Kalachakra for World Peace

This summer I spent a week in DC attending the Kalachakra Empowerment for World Peace held by His Holiness The Dalai Lama. I have had a mediation practice for a number years, inspired by my first martial arts training, where the school I was part maintained a practice of breath work called kokyu-ho and cultivated certain elements of qigong as an adjunct to their goshin-jutsu.

In 2001 and 2005 I visited Dewa Sanzan in Yamagata prefecture, Japan. The mountain temples in ages past held lineages of a mixture of Taoism, Buddhism, and Shamanism called Shugendō. Since that time I left my first school and have concentrated my efforts on learning classical, especially internal, martial arts. I also trained in hatha yoga and continued a practice of breath work and meditation along side asana.

I was so fortunate to be able to participate in the Kalachakra gathering and it was there I formally took refuge as a Buddhist.