Gompa

Are you interested in Buddhism but don't know where to start? Have you heard words like dharma and karma and samsara thrown around and wondered what they meant or why they mattered? Do you want to get a quick overview of Buddhism without making a long-term commitment?

Then…we have just 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.

In five classes we provide a broad, simple overview of these and other key aspects of Buddhism and our practice. There is no required reading, no homework and no quizzes! There is, however, a suggested reading list for those who want to read more. 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

In keeping with our tradition, we do not charge a fee to attend these classes. We do, however, welcome heartfelt donations to support our ability to offer them!  No pre-registration is needed.

This course is led by Elise Strevel.

Kadampa Center is happy to welcome VIsiting Teacher Don Handrick for a weekend workshop on Eight Steps to a Happy Life!

The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha and still has great relevance today, providing us with effective guidelines for how to live our lives and develop spiritually. In this weekend course we will explore these eight factors that can alleviate our suffering and train in their skillful and practical application in order to find true happiness in daily life and beyond.

Don Handrick will help us explore these guidelines and how they can help us live truly happy, meaningful lives.

The schedule:

Friday, June 2  7-8:30 pm

Saturday, June 3  10 am - noon and 1:30 - 4 pm

Sunday, June 4   1:30 - 4 pm

Don will also teach our regular  Sunday morning Dharma for a Happy life, from 10:30-noon.

We encourage folks to bring a bag lunch on Saturday and Sunday, so we can keep our momentum by discussing the morning's teachings over lunch -- and get better acquainted in the process!

As always, these Dharma teachings will be offered with no entrance fee. However, there are extensive costs involved in bringing a visiting teacher from another city, including travel and food.  A great way to support the teachings is through sponsorship!

Sponsor Taking the Path to a Happy Life

Want to do more than just come and hear teachings?  We need volunteers to help greet folks at the door, and set up and take down water bowl offerings.  Sign up here for the volunteer job of your choice!

Learn more about Don Handrick.

Most of us spend a good portion of our lives working at our jobs, engaging in the “busy-ness” that is fundamental for our livelihood but which often seems quite removed from the serenity we are seeking on the spiritual path. In this session, we will discuss how we can utilize Buddhist principles in our approach to work in order to develop more clarity, inspiration, and fulfillment in our jobs and overcome the drudgery, stress, and frustration which frequently occur.

For six months each year, Don Handrick serves as the resident teacher at Thubten Norbu Ling, in Santa Fe, NM, a center affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT).  Don spends the other half of each year as a touring teacher for the FPMT, visiting centers around the world.

Sponsor Taking the Path to a Happy Life

Want to do more than just come and hear teachings?  We need volunteers to help greet folks at the door, and set up and take down water bowl offerings.  Sign up here for the volunteer job of your choice!

Learn more about Don Handrick.

Griping about the things that bother us is a habit that practically everyone has indulged in to some extent, though perhaps it seems even more rampant nowadays, especially with the internet providing so many forums for us to vent our complaints. But does anything truly positive ever come from our complaining? In this teaching, we will discuss the truth about complaining and explore how to address the things that we don’t like in the most positive way for both ourselves and others.

For six months each year, Don Handrick serves as the resident teacher at Thubten Norbu Ling, in Santa Fe, NM, a center affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT).  Don spends the other half of each year as a touring teacher for the FPMT, visiting centers around the world.

Sponsor Taking the Path to a Happy Life

Want to do more than just come and hear teachings?  We need volunteers to help greet folks at the door, and set up and take down water bowl offerings.  Sign up here for the volunteer job of your choice!

Learn more about Don Handrick.

Kadampa Center is happy to welcome Visiting Teacher Don Handrick for a weekend workshop on Eight Steps to a Happy Life!

The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha and still has great relevance today, providing us with effective guidelines for how to live our lives and develop spiritually. In this weekend course we will explore these eight factors that can alleviate our suffering and train in their skillful and practical application in order to find true happiness in daily life and beyond.

Don Handrick will help us explore these guidelines and how they can help us live truly happy, meaningful lives.

The schedule:

Friday, June 2  7-8:30 pm

Saturday, June 3  10 am - noon and 1:30 - 4 pm

Sunday, June 4   1:30 - 4 pm

Don will also teach our regular  Sunday morning Dharma for a Happy life, from 10:30-noon.

We encourage folks to bring a bag lunch on Saturday and Sunday, so we can keep our momentum by discussing the morning's teachings over lunch -- and get better acquainted in the process!

As always, these Dharma teachings will be offered with no entrance fee. However, there are extensive costs involved in bringing a visiting teacher from another city, including travel and food.  A great way to support the teachings is through sponsorship!

Sponsor Taking the Path to a Happy Life

Want to do more than just come and hear teachings?  We need volunteers to help greet folks at the door, and set up and take down water bowl offerings.  Sign up here for the volunteer job of your choice!

Learn more about Don Handrick.

Every Friday from 12:00-1:00, come to the Center (BYOL, bring your own lunch) and hang out around the big conference table.

Connections made now will support you and your practice in the future!

“Time is an illusion, lunch time doubly so.” ~ Douglas Adams

     "I, a yogi, have practiced in this manner;

     You, who aspire for liberation, too should do likewise."

With these words, Lama Tsongkhapa concludes each point of the path to enlightment that he lays out in the beautiful text Songs of Spiritual Experience. This text  touches on all the essential points of the Lamrim, from devotion to our spiritual mentor through understanding impermanence, karma, renunciation and so on up to developing single-pointed concentration and generating the wisdom that perceives emptiness.

On Wednesdays, Geshe Gelek will teach from Songs of Spiritual Experience, a condensed version of the Lamrim in 45 stanzas. Download the text here.

(Coincidentally, there is a book in our bookstore with the same title, a lovely book, but it is not a commentary on this text.)

Meditation is a foundational tool of the Buddhist practitioner. We use different types of meditation in our practice, to clear and calm the mind, to review and deepen our understanding of teachings, to develop concentration, and so on.

Our First Saturday meditation practice will include three common modes of meditation: breathing, concentration and review.

Each Saturday will begin with a brief overview of meditation, based on notes taken from Geshe Gelek. This will be followed by periods of breathing meditation, concentration meditation, and review of topics such as Tonglen, the Eight Verses of Thought Transformation or Verses from Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (chapter 6, Patience).

Geshe Gelek says that practicing in a group enhances and increases the power of our meditation, with all of us benefitting from the shared energy and experience of others in the room.

These sessions are led by senior students.