the potential for real happiness for all involved as I saw how wonderful it would be to be the one giving to these projects.  I could think of no better job in the world then that one.  And so, I didn’t care what others thought I should do.  I stuck to my intentions and made the business just the way I thought it should be.  I hope as readers I have helped you to see the potential I have seen and that you might join me in this effort.  Let us support the growth of bodhicitta – the essence of  kindness.  The feeling of giving someone exactly what they need and having it be fully taken and appreciated.  This seems like a worthy cause to me, I hope you agree.

Right now we have two projects we are supporting under our mission.

The first is the Valmont Butte Project.  This is a community effort to raise one million dollars to buy back land which is sacred to the indigenous peoples of the Cheyenne/Arapaho and Yute tribes.

The second is a book taking the seventy four interviews that I did with the students of Trungpa Rinpoche collecting their experinces with him and turning them into a book of empowerments for all to read.

To read more about these projects and to make a donation you can follow the link below.

http://www.mamasfire.com/index.php?target=sacredworks