Today we’d like to introduce you to Ethan Lechner.
Hi Ethan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I first walked into Kosala Center in January 2008. I’d just returned from a year of study in Indonesia and had complicated feelings about returning to the USA. Indonesia had shown me an example of a more peaceful and harmonious way of living. When I came to Kosala Center, I was looking for support to find a path to peaceful, harmonious, and meaningful life here in the USA. I wasn’t at all sure it was possible.
The teacher at the time was an older Scottish monk named Kelsang Tilopa. He impressed me immediately as so kind and lighthearted, and his mind seemed exceptionally lucid. I loved hearing him teach the Dharma. I immediately wanted to take on meditation practices he taught so I could become like him. And the Buddhist teachings he shared expressed things with a clarity I’d never encountered before. They felt practical and true. I soon found myself adopting a personal practice, involving myself in many of the meditation center’s activities, and before long taking on a small leadership role with the center’s admin.
Years later, our Center needed to find another teacher. We loved Tilopa and it was hard to imagine being taught by anyone else, but he was also teaching at a Center in Charlotte and more and more of his time was absorbed there. I helped lead a fundraising effort so that we’d have enough to support a teacher with a modest stipend. We sent a letter of request to the main center of the New Kadampa Tradition asking that they send a teacher to us. And then years passed, and no one came. I learned that, worldwide, there simply weren’t enough teachers for all the areas where teachings were being requested.
Eventually, with a lot of hesitation, I asked Tilopa if he thought I was qualified to teach, and to my surprise (and horror) he said yes. Now I was faced with the choice of whether I would offer myself for the role. Becoming a meditation teacher was undoubtedly my dream job, but I didn’t yet feel qualified to be the spiritual leader of our meditation center, and also wasn’t sure I would be happy with the demands of the lifestyle. It seemed a huge responsibility.
After a couple weeks of meditating and praying for wisdom, I told Tilopa I would do it. He then sent a letter to the main center of our tradition and we waited to hear if my offer would be accepted. We waited and waited and eventually I gave up, thinking the silence must mean “no.” I decided it was all for the best, that I really wasn’t qualified to lead a Dharma center, and then a couple days after that Tilopa gave me a call of congratulations. The answer had some – yes.
That was 2019, and since then I’ve been serving as Kosala Center’s Resident Teacher, offering classes and short retreats to students and community members of various levels of experience. I can’t imagine a more meaningful job and adventure. It’s not always been easy, but the challenges have been so rewarding, helping me to transform my mind into a happy and peaceful mind and my life into a meaningful life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In the 18 years I’ve been working for Kosala Center, our volunteers have always wanted to do more than we are able to – provide more teachings in more locations, do more to get the word out, give more time to our own individual practices. Tilopa’s example made things easier – he taught joyfully, never neglected his own practice, and always seemed light, like it was all just fun, even at times when we didn’t know how we were going to pay the rent. I try to follow his example and the example of other teachers who have inspired me.
Kosala Center has kept going, and have kept growing our inner resources of compassion and wisdom. And we’ve always managed to pay the rent.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Kosala Kadampa Buddhist Center?
Kosala Center is part of an international family of Buddhist Centers called The New Kadampa Tradition.
The New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU) is a global Buddhist community founded in 1991 by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche. Its aim is to uphold and make available the authentic teachings of Kadampa Buddhism for the benefit of all.
In the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT), the key purpose of Kadampa teachings is to help people to develop wisdom and compassion in order to transform their minds and their lives.
By applying the teachings of Buddha in everyday situations, anyone—regardless of background—can learn how to reduce suffering, develop inner peace, and cultivate positive qualities like love, patience, and wisdom. This practical integration of Dharma with daily life is known as the union of Kadam Dharma and daily life, and it lies at the heart of the NKT’s approach.
Ultimately, the purpose is to enable everyone to make progress on the path to liberation and enlightenment, while also finding deeper happiness and meaning right now, in the midst of modern life.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
You don’t have to be perfect, in fact you don’t have to feel that you’re ready. If you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t worry – neither, actually, does anyone else! The most important thing is that you’re willing to try, and to learn and improve. And then you’ll learn, and things will go better and better.
Pricing:
- $12 for a drop-in class
- Memberships start at $45/month
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.meditationinthetriangle.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kosalacenter/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KosalaCenter
