Ullambana Festival Puja 2024

We feel extremely fortunate to announce there will be a Ullambana Festival Puja this year with our precious Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche on August 16 and 17 (Chicago Time).

The origins of this festival can be found in the Ullambana Sutra and is traditionally celebrated throughout the centuries in Asia during the 7th month of the lunar calendar. It relates to the story of Buddha’s disciple Maudgalyāyana wanting to repay his mother’s kindness. Therefore, this month focus on generosity to accumulate merit in general and the dedication of our practice for the benefit of our parents and ancestors.

Please find the schedule of teachings and practices below, how you can join us online, and make auspicious offerings during this special puja.

Schedule

Starts Live at 8PM (Chicago Time, CT)
DAY 1 (August 16) – Oral teachings & Essential teachings; Namchö, The Sky Dharma Maha Sukhavati Sadhana
(Tibetan/Chinese)

DAY 2 (August 17) – Namchö, The Sky Dharma Maha Sukhavati Sadhana (Tibetan/Chinese), Tsok Offering

How to join?

Please join us online using the following link: https://www.facebook.com/kc16taiwan/live or Zoom, and follow our Facebook for the latest updates.

If you encounter any trouble or have any questions, please email info@karmapacenter16.org.

How to make an auspicious offering?

On the occasion of this special Ullambana Festival Puja, you can make auspicious offerings. Find below the various options for donations and fill in the form to donate.

Learn more here about the auspicious offering options.
  • Sage Millennium Buddha Offering. Supporting the Relic Hall – For 3,055 USD, you can permanently sponsor a Buddha statue in the Nirvana Holy Land Relic Hall
    • (All donations will be used for the construction of the Relic Hall; installment payments are available; donation receipts can be issued for tax deduction).
  • Tsatsa Offering. Supporting the Relic Hall – For 3,665 USD, you can connect with a Tsa Tsa stupa prayer shrine.
    • Deceased – Option 1. Friends and relatives can place the most meaningful items of the deceased, such as clothes, jewelry, photos, rosaries, etc., in the Nirvana Holy Land. The sangha lamas will make a Tsa Tsa clay stupa and enshrine it together with the memorial items of the deceased as a source of blessings.
    • Deceased – Option 2. Regardless of how long the deceased has passed away, a portion of their ashes can be handed over to the Nirvana Holy Land, where the lamas will make a Tsa Tsa clay stupa to be permanently enshrined in the Nirvana Holy Land.
    • Pre-Reservation. It is also possible to pre-reserve a Tsa Tsa clay stupa shrine during one’s lifetime.
    • (All donations will be used for the construction of the Relic Hall; installment payments are available; the Karmapa 16th Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States; donations to the Karmapa 16th Center are tax-deductible according to U.S. law; the names of donors will be permanently kept in the Relic Hall of His Holiness and will be blessed and prayed for eternally).

The Parinirvāṇa of Khenchen Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche

Karmapa Center 16 offers its heartfelt condolences to all the nunneries, students, and all who are mourning the passing into parinirvāṇa of Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche on June 22, 2024. 

I remember the great kindness of Khenpo Rinpoche for teaching us the buddhadharma in general, and in particular, instructing us in the Kagyü tradition. Practicing in accordance with Rinpoche’s wishes and instructions, I offer my prayers and devotion – may all of them be accomplished. 

On behalf of Karmapa Center 16,

Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche 

Offerings and Prayers on the occasion of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa’s birthday

On the occasion of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s birthday, resident monastics and lay visitors made special offerings and prayers at Karmapa Center 16, presided over by our dear Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche.

ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེའི་གསུངས་འཛམ་གླིང་སྤྱི་བསང་དང་། ཀརྨ་པ་ཨོ་རྒྱན་ཕྲིན་ལས་རྡོ་རྗེའི་གསུངས་གསེར་ལྡན་རྔ་སྒྲའི་བསང་མཆོད། The universal smoke offering for the world as taught by the great third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, and the purifying offerings with fire and the sound of the drum, as taught by the precious 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje.

Karmapa Khyenno!

The passing of Honorable Karma Dhondup, father of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa

His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa’s father, Honorable Karma Dhondup, passed away on Buddha Purnima Day, the 15th day of the Vesak month (May 23, 2024).

According to the Tibetan calendar, Buddha Purnima is called “Düchen Sumdzom,” meeting three special occasions: the day when Buddha Sakyamuni was born, attained enlightenment and passed away into parinivana.

The resident lamas and members of Karmapa Center 16 in Wadsworth, Illinois, will be holding daily prayers and butter lamp offerings through the 49th day

Meditation for All – Every Sunday, Online and Onsite

Since October of last year, our resident teacher, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering, has offered guided meditation and short dharma teachings every Sunday at Karmapa Center 16, and friends in the area have been able to join us onsite.

As everyone is welcome, and no prior experience is needed, Acharya calls the Sunday sessions Meditation for All

We are delighted to announce that beginning January 14, 2024, Acharya’s teaching and the opportunity to practice together, will be offered online, so that Meditation for All will, indeed, be available to all! 

Please join us onsite or online! 

For online access, please register here for the Zoom link. The sessions begin at 10 am and finish at 11:30 am Central Standard Time. Please be sure to log onto Zoom a few minutes before we start. Below, you can find a few other guidelines that will help all of us practice together in the most beneficial way possible.

KC16’s resident teacher – Acharya Lhakpa Tshering. Photo Credit: Gloria Sherab Drolma

We aspire to follow in the footsteps of His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa by offering Meditation for All to everyone and practicing together as he once expressed: 

“I will always exert myself in dharmic recitation, proclamations, and readings. In mind, I will not flutter back and forth like a young bird on a branch. Not getting absorbed in discursive thoughts of good and bad, I will meditate, cultivating forbearance and relying on my own perceptions, not those of others. I will reflect on how best to benefit the teachings and beings.” 


Karmapa Khyenno!

Joining Nalandabodhi’s Winter Retreat 2023 at KC16

Ignite the Courageous Heart of Compassion, Nalandabodhi’s annual Winter Retreat, will be held online via Zoom and onsite at Nalanda West in Seattle, from Thursday, December 28 to Monday, January 1.

Nalandabodhi is a global Buddhist community founded by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. Rinpoche was recognized, raised, and trained by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, at Rumtek Monastery. He is a heart son of the Gyalwang Karmapa and serves as Advisor on our Karmapa Center 16 Board of Directors. 

During the retreat, our resident teacher, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering, will guide Mahamudra meditation from Karmapa Center 16’s shrine room this year. 

On a big screen, KC16 will join the other meditation sessions and teachings by Nalandabodhi Vice Chancellor Acharya Tashi Wangchuk, who will give teachings on Lojong Mind Training; Nalandabodhi senior teacher Mitra Mark Power, who will lead teachings on the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva; Nalandabodhi Karunikas Laura McRae & Ellen Balzé who will lead contemplative reflections; and there will be information about Mind Without Borders (MWB), a prison dharma-based program. 

You are welcome to join us at KC16 anytime, for one session, a day, or the entire retreat (see schedule below). 

KC16 will offer tea/coffee, lunch and (light) dinner. 

Registration
We kindly ask KC16 onsite participants to register for Nalandabodhi’s Winter Retreat here. Scholarships to join for a reduced price are available. If you don’t live near KC16, you can register for Nalandabodhi’s Winter Retreat via Zoom here.

Questions?
If you have questions about joining us at KC16, please send an email to communications@karmapacenter16.org. If you have questions about Nalandabodhi’s Winter Retreat in general or online participation, please email help@nalandabodhi.org

Please join
Please join Nalandabodhi’s Winter Retreat, Ignite the Courageous Heart of Compassion, to practice meditation and for teachings on Mind-Training (Lojong) and the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva.

Time (CST)Thu, Dec. 28Fri, Dec 29Sat, Dec 30Sun, Dec 31Mon, Jan 1
10.30-11.30MeditationMeditationMeditationMeditation
11.30-11.45BreakBreakBreakBreak
11.45-12.00Mitra Mark session 4
12.00-12.15MeditationMeditationMeditation
12.15-12.45Mitra Mark session 1Mitra Mark session 2Mitra Mark session 3
12.45-1 PMBreak
1 – 1.45 PMPoMA
1.45 – 2 PMMWB 
Story 1
MWB 
Story 2
Closing
2 – 2.15 PMEnd of retreat
2.15 – 4 PMLunch BreakLunch BreakLunch Break
4 – 5 PMMeditationMeditationMeditation
5 – 5.15 PMWelcomeBreakBreakBreak
5.15 – 5.30 PMStart online
5.30 – 6.15 PMOpeningAcharya Tashi session 1Acharya Tashi session 2Acharya Tashi session 3
6.15 – 7 PMIntention
7 – 8 PMDinner BreakDinner BreakDinner BreakDinner Break
8 – 9 PMAcharya Lhakpa: Mahamudra MeditationAcharya Lhakpa: Mahamudra MeditationAcharya Lhakpa: Mahamudra MeditationAspirations