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Special Events with
Ven Karma Lekshe Bhikkhuni

July 2014

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Overview

We welcome back our good friend and inspiring teacher Venerable Karma Lekshe Bhikkhuni for a few days in Bangkok. She is always warm company and well received. We will hold a couple of events with her on

• Wednesday 22nd – Heart of Wisdom Sutra. 6:30-8:30pm at Ariyasom Villa (note the later than usual end time)
• Saturday 26th – The Mindfulness Debates 9:30-11:30am at the Indus Restaurant

Events are free of charge, in English, and no need for advance reservation. Donations towards travel expenses welcome.

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Wednesday 23rd July 2014: 

Heart of the Wisdom Sutra – this is one of the most famous, and most beguiling of all the Mahayana Sutras. It is very short, but is thought to encapsulate the essence of Enlightenment. Thousands of great masters across the ages and continents have written treatises on it. You need to do your homework first! It will only take a few minutes to read (and a lifetime to understand). Here’s a link.

At Ariyasom Villa, Sukhumvit Soi 1 (map below)

Schedule:

• 6:30pm gather at Ariyasom for refreshments (or come earlier for informal chat)
• 6:50 go up to the meditation room
• 7:00-7:40 Talk on the Heart of the Wisdom Sutra
• 7:40-8:20 Questions
• 8:30pm Finish

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Saturday 26th July 2014

The Mindfulness Debates – These days practically all magazines are talking about mindfulness. It has become the modern watchword in therapy, and even Google are getting in on the act. But is it real mindfulness? Of course Buddhist purists might be a little reluctant to say so… Are there genuine differences between mindfulness in a secular environment divorced from it’s Buddhist origins? Get in on the discussion about on the Mindfulness Debate!

Talk, and discussion event at the Indus Restaurant, Sukhumvit Soi 26.

• 9:30 gather at the Indus
• 9:40 Talk on the topic by Bhikkhuni Karma Lekshe
• 10:30 Questions and discussion
• 11:15 Closing chant and food offering to the monastics
• 11:30 Finish

If you would like to stay a little longer the Indus offer a very generous discount on their lunch menu – the Indus dining is a really elegant experience, and a chance to lunch with some of the other Yogis in Bangkok.

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About our special guest:

While on a trip in India, Lekshe heard the teachings of Dalai Lama. She was convinced that she wanted to become a nun, and dedicate her life to service. Except for one problem: no monastery would accept her, because she was a woman.

So, Karma Lekshe started her own nunnery in the Himalayas and sure enough, became a Buddhist nun.

Today, decades later, she has drastically altered Buddhism’s view of women. As a PhD in comparative philosophy, author of several books, founder of a Himalayan nonprofit, professor at University of San Diego, president of International Association of Buddhist Women, Karma Lekshe is actively involved in interfaith dialogue and grassroot initiatives for empowerment of women.

Professor Tsomo received a B.A. in Oriental Languages (Japanese/Chinese) from the University of California, Berkeley; an M.A. in Asian Studies, an M.A. in Religion (Asian), and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Hawai‘i, Manoa. In addition, she studied at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India for 15 years. Since 2000 she has been an Associate Professor at the University of San Diego.

Scholarly and Creative Work

Professor Tsomo’s doctoral research focused on death and identity in China and Tibet. She is the author of Sisters in Solitude: Two Traditions of Monastic Ethics for Women and Into the Jaws of Yama, Lord of Death: Buddhism, Bioethics, and Death. Click here for all the titles by Lekshe Tsomo

She has produced several educational videos: “Sacred Ground: Consecrating a Village Temple in Spiti Valley,” “Women in Buddhism: Unity and Diversity,” and “Living and Dying in Buddhist Cultures.” click here for a full bio

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Venues

Ariyasom Villa is a beautiful boutique hotel and high class vegetarian restaurant in the heart of Bangkok. Head down Sukhumvit Soi one to the end of the soi and the hotel is there by the canal. Head out of Exit 3 at Ploen Chit BTS Station. It’s a 10 minute walk, or a couple of minutes by motorcycle on Suk Soi 1 (plus a few months off your life span!)
Click the image for a larger version:

Indus Restaurant

The map is perfectly clear :