KSDL is a Vajrayana Dharma Centre, offering weekly and monthly meditation classes and deity practice. Our weekly practices include Calm Abiding meditation classes Tuesday evenings at 7, Green Tara practices Saturday mornings at 10, and the combined practices of Calling The Lama From Afar, White Tara and Chenrezig on Sunday mornings at 10. Everyone is welcome to attend these weekly practices either in-person at the temple or online. Our monthly schedule includes the practices of Medicine Buddha, Chod, Mahakala and Karma Pakshi, and our yearly special events include Vajrakilaya, Amitabha, Konchok Chidu, and others. Please see SCHEDULE for dates and times.
Annually, KSDL organizes the Toronto Kagyu Monlam, a three-day prayer festival dedicated to world peace and happiness for all beings. This event, which usually falls on the last weekend in June, draws over 40 Sangha members and 400 participants, and is held at the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre in Etobicoke. On the third day of the Kagyu Monlam it is customary to celebrate HH Karmapa's Birthday with prayers, a rice and tea ceremony and birthday cake. All are welcome to share in the Kagyu Monlam.
KSDL presents Dharma teachings on a regular basis by Resident Lama Tenzin and many visiting teachers. Over the years we have been blessed with teaching visits by great masters such as His Holiness Sakya Trizin, Her Eminence Khandro Rinpoche, the Venerable Mingyur Rinpoche, Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsulnam Rinpoche, and other illustrious scholars and teachers. These teachings are open to all. Offerings may be made by donation.
In 2017, KSDL had the honour of hosting His Holiness the 17th Karmapa on his first visit to Canada, in conjunction with the Karma Kagyu Association of Canada. Organized by KSDL and the other Kagyu temples of the Toronto area, His Holiness spoke at the University of Toronto, the TCCC, and the Enercare Centre, which drew an audience of close to 5000 people. In 2019 HH the Karmapa was invited to return to deliver a three-day teaching and bestow the empowerment of Chenrezig, but had to cancel at the last minute due to health reasons. Over 4000 devotees attended the Beanfield Centre in Toronto to receive the teachings and blessing of His Holiness via webcast. We anticipate a return visit of His Holiness in the near future.
KSDL has several ongoing projects. We have built and maintain a hospital in the remote region of Yushu, Tibet, where medical care was previously difficult to access. Donations to the Yushu hospital are needed on an ongoing basis and are much appreciated.
In an effort to preserve the rich traditions of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, KSDL has hosted a 7-week Tibetan Language Camp for the past eight summers, which has drawn over 80 Tibetan youth annually. At the camp, the students study Tibetan language, meditation and Tibetan dance at a TDSB school, and also enjoy swimming, meditating and picnicking in a natural environment. Your support for the Tibetan Language & Heritage camp would be of great assistance to teachers, parents and campers of this valuable program..
KSDL has plans to build a new temple, which will include a residence for HH the 17th Karmapa, on the land we presently own on Maynard Avenue in Parkdale. For several years we have been working on the designs with our architect and meeting with the Toronto City Planning Dept, and we are happy to say that we will soon be receiving the building permit. We look forward to creating a traditional Tibetan temple which will provide a more spacious venue for prayer, meditation, and community events, along with improved quarters for resident and visiting lamas, and the comfortable residence for His Holiness when he returns to visit and teach in Toronto. We invite you to be a part of this very exciting and auspicious endeavor.
Please see PROJECTS for more information on how you can donate to the hospital in Tibet and/or the Tibetan Heritage camp and/or the New Temple Project. We thank you for your kindness and interest.
KSDL will continue to provide a haven for people of all ethnicities and backgrounds to study, contemplate and practice Tibetan Buddhism. We are sincerely dedicated to providing a sanctuary for the preservation of Tibetan philosophy, art, dance, music, customs and language. We are devoted to community outreach programs and are happy to provide a venue for special events such as weddings and community gatherings. The Lamas of KSDL can be contacted to perform house blessings and private pujas such as prayers for the ill and end-of-life ceremonies.
Karma Sonam Dargye Ling is dependent upon donations to maintain its programs. Contributions are vital for our temple and endeavors to continue and expand. Memberships are available for those who would like to support KSDL on a ongoing basis. For information on KSDL membership please see the MEMBERSHIP link. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.
May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all who enter our site, and all beings everywhere, receive the infinite blessings of the glorious Dharma. Sarva mangalam!
KSDL ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY
At Karma Sonam Dargye Ling (KSDL) we believe all our community - our resident and visiting Lamas, members, practitioners, board members and visitors - have the right to visit, study and practice Buddhism at our temple free from all prejudice and abuse. KSDL considers all forms of diversity a positive and enriching experience to be celebrated. We are therefore committed to a strict zero tolerance policy on any discrimination, harassment or bullying regarding sexual conduct, race, sex, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, beliefs and socio-economic background.
We actively uphold the right of every individual and group within our community to be equitably treated with dignity and respect. We fully support and encourage anyone who is experiencing/has experienced or witnessed any form of discrimination, harassment or bullying to come forward and tell us, and to receive support and advice; no act is considered too small to be addressed.
We take all such allegations seriously and will investigate thoroughly to ensure any such behaviour is challenged and that any appropriate actions are taken, in order to ensure that KSDL continues to provide a safe sanctuary for the study and practice of Buddhism and affiliated activities.
We at KSDL are openly committed to creating a secure, welcoming, and friendly environment, free from all racism, sexism, sexual misconduct, violence, bullying, and any form of sexual, physical, verbal or emotional abuse. Thank you for your compliance and for your compassionate consideration of others.
Lama Tenzin and the KSDL Board of Directors