Gompa

Guided meditation has many benefits, including helping serve as instructions for daily practice as well as having the power of practicing together as a group. Join Geshe Gelek the first Saturday of every month for teachings and practice on different types of meditation. Geshe-la will choose topics best suited to the students who attend, and the class time may vary depending on the depth of the topic.

Students are also invited to bring a lunch and stay for the Food for Thought group that follows at noon!

Geshe Gelek is unable to come tonight. We'll be back to our regular schedule next Friday.

Transforming Negative Emotions: Practical Coping Methods for Realistic Healthy Living

When negative mind states such as stress, anxiety, depression, anger, or jealousy get engaged, how do we stop the dysfunctional looping and maintain a healthy presence? This weekend program will explore a deeper understanding of what happens, offer techniques to interrupt unhealthy habits, and introduce meditations that can guide us to a more balanced reality. Tonglen and loving kindness meditation will be included. All events are open to anyone, with no pre-registration required.

Schedule

Friday, June 26, 2015, 7:00pm - 8:30pm: Opening introductory teaching

Saturday, June 27, 2015, 10:00am - 3:30pm: Retreat with teachings and meditation; vegetarian potluck lunch*

Sunday, June 28, 2015, 9:00am - 12:00pm: Retreat with teachings and meditation continued

*Saturday potluck - please bring a vegetarian dish to share; entrees are particularly helpful, and hot dishes need to be brought in a crockpot (we don't have a way to heat dishes in the kitchen). Labeling ingredients helps people with dietary issues (vegan, gluten-free, etc.) tell if they can enjoy your offering!

      Sponsor Ven. Amy's visit

About Venerable Amy Miller

Amy J. Miller (Ven. Lobsang Chodren) first encountered Tibetan Buddhism in the spring of 1987 during a course at Kopan Monastery in Nepal. Since then, she has spent a great deal of time engaged in meditation retreats, study, teaching, and Buddhist center management throughout the world. Prior to meeting the Dharma, Ven. Amy was a political fundraiser in Washington, DC and also worked for Mother Jones Magazine in San Francisco, California.

From 1992-1995, Ven. Amy managed Tse Chen Ling Center in San Francisco, California. She then served as Director of Vajrapani Institute, also in California, from 1995-2004. From 1998-2002, she was also the Manager of the Lawudo Retreat Fund (which supports the center in which the sacred cave of Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche is located) in the Mt. Everest region of Nepal. In 2004, after resigning as Director, Ven. Amy completed a seven-month solitary retreat at Vajrapani. For most of 2005 and 2006, she organized international teaching tours for and traveled with the esteemed Tibetan Buddhist master, Ven. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche until Rinpoche’s death in 2006. Ven. Amy then became a touring teacher for the FPMT (the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition). From 2008-2014, Ven. Amy was Director of Milarepa Center in Barnet, Vermont.

Ven. Amy has also had the good fortune to visit Tibet in 1987 and again in 2001 as a pilgrimage leader for the Institute of Noetic Science in the United States. She has also led pilgrimages to India, Nepal, Bhutan, Darjeeling, and Sikkim for the Liberation Prison Project and Milarepa Center. The next pilgrimage she will be leading will be to Burma (Myanmar) in September, 2015. Contact Effie@hightreks.com for more information.

Ven. Amy was ordained as a Buddhist nun in June 2000 by the great Tibetan master, Ven. Choden Rinpoche, and has been teaching extensively since 1992. Her teaching style emphasizes a practical approach to integrating Buddhist philosophy into everyday life. She is happy to help people connect with meditation and mindfulness in an effort to gain a refreshing perspective on normally stressful living. Ven. Amy’s courses and retreats predominantly focus on establishing and maintaining a meditation and mindfulness practice, death and dying, overcoming anxiety and depression, battling addiction, dealing with self-esteem issues, and cultivating compassion and loving kindness. She is also often involved in leading a variety of retreats.

Ven. Amy is the co-author of Buddhism in a Nutshell and a contributor to Living in the Path, a series of online courses produced by FPMT

Based in the United States, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ven. Amy teaches and leads retreats and pilgrimages around the world.

      Sponsor Ven. Amy's visit

We have a special opportunity this month!  Geshe Gelek has kindly offered to teach The Practice of Tara that Fulfills All Wishes -- our monthly Tara practice -- at this session.  Tara is a female Buddha whose qualities include enlightened action and removing obstacles, and a section of our altar is filled with statues representing her 21 aspects.

If you're curious about Tara, if you know a little bit and want to learn more, this is a great chance to discover or deepen your understanding of her.

Geshe Gelek translated this special practice for us, and assures us that doing the practice will greatly benefit not just our center and community, but have the best benefit of helping all sentient beings. His teacher, (the Abbot of Sera Je Monastery) Khen Rinpoche Lobsang Delek, also said when he visited in 2011 that we have a special connection to Tara, so doing her practice is incredibly beneficial for our community, harmony working together, and the success of Kadampa Center.

This practice is for all levels of students and is done in English. It begins at 6:00pm with the group setting up an altar of extensive waterbowl and sense offerings. Once that's finished, we say prayers that include the Praises to the 21 Taras, mantras, and the opportunity to do prostrations if desired.

Traditionally the offerings for the sangha and altar are sponsored by Dharma students, especially if they want to dedicate the merit to their loved ones in need of support and prayers. Sponsorship of Tara practice is $150 - if you'd like to sponsor this practice, please contact pujas@kadampa-center.org for instructions about making the donation and sending your personal dedication.

This special Medicine Buddha puja is sponsored by Donna Seese for her mother, Rosemary Seese, who died recently. Doing Medicine Buddha practice for sure benefits loved ones who are in the intermediate state (bardo), so we invite everyone in the community to come and say these prayers together in support of Rosemary's family. The puja is done in English, so easy to follow if you are not already familiar with the prayers.

The Discovering Buddhism (DB) two-year course emphasizes an authentic yet culturally relevant presentation of the Buddha's teachings. Taught by FPMT registered teachers and facilitators, the classes lay a strong foundation of the entire Tibetan Buddhist path including how to integrate study and practice. This is an excellent “next step” for students who have taken the Buddhism in a Nutshell class and want to learn more. Students are also welcome to stay after class for a peer-led discussion group. There are no pre-requisites or fees, although donations are appreciated.

We ask that new students starting the course start at the first week of the module, on April 13, when we'll have volunteers ready to explain how the course works and how to access online teachings by becoming a member. This makes the transition easiest for new students, and we've found that attending the entire module is the least confusing for everyone (rather than starting in the middle, not having clear instructions, and finding the topic difficult after missing the early classes).

In the All About Karma module, learn the essential facts about the law of cause and effect. Explore ways to deal with life most effectively and take control of your future!  Led by Robbie Watkins.

Basic Program

Kadampa Center is now offering FPMT's Basic Program, taught by our resident teacher, Geshe Gelek, and facilitated by Shankha Mitra. This five-year program was designed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for students who have completed basic levels of study and have a regular Buddhist practice to gain a profound knowledge of the key aspects of the entire Buddhist path.

Pre-requisites and Pre-registration

Information about the pre-requisites and the form to register are available on the Basic Program page. This class is currently only for students who reistered and attended the earlier Tenets classes in July and August last year - new students who meet the BP pre-requisites will be able to register when the next module begins. The class will be recorded but not streamed since students need to attend in person to fully participate.

Tenets

Based on the idea that the Buddha taught different things to different people in line with their capacities, Tibetan scholars systemized the numerous trends in Indian Buddhist thought and taught the four schools of Tenets (Drubtha) as a means to approach the most profound philosophical teachings via more accessible levels. The text that is the basis for study of this subject gives a brief overview of the assertions on minds, objects, selflessness and the nature of attainment within each of the schools, culminating in the tenets of the most highly esteemed school, the Madhyamikas.

Accoding to Geshe Gelek, the benefits of studying tenets includes increasing our understanding of emptiness and greatly increasing our understanding of the nature of all things. In other words, understanding Asanga’s point of view of emptiness means our view of our world and its reality will progress.  From a very practical point of view, it helps us to improve our understanding of conventional world – and mainly the conventional world is our “self” – so we better understand the empty nature of the self.

Geshe Gelek said strongly that a basis of lam-rim is usually taught first and is an important part of our practice, so this class should not take the place of or distract from Wednesday night's lam-rim course.

Students who were registered and attended the Tenets class with Geshe Gelek are encouraged to come and review the material in partners and small groups before the topic resumes in January. (Please note this is not for students new to the topic or course.)

Guru puja (Lama Chöpa)  is a practice of making offerings and requests to all the Buddhas and holy beings, but especially the root guru, who, according to the teachings, is the root of the path to liberation. It is a practice recommended by FPMT's Spiritual Director Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who says:

This practice of Guru Puja is very profound, with many extra benefits, and is very quick to bring enlightenment. The lam-rim prayer, the prayer of the steps of the path to enlightenment, in Guru Puja has lam-rim and also lo-jong, or thought transformation. Generally, the whole of the lam-rim, from guru devotion up to enlightenment, is thought transformation. If your mind is not transformed into the path, how can you have realizations of the path? There’s no way, without transforming your mind.

As part of the puja, we perform a special practice called tsog which has extensive offerings. According to the Liberation Prison Project Tibetan calendar, on the 10th and 25th of every Tibetan (lunar) month, Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, “Those who have received an initiation into Highest Yoga Tantra have a commitment to perform tsog” on these days. Kadampa Center holds pujas with tsog on these dates (when they don't conflict with other programs).

Anyone is welcome to attend pujas, even if you are unfamiliar with the practice. This puja is recited partly in English and partly chanted in Tibetan. (It is possible to read the English translations of the whole puja, and there is optional sheet music available to help learn the Tibetan tunes.) Traditionally the offerings for the sangha and puja are sponsored by Dharma students, especially if they want to dedicate the puja to their spiritual teachers or loved ones in need of support and prayers. Sponsorship of a Guru puja is $70 - if you'd like to sponsor this puja, please contact pujas@kadampa-center.org for instructions about making the donation and sending your personal dedication.

Guru puja (Lama Chöpa)  is a practice of making offerings and requests to all the Buddhas and holy beings, but especially the root guru, who, according to the teachings, is the root of the path to liberation. It is a practice recommended by FPMT's Spiritual Director Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who says:

This practice of Guru Puja is very profound, with many extra benefits, and is very quick to bring enlightenment. The lam-rim prayer, the prayer of the steps of the path to enlightenment, in Guru Puja has lam-rim and also lo-jong, or thought transformation. Generally, the whole of the lam-rim, from guru devotion up to enlightenment, is thought transformation. If your mind is not transformed into the path, how can you have realizations of the path? There’s no way, without transforming your mind.

As part of the puja, we perform a special practice called tsog which has extensive offerings. According to the Liberation Prison Project Tibetan calendar, on the 10th and 25th of every Tibetan (lunar) month, Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, “Those who have received an initiation into Highest Yoga Tantra have a commitment to perform tsog” on these days. Kadampa Center holds pujas with tsog on these dates (when they don't conflict with other programs).

Anyone is welcome to attend pujas, even if you are unfamiliar with the practice. This puja is recited partly in English and partly chanted in Tibetan. (It is possible to read the English translations of the whole puja, and there is optional sheet music available to help learn the Tibetan tunes.) Traditionally the offerings for the sangha and puja are sponsored by Dharma students, especially if they want to dedicate the puja to their spiritual teachers or loved ones in need of support and prayers. Sponsorship of a Guru puja is $70 - if you'd like to sponsor this puja, please contact pujas@kadampa-center.org for instructions about making the donation and sending your personal dedication.