A Kadampa teacher coming to Houston

Post Update July 6, 2013: This organization appears to have established this new webpage for the local Houston center.  Original post continues below.

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The April - July 2012 issue of the greater Houston continuing adult education periodical called Leisure Learning Unlimited lists a course entitled "Modern Buddhism - Buddha's Guide to a Joyful Life" to be delivered in the Greenway Plaza Area on three successive Saturdays (May 5, 12, and 19) from 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.  The cost is nominal (approx. $60).  There does not seem to be a separate internet URL describing the syllabus for this short-course, but a bit more information is available on page 28 of this PDF (download advisory:  5 megabyte file). 

In my mind's eye, I can hear the obvious question that would arise in many members of the greater Houston Sangha:  "What the heck is Kadampa?!"
:-)

The short answer is this: The New Kadampa Tradition is an international Gelug Buddhist school begun in 1991 by this Tibetan monk.

Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso - Spiritual Director of the New Kadampa Tradition - International Kadampa Buddhist Union. NKT-IKBU ©New Kadampa Tradition
Reproduced from Wikipedia by permission.

Additional third-party description of the school can be found at this Wiki site (note that it bears a neutrality flag suggesting that some of the information may be disputed by some contributors).   

Kadampa Buddhism appears to be popular mostly in other regions of Texas, especially the DFW area, with center listings in Arlington, Coppell, Dallas (2), Fort Worth, Plano, and Grapevine.  There do not appear to be any standalone centers listed for the Houston area...

Screengrab from:
http://kadampa.org/en/centers/kadampa-centers-worldwide/

...but upon digging a bit deeper, it appears as if there may be one affiliated location, which is described elsewhere on the internet as a dance school.  The Kadampa listing for it bears the Austin telephone number for the center to be described below:

Screengrab from the same ASP cited above.

The instructor for this upcoming Leisure Learning Unlimited class, Gen Kelsang Ingchug, is a Western Buddhist nun who reportedly derives from the Chittamani Kadampa Buddhist Center in southern section of Austin (William Cannon / Sunset Valley area). 

I've sent an email to this center welcoming this teacher to Houston, announcing that South Houston Sangha News is available for the transmission of information and updates to the wider Houston community, and encouraging the sharing of this information blog for the benefit of all seekers.

As always, if anyone has updates or additional information regarding this post, please comment below or email me at SouthHoustonSangha@gmail.com.