Larry Norman Reside
Obituary
On Saturday, June 9th, with Maureen at his side, Larry peacefully ended his 7 year struggle with cancer. Ever grateful for and devoted to his wife Maureen; proud step Dad to Pemi (Emily) and Tovy (Sarah-Jane); thrilled to be Grampa to Jorah and Max. Larry is also deeply loved and appreciated by his parents, Norman and Elinor Reside, brother David (Della), sisters JoAnne (Trevor), Judi (Brian) and Janet (Norm) and all his nieces and nephews.
Larry was born and raised the eldest of the Reside gang on Checkers Road in Ottawa. He attended Woodroffe High school and later studied languages at Lakehead University and computers at Algonquin College. He gave up his job with the Law Reform Commission in Ottawa to move to Montreal and follow his dream of studying Buddhism.There he found the path to personal peace and met and married Maureen-his heart was full. They later moved to Orleans and then to country living in beautiful Westport Ontario.
Kind and gentle; intelligent and funny, Larry spent many years learning to appreciate and love and be at peace with himself. Always listening, always caring, always taking the time, he shared his wisdom and compassion with others teaching meditation and always being there when needed. Never taking himself too seriously, even when very ill, he could turn your tears to laughter just by wiggling his eyebrows and grinning and telling a ‘groaner’ joke. We will miss him so much.
“And he who has considered all the contrasts
on this earth, and is no more disturbed by
anything whatsoever in the world,
the Peaceful One, freed from rage, from
sorrow, and from longing, he has passed
beyond birth and decay. – Buddha”
(But he does plan to come back!)
A celebration of Larry’s life will be held at the Lions’ Club Beach House, 63 Mountain Rd in Westport , Ontario on Saturday, June 16th at 2:00 pm.
Memories and condolences may be shared at www.remembering.ca Donations may be made to the charity of your choice.
Published in The Ottawa Citizen from June 14 to June 16, 2012
Here, also, is Larry’s bio from the Peaceful Garden Meditation Group:
Larry began his Buddhist Practice in 1975, originally doing zen meditation.
In 1976, He moved to Montreal to study with Geshe Kenrab Gajam and with a group of other students, helped him create the Tibetan Cultural Association which later was converted into the Canada Tibet Committee, and the Atisha Dharma Centre which became the Tibetan Buddhist Temple of Montreal on Avenue de l’église.
He received continuous teachings on the stages of the path for 10 years while studying with Geshe-la. He received teachings on the Bodhisattva path and the importance of compassion, as well as Action and Performance Tantra initiations from HH the Dalai Lama and the Dalai Lama’s tutors, Ling Rinpoche and Lati Rinpoche. He also received teachings and initiations on Chenrezi, Manjushri, Yamantaka, Mahakala, Vajrapani, and Medecine Buddha and the many types of Tara practises from Serkong Rinpoche, Gaden Tri Rinpoche, and Lama Zasep Rinpoche of the Gelugpa Sect. He is currently studying, on his own, the teachings from the Masters class from The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition.
His training in Yoga Tantra and Highest Yoga Tantra, including the practices of Guhyasamaja, Chakrasamvara, and Vajrayogini were presided over by Khabye Zong Rinpoche and supplemented with personal instructions from Geshe Khenrab, his root Guru.
From the Kargyu sect, Larry received teachings from Kalu Rinpoche, the previous Gyalwa Karmapa and has studied most of the writings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. He is currently studying in detail the works of Dzogchen Phunlop Rinpoche.
From the Nyingma school, Larry has been and is currently studying the works of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.
In 1985, Larry moved to Ottawa to live with his future wife, Maureen, and was given permission by Geshe-la to teach. Larry continued to study and continued to visit Geshe-la until Geshe-la’s death in 1993.
During his time in Ottawa, Larry & Maureen organized a couple of visits of the Drepung Loseling monks for chanting and for sand mandalas and several trips by the monks from Gaden Jangtse as well as the Gyume and Gyuto monks. They also helped in the organization of The Dalai Lama’s visit to unveil the human rights monument in Ottawa. Larry was also vice-president of the Ottawa Friends of Tibet for 5 years from 1997 to 2001.
Larry & Maureen moved to Westport in December of 2000 and met several people who were interested in learning meditation.
In 2002, Larry began teaching mindfulness meditation to a handful of students and in 2003, he moved the teaching to the Westport Public Library. Many students have been studying and practicing since then. Because of the more advanced levels of the students, Larry decided to begin teaching Buddhist Philosophy and Psychology in 2005, in preparation for teaching Tibetan Buddhist Insight Meditation (Vipashyana).
The post Larry Reside appeared first on .