Meet with a Teacher
Anyone at any level of practice is welcome to schedule a meeting on occasion with a guiding teacher. Meetings can help a student get a good start, navigate challenging times, or talk about sensitive subjects. Over time, as the teacher gets to know the student, and vice versa, the practice advice can be adapted to the student’s individual needs and aims.
The meetings with teachers at Dekeling are free.
NEW STUDENTS
All students who are new to Dekeling may schedule a meeting with Associate Teacher George Draffan. Meetings are conducted by Zoom. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
EXISTING STUDENTS
If you are a continuing student in our community, you are welcome to schedule a private practice meeting with Associate Teacher George Draffan or Lama Lekshe. Meetings are conducted by Zoom.
To manage her schedule sustainably, appointments with Lama Lekshe are reserved exclusively for:
Long-term students who have an established, ongoing study and practice relationship with her.
Active supporters and volunteers who offer financial benefaction or regularly contribute their time and service to the community.
Students currently enrolled in a course with her, with availability limited to the active duration of their specific class or course. *Please note: enrollment in a single course provides access to interviews for the duration of that course, rather than indefinite, ongoing appointments.
Lama Lekshe’s Podcast
These Wisdom and Compassion conversations are an offering of Lama Lekshe, the resident lama for Dekeling. Lekshe trained for over 30 years in the Karma and Shangpa Kagyu Buddhist traditions in India, Nepal and the US. She completed a traditional, fully-cloistered three year retreat in 2018. Lekshe's days as a secular teacher, curriculum designer, mountaineer, and artist all impact her approach to life and dharma. While she stays close to the Tibetan roots of her training, she also plants her perspectives, inquiries and experiments in a life here and now.
Jinlab: Lama Lekshe’s Blog
Jinlab, which means “blessings in Tibetan,” is a collection of more current notes, teachings, poetry, and musings from Lama Lekshe. Check back in occasionally for updates.
Teachings
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Lama Michael Conklin
Lama Michael Conklin is the Root Teacher & Lineage Holder for Dekeling. An early American student of Kalu Rinpoche, a Tibetan master of meditation and long retreat, Michael was one of the founding members of Kagyu Droden Kunchab in San Francisco and participated in a three-year Shangpa retreat led by Lama Tsang Tsing from 1986-’89. Lama Michael Conklin served as Kagyu Changchub Chuling’s resident lama from 1993 until 2019.
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Associate Teacher George Draffan
George Draffan began studying Buddhism with Geshe Lhundhup Sopa at the University of Wisconsin in the 1970s. Since then he’s received instruction and participated in retreats with teachers in the Tibetan, Theravadin, and Zen Buddhist traditions. He has also practiced qigong for many years. His practice of embodied awareness has been deeply influenced by physical labor, mountain hiking, and the gentle therapy of Feldenkrais.
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Peter Daishin Renner
Peter “Daishin” Renner serves as Dekeling’s Assisting Teacher for Sanity Sits and a community advisor, drawing on a rich background that blends monastic training, education, and pastoral care. With formal training in spiritual care and years of hospice volunteering, he offers compassionate support to those facing life transitions, grief, and aging. Since 2020, he has led free online meditation groups from his home in Victoria, BC.
Practice Materials
These materials are for use by individuals and small groups to help support and guide your practice. Included you will find links to:
Primary practice prayers
Dekeling’s retreat prayer booklet
Submit a Prayer Request
Sanje Elliot Photo Archive: Buddhism in the West
In collaboration with professional photo archivists, Dekeling supported the creation of a digital archive of photos from the personal archives of beloved Portland artist, author, teacher and Buddhist practitioner, Sanje Elliott. The collection includes early and mostly amateur photographs of two generations of contemporary Buddhist teachers and the practice communities they founded and served. We have also added images of noteworthy thangka paintings and sculpture, as well as important Buddhist cultural sites. We hope that seeing these images will inspire conversations and enrich learning in meditation communities near and far.