Sakya Thupten Dargye Ling, the Minnesota Sakya Center, is the Minnesota branch of Tsechen Kunchab Ling, seat of the Sakya Dolma Phodrang in the Americas. Our mission is to provide authentic Buddhist teachings and support for Buddhist practice to members and the wider community.
At the Minnesota Sakya Center, we strive to serve the spiritual needs of the local Buddhist community, provide Dharma teachings appropriate to many levels of interest and understanding, and ultimately preserve the teachings of the Buddhist traditions and the Sakya lineage of Tibet so that they may continue to flourish and inspire wisdom and compassion for all living beings.
Over the years, The Center’s primary activities have included inviting great teachers to our area and holding group study and meditation sessions. Additionally, it has supported our teachers’ Dharma endeavors, supported student monks in India, and helped with the publication of Dharma books.
Our Aspiration
It is our fervent wish and prayer that, with the enthusiastic support of our kind friends and members, and the blessings of the Great Masters, this Center will blossom and flourish, will continue to serve the spiritual needs of our community, and will bring great joy and meaning to all of our lives.
Our Tradition
The Sakya tradition is one of the four major religious traditions that existed in Tibet. It rose to play a significant role in the development and spread of the new Tantras that came to Tibet in the 11th century. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the holders of the Sakya tradition were also the principal political powers that ruled over Tibet. Although its political stature gradually declined over the centuries, emphasis on its unique religious traditions continued to be nurtured and sustained. Consequently the Sakya tradition strengthened and flourished and produced many great and distinguished practitioners, saints, and scholars. The origins of the Sakya tradition are closely connected with the ancestral lineage of the Khön family: a family which itself originated from celestial beings. Beginning with Khön Konchok Gyalpo (1034-1102), the founder of the Sakya tradition, the lineage continues to be unbroken to this day.
Our Teachers
It has been our incredible good fortune that, due to the boundless compassion of the Lamas, the list of our visiting teachers reads like a “Who’s Who” of great Sakya masters. Read More about our teachers.
About Buddhism
The great Lord Buddha resolved to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings without exception. After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma. He taught what he realized to sentient beings so that we, too, can be led to the path, proceed along it, and gain liberation and enlightenment ourselves. Learn More.
In August, 2002, our Center was recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as a branch of Tsechen Kunchab Ling, seat of Sakya Dolma Phodrang in the United States.
Links
- Sakya Centre, Rajpur, India
- Official website of the Office of His Holiness the Sakya Trizin
- Sachen Foundation
- Ewam Choden Tibetan Buddhist Center, Kensington, California
- Sakya Dechen Ling, Oakland, California
- Tsechen Chokhor Ling, LA, California
- Sakya Institute for Buddhist Studies, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Sakya Kachod Choling Retreat Center, San Juan Island, Washington
- Sakya Monastery, Seattle, Washington
- Sakya Phuntsok Ling, Silver Spring, Maryland
- Sakya Tsechen Thubten Ling, Richmond, BC Canada
- Vikramasila Foundation, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Vermont
- The Sakya Tradition
- Dharma Sprouts