Karma Thegsum Chöling - New Jersey is the North America residence of His Holiness - the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje. Its story began in 2001, when devoted practitioners Mr. and Mrs. Lin donated the estate to His Holiness, to serve as his North America home base and as a center for the practice of Karma Kagyu lineage teachings.  After this offering was accepted, the center was formally and magnificently blessed by His Holiness and given the current name “Karma Thegsum Chöling - New Jersey”, abbreviated to KTC-NJ. 


KTC-NJ is located on 150 acres of land in rural Shamong Township, adjacent to Wharton State Forest.  The residence is a 2-story western-styled mansion that overlooks a verdant lawn, farmland and a pine forest. 


On the building's first floor is a beautiful Tibetan-style main shrine room.  Many statues are featured in this room, including Sakyamuni Buddha, Thousand-arm Chenrezig, and twenty-one Green Tara statues. There is also a Karma Kagyu protector - Mahakala - shrine and many traditional Tibetan Buddha and Bodhisattva Thangka paintings displayed on the walls. Complete texts of Kangyur & Tengyur are kept here, in Tibetan and Chinese languages.  


Next to the main shrine room is the Medicine Buddha shrine room, completed and opened in 2005. It is furnished according to traditional Tibetan Buddhist methods and style. Tibetan thangkas of eight Medicine Buddhas are displayed on the walls, and the shrine room contains a complete set of eight Medicine Buddha statues, very rare in North America.


The Venerable Bardo Tulku Rinpoche, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche and the center's resident Lama, Lama Tsultrim, imbued the eight Medicine Buddha statues with over 60 different blessed treasures, including herbs from Guru Rinpoche and previous Karmapas, big black pills, long life pills, the 16^th Karmapa’s blood pills, radical of the 16^th Karmapa, soil, precious gems, herbs and minerals from holy sites in Tibet and India.


Since it's opening, the Medicine Buddha shrine room has received blessings from the Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Bardo Tulku Rinpoche and Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, making this room indeed a site of special karma. 
 

KTC-NJ coordinates many activities in the region.  The center has invited and sponsored many illustrious teachers of Karma Kagyu lineage who have come to teach and bless attendees of various events.