Celebrating the Life and Activity of Lama Michael Conklin

Join us for two hours of sharing and appreciation followed by a reception with refreshments and more memories.

In 1974, a thirty-year-old Michael Conklin humored his elder friend, Hugh O’Neil, and agreed to attend a teaching by some old Tibetan Buddhist lama. That lama was Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche, and that seemingly chance encounter deeply influenced the life of the relatively young Michael Conklin, and perhaps, the lives of many of you reading this. In the presence of that wizened and gentle old lama, an unsuspecting Michael had an experience that radically altered the trajectory of his life. From that first encounter, he knew that things would never be the same.

Michael became part of the small but committed group of students in San Francisco who began looking for a physical space where Kalu Rinpoche’s activity might be nurtured and allowed to flourish. A first home for the dharma center was found, and so began Kagyu Droden Kunchab, Kalu Rinpoche’s first center in the States. Michael served as president of the board of directors from its inception until, under the direction and inspiration of Kalu Rinpoche, Lama Lodu organized a three-year retreat in Marcola, Oregon. Michael entered the three-year retreat in 1986—led by Lama Tsang Tsing, now of Eugene, Oregon—and it concluded in 1989.

After the retreat, Lama Michael and Tara went on a pilgrimage to the Indian subcontinent, where Lama Michael had served in the Peace Corps earlier in his life. Upon returning to San Francisco, he worked in the corporate world for a bit—no doubt bringing a quizzical presence and some subversive energy to the culture of Chevron. Sanje Elliot, one of the early students who met Kalu Rinpoche before his visits to North America, had recently become president of Kagyu Changchub Chuling in Portland following the retirement of its previous teacher, Lama Thinley Dupa. Sanje was an old friend of Lama Michael’s from the early days in San Francisco and suggested inviting him and Tara to meet the small community in Portland.

Leaping to the unknown, they moved to Portland, and Lama Michael began teaching at KCC. His relaxed presence, authenticity, humor, and insightfulness—all seasoned with just the right amount of healthy cynicism—created an open and welcoming space which began to fill with more and more hungry seekers. Students came; the center flourished; and Lama Michael began to impact the life trajectory of many of his own students.

If you are one of these individuals who was deeply moved by Lama Michael, come and join us for a ceremony of remembrance and appreciation. The vast majority of the time will be spent listening to reflections on Lama Michael from the attendees. Please consider what you might say beforehand and keep your sharing to about a minute to allow for as many people to speak as possible.

SOME CITIES CLOSE BY: Vancouver, Beaverton, Gresham, Hillsboro, Portland, Salem