It’s been 10 years since an arson fire destroyed the old Columbus Karma Thegsum Chöling Meditation Center in Franklinton, and now, at last, external construction on the center is complete and we are ready to formally dedicate our building!
With the help of Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin, abbot of our “home” monastery Karma Tiryana Dharmachakra in Woodstock NY, and in the presence of our honored guest Lama Tashi Dondup and other khenpos and lamas, we will consecrate and inaugurate our building in ceremonies from 9 AM to 4 PM Saturday, May 9, 2026.
We can’t wait for you to join us for this joyous occasion to practice offerings and gratitude for our new spiritual “home!”
The Dedication Celebration will have three parts:
- Morning consecration prayers (called puja) from 9-10:30 AM
- An Opening Ceremony for the new temple at 11 AM
- Afternoon Offering and Mantra prayers from 2-4 PM
Due to limited space in the shrine room, in-person attendance for the Morning and Afternoon prayer services will be by REGISTRATION ONLY through EventBrite.
To ensure that the maximum number of Sangha members, volunteers, and friends can attend, we are setting up an Eventbrite registration system for a total of 100 tickets – 50 for the morning prayer session and 50 for the afternoon prayer session.
You can request a ticket for EITHER the morning OR the afternoon session, not both.
Those holding AM tickets will be welcome to sit in the Community Room in the afternoon to watch the pujas on TV monitors.
Those holding PM tickets will be welcome to sit in the Community Room in the morning to watch the pujas on TV monitors.
To register for either the morning or afternoon prayer session, please click here.
Once all 100 tickets have been claimed, a waitlist will form on EventBrite.
Those on the waitlist will be contacted if additional seats become available..
However, the 11 AM Opening Ceremony will be webcast live on Columbus KTC’s YouTube and Facebook pages. Join us from anywhere!
And there will be a Zoom attendance option for our “long-distance” dharma friends to watch the Saturday programs online. ZOOM Link included in Registration Confirmation email.
About the Day
Both prayer services will include Tibetan chants and offerings. In the morning we recite consecration prayers; in the afternoon we will ask the blessing of the lamas, yidams, and protectors.
We won’t have prayer books for all the chants (some will be in Tibetan only), and all seating will be in chairs without tables, but your personal prayers and mantras will help us bless our space, so registrants can bring your malas pray along!
Schedule for the day includes:
9 AM – 10:30 Opening prayers and “Lunar Ambrosia” consecration puja
- Tashi Prayer
- Tengye Monlam
- Chokju Duzhi
- Dzamling Dewei Monlam
10:30 AM – Break
11 AM to 12 noon – Official Opening Ceremony
- Keynote Speaker: Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin
- Additional Speaker: Lama Kathy Wesley
12 noon: Lunch Break – All morning and afternoon registrants will receive a vegetarian box lunch. Regrettably, we cannot provide vegan or gluten-free options for this meal.
2 PM – 4 PM Karma Pakshi Guru Sadhana with Offerings
4 PM. Grand Dedication of Merit and end of pujas
Volunteers needed!
Would you like to volunteer to help during the day? We will need assistance with parking lot traffic control, crossing guards to protect pedestrians, tea service during the pujas, lunch cleanup, supply runs and more. Contact Assistant Director Chuck Drake, director@columbusktc.org to volunteer. Morning and afternoon shifts available.
And if you can’t be with us …
Please join us at a distance by reciting the Tashi Prayer for our sangha and community.
May these activities benefit all sentient beings. May there be peace in the world, and in our hearts..
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Headline:
SPECIAL SUNDAY EVENTS!
Teaching and Prajnaparamita Empowerment on May 10
We’re so blessed to have Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin and Khenpo Sangye Trinley visiting us for the Dedication of the New KTC Building on Saturday May 9.
To offer even more blessings to our sangha members and friends, we will include Special Events – including a teaching and the empowerment of Prajnaparamita, the feminine aspect of wisdom – to our regular Sunday program on Sunday May 10.
Here’s the Sunday Schedule for May 10. please join us!
10 AM Open Meditation (Main Shrine Room)
10 AM Medicine Buddha puja (Children’s Classroom)
10 AM Introduction to Meditation Class
11 AM Tea break
11:30 AM Introduction to Buddhism Class (Classroom)
11:30 Dharma Talk – Main Shrine Room with Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin. Khenpo Ugyen will be offering a special 90-minute Dharma Talk on “The Heart Sutra”
ALL Sunday MORNING EVENTS are open to the public in celebration of our Building Dedication.
1 PM – Snack lunch (Community Room)
Special Event: Prajnaparamita Empowerment
3-5 PM Main Shrine Room
By Registration Only – through EventBrite
To conclude our Dedication Weekend Events, Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin will bestow the rare and profound empowerment of Prajnaparamita, a feminine embodiment of the wisdom that dwells in every being. Refuge Vow required to attend. To register, click here.
Please join us to receive the blessings of the “Mother of All Buddhas” on Mother’s Day!
Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin received the Acharya degree from Nalanda Institute and Sapurnanand Sanskrit University, jointly, in 1991. He taught at Nimalung Monastery in Bhutan, and then at Nalanda Institute in Rumtek, where he was Senior Abbot/Principal Teacher. His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa asked Khenpo Ugyen to go to Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in 2005. Khenpo Ugyen has since completed a 3-year retreat at Karme Ling Retreat Center, and was appointed abbot of KTD in September, 2021.
Khenpo Sangye Trinley was asked by His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, to come to live at KTD monastery in upstate NY in 2019. He currently serves as a translator at KTD.
He studied Buddhist philosophy and Sutrayana at Karma Shri Nalanda Institute and Mantrayana at Palpung Sherabling monastery. He is an abbot of Dilyak Monastery.