BIG NEWS! KTC Is Coming HOME!

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It’s been nearly six years since a fire destroyed the Columbus Karma Thegsum Chöling Tibetan Buddhist Center, and after years of fundraising, discussion, meetings with building experts and officials, and work with project managers and contractors, we are happy to say the new KTC building is a reality! 

This past Friday, 16 months after the first shovels of earth were turned over on our Rich Street property, city building officials gave their final approvals, and officials of the Hanlin-Rainaldi Construction Co. gave KTC Director Kim Miracle the keys to our new building. KTC is home at last!

Through the generosity of so many people and the hard work of Kim, Lama Kathy, Lama Tom, Lama Adam and all the KTC Board volunteers, past and present – including Michelle Evans, Bethany Dwinnell, Justin Fitch, Gina Kim, Marjorie Hill Langston, Lance Moyer, Steve Phallen, Tonya Schroeder, Michael Smith, Stacey Berry and Eric Weinberg – we hope to begin moving into the new building in the next few weeks.

Some work still needs to be completed on the building, and we still lack some appliances and furniture, but we look forward to introducing all of our dharma friends to the new building in the next month or so.

We had hoped to have a Sangha Meeting THIS Wednesday, Jan. 12, to explain our reopening plans, but the COVID pandemic – especially with the arrival of the particularly contagious Omicron Variant – has caused us to rethink our plans. 

As such, we regret that we will need to POSTPONE our Sangha Meeting until after the Board can consult the physicians and volunteers on our Reopening Advisory Group to see if we need to revise our opening plans. 

We are sorry to have to put this important meeting on “pause” for a week or so, but we hope to have better plans to both introduce you to our new home, while at the same time keeping everyone safe. 

In the meantime, let’s all do a “happy dance” in our respective homes to celebrate the momentous milestone!!!  Many thanks to each of you for your support on the six-year journey!

Seeking Helpers to Unload Books and Shrine Items for KTC!

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Thanks to everyone who offered to help KTC receive the kind and generous gift of dharma books, shrine goods and other items from the collection of Michael and Margaret Erlewine of Big Rapids MI to Columbus KTC. We now have drivers who have agreed to drive the items in a 15-foot truck to Columbus, and a storage space to stow the items.

What we need now is folks who can help up unload the truck when it arrives, sometime between 1 and 3 PM on Monday Nov. 29 at the Extra Space Storage facility on Parkway Lane in Hilliard.

If you can help with this phase of the project, please email Lama Kathy at lamakathy@columbusktc.org to volunteer.

Thanks for your consideration – and may all beings benefit!

KTC Stupa Consecration THIS Week!

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Everyone loves surprises, right? Well, KTC got a big surprise last week when we learned that Lama Tashi Dondup would be coming to Columbus THIS week to help assemble and bless the Columbus KTC Stupa of Enlightenment.

What IS a Stupa?

Since the time of Buddha Shakyamuni, the stupa (the word means “mound”) has been used to represent the presence of enlightened energy in the world. The stacked geometric shapes suggest a Buddha sitting in meditation, and inside the stupa are relics, mantras, and dozens of tiny stupas (called tsa-tsa) that magnify its blessings.

KTC founder Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche said that standing before a stupa bearing relics is like being in the presence of the Buddha himself. We are so blessed to have this source of blessing on our campus!

More about stupas here: https://ktdblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/09/creating-a-stupa-of-awakening-to-honor-khenpo-karthar-rinpoche/

Stupa Blessing Week Events: 

Saturday Nov. 13, Sunday Nov. 14 and Monday Nov. 15.

The stupa will be assembled and blessed during special ceremonies held in small tents outside the KTC building over 2 ½ days. 

Pujas will run from 9 AM to 12 Noon and from 2 to 5 PM on Saturday and Sunday and 9 AM to 12 Noon Monday. 

Lama Tashi will be assisted by five monastics connected to our “home” monastery, Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in New York State: KTD Abbot Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin, Lama Thendup, Lama Tsultrim Gyaltsen, Lama Zangmo, and Tsunma Samten. 

Due to concerns about the highly contagious COVID Delta variant, we won’t be able to invite all of our dharma friends to attend every puja every day.  But we will offer special blessing opportunities from 4 PM to 4:30 PM on Saturday and Sunday, and 11 AM to 11:30 AM Monday, which you can attend by registering in advance.

Want to register? 

Want to help out? READ ON!

Help Feed our Visiting Lamas! 

Do you like to cook OR would you be willing to sponsor a meal for the lamas visiting Columbus KTC?  The lamas enjoy stir fries, Indian food, soups, salads and more.  Dietary guidelines and a list of recommended restaurants will be provided once you sign up. If you can help, please click this link: 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfU6ajRS5ymlfFeoqqpky_t1vQTD0kYFUS7s8XL9K_4ey0Y3g/viewform?usp=sf_link

Help Drive our Visiting Lamas! 

Are you available to drive lamas from their residence to Columbus KTC? Some of the lamas will be staying in the Short North and others will be staying at a home in Bexley. Exact pickup times will be confirmed soon.   All volunteers must be fully vaccinated and wear a mask at all times. 
If you can volunteer to drive, please click this link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6ciJMy5KWaNktpzs8jVniPCsifa19WQdw-REMV8A_FCm1fg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Help Serve During the Pujas! 

If you want to help make incense offerings and serve tea during the pujas, we have five shifts available – Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, and Monday morning. Volunteers will be outdoors during part of their shifts, so should dress warmly. All volunteers must be fully vaccinated and wear a mask at all times. 

If you can help, please click this link: 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddnKnlXFWqsoT2MOqfhzpI1TQGp9BhrsTa1tmY14vbAfY46Q/viewform?usp=sf_link

Ready for a Road Trip? KTC Needs Drivers!

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As you might have read on Facebook, Michael and Margaret Erlewine of Big Rapids Mi are downsizing and are ready to give Columbus KTC a large collection of shrine items, books, a teaching throne and a large shrine table.

We’d love to have the items, and need a couple of volunteers to go to Big Rapids and get them. 

Project will last two days – Big Rapids is a 6-hour drive – and volunteers should be prepared to drive a 16-foot UHaul truck. 

Interested? Contact Lama Kathy at lamakathy@columbusktc.org.

Many blessings and thanks!

Local Volunteers Needed to Help Sand and Seal

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We still need volunteers to help us sand and seal the 20 maple doors. There will be afternoon and evening shifts starting Sunday, August 29th through Saturday, September 4th. If you can help out, please click here to sign up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScXhnzknOIaB6Hga-1iydQP1aC–1_P5j_KHJo5BRQvPou1EQ/viewform?usp=sf_link


To keep everyone safe, we are asking volunteers to be fully vaccinated and prepared to wear masks while inside the building. That said, during the day, construction workers will also be in the building and do not wear masks. During evening and weekend shifts, there will only be Columbus KTC volunteers onsite.

All volunteer shifts take place at the same location as the old building but with a new address. The address is 645 W Rich St., Columbus, OH 43215. Look for a sign on the door to find out where to meet. 


A special thank you to ALL of the amazing volunteers that helped move, stain, seal and sand all the doors to date. We are so grateful for your hard work! May all beings benefit! 

KTC’s “next-to-last” move!

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It’s been 5 1/2 years since an arson fire destroyed the Columbus KTC building, and now, with the end of the construction project in sight, we can see “signs of life” on the horizon!


The latest harbinger of good things to come was our “next-to-last” moving party on Monday July 26. Just before 9 AM, a dozen volunteers gathered at our temporary location at the Congregation Tifereth Israel synagogue, and In just a matter of hours had packed all of our shrine items, cushions, prayer books and other materials into a rental moving truck for a short trip to a downtown storage locker. 

The Bardo of the Storage Locker: Bill Miracle, left, and Ron Hess, center, deliver folding tables to KTC’s downtown storage locker, where they will stay until relocated to our new building later this year. 


It was the end to a long sojourn for KTC and Tifereth Israel that had begun in the spring of 2016, when synagogue leaders, touched by the story of the arson fire that destroyed KTC’s building, invited KTC to use its Lower Social Hall for its weekly meditation sessions. From Spring 2016 until Spring 2020, the KTC conducted its Sunday morning dharma programs and Tuesday night Chenrezig pujas at TI. The synagogue permitted us to use its Lower Social Hall as well as an upstairs classroom, and over the four-year period, dozens of new people met the dharma in the social hall and classroom at TI. 


After the closure of TI in March 2020 due to the pandemic shutdown, KTC moved its weekly classes and meditations to the Zoom platform, where they will remain until KTC fully moves into its new building later this year.


KTC Director Kim Miracle described the relationship between KTC and TI as being “close,” and said she had a warm conversation with TI Executive Director Laura Moskow Sigal and Maintenance Coordinator Juan Pineda during the moving party this week. Kim said the two congregations may continue their cooperation in other ways in the future. “We are very grateful to Tifereth Israel for their kindness in hosting us these past few years,” she said. “We will miss them, and look forward to working with them again in the future.”

KTC’s Dharma Center Treasure Chests: Volunteers Tim Wagner (left) and Shrine Keeper Julane Goodrich (right) help stack plastic storage tubs holding shrine objects and supplies in the KTC storage locker. The items will “rest” in the locker until it’s time to move them into the new center. Thanks to everyone who helped on moving day!


Thanks to all who helped us with our “next-to-last” move. We do appreciate all you do for KTC!


PLEASE DONATE TO KTC’S REBUILDING FUND! We are still about $150,000 short of full funding for our rebuilding project. You can donate to the Rebuilding Project here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YMTXX46F2X7AG&source=url

Can’t Start Too Early for THIS Party!

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The question we hear most these days is “When will the new KTC open?”

The simple answer is “we don’t know,” and there are lots of reasons why this is so.

When construction on the new KTC center began on Sept. 8, 2020, the projected completion date was in March, 2021.  Since then, the date has slipped, month by month, mostly due to lack of availability of two important materials – steel and wood – and delays in completing vital areas of the building  – wood framing, to be precise.

But we are confident that Hanlin-Rainaldi Construction Co. will be able to complete the structure sometime this fall – possibly by Sept. 8, 2021!  We don’t know for sure, but we’re praying and hope you will pray along with us!

Although our opening days are still unscheduled, some of our stalwart Sangha members are already planning the decorations.  Paul Volker, a longtime friend of KTC and visual artist, is preparing do-it-yourself prayer flags for us to hang during our first week. 

Paul, a painter and illustrator who works in pixels, paper, wood, and found objects, has created hand-dyed blank prayer flags, that he will donate to KTC for the Opening – whenever it is!

BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP to get to opening day.

First, we need a SEAMSTER – someone who has a sewing machine and knows how to use it. Paul has the flags and material to string them, but we need to sew them together. Estimated time for the job is an hour or less. Contact Paul at paul@paulvolker.com.

Second, we’re still raising funds toward a $125,000 goal for our KTC Shrine. Want to help? Here’s the link to make a donation. May all beings benefit from your generosity!

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YMTXX46F2X7AG&source=url

KTC’s New Shrine Revealed – Cabinets!

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The centerpiece of KTC’s new shrine room will be its shrine cabinets, with glass doors and rich cherry wood surfaces. This drawing from KTC friend Shaun Goodfellow depicts the shrine cabinets at an angle, from the south to the north along the East Wall of the shrine room. The large image of the Buddha in the center is just a place-holder; the actual statue will be of the Buddha Vajradhara, the primordial Buddha and the nature of mind for all beings.

Our shrine is beautiful on paper, but it needs funding to become a reality. Donations of any size will help create a shrine that will bless our sangha (and everyone who sees it) for generations. May all beings benefit!

To donate:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YMTXX46F2X7AG&source=ur

Please consider a small monthly donation to help us realize our goal.

KTC Shrine Project: The Face of Wisdom

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Columbus KTC‘s Rebuilding Project is entering a new phase – we are now raising funds for our new shrine.

To give you a sneak peek, here is a photo from the workshop in Nepal where our main Buddha image is being created. Here is the face and shoulders of our statue, the Buddha Vajradhara, who symbolizes the enlightened essence in all beings. Imagine our visitors being blessed by seeing their Buddha nature in statue form. Exciting, right?


Click here to donate today!

KTC Building Update: Roofs and Walls and Floors!

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As you read elsewhere in the newsletter this week, KTC is entering a new phase of fundraising for its Rebuilding Project with work being done by the Shrine Design Team of Lama Karma Drodhul, Lama Tsultrim Yeshe, Lama Tsultrim Gyaltsend and others. 


But how are things going at the building site at West Rich and South Grubb streets?  We’re glad you asked!

Hanlin-Rainaldi Construction has completed the shingles on the “hip-roof” over the Shrine Room section of the building and is now applying special materials to the flat-roof section of the building over the office and classroom wing. Walls and Floors also are slowly taking shape, and builders hope the site will be “dried-in” – fully enclosed to the weather – in a couple of weeks. 


Meanwhile, bricks are being laid on the outside of the structure, and the entrance porticos on the north and west sides of the building are going in.

Want to donate? It’s easy – just go to our online giving portal here: 
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YMTXX46F2X7AG&source=url

Every dollar you give helps the center provide a “home” for meditation in downtown Columbus – benefits that will last as long as the building itself.

Thanks – and may all beings benefit!