It is with great appreciation that we honour the immense and pioneering work of Tarchin Hearn, Mary Jenkins and all who have been involved in Wangapeka Books.
We recently received a beautiful letter marking the end of Tarchin and Mary’s involvement with Wangapeka Books and invite you to read it. It speaks of generosity, they offer donations and plant seeds for further publishing with “Immeasurable Publishing” (Jaime Howell and Julianna Griese) and the “Wangapeka Educational Trust”. The letter describes their journey from the first booklet in the 80s to today. They talk about the myriad of skills and generosity required to make a book and the Dharma fruit that grows and ripens with each book.
I received my first copy of “Growth and Unfolding” by Tarchin Hearn, from my mother in 1988, and a hunger took hold of my heart. I suddenly felt my life come into focus and soon attended my first retreat at Wangapeka, and with Tarchin.
Recently the Wangapeka Webmaster, Iain Verigin, has been inspired to develop Kindle versions of titles from Wangapeka Books. For some time now Graham Sandlant has been the point of sale for book orders and will continue in this role.
We intend to continue exploring how Wangapeka Books may flow on from here. Please feel welcome to get in touch and watch Newsphere for more details in the future.
The Wangapeka Educational Trust community bows deeply to Tarchin, to Mary and to the dedicated Sangha who have offered clear minds, hands and hearts to bring Wangapeka Books into being. Svaha!
With Appreciation
Kath Mitchell (On behalf of the Board of Trustees)
An open letter concerning Wangapeka Books,
addressed to the board members of the Wangapeka Education Trust
Jan 12, 2021, Orgyen Hermitage, Bay of Plenty, NZ
Dear Friends
This is to let you know that Mary and I are winding up our involvement with Wangapeka Books. Now in our 70s, we’d like to complete this while we have the energy and faculties to do it well.
After much thought and consultation with numerous people, the time has come to close the Wangapeka Books account. Some of the money will be transferred to “Immeasurable Publishing” (created by Jaime Howell and Julianna Griese) with the hope of seeding further publishing efforts. The remainder of the money, approximately $7000, will be given to the WET. If it was possible for this to be used to further the publishing of dharma books we would be very pleased but we also realize that it may be more needed for other projects and so, please understand that this is given without attachment. The Trust has copies of all of Tarchin’s books which if sold at regular prices could raise a considerable amount. We still have some copies here in Katikati and so if you run out of a particular title and would like more, we could arrange to have them sent to you. On a practical note, Wangapeka Books was never a legally constituted entity so if the Trust wanted to move into publishing they could continue to use the name if that was wanted.
It has been a rich and full journey since printing our first booklet on a hand powered ‘Roneo’ back in the early 80s. At that time we called ourselves ‘Sphere Publications’. ‘Wangapeka Books’ was born when the Sphere Group of NZ was renamed the Wangapeka Educational Trust. In those days, publishing was a far more laborious and expensive affair than it is today. We needed to raise $12,000 in order to produce Growth and Unfolding and people from up and down the country as well as from overseas, some who had only heard about dharma from having attended a single class given by Tarchin, generously donated and miraculously the money was raised. To honor the good faith and generosity of all who gave we determined to make Wangapeka Books non-profit, from the point of view of any individuals, and so all the work to bring forth these books has been given freely and profits from sales has gone towards further publication or charitable work. Since those early days we have published a number of books and booklets: Commonsense Retreat; Growth and Unfolding (two editions); Daily Puja (five editions); Breathing – The Natural Way to Meditate (two editions); Natural Awakening; Sangha Work; Coming to your Senses; Lovingkindness; Walking in Wisdom (two editions); Meditative First Aid; Cycle of Samatha; Something Beautiful for the World; True Refuge; Foundations of Mindfulness; and numerous other short run sadhanas and practice manuals that have been used in various courses and teachings. It seems extraordinary to reflect on how many there have been.
Wangapeka Books was born in generosity and has continued in this spirit. It takes a surprising amount of work to publish a book. People seemed to serendipitously show up with the skills we needed at just the right time: software skills, hardware skills, typists, artistic talents, early draft readers, proof readers, drivers and shippers, editorial skills, and general encouragers. The rippling of these efforts, given freely by so many people, is still fanning out around the world. Last year, Iain Verigin and Noreen Cambon with assistance from Mary digitalized some of the books which are now available in Kindle and Kobo e-pub editions with the proceeds going to the Trust. In Brazil, many of the publications have been translated into Portuguese and are being used in a flowering of Wangapeka/Namgyal flavored dharma throughout the country. (Translations have also been made into French and German.) The reverberations of these offerings have returned to Wangapeka countless times over in the form of deepening connections, new participants and members, money, and energy.
Over the years, profits from book sales have enabled gifts of tens of thousands of dollars to be given to the Trust along with various donations of office and land equipment. It also allowed us to underwrite the import and distribution of Namgyal Rinpoche’s books here in NZ. In addition to this we have been able to provide scholarships to enable various people to attend retreats as well as donating books to libraries and dharma centers around the world.
I (Tarchin) am still working on various writing projects though my energy for this is a bit start and stop. Anything new will be posted on Green Dharma Treasury and who knows? perhaps something will find itself into print.
For both of us it has been a rich and wonderful involvement and we are grateful to the many people who seemed to miraculously appear at the right time and have so freely contributed their skills and passion and expertise to these efforts. Keith Rowan, Catherine Dunlop, Dawn Gruenenfelder, Eric Harrison, Yvonne Harrison, Josephine Jackson, Tsultrim Jeltsen, James Mathieson, Michael Mackinnon, Clive Matthew-Wilson, Angela Pearce, David Pooch, Alma Rae, Barry Sharplin, Julie-Anne Stuart, Thelma Rodgers, Melanie Tuscia, Phil Dyer, Dominique de Borrekens, Bev Askam, Sian Robertson, Leander Kane, Gaye Rowley, Marion Feasey, Peter Woollett, Mira Riddiford, Paul Harrison, Alan Dodds, Andy McIntosh, Daniel Burgess-Milne, Stephen Martin-Rolsky, Anne Sharplin, Juliana Griese, Jangchoub Reid, Verena Reid, Luiz Ribeiro, Rita Kawamata and the team at Assertiva (publications) in Brazil, Mike Cox, Ian Moore, Aaron Skudder, Edrea Daniel, Matthew Eades, Bonnie Ross, Lama Mark Webber, Eileen Burton, Margaret Peart, Terry Walton, Clare Murphy, Ramon Higgins, Pierre Robillard, John Logan, Gisela Lange, Robert Sinclair, Barbara O’Sullivan, Graham Price, Steven Gellman, Michael Gohl, Kelvin Falconer, Irene Falconer, Jane Hobday, Graham Sandlant, Mark Schrader, Trudy Gold, Jordan Strbac, Daniel Robinson, Gregg Devereux, Kathleen Gisho, John McDermott, Michael Elliot. Thank you everyone! And a special thank you to Michael Mackinnon who from the very beginning has managed the finances, stored stock and been a help in manyfold ways. If we’ve omitted anyone, please accept our apologies. All these years of rich living and our memories are dimming! It’s been a privilege and a blessing to be part of this.
May the wholesome outflows of all these creative giftings of talent and energy continue to support meaningful nourishment in the lives of countless beings.
with love and good wishes
Tarchin and Mary