Gompa

Lama Tsongkhapa Day Light Offering Practice with Geshe Gelek
	Sunday evening, December 14, 2025, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm (ET) On this very holy and auspicious day of celebration, Geshe Gelek will lead us in prayers and practices, including circumambulation and making light offerings, as we honor Lama Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.  Learn more about Lama Tsongkhapa, an extraordinary Tibetan master, HERE.  As part of the celebration, we will gather to share a Tibetan noodle dish that is traditionally served on Lama Tsongskapa Day. Join us for a wonderful evening of beauty, community, food, fun, prayers and practices.  This will be both an indoor and outdoor event, please dress accordingly in warm, comfortable layers.  All are welcome!

HOW TO ATTEND

1. In person at Kadampa Center

2. Join via Zoom

3. Live stream on YouTube

SPONSOR LAMA TSONGKHAPA DAY

Sponsoring Lama Tsongkhapa Day is an incredible opportunity to earn merit.  Your sponsorship not only benefits you, it also serves our entire community by helping to make events like this and other Spiritual Programs possible at Kadampa Center.  Sponsors also have the opportunity to offer a dedication of their sponsorship.  Anyone is welcome to sponsor Lama Tsongkhapa Day.  Here's how:

1. Offer your $108 sponsorship HERE.

2. Submit your dedication HERE.

Lama Tsongkhapa Day Prayers & Practices with Geshe Gelek

Join us in celebration of Lama Tsongkhapa, the founder of our lineage, the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.  Geshe Gelek leads us in prayers and practices duirng this holy and auspicious day!  Learn more about Lama Tsongkhapa HERE. Sunday morning, December 14, 2025, beginning at 10:30 am in the gompa.  PLEASE NOTE:  We will take a break, on or before noon, so that those who need to leave may do so.  After the break, Geshe-la will resume leading the Lama Tsongkhapa Day prayers and practices for those who can stay.  A light lunch will be provided afterwards.    If you wish, feel free to bring a salad or dessert to share.

HOW TO ATTEND

1. In person at Kadampa Center

2. Join via Zoom

3. Live stream on YouTube

SPONSOR LAMA TSONGKHAPA DAY

Sponsoring Lama Tsongkhapa Day is an incredible opportunity to earn merit.  Your sponsorship not only benefits you, it also serves our entire community by helping to make events like this and other Spiritual Programs possible at Kadampa Center.  Sponsors also have the opportunity to offer a dedication of their sponsorship.  Anyone is welcome to sponsor Lama Tsongkhapa Day.  Here's how:

1. Offer your $108 sponsorship HERE.

2. Submit your dedication HERE.

Lhabab Düchen ~ Buddha's Descent from the God Realm of the Thirty-three
	Geshe Gelek leads practices on Lhabab Düchen, a merit-multiplying Holy Day! Join us on Tuesday, November 11, beginning at 10:30 am (ET) until about noon. ~ offered in person and online ~

HOW TO ATTEND

1.  In person at Kadampa Center

2.  Join via Zoom HERE

3.  Watch on YouTube livestream HERE

WAYS TO MAKE OFFERINGS ON LHABAB DÜCHEN 

1. Sponsor Lhabab Düchen Holy Day activities, $108

• First, make your financial sponsorship HERE
• Then, submit your dedication HERE

2. Make offerings to Kadampa Center sangha members by placing financial offerings and/or notes of thanks and kindness in envelopes for our precious monks and nuns.

3.  Contribute to the FPMT Puja Fund ~ learn more about the Puja Fund and make your donation HERE

ABOUT LHABAB DÜCHEN

Occurring on the 22nd day of the ninth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar, Lhabab Düchen is one of the four major Buddhist Holy days of the year.  This year, Lhabab Düchen takes place on November 11, 2025.

Lhabab Düchen celebrates Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s return to Earth from the God Realm of the Thirty-Three after teaching Dharma for several months to the gods, including his mother, Mayadevi, who had died a week after Buddha’s birth and been reborn there.

As a merit multiplying day, the karmic results of actions done on this day are multiplied 100 million times. This amazing result is taught in the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.

Geshe Gelek encourages students to take the Eight Mahayana Precepts on holy days. Students who have taken these precepts before from a qualified master may take them at home in front of their own altar.  Students may also take the precepts from Lama Zopa Rinpoche via this video, which was produced especially to provide this opportunity to those who have not received them.  For more about the practice of precepts, please read The Direct and Unmistaken Method by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. 

Learn more about Lhabab Düchen HERE.

We make extensive offerings to Tara as part of the main practice that begins at 10:30.

Students are invited to come at 9:30 for the merit-making practice of offering water bowls, flowers, incense, lights and more to Tara.

	Sunday Dharma with Gen Don Handrick - Bridging Our Differences: Tools for Understanding and Healing Divisiveness in Our World
	Sunday, October 5, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm (ET)      ~ offered in person and online ~      Join us, all are welcome!

Kadampa Center students, friends, and the greater community are welcome and encouraged to attend this special Sunday teaching with Gen Don Handrick!  

Bridging Our Differences:  Tools for Understanding and Healing Divisiveness in Our World - While there has always been division in our world, it does seem that the degree of conflict over opposing views has heightened to a new level, particularly in the political environment in our country. With the probability that such division will not go away anytime soon, it seems especially useful to have more tools at our disposal for managing our own emotions and not escalating the emotions of others as well. In this session we will explore some of what Buddhism offers in terms of how we can understand and work with such divisiveness whenever and wherever we are confronted with it and not be overcome by it.

HOW TO ATTEND

• Attend in person at Kadampa Center

• Join via Zoom (note: this is the regular Sunday morning Zoom link)

• Live Stream on YouTube

MERIT-MAKING PRACTICE DAY

Join us on Friday, October 3, beginning at 10am, for a Merit-Making Practice Day! Attend any or all of the five 40-minute practices, graciously led by Venerable Angie Muir (offsite, via Zoom), Venerable Amy Miller (offsite via Zoom), and Gen Don Handrick (in person at Kadampa Center and via Zoom). These group practice sessions will collectively generate merit for the FPMT North American Region and each of our centers, projects, services and study groups. All are welcome to join for one or more sessions ~ drop in anytime!  Those who live in the Raleigh area are invited to attend in person at Kadampa Center.  For those who are unable to attend in person, please join online via Zoom HERE.

The fall FPMT North American Regional Meeting (NARM) takes place on Saturday, October 4, and is exclusively for Board of Director members and those in other management and/or leadership roles. 

However, the Merit-Making Practice Day, offered the day before NARM, is open to everyone!  Drop in for any or all practice sessions ~ your participation is greatly encouraged and appreciated!  Each 40-minute practice will begin at the top of the hour, followed by a 20-minute break.

Tara is a female Buddha whose qualities include enlightened action and swiftly removing obstacles.  This powerful Tara practice is meant to clear obstacles in our spiritual lives and help us attain our positive goals, both spiritual and mundane.  Kadampa Center has a special connection to Tara, according to Sera Jey Khensur Rinpoche Jetsun Lobsang Delek, our Geshes' teacher who consecrated our twenty-one statues of the aspects of Tara during one of his Kadampa Center visits.  Therefore, Tara practice is incredibly beneficial for our community, creating harmony in working together and ensuring Kadampa Center's continued success.

HOW TO ATTEND

1. Attend in person, onsite at Kadampa Center.

2. Join via Zoom HERE.

3. Watch via YouTube live stream HERE.

OPPORTUNITY TO SPONSOR THIS TARA PRACTICE

Sponsoring dharma practices, such as a Tara Practice, benefits Kadampa Center, its teachers and students, and is an incredible opportunity for one to practice generosity, build merit, and create the causes to meet dharma teachings and teachers in the future.  Please consider becoming a sponsor for this powerful practice.  Here's how:

STEP 1:  Choose your sponsorship level and make your donation by clicking on one of the links below.

• $308 - Enlightened Activity sponsorship level

• $208 - Obstacle Eliminator sponsorship level

• $108 - Harmonious Friends sponsorship level

STEP 2:  Offer your dedication HERE.

*** SCHEDULE CHANGE:  Discovering Buddhism, Module 08, will end on Monday, October 20.  The Monday, October 27 class is canceled.

	DISCOVERING BUDDHISM 08: ESTABLISHING A DAILY PRACTICE
	Mondays, October 6 - 27, from 7 - 8:30 pm (ET) Assemble the tools you need to develop a successful daily practice and find out the elements necessary to generate realizations.  Get some tips for making every action meaningful. ~ offered in person and online ~

HOW TO ATTEND

• In person, onsite at Kadampa Center - the most interactive way to participate, and is especially beneficial for those who live locally.

• Join via Zoom HERE - a somewhat interactive way to participate.  If you choose to join us on Zoom, you are considered part of the class, therefore, please plan to have your camera turned on and refrain from eating and other distracting activities.

• Watch via YouTube live stream HERE - a non-interactive choice.

HOW TO SUPPORT DISCOVERING BUDDHISM

Whether you attend class online or in person, please consider making a donation to Kadampa Center to enable us to keep Dharma classes like Discovering Buddhism possible.  Donations in any amount are greatly appreciated ~ thank you!  Donations can be made in any of the following ways:

• Cash or checks (made to Kadampa Center) can be dropped in the Donation Box just outside the gompa door.

• Checks can be mailed to Kadampa Center at:  5412 Etta Burke Court, Raleigh, NC 27606.

• Donate any amount online HERE.

LEARN MORE ABOUT DISCOVERING BUDDHISM

• Visit the General Information webpage HERE to learn about the Discovering Buddhism course offered at Kadampa Center.

• Visit the FPMT website HERE for more in-depth details about the Discovering Buddhism course, including how to access the course materials, how to take the course online, and how to work towards Certificates of Acheivement for each module.

• Questions?  Email Linda Saah, Spiritual Program Coordinator, at program.linda@kadampa-center.org.

	DISCOVERING BUDDHISM 07: REFUGE IN THE THREE JEWELS
	Mondays, September 8 - 29, from 7 - 8:30 pm (ET) Find out what it means to take refuge in the Three Jewels and the essential practices of refuge.  Learn about the advantage of taking vows and their role in enhancing our spiritual growth. ~ offered in person and online ~

HOW TO ATTEND

• In person, onsite at Kadampa Center - the most interactive way to participate, and is especially beneficial for those who live locally.

• Join via Zoom HERE - a somewhat interactive way to participate.  If you choose to join us on Zoom, you are considered part of the class, therefore, please plan to have your camera turned on and refrain from eating and other distracting activities.

• Watch via YouTube live stream HERE - a non-interactive choice.

HOW TO SUPPORT DISCOVERING BUDDHISM

Whether you attend class online or in person, please consider making a donation to Kadampa Center to enable us to keep Dharma classes like Discovering Buddhism possible.  Donations in any amount are greatly appreciated ~ thank you!  Donations can be made in any of the following ways:

• Cash or checks (made to Kadampa Center) can be dropped in the Donation Box just outside the gompa door.

• Checks can be mailed to Kadampa Center at:  5412 Etta Burke Court, Raleigh, NC 27606.

• Donate any amount online HERE.

LEARN MORE ABOUT DISCOVERING BUDDHISM

• Visit the General Information webpage HERE to learn about the Discovering Buddhism course offered at Kadampa Center.

• Visit the FPMT website HERE for more in-depth details about the Discovering Buddhism course, including how to access the course materials, how to take the course online, and how to work towards Certificates of Acheivement for each module.

• Questions?  Email Linda Saah, Spiritual Program Coordinator, at program.linda@kadampa-center.org.