The Journey Home: “Next Generation” Building Designs on View Dec. 12; “Sprint to the Finish Line” Rebuilding Campaign (with Donor Gifts!) through Dec. 31

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From left, Director Kim and Lama Kathy introduce the KTC to Franklinton Community leaders on Oct. 24 at The Idea Foundry

I. Building Community Interest in A Little Meditation Center

As autumn leaves fall, we approach the two-year anniversary of the fire that changed our lives at Columbus KTC.

January 31, 2016 will live in memory – first, as the date when our beloved shrine building was lost; but second, as the date Columbus KTC spilled out of its four walls and flooded Central Ohio with meditation and everyday blessings.

Before the fire, we were a bit shy but working our way out of our shell – our 10 a.m. Sunday meditation drew 5-30 visitors a week, and our Y Family Center dinners for the homeless, our prison project and our booth at the Community Festival let folks know we existed and were open to serve the public with meditation and Buddhist-style love and compassion.

After the fire, we were moved to make new friends outside our usual sphere.

The Sunday of the fire, a local church reached out and offered us a place to conduct our usual Tuesday night Chenrezig sadhana practice. Four days after the fire, we started making friends with local churches and religious groups at a prayer gathering given in our honor by the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio, and within a few weeks we were welcomed by Congregation Tifereth Israel, where we remain today.

Five months later, we expanded our offerings and partnered with Trinity Episcopal Church downtown to offer meditation instruction and practice every Wednesday at 12:15 p.m.; Midday Meditation Wednesdays is still on our calendar – stop by an see us sometime!

We also started reaching out to the local business community, meeting business people in Franklinton and Downtown Columbus to let them know our little meditation center could use their investment and support.

Our Franklinton neighborhood is changing, and it’s exciting for our center to be a part of this revitalization. It’s also great that more and more business people and young professionals are embracing meditation and mindfulness as part of their wellness discipline. So, reaching out to our friends in business seemed like a pretty good idea.

Our founder Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche actually gave us this advice early on: “find and meet friends who own businesses, and ask them to help you,” he said.

Those early contacts gave rise to more contacts, and the effort blossomed last month, when we sponsored a “meet and greet” for two dozen business friends at The Idea Foundry, a maker’s space and business incubator on West State Street in Franklinton.

We showed our new friends the plans for our new building, spoke about our service to the community, and encouraged them to invest in us. Over the next few weeks, we will be following up with them to see if they can donate to our vision of a new meditation center in Franklinton.

With the blessing of His Holiness Karmapa and with the blessing and prayers of Khenpo Rinpoche and the generosity of our own KTC members, we are getting closer to making our center a reality.

What’s next???

From Left: Bill Jones of Centerpoint; Lama Kathy; Director Kim; Treasurer Steve; and Architect Pete Macrae.

II. Our Building Plans: Updates, Upgrades and a Return to City for Review

This summer, our rebuilding project moved closer to reality when Centerpoint Construction of Columbus, led by principal engineer Bill Jones, came on board to help us.

Our beautiful initial plans (created by Wisconsin architect Keith Spruce with input and encouragement from the entire sangha) were then handed to a new team of architects, Pete Macrae and Peter Lenz.

“Peter and Pete” then began studying our vacant land at the corner of Rich and Grubb streets and made an in-depth analysis of City of Columbus Zoning and Building Codes to refine our plans and meet all local code requirements.

You’ll see the results of their work very soon, as we’re inviting the entire sangha to “Meet the Team” at a Sangha Meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday Dec. 12 at the KTC meditation space at Tifereth Israel.

Some highlights of their report include plans to provide more storage space and light in the main shrine room, an elevator and ramp to help make the center more accessible, a larger kitchen, and more downstairs storage space.

Once the designs are finished, we need to re-submit them to the East Franklinton Review Board for final approval. The EFRB already approved our initial plans, so we have a bit of a head start on the approval process.

Then, it’s on to the final planning phase – creation of construction documents. If all goes well, we will have a formal land blessing and consecration in the spring, and shovels will go into the ground soon after that. If all goes well, we could be in our new home at this time next year!

And should you ask, “how can we help?” Well…

III. A Sprint toward the Finish Line: KTC Fundraising Enters a New Phase!

The KTC Rebuilding project continues to excite and inspire people, both in our local sangha and in dharma centers around the world.

Ever since His Holiness the 17 th Gyalwang Karmapa personally gave our project his prayers and blessings when we met him in June and July, we’ve made good progress on our $1.4 million initial construction goal.

By the time we opened our Sangha Pledge Drive on July 31, we’d received almost $900,000 in insurance and fundraising proceeds, leaving about $513,000 to raise.

Then, the Hummingbird Fund of Christina and Jim Grote blessed us with a $100,000 challenge grant. If we could raise $100,000 they would match the cash and pledges dollar for dollar up to a total of $100,000!

Filled with the wish to benefit beings, and inspired by the Hummingbird Fund challenge grant, our KTC sangha members answered the call and generously pledged more than $20,000 in just a few weeks!

Since then, more than half of our community has pledged, and many will be receiving Donor Gifts (see below!) for pledging $700 or more. The generosity of our little group has warmed our hearts!

We’ve also been amazed by the folks who have pitched in to help our little sangha reach its goal: our founder Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche; his many Asian students, the Ocean of Merit donor group; KTC centers; grant writers; and now local business people and community leaders.

We’re building quite a team, and that team is going to help us meet our goal.

Now that we have a team, we’re going to encourage all of them to help us make A Sprint Toward the Finish Line between now and Dec. 31, 2017.

As our teachers have told us, helping build a dharma center provides immense merit, as thousands of people see, interact and are inspired by the dharma represented by our new center. The benefit of this virtue accrues both to those who give as well as those who rejoice in the giving. So, no matter how you participate, you have a chance to benefit all sentient beings.

But if you’d like to help out with our “Sprint Toward the Finish Line,” here are some great reasons for you (and perhaps your family, or your friends) to give between now and Dec. 31.

This Is a Great Time to Give, Part 1: Matching Grant Doubles Your Gift!
As mentioned above, Christina and Jim Grote have confidence in Khenpo Rinpoche’s vision and KTC’s plans, and have offered to match any pledge or gift made up to $100,000. Giving between now and Dec. 31 helps us meet the match, and can give some folks an end-of-the-year tax advantage, too.

This Is a Great Time to Give, Part 2: Donor Gifts ONLY from Now to Dec. 31!
Our friends at the Ocean of Merit donor group in Asia and the United States have been incredibly generous during our initial construction fundraiser, giving us more than $170,000 in donations.

But they also are offering DONOR GIFTS to anyone who donates (or pledges and makes their first pledge payment) by Dec. 31, 2017.

  • $700 donation receives a 108-bead green sandalwood mala blessed by His Holiness Karmapa
  • $1,000 donation receives a 4-inch Guru Rinpoche statue
  • $1,500 donation receives a 4-inch statue of Guru Rinpoche AND a pendant prayer wheel
  • $2,000 donation receives a fine wood hand-held prayer wheel
  • $2,500 donation receives a 12-inch Guru Rinpoche statue

Donations and pledges (along with first pledge payment) MUST be received by 12 midnight on Dec. 31, 2017 to qualify for Donor Gifts. As gifts are being shipped from Asia, allow up to three months for delivery.

This Is a Great Time to Give, Part 3: Three-Year Payment Plan Makes It Easy!
If you pledge by Dec. 31, you will have three years (until Dec. 31, 2020) to make your payments. Giving becomes easy when your gift-giving comes in small monthly payments.

All gifts are tax-deductible, and will be acknowledged with a thank-you card and/or receipt.

To donate, please click here, and/or contact treasurer Steve Phallen at treasurer@columbusktc.org.

Short on Funds, but Want to Participate? Join the Prayer Team!

We’re also looking for people to join our Prayer Team. If you would like to join, write to me at kmwesley@me.com and I’ll send you a lovely 8 ½ by 11 copy of the Tashi Prayer.

Also known as the Prayer of the Eight Noble Auspicious Ones, the Tashi Prayer – in which the names of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are chanted as a means of invoking their presence, inspiration and support – helps bring auspiciousness to any endeavor.

If you can chant the Tashi Prayer for us daily, you can help clear away obstacles to the rebuilding and help our transition to our new home becomes smoother and more full of blessing. It takes about 3 minutes to recite (either in Tibetan or English) and will be

However you choose to help, know that we are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers and are holding you with gratitude!!! May this project bring long lives to our spiritual teachers and benefit to all the sangha and sentient beings, far and wide!

Donor Gifts:

Lama Kathy’s Dharma Blog: Walking Each Other Home

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A friend of mine has a photograph of herself on a wall at her home marking her completion of her first-ever marathon race.

You’d think the image would be triumphant: a photo her smiling as she crossed the finish line; a photo in which she is cheered on by friends and supporters; or being doused with champagne to celebrate a race well-run.

But no; the image is of her lying sprawled out flat on the ground in her T-shirt and jogging shorts, in the shadow of a concerned onlooker worried for her safety.

At first I didn’t know what to make of this image; why did she feel such an affinity for it? Why did she display it so proudly? One would think embarrassment over having collapsed after crossing the finish line – even after accomplishing a 26.3-mile run – would overcome any sense of triumph she might have felt.

But it wasn’t the appearance that was being celebrated: it was the accomplishment itself, pure and unadulterated by ideas of what it was “supposed” to look like.

We can feel that way sometimes when we’ve undertaken any large task; we can hang back, worried about looking ragged and imperfect, fearful of mistakes or even failure. A giant task may seem too difficult for one person to handle, and it may make us feel alone and overwhelmed.

But this is where sangha, or community comes in. We can help each other forward, just by being mindful and aware – and willing to reach out, even if we don’t exactly know what to do.

The Columbus KTC is roughly half-way through its journey to find a new home. We’ve gotten through the basic building design, received provisional city permission and raised about $1 million, but now we have to complete our designs, permission and raise another $500,000.

This might feel a bit discouraging, especially since there’s so far yet to go. But what an amazing journey it has been, and what amazing friendships we have made along the way.

This past week about 25-30 local business people gathered at The Idea Foundry in Franklinton to look at KTC’s plans and hear our request for them to consider investing in our project – to help us create “a sanctuary of kindness in the center of the city.”

We spoke about the benefits of mindfulness and meditation, and encouraged them to think of us as a partner for wellness in the community. We told them about the $100,000 challenge grant from the Hummingbird Fund of Jim and Christina Grote, and asked them to consider helping us meet that match. We fed them and thanked them for their interest. We promised to call them back soon to check on their availability to help us.

In the usual insular world of local spiritual life, this might not have been possible – but these were unusual times, and KTC founder Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche encouraged us to reach out. “Find people with means and ask them to help you,” he said. So we invited 180 community leaders to a reception and asked them to assist.

This is how communities can grow and connect. We were so excited to meet them, and they were so excited to meet us. The dharma works in mysterious ways, and we hope to learn more about this soon.

But even if they cannot help us in tangible ways, they can help us with love and encouragement – and by introducing us to others who can help.

Meanwhile, at the KTC, we are heading into the winter season and will be hosting Lama Lodro Lhamo from KTD Monastery the second weekend in November. If you can help with the program – transporting cushions to First Community Church for our Friday night/Saturday sojourn there (Nov. 10 and 11) or helping set up and clean up at Tifereth on Nov. 12 – please contact KTC Director Kim Miracle at director@columbusktc.org.

And if you are visiting the KTC any given Sunday, and see people struggling to carry cushions and folding puja tables to and from the 10 a.m. Sunday pujas in the Nursery (off the atrium , where our Welcome Desk is located), please help them carry cushions and tables. And if you see lost folks with KTC badges on, greet them and help them get where they are going. And if you see a person looking down and forlorn, say a gentle hello and make them feel welcome.

As Ram Dass, the American Hindu teacher once said, “We’re all just walking each other home.” When we use the mindfulness we gain from meditation to notice the needs of other people and reach out to help them – or when we look up from our own struggle to take on a task all by ourselves and see others in the vicinity, and reach out and ask them to help us – we get a little closer to each other, and get a little closer to the “family feeling” that helps make Columbus KTC the most welcoming and warm Buddhist sangha in the city.

Our leadership team – Director Kim, Assistant Director Michelle, Treasurer Steve, Secretary Justin, and At-Large Member Eric – have been nothing short of remarkable, taking on so many tasks to keep the center open and flourishing while planning all the technical details of our new building. They are my heroes, and I ask that you continue saying the Tashi Prayer for them and the great work they are doing to bring us home again. They have taken on this work without pay and sometimes without a lot of sleep – along with taking care of their families and working full-time jobs – and are deserving of hugs and whatever good vibes that we can send their way.

It’s been a long road, and we have another year or more to go. When we finally trudge into our new dharma center in 2018, carrying a heavy load of cushions or books or furniture, we may be tired, and we may feel like collapsing in a heap in the center of the shrine room – but the accomplishment, the happiness of being home again – will certainly be worth it.

May all beings benefit from your work in the dharma, and your practice of meditation!

Tashi Prayer

Autumn Food Drive for Holy Family Pantry

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November 12th through November 26th, 2017

In honor of the upcoming autumn holidays, we’re excited to announce a joint effort led by Columbus KTC and Congregation Tifereth Israel to organize a drive for the Holy Family Food Pantry.

The drive will start on Friday, November 10th, the Buddhist Holiday of Lhabab Duchen, commemorating the Buddha’s Descent from Heaven. Please bring your donations to the 7 p.m. pubic talk by Lama Lodro Lhamo at the First Community Church, 1320 Cambridge Blvd in Upper Arlington.

Then, starting on Sunday, November 12th through November 26th, place your donations in plastic bins located in the Lower Social Hall at TIfereth Israel.

Our drive will honor both the Buddhist holiday of Lhabab Duchen and the national holiday, Thanksgiving, which is observed this year on Thursday, November 23rd.

Both these holidays provide us with the opportunity to give thanks, express gratitude and generate merit by supporting families living in the East Franklinton with donations of non-perishable food and toiletries. Your generosity will make a big difference for these moms, dads and kids!

The Holy Family Food Pantry requests items such as canned fruits and vegetables, canned or boxed juice, canned meat such as chicken or tuna, peanut butter, boxed crackers, and pasta as well as toiletries such as shampoo, deodorant, tooth paste, and baby diapers.

We are pleased to be joined in this effort by our hosts and friends in spiritual life at Congregation Tifereth Israel, where we have been conducting our weekly prayer and meditation services. We give thanks to them for helping us in our hour of need, and together we will help the families of East Franklinton.