Karma Thegsum Choling Minneapolis

There isn’t a single pregiven world lying around out there waiting for all and sundry to see. Different phenomenological worlds - real worlds - come into being with each new level of consciousness development.

Ken Wilber, Integral Spirituality, p 168.

The levels or structures of consciousness bring forth different world views.There isn’t something out there and we take different pictures of it. World views arise in consciousness. The actual states of structures that we’re in co create the world that’s arising. Bigger views lessen miscommunications. Understanding the structures of your own mind helps you understand the structures that you are bringing forth, and ultimately how to transcend all of them.

Ken Wilber, Spirituality in the modern world, DVD.

buy cialisbuy cialisbuy levitrabuy levitrabuy propeciabuy propeciabuy somabuy somabuy levitrabuy cialisbuy propeciabuy levitrabuy somabuy cialisbuy propeciabuy levitrabuy somabuy cialisbuy levitrabuy propeciabuy soma

“I think meditation is extremely important and don’t ever let anybody tell you that it’s just not having any impact on the world. You’re changing the fundamental fabric of the cosmos when you meditate.”

Ken Wilber

The KTC Meditation-Thon 2008 begins January 31 at 8:00 a.m. and runs through February 7 at 8:00 a.m. For the week of the Meditation-Thon we have someone sitting in meditation at the Center 24 hours a day. This is the major yearly fund raiser for the Center and we ask people to collect pledges from friends, family members and acquaintances at the rate of $1 per minute of meditation. If you would like to meditate and raise funds or contribute funding for someone who will be sitting, contact the center at KTC’s Karma at Ktcminneapolis dot org, with M-Thon 08 in your e-mail subject line. We would be very happy to have you join us for this event which is dedicated this year to a sustainable Earth.

The KTC Meditation-Thon 2008 begins January 31 at 8:00 a.m. and runs through February 7 at 8:00 a.m. For the week of the Meditation-Thon we have someone sitting in meditation at the Center 24 hours a day. This is the major yearly fund raiser for the Center and we ask people to collect pledges from friends, family members and acquaintances at the rate of $1 per minute of meditation. If you would like to meditate and raise funds, or contribute funding for someone who will be sitting, contact the center at KTC’s Karma at Ktcminneapolis dot org. We would be very happy to have you join us for this event which is dedicated this year to a sustainable Earth.

The following quote written by eminent scholar and Buddhist practitioner of note Robert A. F. Thurman is from his Introduction to The Way Of The White Clouds by Lama Anagarika Govinda.

… as we begin the twenty-first common era century in hopes of not repeating the violence of the world wars and genocides of the previous ones - it is crucial that we face up to some important lessons that Lama Govinda tirelessly taught. Western culture, based on the religious forms of Christianity and Islam, which, in Lama’s words, “lost themselves … by overpowering the human mind through the dictatorship of a partially world-creating and at the same time world-negating spirit,” is still relatively uncivilized, focused on the external conquest of other civilizations, violence, war, imperialism, and a rampant need for material possession and self-aggrandizement. Contrary to its inflated self-image, it is not the most advanced culture the world has yet seen. Its very developed material technology is, in fact, put to the childish uses of violent destruction and thoughtless consumption. Its worst problem is its foundational confusion, which leads those of us under its thrall to feel disconnected from nature. Hence we tend to be not responsible for the consequences of our actions, and distract ourselves from the extreme danger of destroying everything in our path by the irrational promise of either a blissful salvation by an absolutely disconnected omnipotent “God” or else a blissful oblivion.

Hence our barbarous culture - I do not call it a “civilization” - poses the ultimate threat to planetary life, to all the human beings of other more ancient and better balanced cultures, all other life forms, and the eco-system itself. … The urgent need, therefore, is for we bearers of ths unbalanced, disconnection culture to rediscover our interconnection with the rest of life, our infinite responsibility to ourselves and all other living beings, the extreme negative danger of our continuing on the path of destruction and consumption, and the positive potential for us to find a reliable happiness within our own souls, to conquer our own inner negative habits, and to cultivate our infinite capacity for love and joy.

The Buddhist world movement is not accurately thought of simply as a “world religion,” undersood as a set system of beliefs and institutions that parallel those of religions. It can be viewed that way with some validity - indeed both proponents and opponents do so - but it is only one-third a religion at most. It is more fundamentally a way of living and a pattern of ethics, a basis for numerous civilizations that emphasized individualism, wisdom, gentleness, altruism, and universal equality. And it is a way of understanding the world, a tradition of sciences based on the possiblilty of human beings developing a complete and accurate understanding of the realities of life and death. Its fundamental teaching intends to help beings understand their causal interconnection with all life, find the causes of all their sufferings, intervene to prevent those causes from giving their effects, and achieve the evolutionary goal of enduring and shareable happiness. It is therefore just what the victim/bearers of a confusion, violence-, and greed-based culture need to cure their self-imprisoning malaise and world-endangering malfunction.

“Let us pray for world peace, social justice, and environmental balance, which
begin with our own breathing.
I breathe in calmly and breathe out mindfully.
Once I have seeds of peace and happiness within me, I try to reduce my selfish
desire and reconstitute my consciousness.
With less attachment to myself, I try to understand the structural violence in the
world.
Linking my heart with my head, I perceive the world holisitically, a sphere full of
living beings who are all related to me.
I try to expand my understanding with love to help build a more nonviolent
world.

I vow to live simply and offer myself to the oppressed.
By the grace of the Compassionate Ones and with the help of good friends, may
I be a partner in lessening the suffering of the world so that it may be a proper
habitat for all sentient beings to live in harmony during this millenium.”

Contributed by Stu Webb, from the book,
“Mindful Politics: A Buddhist Guide To Making The World A Better Place”, ed. by Melvin McLeod, (Wisdom Pub. 2006)

Here’s a list of helpful websites collected by our sangha:

www.pbs.org Go to the News Hour area of the site. Search on Climate Change. Excellent information.

www.stepitup07.org The site for the 2007 National Day of Climate Change Action. An amazing grass roots arising.

www.ewg.org

www.carbonfund.org/site/
hm-treasury.gov.uk/

www.climatecrisis.org

www.fresh-energy.org

www.newdream.org

www.coopamerica.org

www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca/rcbtoa

http://www.ipcc.ch/ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This is an international panel on climate change developed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/ Goddard Institute for Space Studies: research at GISS emphasizes a broad study of global climate change.

(This list does not constitute an endorsement of any political organization)

As part of our routine meditation practice, many of us take a bodhisattva vow, a promise to live our lives and pursue our meditative development so as to benefit all sentient beings. It sometimes sounds rather abstract. Such motivation, however, can result in profound changes in the way we live.

Here are some thoughts by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, taken from the Buddhist Ecology Link, a newsletter distributed through the Network of Buddhist Organizations (NBO):

“I believe that to meet the challenge of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for his own self, family, or nation, but for the benefit of mankind. Universal responsibility is the real key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace, the equitable use of natural resources and, through concern for future generations, the proper care for the environment…The natural environment sustains the life of all beings in the world; it is important that we all take whatever steps we can to preserve and maintain it before it is too late.”

His Holiness Gyalwa Karmapa XVI & His Holiness Gyalwa Karmapa XVII Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Click on the “Our Sangha’s Footprint” page under ‘Pages’ in the righthand column of this blog to read about our sangha’s footprint. of course!

Properly applied the practices of Tibetan Buddhism facilitate shifts in consciousness to higher levels where true, far-reaching wisdom manifests. Real wisdom is so rare there’s almost no reason to mention it these days. Very few people know what it is, why we need it, how different things would be if, on balance, people had it or at least could connect to it. Given the set of challenges the human race faces NOW, not some time in the future, we urgently need problem solving based in transcendent wisdom. For this reason alone, everyone should engage in meditation every day. All people free to do so should be doing daily meditation practice. Start now. Adopt a daily meditation practice. WAKE UP.

KTC First Light Ceremony 6:30a.m. 1 January 2007

May the poison of malicious enmity
Never arise in the mind of any one of us.
With loving minds, like the meeting of mother and child,
May all the world be filled with peace and happiness.
From the closing lines of the First Light Prayers. Written by H.E. Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche.

KTC will be doing its 2nd annual First Light Ceremony on New Year’s Day, 1 January 2007, beginning at 6:30 a.m. First Light is a ceremony that originated at KTD, KTC’s parent monastery, where 108 lamps, carrying the collective prayers for peace and harmony of all those who have contributed to their lighting, have been lit every day since January 1, 2000.

The First Light ceremony is dedicated to bringing a world of peace. Everyone is welcome to attend, but we request that you make a donation for a butterlamp dedicated to world peace. You can sponsor a lamp even if you will not be at the ceremony. Each person participating in KTC’s First Light will receive a copy of the First Light prayers. which can be read every morning upon arising. Each day the KTC First Light lamps supporting your intention for world peace will be lit on KTC’s shrine.

The approximate schedule for First Light is as follows:

6:30 a.m. Chanting of the First Light Prayers. There are 3 short prayers done in a plain chant. Each prayer is chanted 3 times in Tibetan and 3 times in English.
7 a.m. Green Tara Puja with Tsok. You may chant or follow along silently. The puja is in Tibetan but is transliterated and translated into English. Chanting usually requires some practice. Green Tara puja, open to everyone, is done every Thursday morning from April - Dec at 5:45 a.m. at KTC. Check our online calendar for the odd exception to this schedule. If you want to practice, feel free to come to this group practice.
8 a.m. Closing prayers and dedication.
8:15 a.m. Tea and Treats.

First Light butterlamp donation amounts: $1.50 per day. $45 per month. $540 per year. Or other amount in multiples of $1.50.

Please RSVP your lamp donation amount, and whether you will join us to do the practice on 1 January, to Marva Bohen. To reduce spam here is her email address typed out: bohen001 at umn.edu. You should replace the word “at” with the “at sign” when you send your RSVP email. Materials need to be prepared for all participants.

Main KTC Shrine, Amitabha Puja to assist Sonam’s father, Ogyen Namdol.

Working on the new steps in the Meditation Garden.

Sonam la on the new Meditation Garden steps.