About Michael Erlewine
Heart Center Symbol
“It was not long after this meeting that we started the
Heart Center Meditation Center in Big Rapids, Michigan,
which is still active today. My wife and I became more
and more involved with the monastery in New York, and
ended up serving on several boards, becoming
fundraisers for the monastery as well. We helped to
raise the funds necessary to build a 3-year retreat
center in upstate New York—one for men and one for
women.
“We established KTD Dharma Goods, a mail-order
dharma goods business designed to assist practitioners
in locating any meditation materials they might have
need of. We also published many sadhanas—the
traditional Buddhist practice texts—and other teachings
as well, in print and on audio tape.
Though years have gone by, I am still working with
Khenpo Rinpoche and the Sangha at the Woodstock
monastery. Some years ago, Rinpoche surprised my
wife and me by telling us we should go to Tibet and
meet His Holiness, the 17th Karmapa, and that we
should go right away, that summer. And I hate to even
leave the house!
That trip and a second trip some years later were
pilgrimages that turned out to be life changing. Our
center in Big Rapids now has a shrine room (a separate
building of its own) and even a small Stupa. Pictures are
shown below.
I can never repay the kindness that Khenpo Rinpoche
and the other Rinpoches I have taken teachings from
have shown me.