Silent Meditation Day Saturday, June 25

Our minds are by nature clear and bright, but we can’t see this inherent clarity while we are involved with the endless barrage of our constant thoughts, feelings and perceptions.   Meditation helps us quiet our minds and cut through our habitual mental habits to facilitate a direct experience of our own mental clarity.  Remaining in silence between meditation sessions helps us maintain this awareness throughout the day.

Lama Nancy Burks will lead this meditation day, giving brief introductory remarks at the beginning of each session, and leading the group in opening and closing chants aimed at aligning our minds and hearts with the Bodhisattva motivation of obtaining enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Please join us for this silent meditation day at the Ann Arbor KTC Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Center.  Recommended for those who have some prior experience with meditation.

Schedule:
10:00-12:30 Morning session
12:30-1:30 Lunch break
1:30-4:00 Afternoon session

There will be a short break in the middle of each session.  Bring your own vegetarian lunch; beverages will be provided.

No charge; donations gratefully accepted.  Please register in advance by emailing Lama Nancy at nburks.61053@yahoo.com; also email if you have any questions or special needs.

Lama Nancy has been a student of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche since 1978, and in 2000, she completed the traditional 3-year, 3-month meditation retreat under his guidance.  In addition to teaching and leading meditation practice at the Ann Arbor KTC, she is available for individual instruction and mentoring.

Nyungne 1000-Armed Chenrezig Retreat April 29 – May 2

1000-armed ChenrezikAnn Arbor KTC will be hosting a Nyungne (nyoong nay) retreat at our center from Friday, April 29 to Monday, May 2. The Nyungne is a profound 2 1/2 day fasting practice that purifies negative karma through chanting, mantras and guided visualizations of 1,000-Armed Chenrezig. The Nyungne will be led by Lama Yeshe of the Hay River KTC in Wisconsin.

Requirements: In order to participate in the Nyungne, you must have taken Refuge and received the reading transmission for the Nyungne text. This reading transmission (but not the Refuge) will be given on Friday evening by Lama Yeshe, along with instructions. It is also recommended that participants have some experience chanting in Tibetan.

The practice involves involves early morning, morning, and afternoon sessions on Saturday and Sunday, and an early morning session on Monday. Lunch on Saturday will be provided at the center, followed by a liquid-only fast for the rest of Saturday, and a full fast all day Sunday, broken after early morning practice on Monday. It is also possible to do the practice as a Nyine (partial fast) on one or both days. Participants will be able to sleep on our shrine-room floor during the Nyungne if desired (bring your own bedding).

If you will be attending, or have any questions, please contact Lama Nancy Burks, nburks.61053@yahoo.com. Please bring your own text if you have one; we have a limited number of texts available for those who don’t have their own.

Suggested donation of $40 includes lunch on Saturday and breakfast on Monday. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Live Webcast with Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche April 1-3

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche

courtesy KTD

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche will be teaching on “The Teacher and Student Relationship” via live webcast on April 1- April 3. All are welcome to join us at the Ann Arbor KTC for any or all of this event, which will be a great opportunity to experience Rinpoche’s inspirational teaching style on a topic essential to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition: the student’s relationship with the spiritual teacher.

Khenpo Rinpoche has been Abbot of our parent center, Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in Woodstock, New York, since its inception in 1978–the same year that he also founded the Ann Arbor KTC. Now well over 90 years old, he continues his Dharma activities with impressive energy, but as he has largely stopped teaching at the regional KTC’s, so this webcast will be a rare chance to see him teaching live.

Last month, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche received singular honors for his lifelong Dharma activities from His Holiness the 17th Karmapa during the annual Kagyu Monlam prayer event in Bodh Gaya, India. Click here for a report on the Karmapa’s web site.

Webcast Schedule:
Friday, April 1–7:00 pm
Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3–10:30 am and 3:30 pm

All sessions will last approximately 90 minutes. After the Saturday morning session, we will have the opportunity to submit questions for Rinpoche, to be answered in the afternoon session.

Suggested donation: $5.00 per session. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Drikung Kagyu Lama Visiting in May

HH Drikung KyabgonJewel Heart is presenting H.H. Drikung Kyabgon, Supreme Head of the Drikung Kagyu, in Ypsilanti Saturday, May 7, 2016, 2 – 6pm.

The event will be at Pease Auditorium, Eastern Michigan University, W Cross St & College Pl

The Drikung Kagyu is another branch of the Kagyu Lineage. Ann Arbor KTC is in the Karma Kagyu tradition.

Tickets are available at emutix.com
and by phone at 734 – 487 2282
and at EMU’s three Ticket Offices in Ypsilanti

Fire at Columbus KTC January 31, 2016

Columbus KTC glies Karmapa banner after the fire

The  Karmapa banner was rescued by firefighters and flown from the atop the building after the fire

flag which was rescued by firefighters and flown from the atop the building after the fire

The members of Ann Arbor KTC were shocked to hear about the fire that destroyed the KTC in Columbus, Ohio and would like to offer our condolences and support. You are in our prayers.

Columbus is about 3 hours’ drive from Ann Arbor and the members have attended many events in Columbus over many years, as well as many at the Grubb St. location.

Here is a link for a GoFundMe campaign to help with the rebuilding: www.gofundme.com/columbusktc