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thekchen choling
Syracuse
Upcoming Activities
World-Renowned Thangka Artist to Lead Syracuse Workshop Sept. 5-6
Thomas Edwards has created more than a thousand traditional Tibetan Buddhist paintings.
Acclaimed Tibetan thangka artist Thomas Edwards returns to Thekchen Choling Syracusefor a weekend workshop, Sept. 5-6.
Open to adults with little or no artistic experience, the workshop explores thangka art as a spiritual practice. Thangkas are Tibetan Buddhist paintings that date back more than a thousand years.
Edwards will teach students how to paint two versions of the Medicine Buddha—one simple and one complex—in the traditional thangka style. “I will provide two drawings [of the Medicine Buddha] based on sacred Tibetan Buddhist iconography,” he says. “This way, you can focus on proper shading and coloring.”
The Cortland, New York, resident also will explain how painting and using a thangka can facilitate meditation, visualization and spiritual affirmation.
The schedule is as follows:
Saturday, Sept. 5
9:30 a.m. to noon: Session No. 1
Noon to 1:30 p.m.: Vegetarian lunch
1:30-4 p.m.: Session No. 2
5-7 p.m.: Gallery showing and sale
Sunday, Sept. 6
9:30 a.m. to noon: Session No. 3
Tuition is $175 and includes the cost of select supplies and Saturday’s lunch. Affordable onsite lodging is available to out-of-towners on a first-come, first-served basis.
To register for the workshop, visit https://thekchen-choling-usa.square.site/ and click on Medicine Buddha Thangka Workshop. For more information, contact Thekchen Choling at tccl.syracuse@gmail.com or 315.480.1088.
Edwards has devoted more than 25 years to the study and practice of Tibetan thangka painting. He spent three years at His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamshala, India, mastering the Menri style and tradition.
His specialty is the New Menri, or Lhasa, style. Popular in Tibet’s capital between the 1700s-1900s, Lhasa paintings are revered for their vibrant mineral colors and balanced iconographic proportions.
In fact, His Holiness fled Tibet with multiple Lhasa paintings during the 1959 Chinese invasion.
“I’m committed to preserving the ancient lineage of Tibetan Buddhist art while creating work that inspires contemplation, devotion and wisdom,” says Edwards, whose art hangs in private collections around the world and is featured in multiple books.
Thekchen Choling Syracuse belongs to a global family of Tibetan Buddhist centers founded by Singha Rinpoche. The 11-year temple is located at 109 East Avenue in Minoa, New York.
The workshop is part of Thekchen Choling Syracuse’s monthlong Medicine Buddha Vaidurya Healing Festival.
TCCL BEGINNER’S TIBETAN LANGUAGE CLASSES
Tashi Delek! Thekchen Choling Syracuse is currently taking registration for its on-line Beginner’s Tibetan Language Class with Ven. Lopen Ngawang Tsering. The class will begin on Friday, May 15th and run each Friday evening for eight (
weeks. The class will meet via Zoom on Fridays from 8:30 pm to 9:30 PM (EST).
HOW TO REGISTER:
The tuition for the class is $120 USD and is non-refundable. The payment can be made through our website: www.thek.us . Click on the red “support” button at the top right hand corner of the web page to enter our Square Store, and then scroll down to where you can click on the tile for the class. Once you have made your payment you are registered and you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link within a few days.
What will you gain from this class? You will:
— Become familiar with the Tibetan Uchen script.
— Be able to read, pronounce and write the full Tibetan alphabet.
— Begin to build a basic vocabulary of simple Tibetan words (numbers, days of the week, animals, foods, etc.).
— Learn to use practical daily Tibetan phrases.
— Be able to greet friends, elders, ordained sangha and teachers (honorific vs non-honorific).
(NOTE: To get the most from this 8-week introductory class, students will be expected to review and study class material for 2-3 hours per week between sessions.)
For more information, please contact Babette at 315-480-1088 or write to: tccl.syracuse@gmail.com
THE WHEEL OF COMPASSION:
A prayer wheel is believed to multiply the blessings of recited prayers, as each rotation of the wheel releases countless mantras into the world. Filled with millions of mani mantras, they help us to physically and mentally cultivate compassion and generate positive energy for ourselves and our environment.
Thekchen Choling Syracuse is currently embarking on a new project to bless our surrounding neighborhood with the presence of a Wheel of Compassion. This wheel designed in the Mongolian style will be located on our property and stand 5 ft high, decorated with 8 panels, each panel showing with one of the eight auspicious symbols.
Through your donation you can help Thekchen Choling Syracuse realize our goal of the construction of this sacred wheel to benefit all sentient beings. To make a general donation toward the construction of the wheel, or to sponsor one of the eight auspicious panels, please scan the QR code or click below
The Suggested Donation is $1,000
https://thekchen-choling-usa.square.site/
The Eight Auspicious Signs/Symbols
These Eight Auspicious Symbols of good fortune represent the offerings made by the gods Brahma and Indra to Shakyamuni Buddha immediately after he attained enlightenment. The Eight Auspicious Symbols are: the parasol, the golden fishes, the treasure vase, the lotus, the right-spiralling white conch shell, the endless knot, the banner of victory and the wheel.
The parasol represents the shade, or protection from the heat of suffering, desire, obstacles, illnesses, and harmful forces. The golden fishes symbolises happiness, freedom, fertility and abundance due to their rapid reproduction. The treasure vase attracts wealth and brings harmony to the environment, filled with wish-fulfilling jewels. The lotus is the symbol of absolute purity, it grows from mud but is unstained by it, free from defilements, emotional hindrances and obscurations.
The white conch shell is a symbol of religious sovereignty and an emblem which fearlessly proclaims the truth of the dharma. The endless knot symbolises the Buddha’s endless wisdom and compassion, denoting the interdependent origination as the underlying reality of existence. The victory banner symbolises eleven methods of overcoming defilements, such as skilful means and selflessness. Lastly, the wheel symbolises Buddha’s teachings and spiritual transformation, to overcome all obstacles and illusions.
About Thekchen Choling Syracuse
On the auspicious day of the 29th day of the eighth lunar month of the Wooden Horse year (22nd October 2014), Thekchen Choling USA (Syracuse) - a new temple for the cultivation and practice of Buddhadarma was officially established.
Our Mission: "Living and Propagating the Buddhadarma for the fulfillment of others and self".
Connecting All with Divine Hearts
About Us
A Buddha Relic Temple located in Central New York
It is said that merely seeing the relics of Lord Shakyamuni Buddha is the same as seeing the Buddha himself. Buddha relics are the crystallized remains that formed after the Buddha’s holy body was cremated in India over 2500 years ago. These relics are known to have tremendous power and can bring great blessings to individuals and the surroundings. Offered to Thekchen Choling Syracuse by Singha Thekchen Namdrol Rinpoche in 2014, the temple houses a small collection of Buddha relics on its altar for public viewing. Visitors to the temple are welcome and encouraged to sit, meditate and feel the Buddha’s blessings in the presence of these precious relics. (In special circumstances and upon request, these relics can be taken out into the community to hospitals, nursing homes and animal shelters to give blessings to those beings who are sick, dying or suffering in other ways.)
Our mission is to practice and propagate the Buddhadharma for the fulfillment of self and others.
We invite you to explore our web site via the links above, and to join us for events at the Thekchen Choling Vajrayana Temple.