Gompa

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.

Check out the rest of Ven. Thubten Chodron's scheduled events at Kadampa Center.

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.

Check out the rest of Ven. Thubten Chodron's scheduled events at Kadampa Center.

There will be a special Medicine Buddha puja at 11 a.m., Tuesday, April 9th for the passing of the sister of one of our family members, who would like to remain anonymous. This puja is already sponsored. Please join us to empower our prayers for a quick and pleasant journey through the bardo and rebirth in the Pure Land.

We are blessed to have a special guest in town, Venerable George Churinoff, who is a highly-respected teacher in FPMT and has agreed to lead our 10:30am session this Sunday, the 24th. He will be continuing Geshe Gelek's discussion about "What is Happiness?"

A little bit about Ven. George:

A physics graduate from MIT, Venerable George earned a Masters degree in Buddhist studies from Delhi University, India. He took ordination in 1975 and studied the Geshe Studies Program at Manjushri Institute, England, where he also served as Spiritual Program Coordinator. Venerable George was instrumental in founding the Masters Program at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy, where he also served as Program Coordinator. After studying and teaching there for eight years he spent several years at Tushita Centre in Delhil, followed by three years as Lama Osel Rinpoche's English curriculum tutor at Sera Je Monastery in South India. Venerable George has done many retreats in the sutra and tantra traditions and taught extensively in FPMT centers all over the world. He taught the Basic Program as resident teacher at Dorje Chang Institute, New Zealand and at Land of Medicine Buddha, USA. Venerable George now resides at Deer Park Buddhist Center Madison, Wisconsin.

Families are always welcome. Children are invited to sit at the front of the gompa on the blue cushions at the beginning of the Sunday Program, and then can join in our very active Children and Youth Program.

Part of the process of illness in our society is navigating through the medical system. It's a very difficult time to learn about the differences between hospitals, rehab centers, long-term care facilities, hospice, and more. Added to this are pressures of dealing with insurance companies and bills. This workshop will help introduce some of the basic facts you need to know about these issues, so you can be better prepared to make decisions while dealing with an illness, either yourself or with a loved one.

Special guest Steven Warnock, Eecutive Director of Project Compassion, brings his expertise to the center. Project Compassion is a non-profit organization that creates community and provides innovative support for people living with serious illness, caregiving, end of life and grief.

This workshop, the next in our year-long Death & Dying series, will be led by  Stephanie Smith, one of our Discovering Buddhism leaders. Based on her personal experience and Buddhist teachings, she will help us look at several aspects of benefiting those who are dying, such as how to cultivate a peaceful environment (at home, at hospice, in a hospital); communicating and working with family members and those of various faiths; and examining our own attitudes we each bring to our service and interactions.

No registration is required and this series is offered on a donation basis. You do not have to attend the full series -- please feel free to come to any workshop that interests you.

This workshop will focus on the topic of grief and loss. It will be jointly led by Venerable Choekyi and a grief counselor from Hospice of Wake County. Together they will look at aspects of grief and loss from both western psychology and Buddhist perspectives. The goal of the workshop is to help us become more familiar, and therefore more comfortable, with this topic.

Due to time and other limitations, the scope of this 2-hour workshop will not extend to therapy or support for someone actively seeking help to process grief. If you are seeking this type of support, please feel free to contact Ven Choekyi at support@kadampa-center.org for a referral to an appropriate source.

As others are approaching death, we often want to help. This workshop will give us some tools to be of benefit. Geshe-la will lead us in a discussion of prayers, practices, and mantras to do for someone who is dying and also those to do at the time of death. We will also learn about practices to do after someone has died.

Geshe Gelek will be teaching on the Five Powers. According to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, “There are five powers to be practiced near the time of death. They are very important. That is what we need to train in now. We have to remember what they are, at least their names and the meanings. Then we have the possibility of putting them into practice.”

Come learn more about what these forces are, how to think about and practice them in life, and how to prepare to apply them at the time of death.