Karuna Buddhist Center

08/31/2026

Today, our community gathered to honor the animals who share our lives—not simply as pets, but as sentient beings who seek happiness and wish to be free from suffering.

Through the recitation of healing and blessing mantras, we offered prayers for the health, well-being, longevity, and peaceful lives of our beloved animals. We also performed a special ceremony for animals who have passed away, dedicating our prayers toward their peaceful transition and favorable rebirth.

From a Buddhist perspective, every compassionate action, mantra, and blessing can plant a seed of awakening—creating a connection to the Dharma that may ripen into liberation in a future life. Whether we came with a living companion, a photograph, or the memory of an animal we loved, we gathered in recognition of the immeasurable value of every life.

We hope to continue offering this ceremony as a meaningful way to serve our community and share immeasurable blessings with the animals who bring us so much joy, comfort, and unconditional love.

May all beings be free from suffering.
May all beings experience happiness and its causes.
May every animal receive the conditions for peace, awakening, and liberation. 🐾🙏

08/28/2026

Compassion in Action: Walking With Lama Nancy to Help End Hunger

At Karuna Buddhist Center, compassion is more than something we cultivate on the meditation cushion. Buddhist practice continually invites us to ask a deeper question: How does a compassionate heart show up in the world? This year, Lama Nancy Burks is helping our sangha answer that question by participating in the 2026 CROP Hunger Walk, raising funds to support people facing hunger in our local communities and around the world....

At Karuna Buddhist Center, compassion is more than something we cultivate on the meditation cushion. Buddhist practice continually invites us to ask a deeper question: How does a compassionate hear…

08/27/2026

08/24/2026

What a powerful retreat weekend.

From August 20–23, our community gathered for a deep and intensive retreat with Khenpo Tshering Chophel and Master Winnie of Triple Crane Retreat Center. The days were full, demanding, and deeply nourishing—bringing together meditation, Dharma teachings, advanced qigong practice, shared meals, and sincere practice in community.

Khenpo Chophel continued his teachings on the Ānāpānasati Sutta, guiding us deeper into the sixteen steps of mindfulness of breathing. Master Winnie led us through powerful qigong practices that helped integrate the teachings directly into the body—awakening energy, loosening tension, and supporting a fuller experience of presence.

We are especially grateful for the newcomers who joined us for this retreat. It was beautiful to welcome new faces into our community and to practice together with such openness, sincerity, and joy.

This retreat was made even more special as we also had the joy of celebrating Master Winnie’s birthday together. We are deeply grateful for her wisdom, generosity, and joyful presence, and for the powerful way she continues to share qigong as a living practice of healing and transformation.

A heartfelt thank you to Master Winnie and Triple Crane Retreat Center for the powerful qigong instruction, warm hospitality, and amazing home-cooked food that helped nourish everyone throughout the retreat. The combination of Dharma, movement, breath, food, and community made this retreat truly special.

May the benefits of this practice continue to unfold in our daily lives, and may whatever peace, clarity, and compassion we cultivated be shared for the benefit of all beings.

08/01/2026

Happy Pride, Ann Arbor! Come stop by our tent east of Liberty and Division, rain or shine.

06/26/2026

On this auspicious day, the birthday of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, we gathered as a community of practitioners for a joyful Vajrasattva feast offering. Together, we celebrated His Holiness, strengthened our connection as a sangha, and dedicated the merit for the benefit of all beings!

05/26/2026

Results of 2026 Annual Membership Meeting

On May 21, 2026, members of Karuna Buddhist Center and the center's board gathered for the Annual Membership Meeting to reflect on a year of growth, service, and community connection. To read the minutes of the general membership and board meetings, click here. The meeting included several board updates. Leslie Rutkowski joined the board as Secretary, while longtime Secretary William Yeshe Soergel transitioned into a Director role and we thanked Matt Willis for four years of dedicated board service....

On May 21, 2026, members of Karuna Buddhist Center and the center’s board gathered for the Annual Membership Meeting to reflect on a year of growth, service, and community connection. To read…

05/25/2026

Yesterday, Khenpo La participated in Triple Crane Retreat Center’s Saga Dawa Düchen celebration, joining the community in honoring this sacred season.

Saga Dawa is the special month when Buddhists commemorate the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana. It is a time for reflection, devotion, generosity, and renewing our commitment to the path of awakening for the benefit of all beings.

As part of this celebration, we will hold a Buddha bathing ceremony. In this beautiful and symbolic ritual, participants gently pour water over an image of the baby Buddha. This act represents the purification of our obscurations, harmful habits, and delusions, while also awakening faith, humility, joy, and the sincere wish to cultivate wisdom and compassion.

The ceremony reminds us that the Buddha-nature is not something distant or separate from us. It is the pure potential already present within each being, waiting to be uncovered through practice, kindness, and awareness.

Our sangha, together with Ann Arbor Karma Thegsum Choling, will celebrate this Sunday, May 31, from 10:30 AM to noon, followed by a potluck lunch at noon.

Please join us for this joyous and meaningful occasion as we gather in community, devotion, and aspiration for the welfare of all beings.

05/08/2026

In a recent teaching, Khenpo Chophel shared that the specific purpose of the four establishments of mindfulness is to gain direct insight into the nature of our own body and mind. This wisdom acts as the primary tool to transform the destructive emotions that keep us bound in cycles of repetitive struggle.

By looking closely at our experience, we begin to see things as they truly are—witnessing the flow of impermanence, the reality of suffering, and the core truth of selflessness. In the Mahayana tradition, we recognize this deeper perspective as emptiness: the profound openness that allows for genuine liberation.

True mindfulness is more than just being present; it is a clear-seeing that unties the knots of our own confusion.