Those looking to further their knowledge about the Buddhist faith need look no further than the red rocks of Sedona.

Ani Miranda Coates has returned to the area after an absence of four years to offer a study group on Buddhism to the community. Ani is a Tibetan word for “nun.”

She’s joined by Ani Alyce Louise Bertsche and monk Palzang Buhmeyer. The group will meet Sunday, Jan. 16, beginning at 10 a.m., at 10 Pottery Place in Sedona, directly opposite from the driveway to Amitabha Stupa at the Kunzang Palyul Chöling property.

The study sessions, Coates said, are designed to learn about Buddhist teachings.

“They’re basically designed to develop compassionate wisdom and also to help stabilize our minds through meditation and through the teachings and practices,” Coates said.

“Obviously at this time that is a really important thing.

People are going through a difficult time, with the economy, wars, and what’s happening in the world with earthquakes, tsunamis and floods.”

Coates called the teachings “spiritual technology.”

“How do you apply those teachings in a practical way to our daily life, and how do we really work with our reactive mind to situations? That’s basically what we’re going to be providing is a format for that,” Coates said. “As the group forms, we’ll also set up a time where people would like to do meditation. We’ll probably do that at the stupa when it gets a bit warmer.”

Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo is spiritual director for the KPC temple. Coates said Lhamo first came to the Sedona area in 1997.

“We were given the land to build a temple and stupa on, I believe, in about 1999. I came in 1997 to take my vows in Maryland, and then returned to live in Australia in Alice Springs. Alice Springs looks like here. It’s full of red rocks. We set up a little center. We had about six or seven of us there. Jetsunma invited myself and those of us who could come, to move here in 2001 to help with the building of the Amitabha Stupa.”

At that time, approximately 35 monks and nuns lived in the area, Coates said. She remained in Sedona for six years. Construction on the Amitabha Stupa was completed in 2004.

“We see countless people going there on a daily basis. There are a lot of people from Sedona that use it. They may not be Buddhist at all, but they go up there. It’s a very sacred place and we have many, many people from overseas that come here as well,” Coates said.

Coates returned to offer her support to the Sedona community, to hold the upcoming study group and bring teachers to the area. Members of KPC will also offer blessing for homes and businesses in the Sedona area.

“Normally the teachers will direct us, it’s time to move here or to do this now, and that’s exactly what happened. Jetsunma said she would like three of you to go out and do this,” Coates said.

Buddhism offers tradition, focus and stability, which is an attractive element for those seeking spiritual guidance, Coates said.

“One of the key things in Buddhism is you can’t just proclaim ‘I’m a teacher. I’m enlightened.’ You have to be verified by the teachers that are already in a very high position, which is what happened with our teacher. She was recognized by one of the very high lamas within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He passed about a year or so ago. He was on the same level as His Holiness Dalai Lama. He was head of one of the four main schools in Tibetan Buddhism. He recognized our teacher, who happens to be a Western woman who was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., as a reincarnation of one of their main female teachers within our lineage,” Coates said.

Besides the study group, Coates said KPC will be involved in a number of upcoming events.

“One of the things that we’re doing is bringing out one of our teachers. He’ll be coming here for a four-day event in February. It actually sort of overlaps with the beginning of the Sedona [International] Film Festival. He’ll give a teaching on Friday night, [Feb. 25, for] what’s called an ‘Empowerment,’ at the Amitabha Stupa. On Sunday, [Feb. 27], he will give a teaching talk on the sacredness of the stupa and the land. Hopi [members] are going to come down and offer him a song at that time,” Coates said.

A film on the Buddhist faith is scheduled to screen during the festival. The feature is narrated by actor Richard Gere. A Buddhist teacher will be on hand for the event to speak to the audience, Coates said.

Sedona resident Katie Harvey has known Coates for a number of years and said she was thrilled to see her return to the red rocks.

“I think the world of her,” Harvey said. “I think it’s a blessing that she has returned to the community. She’s very community-minded overall, not just in reference to her project in the Buddhist community. She’s an incredibly giving person all the way around and very knowledgeable and humble about alternative healing modalities. I knew her a long time before I unearthed that fact.”

While not a Buddhist herself, Harvey joined the Friends of the KPC along with her husband and sister.

“My sister hosted a few things in her restaurant,” Harvey said. “I hosted a fundraising groupat my home, my husbandand I.”

Coates can be reached at (301) 661-1963 for more information on the study group.