Trust deed
Tashi Thinlas
Name : Ladakh Vipassana Trust
Office: Leh
This deed made at Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre, Devachan Leh Ladakh, On this First of April, 2007, between __________________________________, whose address is at ________________________________________________, herein after called The Settlor, and (i)_____________________________________, whose address is________________________________and (ii) _________________________ whose address is __________________________________________ and (iii), ____ __ _ __ ______________________________whose address is _________ ______ __ __ ___ ___________________ (iv)______________________________whose address is _ _______________________________ herein after jointly referred to as The Trustees (which term shall include their succesors as provided as provided for in the terms set forth below, witnesseth:-
WHEREAS:-
Vipassana is a very ancient meditation technique of India, rediscovered by Gotama the Buddha more than 2500 years ago and taught by him as a universal remedy for universal ills;
For nearly five centuries the technique was maintained in its pristine purity but later due to admixture of extraneous matters the purity of the technique was lost in India and so its efficacy, and with the lapse of time it became extinct from the land of its origin;
In Burma, however, the technique was preserved in its original form and handed down to posterity in the teacher pupil tradition;
The principal teacher of Vipassana Meditation in this tradition, Mr. S.N. Goenka learned this technique from his teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin of Burma, a reknowned teacher of Vipassana and has made it the mission of his life to bring back the technique to the land of its origin and propagate its practice, so that more and more people can benefit from it;
The technique is non-sectarian and can be practiced by all irrespective of caste, creed or nationality;
The technique provides an effective method for inculcation of moral values, achieving national integration and international understanding, fostering peace and harmony among people, nations and religions;
The first centre of training for Vipassana Meditation was established in the year 1976 as the Vipassana International Academy at Igatpuri (Nasik, Maharashtra), which is the main and principal, centre. Since then, many more centres for imparting training in Vipassana have been established in India as well as outside India in many countries;
The Settlor desires to establish a public trust for training , research and propagation of Vipassana Meditation and for the purpose thereof, he desires to settle a sum of _____________ upon the Trust for the object and purpose hereinafter expressed and have handed over the said amount to the Trustees to be held in trust for the objects and purposes hereinafter expressed:-
NOW THEREFORE THIS DEED WITNESSETH:
That the Settlor does hereby transfer assign and make over to the Trustees the said sum of __________, (_________________________________ ) to have and to hold the said sum and the investment for the time being representing the same and all other sums and other properties which may be received by Trustees hereafter by way of donations, gifts, subscriptions, interest, dividends on income or otherwise, however, (Hereinafter referred to as The Trust Property) upon Trust for the purposes hereinafter stated as follows:-
To establish and operate centres and institutes for teaching of and training in Vipassana;
To acquire lands buildings for the purposes of establishing centres and institutes;
To conduct Vipassana courses, arrange lectures, discourses and seminars for teaching of and training in Vipassana;
To otherwise promote and further the spread of the awareness and practice of Vipassana Meditation in the region of the trust and throughout the world.
Provided further that the centres and institutes referred to above and operated, maintained and managed by this Trust shall exclusively dedicate themselves for the purpose of promotion, teaching and practice of Vipassana in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin as taught by S.N. Goenka only and will not directly or indirectly engage in any other activity inconsistent with the above objectives of the Trust.
Provided further, that they will always follow the guidelines and instructions issued by S.N.Goenka and his duly authorized representatives and successors, with respect to the teaching of Vipassana Meditation.
2. The name of the Trust shall be____________________________________________ and the office of the Trust shall be at such place in______________________________ as the trustees may decide from time to time.
3. The Board of Trustees
The number of Trustees shall not be less than three and not more than eleven.
The Trustees may from time to time appoint other persons as Trustees, provided that the total number of Trustees does not exceed eleven.
Each Trustee on Board of the Trustees shall hold office for a period of two years (from the date hereof) and shall continue to hold office even after the expiry of the said term until other persons are appointed in their place and take charge.
No person who has not undergone a Vipassana course of at least ten days shall serve on the board of Trustees.
No Trustees shall be appointed, continue to serve as a Trustee or be removed as a Trustee on this trust unless it is approved by the Area Teacher(s), Mr. S.N. Goenka (or in his absence, Global Committee Of Teachers) appoints Area Teacher(s) responsible for the geographic region within which a trust is to operate.
4. The Trustees shall possessed of the said sum of the _______________ and all money, properties, assets, donations, subscriptions, etc., which may hereafter be given to or received by the Trust, hereby created for intents and purposes as stated in this Trust Deed and subject to the provisions, restrictions, limitations, expressed herein.
5. The Trustees shall have the following powers subject to the laws in force from time to time, including the Tax Laws under which the Trust shall seek approval/exemptions:-
To accept donations, contributions, grants or subscriptions in cash or kinds;
To apply the income or corpus of the trust towards accomplishment of the objects of the trust;
To invest and keep invested the trust properties in such form as Trustees may from time to time decide and as is permissible to secure exemption of trust income under the tax laws as applicable to public Charitable Trusts;
To buy sell or to dispose off, alienate or otherwise deal with any movable or immovable property comprising the Trust Fund;
To take or rent or lease on leave and license basis any immovable property for such rent and on such terms and conditions as the Trustees in their absolute discretion may think fit;
To open account with any scheduled bank, to operate such account and to give instructions to the bank from time to time as the Trustees may think necessary. Any two Trustees jointly designated by the Board of Trustees will be competent to exercise the powers contained in the clause;
To adjust, settle, compromise, compound or refer to arbitration any suit, claim, demand or proceedings regarding the Trust properties;
To accumulate the income of the Trust properties and apply the same towards the objects of the Trust and in the meantime, to invest the same and to vary such investment from time to time;
To appoint constitute and nominate attorney or agent and to delegate to such attorney or agent to all or any of the powers vested in Trustees under these presents and from time to time to remove such attorneys or agent and to make fresh appointments;
To appoint or remove any member of the Trust, maintain office or offices of the Trust and to incur and pay necessary expenses for the same;
To make, vary, alter or modify schemes, rules and regulations for carrying out the objects of the Trust and for the management of the affairs thereof and/ or running any institution in furtherance of the objects of the Trust or otherwise for giving effect to the objects of the Trust;
To amalgamate the Trust with any other Trust or Trusts having similar objects or to amalgamate any other Trust with similar objects with this Trust or such terms and conditions as the Trustees may in their absolute discretion think fit; and
To appoint committees and sub-committees comprising the Trustees and/or other persons, provided that no person who has not undergone a Vipassana course of at least ten days shall be appointed on any such committee or sub-committee. Any such committee or sub-committee shall work under the control and supervision of the board of Trustees, who may dissolve or reconstitute any such committee.
6. The Trustees are at liberty to appoint one or more of them as managing Trustee or joint Managing Trustee for such time, with such powers and on such terms as they may, by a resolution, decide.
7.
1) The Board of Trustees may appoint a committee to manage the day to day affairs of the Trust, such committee shall be called the Managing Committee.
2) No person who has not undergone a Vipassana course of at least ten days shall be appointed on The Managing Committee.
3) The Managing Committee shall comprise of not more than 21 members.
4) One third of the members of the Managing Committee shall retire at expiry of one year from the date of their appointment.
5) The vacancies caused in the Managing Committee by death, resignation retirement or otherwise shall be filled in by the Board of Trustees.
6) The members of the Managing Committee shall work without any remuneration. They shall work on collective responsibility basis and shall be answerable to the Board of Trustees. The Managing Committee shall act under the supervision, direction and control of The Board of Trustees.
7) The Board of Trustees may, by passing a resolution, remove any member of the Managing Committee at any time without being bound to assign any reason for such removal.
8. The Trustees shall not be entitled to receive any remuneration as Trustees but may reimburse themselves for all expenses actually incurred by them in connection with the Trust or other duties relating thereto.
9. In all meetings of the Trustees, three Trustees shall constitute a quorum.
10. All decisions of the Trustees shall be by consensus and in case of difference of opinion, in accordance with the direction of the Area Teacher(s), the person(s) appointed by S.N. Goenka, as being in Charge of the Trust hereby established. Moreover the Area Teacher(s) shall be consulted on all major decisions to be made by the Trust.
11. The Board Of Trustees shall keep proper and regular accounts of the Trust Funds and the income thereof and shall prepare the annual statement of income and expenditure and such balance of the said income as may not be immediately required for any of the purposes of the Trust shall be accumulated by the Trustees and shall be invested by them in any of the investments authorized by law for the time being.
12. Any Trustee may be removed from office at any time by the Trustees, provided that removal is approved by a prior written consent of the area Teacher or S.N. Goenka. It shall not be necessary to disclose or assign any reason for such removal.
13. No Trustee shall be liable for any loss to the Trust arising by reason of any improper investment made in good faith or for the negligence or fraud of any agent employed by him or by any other Trustee hereof although the employment of such agent may not have been strictly necessary or expedient or by reason of any bonafide mistake or omission made by any Trustee.
14. If any Trustee at any time be desirous of withdrawing or being discharged from his responsibility as a Trustee hereof, he may do so by writing to the Board of Trustees for the time being and such notice shall operate as an effectual relinquishment of office by him except for his past deeds and such acts and deeds as may be necessary for the appointment of new Trustee and for the vesting of the Trust property appropriately in the continuing Trustee/s including the new Trustee/s.
15. Each Trustee shall be liable for his own receipts, defaults or negligence only and not for the receipts of, defaults or negligence of any of his co-Trustees.
16. All suits and proceedings pertaining to the Trust, the Trust properties can be instituted, commenced, prosecuted or defended in the name of the Trust by any of the Trustees so authorized by other Trustees and such Trustees shall be entitled to take all steps for the same.
17. It is hereby expressly declared that no part of the Trust property or its income shall be applied for any purpose which is not a public charitable purpose as defined in the appropriate section of Tax Laws act and any provision hereof has meaning or be constructed to authorize the Trustees to utilize the Trust property of income hereof for any non- charitable or private purpose such powers and provision herein contained shall be treated as omitted repealed and cancelled by this clause.
In witness whereof, the settler and the Trustees have hereunto set and prescribed their respective hands on this ____________________________day of _________________.
Signed and delivered by
The within named the settlor in
The presence of,
Signed and delivered by
The within named the Trustees in
The presence of ,