Gompa

Kadampa Center's Adopt-a-Stream at Lake Johnson

The Family Program and Outreach have teamed up to offer a new service project! All ages are welcome to participate in the Adopt-a-Stream biannual cleaning of the shoreline of Lake Johnson. In order to participate in the program volunteers MUST sign up in advance. 

In order to participate all volunteers have to register HERE!

To keep a count of who is coming, please email Elise Strevel after your register.

Adopt A Stream Project (AAS)

Do you enjoy nature and doing something to help the environment? Lake Johnson accumulates trash along the shore lines and wildlife become entangled, or ingest the trash that is toxic to them. The Family Program and Outreach have teamed up to offer this opportunity to do service work and protect the local wildlife of Lake Johnson. All ages are welcome to participate in the Adopt-a-Stream biannual cleaning of the shoreline. There are areas for all ages to clean and remove debris from the shorelines.  

In order to participate all volunteers have to register. REGISTER HERE

• When: Sat, March 23, 8:45 am-noon (next one: Sat, August 10, 8:45 am-noon)
• Where: Volunteers will park and check-in between  8:45-9:15 am at GPS location:  35.770101, -78.717564. Parking is at the Williams Stadium Parking Lot closest to the trail head. Address to stadium is 5611 Jaguar Park Dr, Raleigh, NC 27606.
• Who:  All ages! 

Questions? Email Dorothy Robson or Elise Strevel

Thank you from Outreach and the Family Program

The Summer Session is June 23 - August 25 

• Join us for 12 weeks of Operation 16G. This art based curriculum is lead by Vivian and Dorothy and is a hands on interactive for all ages.

• Teens can earn school required volunteer hours.

• Adult assistants needed throughout the summer.

• If you're interested in either volunteer positions, contact Christy.

The Spring Session is May 5 - 19

Join us for 3 weeks of Family Dharma Discussions. The subject matter and format for Family Dharma Discussions is:

• How to say what you believe
• How to treat real live bullies
• How to decide whether to play a video game or watch a show 

The Winter/Spring Session is January 13 - April 28

• Students will be studying 16 Guidelines Curriculum from the wisdom group How We Think. We have three classes, one for preschool, one for grades K - 4, and one for grades 5 - 8. 
• Drop off is made available by the generosity of many volunteer teachers and assistants.
• Exceptions:
  • Families will join the larger community in the gompa on Feb 10 to celebrate Losar
  • No program at the center on April 21 because of the Family Camping weekend

There will be no special programming this Sunday. Children are welcome to join their families in the gompa.

Holiday Schedule

• Sundays, November 25 - January 6 (No program Dec 23 and Dec 30)
  • November 25, Thanksgiving weekend, Families are invited to join the larger community in the gompa for a special program
  • December 2 - 16, Parents are invited to join their children in the classroom building for programming designed for Family participation.
  • This is not drop-off programming, parents attend with their children.
  • December 23 and 30, Children are welcome to join their families in the gompa.

In Buddhism, we practice offering a mandala - a whole jeweled universe of the best of everything - to our teachers and to the Buddhas.

Geshe Sangpo reminds us that this is a wonderful practice for earning merit.

On this Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, we'll offer a special mandala, created from items our members donate to benefit Interact. We'll learn about the practice, and use our day to benefit others! 

Everyone is invited to bring their items in by November 25. We will take all the items into the gompa on this day, and offer them on behalf of all our members as part of the mandala, then take the collected items to InterAct.

Items to be collected in our lobby now until Nov 25:

• Bath Towels
• Feminine Hygiene Products
• Gas Cards
• Hair Shampoo/Conditioner (Full Size)
• Women’s Socks/Underwear

Sunday mornings typically begin with prayers and a brief meditation.

Sunday is a great time for a first visit to Kadampa Center – students at every level come, from newcomers to practitioners with 30+ years of experience, and it's a great opportunity to meet others and start making new friends.

Led by Christy Batts, coordinator of our Family Program

Just in time for Thanksgiving, we will explore gratitude, how it benefits us and how to think about it in a meaningful way. We'll learn a little about how science has shown that gratitude improves happiness, and think about our own role models for gratitude.
Led by Denise Flora

Sunday mornings typically begin with prayers and a brief meditation.

Sunday is a great time for a first visit to Kadampa Center – students at every level come, from newcomers to practitioners with 30+ years of experience, and it's a great opportunity to meet others and start making new friends.

We offer a full range of children's programs on Sundays. Children are invited to sit on the blue cushions at the front of the gompa, and then depart to their classes after opening prayers. Any child who wishes to is welcome to remain in the gompa for the teachings.

In our journey to reduce troubling thoughts, develop our positive qualities, and extend our compassion to all sentient beings, some of us may stumble with bringing kindness, acceptance, and a caring attitude towards ourselves.

This session will bring together insights from the increasing body of evidence about the many physical and emotional benefits of self-compassion and how self-compassion fits into Buddhist psychology.

We will explore misconceptions about self-compassion and experiment with some meditations and tools to strengthen our self-compassion.

This talk will be led by Karen Edwards, one of our senior students. She will draw from Thupten Jinpa’s A Fearless Heart (2015) and Kristin Neff’s, Self Compassion (2011) for this talk.