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Kusala's
Memoir
Published 2024
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Kusala Bhikshu
(Carl Kohlhoff) is an American born Bhikshu (monk) ordained
Thich Tam-Thien in the Zen Tradition
(Thien) of Vietnam. // In 1979 Kusala became interested
in Meditation, and found his way to the
International Buddhist Meditation
Center founded by
Ven. Thich Thien-An in
1970. In 1981 he took refuge, and accepted the five precepts of a lay
Buddhist, and was given the name Kusala
(skillful). Rev. Kusala is a member of the Buddhist-Roman Catholic Dialogue of Los Angeles and
past member of the 'Interfaith
Council of Garden Grove, Stanton, and Westminster' and the 'Wilshire Center
Interfaith Council'. From the mid 1990's to early 2000 Kusala was the
Buddhist Chaplain for the University Religious Conference at U.C.L.A and
director
of the University Buddhist Association at UCLA for eleven years.
In December of 1997 he was on the cover of Pacific Ties, a
UCLA news magazine.
In November of 1998 Kusala Bhikshu was an American Buddhist Delegate to the World Fellowship of Buddhists Conference in Wollongong, Australia. // In June of 1999 he assisted the Ven. Tenzin Kacho, and Rev. Meido with the 5th Annual Western Buddhist Monastic Gathering held at Shasta Abbey. // August of 2000 Rev. Kusala, and Dr. Michael Kerze gave presentations detailing the Los Angeles Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue, at the international conference of The Society of Buddhist-Christian Studies in Tacoma Washington. Kusala has been featured in several
Los Angeles Times Articles: "Zen,
USA" (2/18/1997), "Soul Searching" (6/2/1998), "Biding our Time" (11/15/2001), and "Monks Get
the Joke Too" (4/29/2003). In December of 1997 Kusala and his motorcycle
were on the cover of the U.C.L.A. publication, Pacific Ties. In June
of 1998 he appeared on the television show "Vibe" with Sinbad
(UPN network), and spoke about his work in Juvenile Hall. In 1999, 2001,
and May 2002 he was a guest on the show "Life and Times" (KCET...
public television). In April of 2000 Kusala was featured in a report
on "The
News Hour with Jim Lehrer" titled... "Teaching Religion in Schools."
The UCLA Bruin in Jauuary,
2003 featured Kusala in "Students
Resurrect Campus Buddhism."
In March of 2000 Kusala ended his volunteer work at Central Juvenile Hall and accepted an invitation from the Garden Grove Police Department to become the first Buddhist police chaplain in Garden Grove. // November 16, 2001 Kusala received a certificate of recognition from the California State Assembly, and a certificate of special congressional recognition from the United States Congress for his work with the Garden Grove Police Department. The Summer of 2001 found Kusala on a motorcycle
trip from Los Angeles to Wisconsin. -
Random thoughts on riding. March of 2003 found Kusala in Los Angeles as a guest speaker at;
"A
Spirituality and End-of-Life Care Conference," sponsored by Santa
Monica-UCLA Medical Center's Palliative Care and Spiritual Care Departments,
and in Indianapolis, Indiana as a guest presenter at the
"Spirituality & Healing
in Medicine: A Multi-Cultural Approach" conference, sponsored by
Harvard Medical School and the "Mind/Body
Medical Institute" and The George Washington University and the "The
George Washington University Institute for Spirituality and Health."
October brought Kusala together with other clergy on an interreligious
panel to discuss "Pain & Suffering at the End
of Life," at the '5th Annual Pain Management & Palliative Care Conference"
sponsored by the City of Hope and held in Huntington
Beach, California. In January of 2005 Kusala Bhikshu was awarded the 'Los Angeles Mayor's Certificate
of Appreciation' for his interfaith and inter-religious community
service.  'Monks in the West III' - October 2012 In March of 2006 Kusala did a two part video interview with
Bukkyo
Dendo Kyokai and Magic Bell Productions for their weekly TV program
"The
Buddhist Way of Life," available for free download at: Urban
Dharma Video. January 2007 found Kusala back at Loyola Marymount University teaching
a five week extension class on the "Buddhist Eightfold Path." // In July of 2007 Rev. Kusala was invited to
St. John's Abbey in Minnesota
to present at the Monastic
Institute Conference on "What it means to be a Buddhist." Kusala's
presentation at St. John's Abbey in MP3 - Part
1 - Part 2.
May of 2008 found Rev. Kusala at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, home of the late Thomas Merton. He was attending the Gethsemani 3 - Monasticism and the Environment conference with Buddhist/Catholic monks and nuns from around the world... A statement was produced adding a monastic voice to the global dialogue. In October of 2008 Rev. Kusala was a featured presenter at a weekend of
Buddhist-Christian Dialogue sponsored by the Council of Pacific Asian
Theology in San Francisco, the title of Kusala's talk was, "Buddhism
in America the Urban Experience."
January 2009 found Rev. Kusala speaking to the Monte Vista Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Montclair, CA on "Buddhism and Social Justice." // February found Kusala speaking at
Bishop Montgomery High School, to Mary's Circle at the
First United Methodist Church of Redondo Beach on basic Buddhism and
St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, CA as part of an inter-religious panel on "Death and Dying."
In August of 2010 Ven. Kusala was featured on Public Radio and in July of 2011 on "Voice of America." // In 2011 Kusala stepped down as Buddhist chaplain for the University Religious Conference at UCLA and director of the University Buddhist Association. In April of 2012 Rev. Kusala spoke at the 'Ventura Center for Spiritual Living' and 'All Saints Church in Beverly Hills' on compassion. // In May of 2012 Rev. Kusala began leading a group, 'The Buddhist Circle' at
Leisure World in Seal Beach, CA - It was an ongoing
gathering the fourth Saturday of the month with meditation and Dharma
talk.
With Walter Trout at the Irvine Lake Blues Festival - 6/30/2012 October 2012 - Rev. Kusala participated in the third 'Monks in the West' held at 'The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas" and gave presentations at Peninsula High School, Immaculate Heart Catholic High School and Bishop Montgomery Catholic High School. July of 2013 found Kusala in an a "Science of Mind" magazine article written by Lisa Napoli with the title, "Finding Peace in the Noise." August... Koi USA Magazine published an article by Kusala, "The Care of Koi as Practice." In Feb. of 2014 Rev. Kusala spoke in Decker Hall at "Pilgrim Place" in Claremont CA on, "The Ups and Downs of Community Service: 20 Years and Counting."
Feb.. 2015 found Kusala in San Bernardino, CA as guest speaker at the 28th annual Morrow-McCombs Memorial Lecture. He was the first speaker outside of the Abrahamic religions to give a presentation. In May and June of 2015 Rev. Kusala attended and spoke at the 4th Gethsemani Encounter in Kentucky on 'Spiritual Maturity' and the 10th International Whitehead Conference on Process Theology and the Environmen In July of 2015 Kusala Bhikshu was invited by the city of Garden Grove to open their Dalai Lama Event with a Loving-Kindness Meditation and Buddhist Blessing. Mayor Bao Nguyen thanked Kusala in a letter for his support of this special event. In a letter dated Sept. 11, 2015, Rev. Kusala was invited by the 'UCLA Oral History Library' (Audio - the UCLA interview) to share his story as an American Buddhist monk in Los Angeles, CA. In June of 2017 - Rev. Kusala's 'The Five Precepts' song was published in, 'Sitting Together' a family-centered curriculum on mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhist teachings by Sumi Lounden Kim, Wisdom Publications (Video). September, 2018 - the 'Against the Stream' on Melrose closed its doors forever and Kusala after 9 years of 4th Sunday talks at ATS gave his last Dharma talk on 9.23.18. - 30 Talks @ Against the Stream
Bishop Montgomery High School -
Interfaith Day February 22, 2019... Rev. Kusala reached a Facebook milestone. He posts, since joining in 2008 had received 1,000,000 likes. / Visit Kusala's - Facebook Page - to see his latest posts.May, 2019... Guest presenter (Audio) at the 'Rise Up in Faith' retreat sponsored by CSL Redondo Beach July, 2019... Guest speaker... the Center for Spiritual Living - Ventura, CA / Guest speaker... Center for Spiritual Living - Redondo Beach, CA / Officiating a Wedding for Andy and Kathy. September, 2019... Guest speaker... Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Fullerton. October, 2019... Rev. Kusala was a guest speaker at
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, Palos Verdes High School and The
Dhammacakratra Indonesia Buddhist Community Center. Guest speaker, Bishop
Montgomery Catholic High School comparative religions class. November, 2019... Azuza Pacific Urban Studies students visit the IBMC and hear a talk on Buddhism. (Audio) December, 2019... Sharing Buddhism at Portola High
School, Irvine, CA to a 'Religion and Society' class.
January 2020 - Jan. 5, Kusala gave is first talk (Audio) of the new year to the Monte Vista Unitarian Universalist Congregation. June 27, 2020 - Kusala's Sunday talk at the Ventura Center for Spiritual Living (Video) - Life is Calling Aug. 9, 2020 - Rev. Kusala's Sunday talk at the Ventura Center for Spiritual Living (Video) - 5 Ways to Change Your Karma Oct. 30, 2020 - Kusala was invited by Bruce Philp to join him on his podcast www.ThisMototcycleLife.com to speak about his (Audio) motorcycle and meditation.
Speaking at Portola High School to a 'Religion and Society' class July 4, 2021 - Rev. Kusala's Sunday talk at the
IBMC (Audio)
-
Building Merit With the Precepts
January, 2023 - Kusala gave the first talk of the new year to the
Monte Vista Unitarian Universalist Congregation. July, 2024 -
The Urban Dharma Book Event NYC - Join co-authors Kusala Bhikshu and
Rebecca Wilson in a conversation with writer Kristen Roupenian at the
Shantideva Center. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
The Urban Dharma Book Page - Click Here
"I read your memoir; what a great read! Reading it was almost as
if you were having a deeply absorbing talk with a good friend.
The last section hit me the most with the young lady dying of cancer feeling angry and trapped by the circumstances...I like how you just kept showing up despite the uncomfortableness of it and kept telling the truth even though she resisted it, except at the end when she seemed to be at peace. One of the last scenes of the book I loved was when you were in the backyard feeling part of eternity at that moment, feeling separate but somehow together with others out there and at ease with the profound harmony of the way things are -- sadness and happiness all part of the same elaborate painting." -- Holly P.
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