As part of the statue blessing ceremony, the statues must be carefully filled with rolled mantras, incense, and juniper. We'll meet at 9:00am and will be filling statues all day - there are so many we expect to be there until dinnertime. The day will be spent with Geshe Gelek and Geshe Sangpo preparing the statues. Anyone is welcome to attend and help, but it's particularly recommended for those who are having a statue blessed so they develop a strong connection to it as a holy object. All the statues had to be registered, and need to be cleaned and delivered ahead of time - please email program@kadampa-center.org if you have questions about this process.
Class is canceled for the July 4th holiday week - it will resume again the first Friday in August.
7:00 pm Friday, April 26, 2013
This class will be rescheduled - Geshe Gelek is ill and not able to lead class this evening.
This is the final class in a series Geshe Gelek has been teaching on the Bodhisattva and Tantric vows. In this class, he will cover what to do if you have broken the vows, and how to purify that karma.
In order to ensure students have the proper background and experience for the material, the class is restricted to students who have actually taken the vows. The second hour of the class will be only for those with Highest Yoga Tantra vows (so students who have not taken a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation will leave after the first hour).
Location at Kadampa Center:
Gompa
7:00 pm Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Many people want to know what it's like for Westerners to be ordained, how sangha support themselves, what living in a nunnery is like, and the role of women monastics in Tibetan Buddhism. Special guest teacher Venerable Thubten Chodron is highly qualified to talk about this topic. She ordained as a nun in the Tibetan tradition in 1977 and received the full ordination of a bhikshuni in Taiwan in 1986. A highly respected teacher and author, she has been the resident teacher at Amitabha Buddhist Center in Singapore, and was resident teacher and spiritual adviser for Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle for ten years. She is currently the Abbess of Sravasti Abbey, a Buddhist monastery in Newport, Washington, which she founded in 2003. In addition to her teaching, we'll also watch two short videos about Sravasti Abbey and monastic life there as an introduction to the topic.
In this Discovering Buddhism module, investigate the role of the teacher on the spiritual path: the need for a teacher, the qualities of teacher and student, and how to relate to a teacher for greatest benefit. This session will be led by special guest teacher Ven. Thubten Chodron.
Location at Kadampa Center:
Gompa
10:00 am Saturday, May 4, 2013
After Shakyamuni Buddha became enlightened, his first teaching was The Four Noble Truths. He revealed that the sources we normally turn to for happiness are actually unfulfilling, even causing us to suffer instead. The good news is that the causes of suffering and can be understood, and total happiness can be acheived by everyone. Join Venerable Thubten Chodron as she explains these four truths.
