Gompa

Come join in celebrating His Holiness' 84th birthday!

You are invited to join Kadampa Center and the Triangle Area Tibetan community to celebrate His Holiness’ 84th birthday. We will begin with a procession to enthrone an image of His Holiness. Geshe Sangpoand the Tibetan community will offer prayers for his long life, and continued success in all of his extensive activities as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, and as a world-wide spokesman for basic human values  of compassion and universal responsibility.

We also will offer prayers for His Holiness' long life.

Our celebration is family-friendly as we enjoy a birthday cake together. We will end the celebration with an opportunity to mark the day by offering katas to His Holiness.

“Love and Compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive”  ~ The Dalai Lama

In this auspicious holy month of Saka Dawa, Geshe Sangpo will offer Refuge, and the Five Lay Vows. It is especially wonderful to be able to take these vows during a Buddha holy month. Taking refuge vows is making a commitment to Buddhism as one's spiritual path. It also creates a karmic bond with the teacher who offers the vows. When you take refuge in the Three Jewels, the refuge master conferring the vows will also give you a refuge name in Tibetan. The Five Lay Vows are a set of basic ethical principals, vows not to kill, take what has not been offered, lie, take intoxicants or commit sexual misconduct (that is, have sex with someone else's partner). The Five Lay Vows are lifetime vows, so only need to be taken once, and should be taken with the confidence you will keep them.

In order to participate, you must register ahead of time.  Sorry, registration is closed.

Students who have already taken refuge are welcome to attend and renew their vows, but should not register.

Geshe Gelek recommends anyone interested in taking refuge should read the refuge section in the book Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand (available in our bookstore). He also taught a class on refuge in 2013 for students interested in the ceremony - you can listen to it in the recordings section of our website.

The ceremony will likely be in Tibetan, but it is first explained in English what you are saying. Please plan to be there by 10 am so we can review what you will be doing. At the end of the ceremony, it is traditional to offer two katas (white offering scarfs, available in the bookstore) - one to the Buddha statue on the altar, and one to the teacher giving the vows, who returns it by placing it over your head as a blessing. While we often have spare ones to lend, it is best to buy them so you are actually making an offering of your own. It is also auspicious to give the teacher a gift, typically money (any amount) in an envelope, in appreciation for the incredible gift he has just given you with this opportunity. The center will also be giving you a copy of the FPMT booklet on refuge and how to practice it daily.

Sponsor Refuge Ceremony

"It is our custom to say that someone is "lucky" or "unlucky" if they meet with fortunate or unfortunate circumstances, respectively.  It is however, too simplistic to think in terms of random "luck."  Even from a scientific point of view, this is not a sufficient explanation.  Should something unfortunate happen, we immediately think, "Oh, how unlucky!"  And yet this is not sufficient to explain what happened- there must be a cause.  We seem to call "luck" that factor which overrides external conditions to bring about a positive situation.  But that too is a cause; it is an inner cause, which we call "merit."-- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, from "Answers:  Discussions with Western Buddhists", published by Snow Lion Publications.

Creating merit is an essential part of Buddhist practice.  When we build up our stores of merit, it removes obstacles in our spiritual lives. This makes it easier to understand the teachings and apply the Dharma in our everyday lives. Making merit is also great purification!

On Thursday practice nights, we will do group practices of doing prostrations and offering mandalas.  In these sessions, Geshe Sangpo will briefly explain the purpose and benefits of the practices and teach us how to do them, and then we will all do the practice together.  This is of benefit to everyone who participates, and because we are doing practice as a group in our gompa, it will benefit Kadampa Center as well.

Prostration nights will be easy-going; we will , then recite purification practices "Prostrations to the 35 Confession Buddhas" and the Vajrasattva mantra, then do prostrations together.

The sessions will take place every two weeks beginning  with prostrations on Thursday, April 12, and will run from 7 to 8pm.  The next session in the schedule will be mandala offerings on Thursday, April 26, and so on every two weeks.

On this night, we will do mandala offerings.

No need to have a mandala set on mandala offering nights, but if you have a set, please bring it!  Geshe Sangpo will teach the hand mudra for mandala offerings for those who don't have a set.

Geshe Gelek Chocha		Geshe Palden Sangpo
Venerable Ngawang Lhamo	Venerable Ngawang Khando	Venerable Ngawang Choekyi

Our precious Geshes and nuns contribute so much to our community, and we cherish any opportunity to give back to them!

There are many opportunities to serve them at the Center, from offering a beverage during a teaching to offering a meal during a social event. 

This discussion will be an chance to learn about serving our sangha, and find out when and how to get involved.

Celebrate Geshe Gelek's 20th Anniversary as Kadampa Center's Resident Teacher!

You are invited to a summer party to honor our precious teacher, Geshe Gelek.

Geshe-la has served Kadampa Center and our spiritual path faithfully for 20 years. Celebrate this mile marker with us in a festive gathering serving tradtional Tibetan food as well as light hors d'oeuvres. 

When: Sat, Aug 3, 4 pm

Where: Kadampa Center

No dress code or anything to bring, children welcome - they will have things to do set up in the nursery with teens present.

See you there!

Chronic illness, with the pain and fatigue that can accompany it, can present a daily challenge to our happiness and even our sense of who we are. Unable to live the life we envisioned for ourselves, we can sink into depression, anger and helplessness.  But these adversities also create opportunities to explore and apply the teachings in our own lives in ways that are profoundly powerful.

In this Sunday Dharma discussion, senior student Karen Edwards will lead us through a discussion of the opportunities that illness present for spiritual growth.

Kadampa Center will open at 5 am; the Eight Mahayana Precepts will begin at 5:15 am. 5:15 am  The Eight Mahayana Precepts,  a set of eight vows taken for a period of 24 hours, from sunrise on one day to sunrise the following day. The vows include no killing, stealing, sexual activity, lying, sitting on high seats, and more.

The first time you take these precepts, it must be from a qualified master. After that, you can take them from your altar. Geshe Sangpo will offer precepts if students request it.  If you wish to take precepts for the first time, please register by Thursday, June 13.

So sorry, registration is now closed.

Please register ONLY if you have not taken precepts before.

Following the precepts, we will have a light breakfast and a group reading of a sutra.

The Eight Mahayana Precepts are a set of vows that are taken for 24 hours, from first light before dawn to sunrise of the following day. The only prerequisite is that the first time one takes precepts it should be from a qualified teacher who has received the oral transmission of the practice. Thereafter you can perform the ceremony at first light yourself, reciting the prayers before an image of your teacher or the Buddha, imagining you are taking the vows from Buddha himself.

 It is good to take them on full and new moon days, and especially beneficial on Buddha Holy Days, when Karmic results are multiplied exponentionally, according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, citing the Vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.
 

These Mahayana Precepts enable you to live in the essence of pure moral conduct, and since you take them with the strong motivation of cherishing and wishing to benefit all others, their value is immeasurable. Taking these precepts is a powerful and effective way for you to build, maintain and increase deep propensities for spiritual practice and attainment and thus is a profound method for giving meaning to this precious human life.
 

The essence of this practice is to recall the Mahayana motivation; to take these precepts in order to become enlightened in order to lead all sentient beings to enlightenment.
 

The eight precepts are:
 

1.    Not to kill, even insects.
2.    Not to steal (Not to take what is not offered).
3.    Not to engage in sexual contact.
4.    Not to lie.
5.    Not use intoxicants: alcohol, tobacco and drugs (except for medicinal purposes).
6.    Not to eat at wrong times.*
7.    Not to sit on high, expensive beds or seats with pride. Avoid sitting on animal skins.
8.    Not to wear jewelry, perfume, or makeup; and not to sing, dance, or play music with attachment.
 

*It is alright to eat a light breakfast before or after the precepts. Avoid eating black foods: meat, eggs, onions, garlic, and radishes. The main meal of the day is to be finished by midday. After that one can take light drinks, but not undiluted whole milk or fruit juice with pulp, nor any food until sunrise of the following day.
 

You may read more about the precepts here.

Sponsor Holy Day Activities $108