Batya Weinbaum has been a Buddhist practitioner since the mid-80s, when she was initiated in to the Medicine Buddha empowerment in the Tibetan lineage. She has been associated with the Milarepa Center in Barnett , VT, and has gone to Dharamsala for Lam Rim teachings with the Dalai Lama.

Her daughter, Ola, was conceived by route of and nursed to the Medicine Buddha mantra. When visiting Dharamsala in 2005, they noticed the amount of children who came to beg from the international Buddhist followers. With a little research, they found out that a beggar camp had been established about 30 years ago, outside of Dharamsala proper, and that the whole camp survives off begging in this refuge of the Dalai Lama provided by the government of India.

Here as in Bodhgaya, another Buddhist center, the place where the Buddha reached enlightenment and where there are annual pujas bringing thousands of international Buddhist followers together every year, the beggar children are quite aggressive. Batya and Ola intend to return for further teachings, at which time Batya has been invited to have an art show with her watercolors of India, the Passage Through India Project.

At that time, she and Ola will offer art classes free of charge to the children of the beggar camp, providing the supplies and instruction, so that the children can learn and heal and enjoy their childhoods. Please contact us if you would like in any way to participate in or support this project.

To view more of Batya's art click here.