Gompa

On this Saka Dawa and her first evening at Kadampa Center, Venerable Robina Courtin will teach from Lama Yeshe's book Mahamudra: How to Discover Our True Nature. Lama Yeshe tells us that mahamudra is “the universal reality of emptiness, of nonduality” and its unique characteristic is its emphasis on meditation: “With mahamudra meditation there is no doctrine, no theology, no philosophy, no God, no Buddha. Mahamudra is only experience.”

Watch How to Discover Our True Nature

Come experience Venerable Robina's unique teaching style, which penetrates through the fog of confusion to the essence of the question at hand.

Get a taste of Venerable Robina's teaching style here.

Volunteer opportunities!  Be a part of making this visit a success!  Sign up to volunteer here.

Registration requested. Please click here

Supporting the teachings

Supporting the teachings is an incredibly powerful and important act -- it is a practice of the highest form of generosity – giving the means to enlightenment. Kadampa Center has for many years operated within the ideal of offering teachings without charging a fee, so that money is not an obstacle for anyone to hear the precious teachings and participate in the practices. We rely on the generous hearts of those who are moved to support the spiritual offerings and keep them open to everyone regardless of ability to pay. Supporting the teachings benefits not just the Center and those who attend, but it also greatly benefits the donor, because it creates the causes to meet the teachings again in future lives, and deepens the connection with the teacher.

Kadampa Center offers two ways to support the teachings:  Sponsorships and Donations

Sponsorships begin at $108.

Sponsors receive:

 - The opportunity to attend a private tea with the teacher at the end of the visit. We must receive the sponsorship by Wednesday, June 19 to assure your place at the tea.

 - The opportunity to write a personal dedication that we will post on the gompa door for all to share.  We must receive the sponsorship and dedication by two days before the teacher’s visit begins to assure we have time to print and post your dedication.

There may be more than one sponsor for any event.

Donations are any amount from zero to $107.99.

Donors of $50 or more receive:

 - The opportunity to write a personal dedication that we will post on the gompa door for all to share. We must receive the donation and dedication by two days before the teacher’s visit begins to assure we have time to print and post your dedication.

Supporting the teachings is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your generosity (click here).

Step Two  is making the donation or sponsorship (use the buttons 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.

Use our secure online community to donate by clicking your choice below. 

To try our new Text Giving, send KC108 to 73256 and select your level from the drop down menu.

Don't forget to dedicate your generosity!

Venerable Robina Sponsorship Opportunities

Transformed Warrior (sponsor travel) ~ $350

Awakened Warrior ~ $250

Insight Warrior (teaching session) ~ $200

Compassion Warrior ~ $150

Realized Warrior (spirtual materials) ~ $108

Venerable Robina Donation Opportunities

Heart Giving ~ $Your Choice

Thank You!

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. Kadampa Center has a special relationship with Tara, according to Sera Jey Khensur Rinpoche Jetsun Lobsang Delek, our Geshes' teacher, who consecrated our Tara statues during a visit to Kadampa Center.  Here is an opportunity to deepen our connection to her!

In this two day mini-retreat, Geshe Gelek will instruct and lead us in how to do Tara retreat.  He recommends that students bring notebooks or other means of taking notes, so that later we can do retreat on our own.

This is a daytime rereat - we will not sleep over at the Center.

Please note that lunch breaks are only one hour, so there is very little time to go out for lunch. All are strongly advised to bring a bag lunch.

Anyone is welcome to attend any session, but we encourage all to try to attend the full retreat to get the maximum benefit.

Registration requested. Register here.

The Family Program and the Meditation Circle will take place as usual on Sunday morning. Watch for details later about where children will gather for their classes.

Schedule:

The Family Program and the Meditation Circle will take place as usual on Sunday morning.

Supporting the retreat

Supporting the retreat is an incredibly powerful and important act -- it is a practice of the highest form of generosity – giving the means to enlightenment. Kadampa Center has for many years operated within the ideal of offering spiritual programs without charging a fee, so that money is not an obstacle for anyone to participate in spiritual practice. (Occasionally we will request a registration fee for a retreat.) We rely on the generous hearts of those who are moved to support the spiritual offerings and keep them open to everyone regardless of ability to pay. Supporting teachings and practice benefits not just the Center and those who attend, but it also greatly benefits the donor, because it creates the causes to meet the teachings again in future lives, and deepens the connection with the teacher or retreat deity.

Kadampa Center offers two ways to support retreats:  Sponsorships and Donations

Sponsorships for the Tara mini-retreat are $125 to sponsor a single day and $250 to sponsor the full retreat.

Sponsors receive:

The opportunity to write a personal dedication that we will post on the gompa door for all to share.  We must receive the dedication by two days before the retreat begins to assure we have time to print and post your dedication.

Donations are any amount from zero to $124.99.

Donors of $50 or more receive:

The opportunity to write a personal dedication that we will post on the gompa door for all to share. We must receive the dedication by two days before the retreat begins to assure we have time to print and post your dedication.

Supporting the retreat is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your generosity (click here).

Step Two  is making the donation or sponsorship (use the buttons 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.

Use our secure online community to donate by clicking your choice below.

To try our new Text Giving, send KC108 to 73256 and select your level from the drop down menu.

Don't forget to dedicate your generosity!

Tara Mini-Retreat Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsor full retreat  ~ $250

Sponsor one day ~ $125

Tara Mini-Retreat Donation Opportunities

Heart Giving - $Your Choice

Thank You!!

Venerable Khando away April 4 or 5 until May 8 or 9.

This is  an amazing opportunity to learn a simple and comprehensive practice from a highly qualified teacher!

Seven Limb practice is a complete practice, and a simple way to gain merit.  It contains all the elements of Buddhist practice:     • prostration     • making offerings     • purification     • rejoicing     • requesting the teacher to turn the wheel of Dharma     • requesting the teacher to remain until the end of samsara, and     • dedication.

The Kadampa Masters, for whom our center is named, highly recommended this practice, according to Geshe Gelek.

We are extremely fortunate to have Geshe Sangpo teaching this course. When he was studying at Sera Je Monastery, he specialized in ritual and developed
a high level of expertise. He has been actively involved in preparing and performing many pujas, including asssiting His Holiness the Dalai Lama
with pujas at Sera Je.

The class will include specific instructions in:

    • how to make a prostration

    • how to do the offering hand mudras (very important for doing Kriya Tantra practice such as Tara practice), and

    • how to set up an altar and offering bowls.

These classes will meet each Thursday night from 7 pm to 8:30 pm beginning March 28.

They are an excellent preparation for the Tara mini-retreat that will take place at Kadampa Center at the end of April.

Registration requested. To register, click here.

Discovering Buddhism: How to Meditate  is CANCELLED on Monday, March 18, 2019.

Class will resume next week.

There will be NO separate Children's Classes as Geshe Sangpo has returned from his trip and we will be welcoming him home. The children are invited and encouraged to stay in the gompa for a slideshow of his travels. See More Here

Spend a day focusing on core meditation practices that are ideal for incorporating into your daily practice. The day will be divided into six 35-minute sessions with breaks and lunch.

To enable participants to keep focus and concentration, this mini-retreat will be silent other than guided meditations and essential communication. Sessions will consist of information on the topic presented by the facilitator, motivation, meditation on the topic, and dedication. To maintain a stable and peaceful retreat environment, participants should commit to attending the entire day if at all possible.

Meditations: Breathing, Clarity of the Mind, Precious Human Life, Purification, Impermanence, and Meditation on the Buddha.

Please bring food for your day such as snacks and lunch. Registration Requested. Click here to register.

About lam rim: The presentation of Buddha’s 84,000 teachings into a step-by-step method is known as “lam-rim” in Tibetan and can be translated as “graduated path.” Indian and Tibetan masters have offered short texts, prayers, commentaries and extensive texts with instruction, all based on this approach. 

Note about DB: If you are working on the requirements for completing the DB Practice Retreats, these meditations are required for How to Meditate module. Please be aware that these mediations will be guided by a fellow student and not an FPMT teacher, so for DB purposes, your approach is similar to if you were preparing for and practicing independently. However, we offer this opportunity in the center’s spiritual setting with other students with the hope that you find the environment beneficial and to cultivate a supportive environment in which we all practice. Chairs and cushions are available for your seating/meditation comfort. You are welcome to bring along your favorite cushion, if desired. Arrive early enough to get settled in.

Join Geshe Gelek as he guides us to selected points in the road to enlightenment.

Currently Geshe-la is teaching Mind Training.. This is an excellent extension of what students will have learned in the Discovering Buddhism module, "Transforming Problems."

Geshe-la will teach from the text "Twenty Seven Verses of Mind Training" by Je Tsongkhapa

In his great compassion, Shakyamuni Buddhia opened the gates to this road to enlightenment through his teachings.

Many years later, Lama Atisha organized all of the Buddha's teachings into a step-by-step guide -- a road map to the territory of practice --  in a short text called "Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment."

Lama Tsongkhapa (the founder of our Gelugpa lineage) wrote a detailed explanation of Lama Atisha's text to help students understand and practice the instructions, called The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Lamrim Chenmo). This lamrim foundation is the basis of all practice in our lineage, including tantra.

These incredible teachings by Geshe Gelek on this text are a rare and precious opportunity to gain insights into how to practice.

.

Are you interested in Buddhism but don't know where to start? Have you heard words like dharma and karma and samsara and wondered what they meant or why they mattered? Do you want to get an overview of Buddhism without making a long-term commitment? Then this is the program for you. In five short classes, we introduce you to the major terms and concepts of Buddhism - a fast tour of the basics to enable you to take the next steps if you want more. This course provides a broad, basic overview of key aspects of Buddhism and our practice. There is no required reading, no homework and no quizzes!

Topics covered include:

• The Four Noble Truths
• Different kinds of Buddhism: Theravadan, Mahayana, Vajrayana, etc.
• Buddha's teachings in a gradual form for the practice of one individual...where to start, what next, etc.
• A brief introduction to meditation

Registration requested. Click here to register.

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. 

This session is led by Sandy Carlson