Gompa

 Lama Zopa Rinpoche 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.

This puja will be offered on Zoom. Please click here to register on Zoom.

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. During the pandemic, when we are doing the puja online, students can make these offerings at home.

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.

Supporting pujas benefits not just the Center and those who attend, but it also greatly benefits the donor, who collects the merit of giving the Dharma, and thus creates the causes to meet the Dharma again.

Sponsoring the puja is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your generosity (click here)

Step Two  is making the sponsorship donation (click here)

Dedications may be very simple - "For my mother, Rosemary" - or they might encompass more extensive spiritual wishes, such as "May these teachings be the cause to liberate all sentient beings," or wishes for the teacher's long life, to benefit a person who is ill - any heart-felt positive intention!  You also can dedicate for more than one intention.

Come wish Geshe Sangpo a very happy birthday!

We will log in to Zoom  from 7 pm to 7:15 pm (US EST) Tuesday, December 15 to give him our heartfelt birthday wishes personally!  We will stream to YouTube as well.

We're taking a holiday break today! 

Have a happy and safe holiday season.

Sunday Dharma resumes next week, January 3, 2021.

Geshe Gelek ofrece una enseñanza todos los domingos por la mañana.

          con traducción simultánea al español.

Traducción disponible solo en Zoom

Únase a nuestra comunidad para recibir enseñanzas en línea diseñadas para ayudarnos a enfrentar los desafíos de la vida diaria con mentes felices y tranquilas.

¡Ofrecemos esta enseñanza a través de Zoom con traducción simultánea al español!

Para asistir por Zoom, apriete el enlace para registrarse con anticipación.

Después de registrarse, recibirá un correo electrónico de confirmación con información sobre cómo unirse a la reunión.

En la sesión de Zoom, la traducción se habilitará cuando el traductor esté presente. Para escuchar, haga clic en el ícono de "Interpretation" en la parte inferior de su pantalla para escuchar la traducción.

Protector, remover of obstacles, model of enlightened activity, inspiration to Lama Atisha - Tara is all of these. Doing Tara practice clears obstacles in our spiritual lives and helps us attain our positive goals, both spiritual and mundane. Tara is a female Buddha whose qualities include enlightened action and swiftly removing obstacles (Tara's 21 aspects are represented in statues on our altar).

Geshe Gelek translated this special practice, The Practice of Tara that Fulfills All Wishes, and assures us that this will greatly benefit not just our center and community, but have the best benefit of helping all sentient beings.

Geshe Gelek's teacher, (the former Abbot of Sera Je Monastery) Khensur 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.

We will do this practice via Zoom, which will allow us to display the text for all to participate.  There will be no YouTube streaming.

Registration is required to join the Zoom session. This helps protect the session from "trolls" and helps protect participants' security.  

Register here in advance for this practice.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The practice will be led by Venerable Lhamo.

Come wish Geshe Gelek a very happy birthday!

We will log in to Zoom  from 6 pm to 6:15 pm (US EST) Friday, December 4 - Geshe-la's actual birthday - to give him our heartfelt birthday wishes personally!  We will stream to YouTube as well.

Examine the mind and how it creates happiness and suffering. Learn to transform destructive thoughts and attitudes to create a positive and joyous mind! This course is offered online via YouTube streaming or Zoom. Registration is required for Zoom participants.

DB was developed by our affiliate organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, and is taught at Kadampa Center by senior lay students with many years of study and practice. Students who take the course together tend to develop great friendships with their Dharma buddies!

In keeping with our long-standing tradition, Kadampa Center does not charge a fee for any Dharma course. These teachings are too precious to allow money to be an obstacle for anyone to hear them!  We do, of course, have expenses to offer the course, so we happily welcome any heart-felt donations.  No pre-registration is required to stream on YouTube.

The instructor for this class is Robbie Watkins.

This powerful Mahayana purification practice lets us start the new year with a clean slate. In this fire puja, we burn black sesame seeds symbolizing our past negative actions. It’s a potent experience to watch our negative karma go up in smoke! Dorje Khadro is a deity who purifies our negative karma by consuming it in the form of black sesame seeds.

Because of the pandemic – another example of the ripening of negative karma – for the first time, we will not hold this practice in person at the Center.

Instead, we’ll do part of it together online and part on own at home. We'll start online (see below for links), with an explanation by our director, Robbie Watkins, of the practice and of the visualization to do while burning the seeds. Geshe Gelek will lead us through the actual practice, then each participant can burn their seeds at home – in the fireplace, the fire pit, or the barbecue grill. 

A little advance planning is necessary:  pick up some black sesame seeds in advance at an Asian grocery, or nowadays a lot of regular grocery stores do too. If you can't get the sesame seeds, you can simply write down the negativities you want to purify, and burn them instead. If you don't have access to a fire, visualize! 

Here’s the mantra we’ll say while burning the seeds:

OM VAJRA DAKA KHA KHA KHAHI KHAHI SARWA PAPAM DAHANA BAKMI KURU SOHA

The practice will be accessible through both YouTube and Zoom. Please register here for Zoom.

For an example of the practice and commentary by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, visit this page on Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Morning meditation is taking a break this week for the holidays.  We will resume on Monday, Nov. 30.

Lama Tsongkhapa is extremely important to Kadampa Center - his writings are the framework for our study and practice, and he founded our Gelugpa lineage in Tibetan Buddhism.  With commentary from Geshe Gelek, we will celebrate Lama Tsongkhapa and his great contribution to the Dharma with a festival of prayer and practice.  Our celebration also includes review of his major short works.

Lama Tsongkhapa was a renowned scholar, practitioner, meditator, teacher and author.  His studies and meditations in all the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism resulted in the founding of the Gelugpa lineage.

Among his major accomplishments is writing the Lamrim, or the Great Treatise on the Path to Enlightenment, a step-by-step guide to the spiritual practices that lead to enlightenment. He also wrote several condensed versions of the Lamrim, including Foundation of All Good Qualities, the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, and Song of Experience. 

We will meet online via both Zoom and YouTube.

Registration is required to access the Zoom session.  Please register here.

Geshe-la encourages us all to come, even if we can't attend the entire festival. Students are welcome to drop in and drop out throughout the morning.

Program
Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga
  Chant 21 Lama Tsongkhapa mantras 
  Mandala offering.
Foundation of All Good Qualities – review & analytical meditation
Chant 21 Lama Tsongkhapa mantras 
  Mandala offering.
Three Principal Aspects of the Path – review & analytical meditation
Chant 21 Lama Tsongkhapa mantras 
  Mandala offering.
Song of Experience – review & analytical meditation
Chant 21 Lama Tsongkhapa mantras 
  Mandala offering.
In Praise of Dependent Origination – review & analytical meditation
Chant 21 Lama Tsongkhapa mantras 
  Mandala offering.
Recite Lama Tsongkhapa mantra 14 times
Lamrim dedication prayer

Geshe Gelek encourages students who have previously taken Eight Mahayana Precepts to take them at home before sunrise, before their home altar.

Lama Tsongkhapa Day honors a very powerful practitioner so there is great power in the merit of supporting it financially. Supporting this holy day's spiritual practices – whether you are able to attend or not – is an opportunity to collect great merit. If you are sponsoring but not attending, you can offer prayers for those who are participating in the events.

Supporting the Holy Day event is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your generosity (click here).

Step Two  is making the donation or sponsorship (use the button below on this page)

Dedications may be very simple - "For my mother, Rosemary" - or they might encompass more extensive spiritual wishes, such as "May these teachings be the cause to liberate all sentient beings," or wishes for the teacher's long life, to benefit a person who is ill - any heart-felt positive intention!  You also can dedicate for more than one intention.

The festival begins with Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga puja.

Sponsor Holy Day Puja ~ $125