SPIRITUAL: Special Class

In order to reach enlightenment, we have to put the teachings into practice - walk the talk. The foundation of practice in our lineage is the lamrim - the step-by-step guide to enlightment. Lama Atisha organized all the Buddha's teachings into this graduated path, and later teachers wrote additional commentaries and texts based on Lama Atisha's instructions.

Geshe Gelek has recommended memorizing texts on the lamrim to be used as a meditation tool in daily practice, especially for students of the Wednesday night class. (If you are not meditating on the text reguarly you will quickly forget it and it wil be wasted effort.) He suggested we start with a short lamrim text, Lama Tsong Khapa's Foundaton of All Good Qualities. Once students have the basics, we can move up to memorizing a more detailed lamrim outline.

The prayer is found in FPMT's Volume One Prayer Book, as a .pdf or ebook download.  It is also free online at Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive but is a slightly different translation than we will be using. Please bring your copy to the memorization class where we'll share advice about memorization and help each other practice. We've had one sesssion already, so this class will be to see how far people were able to memorize and help each other complete it. The goal for completing memorization is the Day of Miracles, February 25th.

Food for Thought is a supportive discussion group where we learn about and practice strategies and methods of mindfulness...

1. to notice our inner and outer environments while eating in order to make the food choices we wish to make,
2. to slow down, notice interconnections and practice gratitude in order to make eating more meaningful, and
3. to use eating as a mental training ground in order to develop skills to shift our attitudes and create new habits.

The group meets every month, and we have a genuine good time. Drop-ins are welcome. Bring something you'd like to eat during the exercises we'll do using food. Participants are also invited to bring lunch and stay at 12:45 to enjoy lunch informally together.

In order to reach enlightenment, we have to put the teachings into practice - walk the talk. The foundation of practice in our lineage is the lamrim - the step-by-step guide to enlightment. Lama Atisha organized all the Buddha's teachings into this graduated path, and later teachers wrote additional commentaries and texts based on Lama Atisha's instructions.

Geshe Gelek has recommended memorizing texts on the lamrim to be used as a meditation tool in daily practice, especially for students of the Wednesday night class. (If you are not meditating on the text reguarly you will quickly forget it and it wil be wasted effort.) He suggested we start with a short lamrim text, Lama Tsong Khapa's Foundaton of All Good Qualities. Once students have the basics, we can move up to memorizing a more detailed lamrim outline.

The prayer is found in FPMT's Volume One Prayer Book, as a .pdf or ebook download, and also free online at Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Please bring your copy to the memorization class where we'll share advice about memorization and help each other practice.

In Tibetan Buddhism, traditional statues are made of bronze and hollow inside. There's a process of rolling mantras and filling the statues in preparation for a blessing ceremony when the Buddhas are invited to become one with the statue, making it ready for use on an altar. Not only is this a fun hands-on activity, it's an excellent way to get to know other people in the center community! So even if you don't have a statue, you can come and participate by rolling mantras for others.

Students who have a statue and want to have it blessed need to:

1) Register your statue right away by emailing program@kadampa-center.org. This way we can judge how many mantras need to be rolled before we can hold the ceremony. Please include:

• Type(s) of Buddhas (Shakyamuni, Tara, etc.)
• Height of each statue in inches
• Your name, email and phone

2) Participate in this process by coming to as many rolling sessions as possible - they will happen on a variety of times and days to help make it available for anyone's schedule. This creates a very strong personal connection to your statues, both karmically and as a inspiration for your practice. Rolling mantras requires instruction and practice, so can't be done individually at home until you've attended at least one session at the center.

For detailed information about how to buy a Buddha statue, we have advice from Geshe Gelek online.

Please also think about a donation for the statue blessing - there are costs involved buying and preparing the materials and offerings are made to the sangha (it's typically a two-day intensive process to fill and bless the statues). A recommended donation is $50-100 per statue, but any amount is appreciated and welcomed. Donations can be made online or put in a donation box at the center and labeled for the statue filling and blessing.

According to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, doing Tonglen meditation "is the most powerful purification for you and also for collecting extensive merit. It is the quickest way to achieve enlightenment and to be able to liberate numberless sentient beings in each realm from the oceans of samsara’s sufferings and bring them to enlightenment."

Come learn about this meditation practice of giving and taking that is part of the lamrim (from the section on bodhichitta). Special guest and FPMT teacher Karuna Cayton will be explaining this important practice of transforming the mind.

Part 3 of our Weekend Workshop with Karuna Cayton

This weekend workshop has useful tools for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. We each have the potential to transform our suffering into happiness, to free ourselves from the prison of our problems. As practiced in Buddhism for more than 2,500 years, the process involves working with, rather than against, our depression, anxiety, and compulsions. We do this by recognizing the habitual ways our minds perceive and react — the way the mind misleads.

Part 2 of our Weekend Workshop with Karuna Cayton

This weekend workshop has useful tools for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. We each have the potential to transform our suffering into happiness, to free ourselves from the prison of our problems. As practiced in Buddhism for more than 2,500 years, the process involves working with, rather than against, our depression, anxiety, and compulsions. We do this by recognizing the habitual ways our minds perceive and react — the way the mind misleads.

Part 1 of our Weekend Workshop with Karuna Cayton

In April, Geshe-la started his teachings on the lamrim. This Saturday, May 12, from 10:00 - 12:00, he will continue those teachings.

No worries if you missed the first part - come if you can! Everyone is welcome.

The graduated path to enlightenment, the lamrim, is a guide to practice for anyone on the Buddhist path. It's not just an intellectual exercise, but Lama Atisha's instructions how to achieve enlightenment - meant to be implemented in day to day life. The lamrim is also the foundation of tantric practice, essential if one is to make progress. Join Geshe Gelek for this weekend teaching where he will touch on each of the main points of the lamrim. Great as either an introduction or review, this class is open to all students - no registration or pre-requisites required.