Gompa

Exploring Buddhism: Exploring the Path

To proceed on the stages of the path to enlightenment it is important to have a good understanding of this entire spiritual journey. This module of Exploring Buddhism will provide a concise overview of the whole path to enlightenment as it is traditionally presented in texts belonging to the stages of the path genre, and impart the importance of and method for meditating on the complete teachings of Buddha in this practice-oriented way.

Previous study of at least some modules of Discovering Buddhism, either in a center or online, is highly recommended before enrolling in this program.

New students are welcome.  You do not have to have attended previous Exploring Buddhism modules.

This pilot course will take place online only (via Zoom) on Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 pm.

Sorry, registration for Exploring the Path is closed

Exploring Buddhism is a new program  currently being developed by FPMT to serve as a bridge between Discovering Buddhism and The Basic Program. It is designed to help students of Buddhism delve more deeply into a broad array of topics that form a solid foundation for furthering one’s study and practice.  The program will initially be run as a pilot program in FPMT centers to further test and refine the curriculum.

We depend on your support

In keeping with our tradition, Kadampa Center does not charge a fee to attend any Dharma teachings, so that financial resources will never be an obstacle to hearing the Dharma. We rely on the generosity of students to be able to offer these courses, inclulding making an offering to the teachers who will lead each module. 

Your support for the course opens access to the Dharma for others, and enables Kadampa Center to make a generous offering to each module's teacher.

Support Exploring Buddhism

Instructor for this module: Gen Don Handrick

Gen Don Handrick is a touring teacher for the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), sharing the Dharma with centers and study groups in North America and other parts of the world, both in-person and online. Don's study of Buddhism began in 1993 after reading The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. Over the next two years he practiced with Sogyal Rinpoche's organization, until he began attending classes in 1996 with Venerable Robina Courtin at Tse Chen Ling in San Francisco. Don left the Bay Area in 1998 to attend the FPMT's Masters Program of Buddhist Studies in Sutra and Tantra, a seven-year residential study program conducted at Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Tuscany, Italy, and taught by the scholar and kind Spiritual Friend, Geshe Jampa Gyatso. He successfully completed all five subjects of this program in 2004, receiving an FPMT final certificate with high honors. Students appreciate his humble, compassionate demeanor and his capacity to explain profound ideas with precision, contemporary examples and humor.

This program is offered jointly by:

• Guhyasamaja Center, Centreville, VA
• Kadampa Center, Raleigh, NC
• Lama Yeshe Ling, Burlington, Ontario
• Shantideva Center, Brooklyn, NY
• Thubten Kunga Ling, Deerfield Beach, FL

Celebrate with our own Geshe Palden Sangpo on the launch of his new book, Opening the Door to Happiness: A Commentary on the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva.  More than a year in the making, this insightful book explores the profound practice of training in the altruistic attitude.

Geshe Sangpo's intention for writing this book is to benefit all who read it. He freely offers this book as a teaching and will make no monetary gain from its release. Through the generosity of many kind benefactors, copies of Opening the Door to Happiness: A Commentary on the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva will be freely given away at the center while supplies last.  

Please join us Saturday, February 26, for these very special events

Sorry, registration to attend the ceremony in person is full. All are welcome to attend online, and to come afterward to receive a free copy of the book for Geshe Sangpo to sign. We expect the book signing to begin at approximately 11:30 am. 

Book Launch Ceremony begins at 11 am

Register Here for Zoom Attendance

YouTube: Watch the Livestream Here

Book Signing begins approximately 11:30 am

After the presentation, Geshe Sangpo will be available to sign books. All are welcome to come to the book signing. We ask that you observe social distancing and wear a mask when approaching the book signing table. 

If you are unable to attend the book launch, we will have copies of the book at the Center for people to pick up while supplies last. The Center is open on Sunday mornings from 10 am until noon, before and after the Sunday teachings.

Discover practices that develop our innate qualities of compassion. Learn to apply these techniques to generate the mind of bodhichitta, known as the very heart of Buddha's teachings. Discovering Buddhism is now being offered in an online/onsite hybrd format.  Students have the option to attend class either online or onsite in person at the Kadampa Center! ♦ONLINE participation via Zoom or YouTube, click HERE to enroll. ♦ONSITE in-person participation at the Kadampa Center, click HERE to enroll.

DB was developed by our affiliate organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, 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.

"This practice of Guru Puja is very profound, with many extra benefits, and is very quick to bring enlightenment. The lam-rim prayer, the prayer of the steps of the path to enlightenment, in Guru Puja has lam-rim and also lo-jong, or thought transformation. Generally, the whole of the lam-rim, from guru devotion up to enlightenment, is thought transformation. If your mind is not transformed into the path, how can you have realizations of the path? There’s no way, without transforming your mind."

As part of the puja, we perform a special practice called tsog which has extensive offerings. According to the Liberation Prison Project Tibetan calendar, on the 10th and 25th of every Tibetan (lunar) month, Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, “Those who have received an initiation into Highest Yoga Tantra have a commitment to perform tsog” on these days. Kadampa Center holds pujas with tsog on these dates (when they don't conflict with other programs).

Anyone is welcome to attend pujas, even if you are unfamiliar with the practice. This puja is partly recited in English and partly chanted in Tibetan. (It is possible to read the English translations of the whole puja, and there is optional sheet music available to help learn the Tibetan tunes.) Traditionally the offerings for the sangha and puja are sponsored by Dharma students, especially if they want to dedicate the puja to their spiritual teachers or loved ones in need of support and prayers.

Sponsoring a puja is a great way to create merit, and it's especially auspicious to do so on a holy day for a puja dedicated to one of our teachers. Sponsorship of this puja is $75, and sponsors can include a dedication that we will read at the puja so everyone can join in the sponsor's intentions. 

Sponsor Here

Lama Tsongkhapa was a renowned scholar, practitioner, meditator, teacher and author.  His studies and meditations in all the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism resulted in the founding of the Gelugpa lineage.

Among his major accomplishments is writing the Lamrim, or the Great Treatise on the Path to Enlightenment, a step-by-step guide to the spiritual practices that lead to enlightenment. He also wrote several condensed versions of the Lamrim, including Foundation of All Good Qualities, the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, and Song of Experience. 

Those who wish to participate in the prayers from home may do so via Zoom and YouTube.  Click here for a copy of the practice.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Because this event follows directly after the refuge vows, the starting time of 7:00 pm is an estimate. It's possible we may begin as much as 30 minutes or more after that time. We appreciate your patience!

Sponsor Lama Tsongkhapa Day

Create merit by sponsoring a Holy Day event!  Sponsoring spiritual events is beneficial on many levels. It benefits the Center by providing the resources to offer the event; it benefits the students who attend the event, and it benefits the donor by deepening the practice of generosity and creating the causes to meet the Dharma again in the future.

Sponsorship of a Holy Day puja is $125, and of general Holy Day events and activities, it's $108.

Supporting the Holy Day event is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your generosity (click here).

Step Two  is making the donation or sponsorship (use the button below on this page)

Dedications may be very simple - "For my mother, Rosemary" - or they might encompass more extensive spiritual wishes, such as "May these teachings be the cause to liberate all sentient beings," or wishes for the teacher's long life, to benefit a person who is ill - any heart-felt positive intention!  You also can dedicate for more than one intention.

Sponsor Light Offerings $108

On this auspicious holy day, Lama Tsongkhapa Day, Geshe Gelek will offer Refuge Vows. It is especially wonderful to be able to take these vows on a holy day.  Taking refuge vows is making a commitment to Buddhism as one's spiritual path. It also creates a karmic bond with the teacher who offers the vows. When you take refuge in the Three Jewels, the refuge master conferring the vows will also give you a refuge name in Tibetan.

UPDATE:  Geshe Gelek will also offer bodhisattva vows. See below for instructions if you plan to take the bodhisattva vows. Learn more about these vows here.

Students who have already taken refuge are welcome to renew their vows, but should not register. We are requesting that students renew their vows via Zoom and not in person.

Geshe Gelek recommends anyone interested in taking refuge should read the refuge section in the book Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand (available in our bookstore or as an ebook from FPMT's Foundation Store). Geshe-la also taught a class on refuge in 2013 for students interested in the ceremony - you can listen to it in the recordings section of our website.

The ceremony will likely be in Tibetan, but it is first explained in English what you are saying. It is very important to be there by 5:30 pm so we can review what you will be doing. At the end of the ceremony, it is traditional to offer two katas (silk offering scarfs, available in the bookstore) - one to the Buddha statue on the altar, and one to the teacher giving the vows, who returns it by placing it over your head as a blessing. While we often have spare ones to lend, in this case it is best to buy them so you are actually making an offering of your own. It is also auspicious to give the teacher a gift, typically money (any amount) in an envelope, in appreciation for the incredible gift he has just given you with this opportunity. The center will also be giving you a copy of the FPMT booklet on refuge and how to practice it daily.

Learn more about vows from this article in FPMT's Mandala Magazine.

Important Information:

In order to participate, you must register by 6 pm, Monday, December 27.  Sorry, registration is closed. 

 Students who have already taken refuge should not register.

All persons entering the building for the ceremony must be fully vaccinated. 

Masks are required in the building.

On the day of the ceremony, it is important to arrive on time in order to rehearse. You will be going to the altar and making offerings, and it is very helpful to have a chance to walk it through so you can be at ease during the ceremony.

Students taking refuge should bring two katas (please acquire them ahead of time) and a monetary offering for Geshe-la in any amount, in an envelope. If you wish, you may write a card to him expressing your thanks.

Students who are not vaccinated or are unable to come in person may take refuge via Zoom. Register here for Zoom. (Be sure you also register for refuge itself)

If you need to get a kata, the bookstore will be open at these times:

• Sunday, Dec. 12, 10-10:30 am and 11:30am - 12 pm
• Saturday, Dec. 18, 10 am - 12 pm
• Wednesday, Dec. 29, 4:45-5:15 pm.  Bookstore will close for refuge rehearsal at 5:30 pm

Students who plan to take bodhisattva vows should bring:

• A flower to offer on the altar at Kadampa Center
• Something to remind you that you've taken the bodhisattva vows. It can be a book or holy image or statue. After the ceremony you will keep this item.

Anyone is welcome to sponsor a scheduled puja and offer a dedication to benefit themselves or loved ones. Sponsor this puja here.

The puja will be offered on YouTube and Zoom.    Register on Zoom.

More about the benefits of Medicine Buddha puja

From the Service Manual for Spiritual Program Coordinators, FPMT:

Many eons ago, seven bodhisattvas strongly prayed for the temporal and ultimate happiness of all sentient beings, that their names become wish-fulfilling in order to heal both the mental and physical sicknesses and diseases of sentient beings. They vowed that their prayers will be actualized during these degenerate times when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are in decline. When they became enlightened, one of the ten powers of a Buddha is the power of prayer - that means that all the prayers that have been made get fulfilled. As the Buddha's holy speech is irrevocable, you can wholly trust in their power to quickly grant blessings to help all sentient beings in these degenerate times. They are called the Seven Medicine Buddhas, the main one is `Lapis Buddha of Medicine, King of Light'. Buddha Shakyamuni taught the teachings on the Medicine Buddha, and according to one tradition, is also considered as one of the Medicine Buddhas, and hence the Eight Medicine Buddhas.

The seven Medicine Buddhas manifested in order to pacify the obstacles to the achievement of temporary happiness, liberation and the ultimate happiness of full enlightenment. They are powerful in healing diseases as well as for purification. The Medicine Buddha practice can be used to help purify those who have already died and liberate them from suffering. It is also very powerful in bringing about success, both temporary and ultimate.

The reason why the Medicine Buddha practice brings success is that in the past when the seven Medicine Buddhas were bodhisattvas practicing the path to enlightenment, they promised and made extensive prayers to actualize all the prayers of living beings of the degenerate time when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are in decline. They generated a very strong intention to become enlightened for this reason; this was their motivation for meditating on and actualizing the path.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, "It is very important that the elaborate Medicine Buddha puja with extensive offerings be done regularly. The offerings should be as extensive and as beautiful as possible, and done in order to benefit all sentient beings."

Supporting pujas benefits not just the Center and those who attend, but it also greatly benefits the donor, who collects the merit of giving the Dharma, and thus creates the causes to meet the Dharma again.

Sponsoring the puja is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your generosity (click here).

Step Two  is making the sponsorship donation (click here)

Dedications may be very simple - "For my mother, Rosemary" - or they might encompass more extensive spiritual wishes, such as "May these teachings be the cause to liberate all sentient beings," or wishes for the teacher's long life, to benefit a person who is ill - any heart-felt positive intention!  You also can include more than one intention in your dedication.

Anyone is welcome to sponsor a scheduled puja and offer a dedication to benefit themselves or loved ones. Sponsor this puja here.

The puja will be offered on YouTube and Zoom.    Register on Zoom.

More about the benefits of Medicine Buddha puja

From the Service Manual for Spiritual Program Coordinators, FPMT:

Many eons ago, seven bodhisattvas strongly prayed for the temporal and ultimate happiness of all sentient beings, that their names become wish-fulfilling in order to heal both the mental and physical sicknesses and diseases of sentient beings. They vowed that their prayers will be actualized during these degenerate times when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are in decline. When they became enlightened, one of the ten powers of a Buddha is the power of prayer - that means that all the prayers that have been made get fulfilled. As the Buddha's holy speech is irrevocable, you can wholly trust in their power to quickly grant blessings to help all sentient beings in these degenerate times. They are called the Seven Medicine Buddhas, the main one is `Lapis Buddha of Medicine, King of Light'. Buddha Shakyamuni taught the teachings on the Medicine Buddha, and according to one tradition, is also considered as one of the Medicine Buddhas, and hence the Eight Medicine Buddhas.

The seven Medicine Buddhas manifested in order to pacify the obstacles to the achievement of temporary happiness, liberation and the ultimate happiness of full enlightenment. They are powerful in healing diseases as well as for purification. The Medicine Buddha practice can be used to help purify those who have already died and liberate them from suffering. It is also very powerful in bringing about success, both temporary and ultimate.

The reason why the Medicine Buddha practice brings success is that in the past when the seven Medicine Buddhas were bodhisattvas practicing the path to enlightenment, they promised and made extensive prayers to actualize all the prayers of living beings of the degenerate time when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are in decline. They generated a very strong intention to become enlightened for this reason; this was their motivation for meditating on and actualizing the path.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, "It is very important that the elaborate Medicine Buddha puja with extensive offerings be done regularly. The offerings should be as extensive and as beautiful as possible, and done in order to benefit all sentient beings."

Supporting pujas benefits not just the Center and those who attend, but it also greatly benefits the donor, who collects the merit of giving the Dharma, and thus creates the causes to meet the Dharma again.

Sponsoring the puja is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your generosity (click here).

Step Two  is making the sponsorship donation (click here)

Dedications may be very simple - "For my mother, Rosemary" - or they might encompass more extensive spiritual wishes, such as "May these teachings be the cause to liberate all sentient beings," or wishes for the teacher's long life, to benefit a person who is ill - any heart-felt positive intention!  You also can include more than one intention in your dedication.

Anyone is welcome to sponsor a scheduled puja and offer a dedication to benefit themselves or loved ones. Sponsor this puja here.

The puja will be offered on YouTube and Zoom.    Register on Zoom.

More about the benefits of Medicine Buddha puja

From the Service Manual for Spiritual Program Coordinators, FPMT:

Many eons ago, seven bodhisattvas strongly prayed for the temporal and ultimate happiness of all sentient beings, that their names become wish-fulfilling in order to heal both the mental and physical sicknesses and diseases of sentient beings. They vowed that their prayers will be actualized during these degenerate times when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are in decline. When they became enlightened, one of the ten powers of a Buddha is the power of prayer - that means that all the prayers that have been made get fulfilled. As the Buddha's holy speech is irrevocable, you can wholly trust in their power to quickly grant blessings to help all sentient beings in these degenerate times. They are called the Seven Medicine Buddhas, the main one is `Lapis Buddha of Medicine, King of Light'. Buddha Shakyamuni taught the teachings on the Medicine Buddha, and according to one tradition, is also considered as one of the Medicine Buddhas, and hence the Eight Medicine Buddhas.

The seven Medicine Buddhas manifested in order to pacify the obstacles to the achievement of temporary happiness, liberation and the ultimate happiness of full enlightenment. They are powerful in healing diseases as well as for purification. The Medicine Buddha practice can be used to help purify those who have already died and liberate them from suffering. It is also very powerful in bringing about success, both temporary and ultimate.

The reason why the Medicine Buddha practice brings success is that in the past when the seven Medicine Buddhas were bodhisattvas practicing the path to enlightenment, they promised and made extensive prayers to actualize all the prayers of living beings of the degenerate time when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are in decline. They generated a very strong intention to become enlightened for this reason; this was their motivation for meditating on and actualizing the path.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, "It is very important that the elaborate Medicine Buddha puja with extensive offerings be done regularly. The offerings should be as extensive and as beautiful as possible, and done in order to benefit all sentient beings."

Supporting pujas benefits not just the Center and those who attend, but it also greatly benefits the donor, who collects the merit of giving the Dharma, and thus creates the causes to meet the Dharma again.

Sponsoring the puja is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your generosity (click here).

Step Two  is making the sponsorship donation (click here)

Dedications may be very simple - "For my mother, Rosemary" - or they might encompass more extensive spiritual wishes, such as "May these teachings be the cause to liberate all sentient beings," or wishes for the teacher's long life, to benefit a person who is ill - any heart-felt positive intention!  You also can include more than one intention in your dedication.