Gompa

Dear Kadampa Community,

As Robbie announced recently, the Board has approved a committee to investigate the potential of expanding Kadampa Center’s executive leadership, perhaps adding the position of Center Manager, and if appropriate, to prepare a proposed job description.

This committee wants to hear from YOU. We will be holding a general meeting for all interested in sharing their thoughts on Sunday, November 9, at 12:15pm following the second teaching. Please plan to attend if you have thoughts to share.

Additionally, if you are unable to attend but would like to voice your ideas, please contact one of the ad hoc committee members to set up an alternate time for thoughtful discussion.

Again, the committee members are
Hemant Pandya (chair)
Shankha Mitra
Julie Jones
Ven. Choekyi
Ann Worthington
Barb Baranski

As Robbie shared, the investigation will include gathering stakeholder data from the entire Kadampa Center Community - general membership, Management Team members, and Board members. Information gathering has taken various forms over several weeks and the committee is committed to ensuring that anyone interested in offering feedback will be included.

We hope to wrap up our information gathering soon after the November 9 meeting so please do plan to share your thoughts by then.

The information collected from within the Center, combined with other data gathered by the committee from other FPMT Centers and appropriate external faith, non-profit, and for-profit organizations about their management structure, will be used to inform committee recommendations.

We look forward to seeing many of you Sunday, November 9!

Thank you,

Hemant Pandya
President, Kadampa Center Board of Directors
Chair, Center Manager Ad Hoc Committee

Prison project meeting - need the projector.

In Essential Form School Feng Shui you will learn the most important points of the Form School of Feng Shui. It is suitable for complete beginners and provides information on the right way to choose and landscape your place. You will also get advice on the correct way to design and set up the interior. This course can be taken on its own or with Essentials of Compass School Feng Shui course.

Schedule

• Saturday 10 am to 5 pm at Kadampa Center

See the other events happening during Ven. Jampa's visit

More information and course outline

Meditation 101 is a five-week introductory course on Buddhist meditation techniques for complete beginners. It teaches basic Buddhist meditations that can be used by anyone to create more peace and happiness in daily life. In keeping with our tradition, the class is offered on a donation basis. Ne registraiton is required, but we recommend attending the entire course for the most benefit. This class will be led by Venerable Khando.

The basic Buddhist meditation techniques covered include:

• What is meditation?
• Breathing meditations
• Mindfulness meditations
• Visualization meditations

Buddhism is a psychology of the mind, providing us methods to understand our emotions and how to change our bad habits and thoughts to be happy. The Sunday teachings about how to practice Dharma in daily life, led by our resident teacher, Geshe Gelek Chodha, are appropriate for visitors and students of all levels of study and interest in Buddhism. The session typically includes a brief meditation, prayers, and the rare opportunity to learn from a highly trained Tibetan Buddhist monk. When Geshe-la is away, several senior students typically lead these sessions. The teachings and prayers are offered in English.

If you are unsure when to visit the center for the first time, Sunday is a great time to start.

There is no children's program at the 9:00am program, but the nursery is available for parents who would like space for young children. The teachings will be broadcast into the nursery so parents can still hear the teachings while supervising their children.

For the 10:45am program, the same topic will be taught again; our full range of children's programs will be available during this session. Children are invited to sit on the blue cushions at the front of the gompa, and then are dismissed to their classes after opening prayers.

During this special session, we will have updates on all that's happening at Kadampa Center. It's a chance to get a peak at what's going on behind the scenes!

On many Sundays, there are additional programs such as the Newcomer's Orientation session, Member's Orientation session, Potluck Social, pujas, and more. Special events for holy days, special practices, or exhibits and visiting teachers are also occasionally held on Sundays, so for all these events please check the calendar for more information and specific times.

This practice morning is for Basic Program students to spend time in meditation on topics covered in class on Mind and Mental Functions. Note: The practice day has been extended by an hour because Ven. George will also be presenting some new material so the class will be completed before he leaves.

One of the key points of Buddhism is emptiness - things do not exist the way we think they do. Developing a realization of this cuts the root of ignorance, and just thinking about it shakes the foundation of our samsaric existence. In the Mahayana tradition, one of the most well-known sutras on emptiness is the Vajra (or Diamond) Cutter Sutra. Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught on an important verse from this sutra at this year's Light of the Path Retreat, and Geshe Gelek has been reviewing it as well:

“As a star, a visual aberration, a lamp,

an illusion, dew, a bubble,

a dream, lightning, and a cloud –

view all the compounded like that.”

During this day-long teaching, visiting teacher Ven. George Churinoff will provide the larger context for this verse by explaining the meaning of The Vajra Cutter Sutra and the fundamental logic behind emptiness. You can download a free copy of this sutra from FPMT at http://fpmt.org/education/teachings/sutras/vajra-cutter-sutra/. 

We'll take a break mid-day for a vegetarian potluck lunch. Please bring a dish or drinks to share - we don't have facilities in the kitchen to heat food, so hot dishes should be brought in crock pots. Gluten free and vegan dishes are especially appreciated - please label your ingredients to help those with special dietary needs.

Basic Program

Kadampa Center is now offering FPMT's Basic Program, taught primarily by our resident teacher, Geshe Gelek, and facilitated by Shankha Mitra. This five-year program was designed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for students who have completed basic levels of study and have a regular Buddhist practice to gain a profound knowledge of the key aspects of the entire Buddhist path.

Pre-requisites and Pre-registration

Information about the pre-requisites and the form to register are available on the Basic Program page. Students who are starting the course with this module need to register by Sunday, Sept. 14th. The class will be recorded but not streamed since students need to attend in person to fully participate.

Mind and Cognition: part 1, Mind and Mental Factors

An introduction to Buddhist psychology, Mind and Mental Factors describes the various positive and negative emotions, as well as the cognitive states relevant to practice of a liberative path are identified and defined. Understanding the 51 mental factors gives us insight how to develop our positive qualities and apply atidotes to the negative ones.

Geshe Gelek said strongly that a basis of lam-rim is usually taught first and is an important part of our practice, so this class should not take the place of or distract from Wednesday night's lam-rim course.

Guest FPMT Registered teacher, Venerable George Churinoff, will be teaching this module in Geshe-la's absence. 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 near Asheville, NC.

Materials

The text for this class, Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen's Clear Exposition of the Modes of Minds and Mental Factors: a Necklace for those of Clear Mind, homework assignments, a service sign-up sheet, supplemental materials, and recordings are available for download on a private webpage for registered students in the Members section of the website. If you are not a member yet, please contact membership@kadampa-center.org. The link will be sent to students when registration closes. There is also an email list for discussion and announcements.

The lamrim is the step-by-step guide that, if we practice it, is the path to enlightenment. It's the basis for all our programs, including Discovering Buddhism, Lamrim Chenmo class, and the Basic Program. Our Spiritual Director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, has recently emphasized how important it is students begin to practice seriously to gain realizations, and Geshe Gelek has many times quoted the teachings that intellectual study isn't enough - we must practice within meditation. This evening hour of lamrim meditation is for anyone who has had previous teachings on the lamrim and learned basic meditation, and would like the support of guided meditation and practice as a group, however no registration is required. The Wednesday evening guided lamrim meditation will continue through mid-December (until Lamrim Chenmo class with Geshe Gelek begins again).

Preliminary setup for Tara practice