Gompa

On behalf of the Habitat for Humanity Interfaith Initiative and Kadampa Center, you are all invited to our Interfaith Movie Night at the Kadampa Center for Tibetan Buddhism on Sunday June 9th at 6PM.

The film we will be watching is called "I Am," and it will inspire each and every one of you.  You'll laugh; you'll cry; you'll want to build a house :)

Grab your family and friends, and please join us for a fun, uplifting night!  Here is a link to the film (although the trailer doesn't do it justice):

http://iamthedoc.com/

And yes, there will be popcorn!!

For more information, contact Elise or Patti via outreach@kadampa-center.org.

There will be a special Medicine Buddha puja at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, January 24 at the Kadampa Center for Theodore Meyer who passed away recently. This puja is sponsored by his parents. Please join us to empower our prayers for Theodore's quick and pleasant journey through the bardo and happy rebirth.

Our Spiritual Director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, is a precious jewel who guides all the centers in the FPMT and is a dear teacher to us. Geshe Gelek consulted with Khen Rinpoche Lobsang Delek (also the abbot of Sera Je) about the best offering for Lama Zopa Rinpoche's health and long life, and based on this advice we will be doing the pujas and mantras here at Kadampa Center. We raised the funds and had the first puja in October, and are pleased to have our second puja during Monlam Chenmo (Days of Miracles). 

The Geshes will be chanting a Chittamani Tara puja in Tibetan, while everyone else chants Namgyalma mantras. (That way everyone can attend and participate, even if they do not have a Chittamani Tara initiation.) We'll also have extensive offerings set up, thanks to the generosity of the many sponsors of these pujas.

If you can't be there on Sunday, you can still practice from home at the same time by saying the Namgyalma mantra:
OM BHRUM SVAHA / OM AMRITA AYUR DA DAI SOHA

In order to reach enlightenment, we have to put the teachings into practice - walk the talk. The foundation of practice in our lineage is the lamrim - the step-by-step guide to enlightment. Lama Atisha organized all the Buddha's teachings into this graduated path, and later teachers wrote additional commentaries and texts based on Lama Atisha's instructions.

Geshe Gelek has recommended memorizing texts on the lamrim to be used as a meditation tool in daily practice, especially for students of the Wednesday night class. (If you are not meditating on the text reguarly you will quickly forget it and it wil be wasted effort.) He suggested we start with a short lamrim text, Lama Tsong Khapa's Foundaton of All Good Qualities. Once students have the basics, we can move up to memorizing a more detailed lamrim outline.

The prayer is found in FPMT's Volume One Prayer Book, as a .pdf or ebook download.  It is also free online at Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive but is a slightly different translation than we will be using. Please bring your copy to the memorization class where we'll share advice about memorization and help each other practice. We've had one sesssion already, so this class will be to see how far people were able to memorize and help each other complete it. The goal for completing memorization is the Day of Miracles, February 25th.

This is a special Medicine Buddha puja for Michelle Ludy who recently passed away (sponsored by Johnny Hall). Anyone is welcome to attend to help support Michelle and her loved ones through these prayers.

Meditation 101 is an 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. David Machles will be leading this session. In keeping with our tradition, the class is offered on a donation basis. No pre-registration is needed - drop-ins are welcome anytime during the course. 

The basic Buddhist meditation techniques covered include:
What is meditation?
Breathing meditations
Mindfulness meditations
Visualization meditations

It's very inspiring to see a clean and shiny altar, and cleaning is a wonderful offering to the Buddhas and the center. Join us for a special cleaning session to polish the buddha statues on our altar, with some general cleaning of the altar as well. Training will be provided how to care for and polish the statues, which is an excellent way to learn how to care for your own altar and statues.

In order to reach enlightenment, we have to put the teachings into practice - walk the talk. The foundation of practice in our lineage is the lamrim - the step-by-step guide to enlightment. Lama Atisha organized all the Buddha's teachings into this graduated path, and later teachers wrote additional commentaries and texts based on Lama Atisha's instructions.

Geshe Gelek has recommended memorizing texts on the lamrim to be used as a meditation tool in daily practice, especially for students of the Wednesday night class. (If you are not meditating on the text reguarly you will quickly forget it and it wil be wasted effort.) He suggested we start with a short lamrim text, Lama Tsong Khapa's Foundaton of All Good Qualities. Once students have the basics, we can move up to memorizing a more detailed lamrim outline.

The prayer is found in FPMT's Volume One Prayer Book, as a .pdf or ebook download, and also free online at Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Please bring your copy to the memorization class where we'll share advice about memorization and help each other practice.

This Medicine Buddha puja is sponsored for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to benefit everyone who died in this tragic event and to promote healing and peace for all sentient beings. This is the 49th day after the shooting, which is a very beneficial time to pray for the people who died and may still be in the bardo about to take a rebirth.

For additional suggestions how to help, CBS DC has a helpful list of agencies and memorial funds that are part of this effort.

On Sundays from 10:30 - 11:45am our resident teacher, Geshe Gelek Chodha, leads the Sunday morning program. It is appropriate for visitors and students of all levels of study and interest in Buddhism. The session 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. If you are unsure when to visit the center for the first time, Sunday is a great time to start. The teachings and prayers are offered in English.

In addition to the teachings, join us for a special holiday celebration as the center gives gifts in the Western holiday tradition to the children who attend, presented by Santa Geshe Gelek. After the Sunday classes, families with their children can visit with Santa Geshe-la in the gompa, and everyone is invited to stay for a vegetarian potluck - to help us make it festive, we encourage bringing a holiday dish or dessert! Christmas lights were hung as an offering on Lama Tsong Khapa day and still decorate the center - a wonderful blend of Tibetan and Western traditions!