Sakya Phuntsok Ling Centers for Tibetan Buddhist Study and Meditation
608 Ray Drive
Silver Spring, MD 20910
http://users.erols.com/sakya/

Venerable Lama Kalsang Gyaltsen established Sakya Phuntsok Ling in 1986 to create a place for the authentic study and practice of Lord Buddha's teachings. The Center's aim is to help those interested in Buddhism come into contact with great spiritual masters, and to train those interested in personal study and practice. The Sakya Order recommends an even balance of philosophical study and meditative practice. To encourage students in both areas, the Sakya Center maintains a study center not far from the Takoma Park Metro Station, as well as a retreat center in a lovely wooded setting in suburban Silver Spring. The study and retreat center programs are integrated, offering students a unique chance to develop both aspects of' their practice. The Sakya Center is also active in translation projects and in liaison with other Buddhist and spiritual communities.

The Sakya Order is one of the four major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Since its establishment 800 years ago, it has produced a long line of great scholars and spiritual masters. The Sakya doctrine includes the full range of the enormous variety of the Buddha's teachings. It is characterized by balanced emphasis of study and meditation, and close adherence to authentic sources of the Buddha's teachings. Sakya Phuntsok Ling is under the guidance of His Holiness the Sakya Trizen, the forty-second head of the Sakya Order. Second only to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he travels frequently from his monastery in India to teach throughout the world.

Venerable Lama Kalsang Gyaltsen
Biography

Venerable Lama Kalsang Gyaltsen is spiritual director of Sakya Phuntsok Ling Centers of Tibetan Buddhist Study and Meditation. He is a widely recognized and accomplished teacher and translator of Tibetan Buddhism. Learned in both sutra and tantra, he has studied extensively from the great teachers of the Sakya and other Tibetan traditions, and spent long periods in meditative retreat.

For the past two decades, Venerable Lama Kalsang Gyaltsen has taught the Dharma in Southeast Asia and the United States. He established Sakya Phuntsok Ling Centers for Tibetan Buddhist Study and Meditation in Silver Spring, Maryland in 1986, and has been its Spiritual Director since that time. In 1997, he helped begin the Washington D.C. International Vesak Committee, and has served each year as Mahayana co-chairperson of the annual Vesak celebration.