Hi.
I am a teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
My aspiration is to awaken and to support others in their awakening through thoughtful, fearless, and gentle engagement.
-
I have done 30 years of focused study and practice with two Tibetan lamas in the Karma Kagyu and Shangpa Kagyu traditions. I have studied Buddhist dharma and thangka painting in Nepal, India and the US. I have a keen interest in supporting those who live as householders but aspire to practice deeply.
-
I was fortunate to participate in a fully cloistered three-year-three-month Shangpa Kagyu retreat in Washington state from 2014 to 2018.
-
Full-time residency, practice, teaching and service during a Covid-era cloistered year at Great Vow Zen Monastery in rural Oregon, with my long-time friends, Roshis Chozen and Hogan Bays, and their flourishing community. This was followed by a half-year of home hospice care for my 84 year old mother, while continuing teaching by Zoom.
-
Authorized to teach dharma in 2001. Currently serving as Resident Lama at a meditation center in Oregon. 20 years of teaching graduate level communications, systems theory and problem solving. 12 years as an international consultant to post-secondary learning organizations. Mother of two adult children.
I aspire to be uncomplicated. Open. Committed to retaining a sense of humor. By the way, it’s pronounced lake’-shay.
-
The materials on this website are things I have made to support the dharma practice of others. Art and offerings are a part of my regular practice. Use freely.
Dharma Bio
I first encountered Buddhism in Tibet, where I was part of an early mountain bike expedition overland from Lhasa to Kathmandu. Later, in the US, I met my American-born teacher, who was a disciple of the renowned Kagyu sage, Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche. In 1994, he introduced me to Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche and Khenchen Lodrö Donyö Rinpoche—two esteemed Tibetan adepts living in West Bengal, India. In 2013, I kindly received novice ordination from Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. I completed a fully-cloistered traditional Tibetan-style 3-year retreat in 2018 and currently serve as Resident Lama at Dekeling Meditation Community in Portland, Oregon.
Teaching Style
Together we’ll invoke the classic ‘study-contemplation-meditation’ approach, and then place a strong, action-oriented emphasis on bringing practice into daily life. The aim is simple: use each day’s ordinary moments as an opportunity to open the heart, clarify confusion, and discover truth through direct experience.
Together, we can let go of the harmful habits and tired narratives, while moving towards freedom, one step at a time. Beyond this deconstruction is the possibility of a remarkably different experience of life and a deepening connection to the great mystery that has intrigued human beings for millennia.
train wholeheartedly in everything you do
Human beings have many streams of being. To train in a balanced way, dharma students need to strengthen as many streams as possible. The more skills and sources of confidence they have, the more open hearted and fearless they will be.
a working example of this is ‘vajra heart,’ a 3-year cohort group dharma training program at dekeling that aims to help lay dharma practitioners cultivate a balanced wholeness as they learn about and engage in buddhism from the ground up. The 6-part curriculum model diagram is below.
This training encourages the cultivation of the six perfections in everything we do, as well as wholesome engagement in community as these students practice peer support and co-learning as a part of their dharma life.
— Lama Lekshe
