KSD Johannesburg, a Tibetan Buddhist centre for meditation, came into being in 1994, through the foresight of Akong Tulku Rinpoche, and his representative in Africa, Rob Nairn. Akong Rinpoche wanted a Dharma centre on every corner to bring peace and harmony by providing access to practices such as mindfulness, meditation, and mind training, in order to tame our wild monkey minds. KSDJ Buddhist Centre has been serving in this capacity for the last 30 years.

In 2019, during a visit to KSDJ, Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche had a vision of a magnificent Temple in Johannesburg to inspire practitioners in Johannesburg, and the region, and to serve as the base in Africa for the activities of the next Akong Rinpoche. Despite many obstacles, Lama Yeshe persevered with an unwavering focus, and now the fortunate people of Johannesburg have a beautiful Temple at the Buddhist centre for meditation and Buddhist teachings.

We are delighted to invite you to the opening of the KSDJ Temple on Saturday, February 15, and Sunday, February 16.

Our Abbot, Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche will preside over the weekend, and we are also honoured to have visiting teachers, Lama Zangmo and Lama Zangpo. Events will include a talk by Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche, talks by Lama Zangmo and Lama Zangpo as well as a Milarepa tsok puja and other prayers.

On Sunday, there will also be the rare opportunity to take refuge, and precepts from Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche. Please let us know if you want to take refuge at johannesburg@kagyu.org.za, and please also indicate your gender so the lamas can prepare refuge cards. Lama Zangpo will explain about refuge and precepts before the refuge ceremony. If you have already taken refuge, you are welcome to attend the ceremony to renew your commitment, and you are also welcome to take precepts, but it is not necessary to receive a new refuge name.

Please see the schedule below. We would appreciate you letting us know that you are coming for the benefit of our sponsors who wish to offer a delicious spread for lunch each day. Please RSVP at johannesburg@kagyu.org.za, or WhatsApp +27 62 913 4436.

Also below are details of the further teaching programme for Lama Zangmo and Lama Zangpo over the following days.

 

Offerings & Dana

There will be no charge for these events at the Temple, however, donations towards the upkeep of the temple are welcome.

It would be very beneficial to bring offerings of fruit, cakes, sweets, chips etc for the Milarepa Tsok Puja on Saturday morning.

If you are able to, an offering of polished, semi-precious stones would be welcomed for the shrine.

There are also opportunities to sponsor a Buddha Rupa for the new Temple or to contribute to the Thangka Project.

 

Programme

Please double-check the venue for the events – KSD Johannesburg Temple, or our sister centre KSD Randburg.

Saturday 15^th Feb – KSD Johannesburg Temple

10:00 – 10:30 AM	Arrival and settling in the Shrine Room
10:30 – 11:15 AM	Address by Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche
	Break
11:30 AM – 13:00 PM	Milarepa Tsok Puja
13:00 – 15:00 PM	Lunch & Celebration
15:30 – 16:15 PM	Prayers

 

Sunday 16^th Feb – KSD Johannesburg Temple

6:00 to 7:00 AM	Green Tara Puja
	Break
9:30 – 10:30 AM	Refuge and Precepts – Lama Zangpo
	Break
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM	Refuge Ceremony – Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche
	Lunch Break
14:00 – 16:00 PM	Milarepa’s Song of Happiness – Lama Zangmo

 

Further Programme – Lama Zangmo

 

Mon 17th Feb: 10:30 –   12:30	Living and Dying with Confidence	KSD Johannesburg Temple
Tue 18th Feb: 19:00 –    20:30	The Three Trainings	KSD Randburg
21st to 23rd Feb	Cape Town Programme	KSD Cape Town
26th Feb – 2nd March	Harare Programme	Harare Buddhist Centre
Thu 6th to Sun 9th March	Retreat: Taming the Monkey Mind	Tara Rokpa Centre, Groot Marico

 

KSD Randburg Week Programme – Lama Zangpo – Mon 17^th to Thu 20^th Feb

Mon 17 Feb: 19:30 – 21:00	Meditation Session with Lama Zangpo:   Cultivating Inner Peace and Clarity	randburg@kagyu.org.za
Wed 19 Feb: 19:30 – 21:00	Lojong (7 Points of Mind Training)     Teachings – Applying Compassion in    Daily Life Part 1	randburg@kagyu.org.za
Thu 20 Feb: 19:30 – 21:00	Lojong (7 Points of Mind Training) Teachings – Applying Compassion in Daily Life Part 2	randburg@kagyu.org.za

 

KSD Johannesburg Temple Sat 22nd and Sun 23rd February – Lama Zangpo

Please Bring a plate of vegetarian food to share on Saturday.

 

Sat 22 Feb: 10:00 to 16:00	Sitting with Silence	KSD Johannesburg
Sun 23 Feb: 10:00 – 12:30	Sitting with Silence	KSD Johannesburg

 

Teaching Topics

Refuge and Precepts
Sun 16th Feb, 9:30 – 10:30 AM, Lama Zangpo

Milarepa’s Song of Happiness
Sun 16th Feb, 14:00 – 16:00, Lama Zangmo, KSD Johannesburg Temple
The teachings of the great Tibetan yogi Milarepa are still practiced today, and show us what is needed to gain inner peace and mental stability. Milarepa’s Song of Happiness describes how we can become free of unhelpful emotional patterns and limited ways of seeing ourselves and others.
Lama Zangmo will explain this topic and how it relates to our own life. The course is suitable for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the purpose and benefit of Buddhist meditation.

Living and Dying with Confidence
Mon 17th Feb, 10:30 – 12:30, Lama Zangmo, KSD Johannesburg Temple

When we are truly aware of impermanence, we become aware of the preciousness of each moment we are alive, and we can try to make the most of it.
Lama Zangmo will explain the Buddhist approach to impermanence, death and dying and how that understanding affects the way we live our lives. The talk will cover topics such as getting our priorities right during our life; supporting someone who is dying and developing the right state of mind at the time of our own death.

The Three Trainings
Tue 18th Feb, 19:00 – 20:30, Lama Zangmo, KSD Randburg
Lama Zangmo will talk about the three essentials of Buddhist training: ethical conduct, mental training and wisdom.

This talk is suitable for anyone wanting to get a better understanding of the Buddhist teachings and how to apply them in our own life.

Sitting within Silence

Sat 22nd and Sun 23rd Feb – Lama Zangpo – KSD Johannesburg Temple

“Many’s the person who’s missed the opportunity to say nothing… and lost much because of it.”

An overview of the method of calm abiding and insight meditation coupled with practical practice instruction. Suitable for newcomers, as well as experienced meditators.

 

About our Teachers

 

Choje Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche

Born in 1943 in Kham, East Tibet, Lama Yeshe spent his formative years in education at Dolma Lhakang Monastery where his brother, Akong Tulku Rinpoche, was Abbot. After a harrowing ten month journey escaping from Tibet as a teenager in 1959, Lama Yeshe arrived in India along with Akong Rinpoche, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and a handful of other exhausted refugees. On leaving the Tibetan Refugee Camp he attended the Young Lamas Home School in Dalhousie and left in 1967 to serve as Private Secretary to His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim.
In 1969 Lama Yeshe joined Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in Scotland where they had founded Kagyu Samye Ling, the first Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Europe. Five years later, having tasted and become disillusioned with modern Western culture, from the trappings of materialism to the false highs of sixties hippydom, he was reunited with H.H. Karmapa and accompanied him on a tour of the United States. At His Holiness’s request Lama Yeshe and his friend Lama Tenzin Chonyi established and managed the Karma Triyana Dharmacakra Centre in Woodstock New York which is now H.H. Karmapa’s main seat in the U.S.

In 1980 he took full ordination as a Gelong monk from His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, on the auspicious date of the anniversary of Lord Buddha’s Nirvana and Parinirvana, at a ceremony attended by the most eminent Tibetan Lamas of the time. Following his ordination Lama Yeshe entered a strict, long-term solitary retreat under the guidance of the Abbot of Karma Triyana, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche. Lama Yeshe also received teachings from many of the highest Kagyu Lamas, including extensive instruction and initiations from his root guru H.H. the 16th Karmapa,and from The 12th Tai Situpa, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Gyaltsap Rinpoche, and the Very Venerable Kalu Rinpoche. He later received specialised teachings from Tulku Urgyen who supervised Lama Yeshe’s 49 day Bardo retreat of total solitude and darkness in Nepal. In 1997 Lama Yeshe was able to complete a second 49 day Bardo retreat on Holy Island in a specially built retreat-master’s cabin.

In 1985, at the request of his brother Akong Tulku Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe returned to Scotland to continue his retreat at Samye Ling Purelands Retreat Centre and in 1989 became Retreat Master with responsibility for the western practitioners in the cloistered four year retreat. Despite his heartfelt wish to remain in retreat for twenty years, Lama Yeshe was obliged to return to the world in 1991 to take responsibility for the running of Samye Ling and also to oversee the newly acquired Holy Isle Project.

In recognition of his achievements at home and abroad the title of ‘Abbot’ was conferred upon Lama Yeshe in 1995. In August 2003, on the occasion of his 60th birthday celebration, Lama Yeshe was awarded the title “Rinpoche” in honour of his commitment to establishing a strong ordained Sangha in the West, and in recognition of his achievements as Abbot and his inspiring example to many thousands of friends and students around the world.

As Chairman of Rokpa Trust he has responsibility for Kagyu Samye Ling, The Holy Isle Project and Kagyu Samye Dzong Centres worldwide. He is also involved in the Trust’s charitable projects both at home and overseas. His energy and inspiration fuel the Trust’s far-reaching activities which benefit so many people in so many ways. Indeed, he is a living example of the joyful Bodhisattva in action.

In October 2013, following the tragic death of his brother and mentor, he assumed overall responsibility for the leadership and direction of ROKPA worldwide. At this point Vajradhara Chamgon Khenting Tai Situpa bestowed the title of ‘Choje’ as a token of Lama Rinpoche’s courage and ability in managing such a vast array of different beneficial activities.

In 2019, during a visit to Southern Africa, Lama Yeshe first conceived of the KSDJ Temple, the first major Kagyu Temple on the African continent, that would be magnificent and grand enough to inspire future generations of practitioners, and be a base for the reincarnation for Akong Tulku Rinpoche, the inspiration and founder of the southern African Kagyu Dharma centres and retreat centres.

His publications include: ‘From A Mountain in Tibet’, ‘Living Dharma’, ‘Joyful Living, Part One’ and ‘Joyful Living, Part Two’, and ‘Finding Peace – Meditation and Wisdom for Modern Times’.

 

Lama Zangmo

Lama Gelongma Zangmo  is the resident Lama at Kagyu Samye Dzong London. She became a practising Buddhist when she arrived at Kagyu Samye Ling in 1977 and took refuge with His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. Having received teachings from many highly respected lamas who visited Kagyu Samye Ling, she was inspired to enter the four-year closed retreat in 1984, during which time she became ordained as a Buddhist nun. Lama Zangmo completed 2 more long retreats, during which she was asked to help and advise the new retreatants. bringing the total number of years Lama Zangmo spent in retreat to eleven and a half.

​Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche then asked Lama Zangmo to put her experience to good use by helping to run Kagyu Samye Dzong London, which was officially opened in 1998. Since then the London Centre has flourished under Lama Zangmo’s guidance and established itself as a much needed Dharma Centre in the capital city, providing a full and varied programme of teachings and events throughout the year.

In recognition of her long experience, selfless qualities and commitment, she became the first person in the UK to be honoured with the title of Lama by our Founder Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche, at a heart warming ceremony in Kagyu Samye Dzong London in June 2001.

Photo credit of Lama Zangmp: Nicolas Laborie

 

Lama Zangpo

Lama Zangpo first met Lama Yeshe Rinpoche at Kagyu Samye Dzong Johannesburg in 1996 where he was a resident volunteer. Shortly thereafter he moved to Holy Isle where he took his first ordination, and later to Arran where he spent some years, first helping to build, and then staying in the men’s retreat. Following this he attained the opportunity to move to the Thrangu Sekhar Retreat in Nepal where he pursued study and practice under the guidance of Drupon Rinpoche.

Returning from Nepal in early 2021 he spent time at Samye Ling in Scotland, and then in South Africa before returning to live on Holy Isle towards the end of 2022. Here he took on the role of overseeing projects and associated retreats. In 2024 Lama Zangpo was asked to spend time in the DRC, assisting and supporting the Buddhist communities there.

Since returning to Scotland he has moved to the Glasgow Samye in order to help support and grow the community there.