New Challenge Grant for the Start of 2016!

As previously announced, thanks to all of your contributions so far, we are 86% of the way to our goal of purchasing the land for The Karmapa Center 16 memorial stupa hall.

We are now thrilled to announce that another generous donor and her company have offered a $100,000 Challenge Grant for the remaining funds to purchase the land and cover operating costs for the first half of the 2016! We have two months from January 31st to meet this challenge, or until March 31, 2016, during which period any donation will be doubled by this kind benefactor.

We gratefully celebrate the wonderful auspicious connections that have already made with His Holiness the 16th Karmapa and the project to memorialize his life and activity at the location of his Parinirvana.

We ask that you please continue to help spread the word to anyone who may share a connection with or interest in this project. Be part of this unique and auspicious endeavor—please help us meet this challenge!

Help Make The Karmapa Center 16 Happen
Please Donate Today!

Happy Losar 2016, Year of the Fire Monkey

KC16_2016_Greeting

༄༅།། མེ་སྤྲེལ་གནམ་ལོ་གསར་དུ་བཞད་
པའི་དགའ་སྟོན་ལ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས་ཞུ།
ལོ་གསར་པའི་ནང་སྐུ་གཟུགས་བདེ་ཐང་བྱ་བ་
རྣམས་ཡིད་བཞིན་འགྲུབ་པའི་སྨོན་འདུན་ཞུ་རྒྱུ་ཡི།

 

Wishing you auspicious and happy celebrations for the New Year of the Fire Monkey. May this year bring you good health, accomplishments in your activities, and may all your wishes come true.

 

親愛的各地朋友與道友們,

喜樂的猴年來臨之際,在此獻上滿滿的新年祝願!此外,對於慷慨協助第十六世大寶法王紀念中心之興建的功德主與義工們,我也由衷感恩大家的大力護持!

祈願大家修持猛進、喜樂充滿,世願所求如意順遂,祈願您新的來年富足豐饒、平安健康。

迪雅竹奔仁波切 敬筆
西元2016年2月6日

Challenge Grant Met!

Great thanks to all the generous benefactors of The Karmapa Center 16!

We are pleased to announce that kind donors have meet our $200,000 challenge grant, and more! This brings us $400,000 closer to our Phase I fundraising goal of $985,000 for property purchase and fees associated with planning studies and operational costs. We are now 86% of the way there!

We have received a further extension of the final purchase date and are diligently moving forward with all necessary studies and planning with the appropriate agencies. So, if you haven’t yet had the opportunity to contribute to the land purchase, don’t worry: there is still time to get in on the “ground floor” of this project!



34th Anniversary of the 16th Karmapa’s Parinirvana Commemorated at The Karmapa Center 16

ON OCTOBER 21st, 2015, the Tibetan Tsurluk lunar calendar anniversary, Lamas and guests gathered at Karmapa Center 16 to mark the 34th anniversary of the parinirvana of the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa. The previous Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, passed away on November 5th, 1981 at the American International Clinic (now Cancer Treatment Centers of America) in Zion, north of Chicago, Illinois. The Karmapa Center 16 is located approximately 5 miles west of the exact parinirvana site, in neighboring Wadsworth, Illinois. This year marked the first time the anniversary of His Holiness’ passing was officially commemorated in this historic area itself.

In the days approaching the anniversary, Lamas and guests gathered from around North America preparing the shrine, feast substances and elaborate torma offerings. On the morning of October 21st, Venerable Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche lead a Guru Yoga practice of the 16th Karmapa composed by Rangjung Rigpe Dorje himself, with recent additions by H.E. Gyaltsab Rinpoche. After tea and lunch breaks, practice concluded with a Mahakala puja.

Lama Phuntsok shared his mixed feelings recalling the parinirvana in 1981, when he was present in Zion. Although the occasion being commemorated was a sad one, he was happy that the 16th Karmapa’s legacy was being recognized in this landmark area. Lama pointed out that while ordinary beings die wherever their karma propels them, His Holiness the 16th Karmapa was a fully realized being and thus made a conscious choice to pass in this specific place. Lama said that although he does not know what His Holiness’ reasons were, he is certain that it is important for students of the Kagyu lineage to remember and mark this site.

Lama Rabten explained that the site of the 16th Karmapa’s parinirvana is, for our lineage, a pilgrimage site equivalent to the four major sites of the historic Buddha’s life. Specifically, the Zion area is equivalent to Kushinagar, the site of the Buddha’s parinirvana. We don’t need to travel all the way to India to connect with the blessings of the lineage and accumulate the merit of pilgrimage – we have a sacred site right here in North America.

Lama Tenam and all the other Lamas expressed a shared aspiration that Karmapa Center 16 can host annual commemorations of the 16th Karmapa’s parinirvana, that many Lamas and dharma students can gather here to practice, and that this beautiful, relaxed place can gradually develop as a major pilgrimage site.

Join our campaign to purchase The Karmapa Center 16 land by October 31st, 2015

His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa with Chogyam Trungpa RInpoche in the United States.

We have an incredible opportunity to purchase the Wadsworth, IL land located 5 miles west of the 16th Karmapa’s parinirvana at the cancer center and blessed by the 17th Karmapa. We invite you to join us in this auspicious undertaking to establish this pilgrimage site in North America!

As we complete ecological and traffic studies to prepare for the county and village meetings and permit approval process, we are simultaneously fundraising to purchase the land. To date, approximately $300,000 has been raised… 

in order to close on this property, we require an additional $650,000 by October 31, 2015.  

How can I help, you ask?

We’re so very glad you did! There are several ways to make a connection to the project and contribute meaningfully:

  • Donate in the following ways:
    • Online
    • Write a check to “The Karmapa Center 16” and mail to: 41230 Kilbourne Road, Wadsworth, IL 60083
    • Wire transfer or direct deposit by contacting us at info@karmapacenter16.org, Subject line: DONATION
  • Spread the word
    • Tell your friends!
    • Share the news on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn
    • Contact us at info@karmapacenter16.org for brochures/pledge card packages to distribute
  • Share your stories, experiences, pictures and memories with the 16th Karmapa by emailing us at info@karmapacenter16.org
    • Video yourself sharing the story
    • Write your story
    • Scan your pictures or memorabilia

We look forward to hearing from you!

HHK blesses proposed Stupa ground
HHK17 blesses the proposed HHK16 parinirvana stupa ground at The Karmapa Center 16

17th Karmapa Blesses Proposed Stupa Ground & Visits CTCA

We are pleased to share the news that His Holiness the 17th Karmapa stayed at the Karmapa Center 16 land during his 2015 tour of the U.S. on Sunday, May 3rd and Monday May 4th.

During his stay, he visited the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) and received a tour from Bill Kelly who showed the group the room where His Holiness the 16th Karmapa stayed. The space has been remodeled and is now a part of administrative offices. He was also able to meet Dr. Chris Stevenson whose father was a key supporter of His Holiness receiving care in Zion.

Monday, May 4th, HH blessed the proposed stupa ground and conducted a smoke puja with Rinpoches, Acharyas and Lamas in attendance. Wadsworth Mayor Glenn Ryback, Village Administrator, Moses Amidei, and several Village Trustees, CTCA staff, donors from near and far, local friends and family, volunteers and staff were present to celebrate the event.

The ceremony was held in the center of the proposed stupa site under a sun rainbow this glorious Monday. The land was lush and green with flowers blooming everywhere and birds singing in the pond and trees.

Architectural Plans

The preliminary draft plans drawn by architect Keith Spruce show that the parinirvana stupa will be on the western third of the ten-acre property. The 30 foot stupa will be enclosed by a building with the entrance facing east towards the cancer center. This stupa and meditation hall will offer seating for over 100 meditators and enable circumambulation around the stupa from the inside as well as the outside. The current proposal includes windows around the top portion of the stupa in order to be visible from the outside.

The current 17th Gyalwang Karmapa continues to employ ethical programs for living in harmony with the environment, such as the Khoryug Environmental Protection Program: Khoryug Vision. To this extent, our goals include environmental conservation and sustainable environmentally responsible practices proposed wherever possible for new construction, remodeling or removal of buildings proposed on this site. For example, we are considering uses of gray-water recycling, composting toilets & dry urinals, green roofs, natural native landscaping, natural storm water retention and processing on-site, pervious pavement areas, low-energy use buildings utilizing passive and active energy conservation system, among other considerations. Our intention is to minimize the impact on the natural environment as much as possible while restoring and harmonizing our proposed site development plans with the natural rural surroundings and improvements.

Proposed Stupa Site

We have located a lovely 10-acre property in Wadsworth, IL 5 miles almost directly west of the cancer center. We are leasing the property with option to buy with successful completion of appropriate studies, permits and approval of the Wadsworth Village Board.

The property includes an existing single-family and caretaker’s house where we Lamas and religious workers reside. In the back third of the land is where we are planning the building of the stupa.