The art of meditation has brought a traveling lama of Tibetan Buddhism to Ames.

Kathy Wesley, lama in the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, will be in Ames today and this weekend to teach Ames residents the fundamentals of Buddhism.

Wesley will offer refuge vows at 7 p.m. today that she said will reflect the commitment to pursue individual liberation from suffering as a Buddhist.

“Basically, vows are for people who want to become Buddhists,” said Tim Mullaney, coordinator for Ames Karma Kagyu Study Group. The group is sponsoring Wesley’s appearance.

Wesley said she’s glad to be back in the Midwest. She spoke at Iowa State two-and-a-half years ago. “I’m happy to have the opportunity to have share things with people,” she said. “I get to share and hear people’s questions and bring some information forward.”

“Living through Dying: A Buddhist Perspective,” will be the topic of Friday’s 7 p.m. discussion. The meeting will be in the Regency Room of the Memorial Union. The talk will be free, although donations will be accepted.

Wesley will teach “Buddhist Meditations for Living and Dying” from 10:30 a.m. until noon and again from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. These will be at 1213 Burnett Ave. A donation at this event is also suggested.

“During the weekend program, we’re going to be teaching about meditation,” she said. “It can help us work with crisis situations and focus our minds. It’s how we can use spirituality, how we can work with it when friends die, and when people are in pain. The Buddhist concept is to bring about happiness and to have minds that are stable and peaceful.”

Wesley said the weekend would give people “skills for living and dying.”

“The whole weekend is about the whole topic of life, death and spirituality,” she said. “It’s how we work with our own painful situations, cope with stress, deal with illness and crisis situation. That tells a lot about who we are and how grounded we are.”

Mullaney said he met Wesley when he started the monastery.

“Kathy was my main liaison with Karma Triyana Dharmachakra [KTD],” said Mullaney, graduate student in human development and family studies. “I talked to her on the phone for coaching and practice until I became officially affiliated with KTD in 1996.”

He also said she guided him throughout his learning years.

“She was just a wonderfully supportive individual,” he said. “She was my main contact for years, and I had known her for six years before I finally met her.”

Wesley completed the traditional three-year retreat in May 1996, under the guidance of Khenpo Karther Rinpoche, abbot of KTD monastery in upstate New York. She now serves as the practice coordinator of the Columbus, Ohio Karma Thegsum Choling, a KTD affiliate. She has practiced with the Columbus group since its inception in 1977.