Gompa

		How to Loosen the Grip of Ego-Grasping by Understanding Dependent Arising, the Best Method for Realizing Emptiness    with Venerable Robina Courtin Tuesday, July 25, 7 - 9 pm Lama Tsongkhapa writes lyrically about Lord Buddha’s teachings on dependent arising – the “king of logics” to prove emptiness, as Lama Yeshe puts it. With this perfect view, Je Rinpoche says, we can never “fall into the abyss of the great mistake” of nihilism, one of the commonest misconceptions about emptiness.  We will investigate how in Lama Tsongkhapa’s gradual path literature he skilfully leads us to the eradication of ego-grasping, the primordial assumption of a fear-driven, bereft, separate self, which simply doesn’t exist.
We start by applying the law of karma – an example of the first level of dependent arising: cause and effect — which gradually counteracts our pervasive feelings of hopelessness and self-pity, causing us to realize that we are the source of our own happiness and suffering.  Next, we get to the root of the problem by becoming our own therapists: delving deep into our mind and identifying our delusions – attachment, aversion, jealousy and the rest – and recognizing that they are fabrications rooted in ego-grasping. Now, combining our practice with bodhichitta, we are equipped to understand the subtler levels of dependent arising and to use this logic to uproot ego-grasping itself. Teachings will be offered in person at Kadampa Center as well as online via Zoom HERE or YouTube live stream HERE. Here is the YouTube Recording and an Audio Recording of Ven Robina's visit.

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• Click here to support Venerable Robina's teachings

Supporting the teachings is an incredibly powerful and important act -- giving the means to enlightenment is a practice of the highest form of generosity.  There are countless ways, and levels, in which to give, enabling everyone this precious opportunity to support the teachings by whatever means best suits their ability. 

Kadampa Center has for many years operated within the ideal of offering teachings without charging a fee, so that money is never 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 financially support our spiritual offerings and keep them open to everyone regardless of ability to pay. 

Did you know that Kadampa Center is run almost entirely by volunteers?  Our Center simply can not exist without the amazing generosity of its volunteers who offer their time, talent, and passion to be of benefit to others.  

Supporting the teachings is incredibly beneficial to you, to the Center, to its students, to the greater community, and to all living beings! 

PLEASE NOTE: Tonight's Lamrim class will be online only. Students may attend in the gompa, where we will have Geshe-la onscreen. Immediately following the class, we will have a Tsog offering. It is required to have the Vajrayogini initiation to participate.  The Tsog offering will be led by Geshe Sangpo, and will be in-person only.  Join Geshe Gelek as he guides us to selected landmarks along the road to enlightenment. These teachings can be accessed both in person and online via Zoom or on YouTube. Registration is required to attend the teachings via Zoom. Please click here to register.

Geshe-la's current topic: Patience. 

Geshe Gelek will teach on Mindfulness, based on Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, using the manual titled "A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night: A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life" by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. 

About the lamrim: In his great compassion, Shakyamuni Buddhia opened the gates to the 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.

Join these teachings in person at Kadampa Center or via Zoom or on YouTube.

Registration is required to attend the teachings via Zoom. Please click here to register.

On this Chokhor Düchen holy day - a merit-mutiplying day - Geshe Gelek will lead us in lamrim meditation followed by Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga.  The full schedule of the day can be found HERE. Participate in person at Kadampa Center, register HERE to participate via Zoom, or watch via YouTube live stream HERE.  Kadampa Center will provide a light lunch at 11:30, and the gompa will remain open for personal practice until 6 pm.

About Chokhor Düchen: 

At his first teaching, the Buddha expressed his profound realization of the nature of existence in the Four Noble Truths:

1. The Truth of  the Nature of Suffering
2. The Truth of the Origins or Causes of Suffering
3. The Truth of the Cessation of, or Liberation from, Suffering
4. The Truth of the Eight Fold Path as the means to attain ultimate happiness and freedom from suffering.

This teaching, referred to as the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma, led to the formation of the Sangha, the community of disciples committed to following the Buddha's example of living simply, following the Path, and teaching the Dharma. 

Accordingly, every year at this time, the FPMT encourages its Centers to celebrate the presence of the sangha community. 

Our website includes a Sangha Support and Offerings page with valuable information, including a previous year's talk and Q&A about sangha with our director, Robbie Watkins.  Practice advice and more about Chokhor Düchen and International Sangha Day can be found HERE. 

Chokhor Düchen is a Buddha Holy Day, when the karma of our virtuous actions multiplies 100,000 times, according to a Vinaya text. Don't miss the opportunity to multiply your merit!

You can sponsor Holy Day events - amazing merit!  Click here to sponsor Chokhor Düchen

On this Chokhor Düchen holy day - a merit-mutiplying day - Geshe Gelek will offer the Eight Mahayana Precepts in person at Kadampa Center. IRegistration to take precepts for the first time is closed. Students who wish to take precepts for the first time may simply come to the Center at 6 am. Kadampa Center will open at 5:45 am, and the Eight Mahayana Precepts Ceremony will begin at 6 am.  This event is in-person only.

Following the precepts, Kadampa Center will provide a light breakfast, and then Geshe Gelek will lead us in lamrim meditation and Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga. You can find more details about our schedule for the day HERE.

The Eight Mahayana Precepts are a set of eight vows taken for a period of 24 hours, from sunrise on one day to sunrise the following day. The vows include no killing, stealing, sexual activity, lying, and more (see below).  The first time you take these precepts, it must be from a qualified master. After that, you can take them on your own in front of your altar.

If you wish to take the Precepts online with a qualified master, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has kindly made this option available here: Eight Mahayana Precepts online with Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

MORE ABOUT THE EIGHT MAHAYANA PRECEPTS

The Eight Mahayana Precepts are a set of vows that are taken for 24 hours, from first light before dawn to sunrise of the following day. The only prerequisite is that the first time one takes precepts it should be from a qualified teacher who has received the oral transmission of the practice. Thereafter you can perform the ceremony at first light yourself, reciting the prayers before an image of your teacher or the Buddha, imagining you are taking the vows from Buddha himself.

 It is good to take them on full and new moon days, and especially beneficial on Buddha Holy Days, when Karmic results are multiplied exponentionally, according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, citing the Vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.

These Mahayana Precepts enable you to live in the essence of pure moral conduct, and since you take them with the strong motivation of cherishing and wishing to benefit all others, their value is immeasurable. Taking these precepts is a powerful and effective way for you to build, maintain and increase deep propensities for spiritual practice and attainment and thus is a profound method for giving meaning to this precious human life. 

The essence of this practice is to recall the Mahayana motivation; to take these precepts to become enlightened in order to lead all sentient beings to enlightenment.

The eight precepts are:

1. Not to kill, even insects.
2. Not to steal (Not to take what is not offered).
3. Not to engage in sexual conduct.
4. Not to lie.
5. Not to use intoxicants: including alcohol, tobacco, and drugs (except for medicinal purposes).
6. Not to eat at wrong times.*
7. Not to sit on high, expensive beds or seats with pride.  Avoid sitting on animal skins.
8. Not to wear jewelry, perfume, or makeup; and not to sing, dance, or play music with attachment.

*It is alright to eat a light breakfast before or after the precepts. Avoid eating black foods: meat, eggs, onions, garlic, and radishes. The main meal of the day is to be finished by midday (noon). After that one can take light drinks, but not undiluted whole milk or fruit juice with pulp, nor any food until sunrise of the following day.

More detailed information about the precepts can be found HERE.

MORE ABOUT CHOKHOR DUCHEN

At his first teaching, the Buddha expressed his profound realization of the nature of existence in the Four Noble Truths:

1. The Truth of  the Nature of Suffering
2. The Truth of the Origins or Causes of Suffering
3. The Truth of the Cessation of, or Liberation from, Suffering
4. The Truth of the Eight Fold Path as the means to attain ultimate happiness and freedom from suffering.

This teaching, referred to as the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma, led to the formation of the Sangha, the community of disciples committed to following the Buddha's example of living simply, following the Path, and teaching the Dharma. 

Accordingly, every year at this time, the FPMT encourages its Centers to celebrate the presence of the sangha community. 

Our website includes a Sangha Support and Offerings page with valuable information, including a previous year's talk and Q&A about sangha with our director, Robbie Watkins.  Practice advice and more about Chokhor Düchen and International Sangha Day can be found HERE. 

Chokhor Düchen is a Buddha Holy Day, when the karma of our virtuous actions multiplies 100,000 times, according to a Vinaya text. Don't miss the opportunity to multiply your merit!

You can sponsor Holy Day events - amazing merit!  Click here to sponsor Chokhor Düchen

Outreach will offer a tour and talk at Kadampa Center for the Triangle Women's Interfaith Group.

Discovering Buddhism, Module 06: All About Karma

Learn the essential facts about the law of cause and effect in relation to actions and their results. Generate a clear understanding about how karma works.  Discover effective tools to accumulate merit -- the cause of happiness and success -- and purify mistaken actions done in the past -- the cause of suffering.  Explore ways to become adept at dealing with life more effectively and thereby take control of your future. DB Module 06: All About Karma is a 6-week module, offered on Mondays, 7:00-8:30pm, Nov 6, 13, 20, 27, Dec 4, 11, 2023.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE in DISCOVERING BUDDHISM

DB was developed by our affiliate organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT.org), and is taught at Kadampa Center by senior lay students with many years of study and practice. Students who take the course together tend to develop great friendships with their Dharma buddies!

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.

The instructor for this class is Don Brown.

Discovering Buddhism, Module 05: Death and Rebirth

Explore the process of death and rebirth and its impact on how you live your life.  Be guided in skillful reflection on the inevitability of death and what to expect at the time of death.  Learn how accepting the reality of death and preparing for it helps you fulfill your purpose in life and resolve conflicts.  Develop skills to help both yourself and others at the time of death.  Come to understand how eventually, through Buddhist practice, you can overcome death altogether. DB Module 05: Death and Rebirth is a 5-week module, offered on Mondays, 7:00-8:30pm, July 24, 31, August 7, 14, 21, 2023.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN DISCOVERING BUDDHISM

DB was developed by our affiliate organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT.org), and is taught at Kadampa Center by senior lay students with many years of study and practice. Students who take the course together tend to develop great friendships with their Dharma buddies!

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.

The instructor for this class is Steep Smith.

Seven weeks after attaining enlightenment at Bodhgaya, Shakyamuni Buddha gave his first teaching, on the Four Noble Truths, at the Deer Park in Sarnath. We celebrate this day as Chokhor Düchen. This is a Buddha holy day, when the karma from our positive actions multiplies 100 million times, according to a Vinaya text - so it's a good day to do spiritual practice, which can be as simple as showing kindness to others.

On this holy day, Geshe Gelek will lead us in lamrim meditations and Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga. Geshe-la recommends that students take the Eight Mahayana Precepts, a set of eight vows kept for 24 hours.

Registration to take precepts for the first time is closed. Students who wish to take precepts for the first time may simply come to the Center at 6 am. Anyone who has previously taken precepts with a qualified master may take them at home in front of their altar or join Geshe-la and other students in person at Kadampa Center at 6:00 AM.

Chokhor Düchen is a Buddha Holy Day, when the karma of our virtuous actions multiplies 100,000 times, according to a Vinaya text. Don't miss the opportunity to multiply your merit!

You can sponsor Holy Day events - amazing merit!  Click here to sponsor Chokhor Düchen

Join the Celebration of His Holiness' 88th Birthday!

All are invited to join Kadampa Center's celebration of His Holiness’ 88th birthday!  The celebration will begin with a procession to enthrone an image of His Holiness in the gompa, followed by prayer offerings for His Holiness' long life. In true birthday party fashion, there will also be cake, sweet rice, singing and dancing!  Everyone is invited ~ join us! This event will take the place of our regularly scheduled Sunday Dharma teaching on Sunday July 2nd from 10:30-11:30am.

If you are unable to join the celebration in person, please join us online:

• via Zoom HERE
• via YouTube live stream HERE