Chanted Meditations
Chanted prayers or chanted meditation (pujas) are a component of training in a spritual life. They help us still our mind, connect with the Buddhas, and receive the inspiring energy of blessings. Below are some of the pujas we engage in together at the center. Please check the calendar for any schedule changes. All pujas are free. Everyone welcome.
Heart Jewel or Wish-fulfilling Jewel
Please check calendar for dates and times:
This practice is the heart essence of Kadampa Buddhism. In the first part of the practice we visualize our Spiritual Guide as Je Tsongkhapa and make prayers and requests to purify negativity, accumulate merit, and receive blessings. This prepares our mind for our meditation on Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. After the meditation we make prayers to our Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugdän. Through this we can overcome obstacles to our practice and create favorable conditions so that we can nurture and increase our pure Dharma realizations.
Contains time for silent meditation.
Green Tara Puja
Held the on the 8th of the month - check the calendar for time
Tara is a female enlightened being, whose name means Liberator, and who is known for her swift compassionate actions. Like an enlightened mother, she protects us from the cycle of negativity and harm, and guides us in the direction of wisdom and compassion. By showing us the path to freedom that lies within our own mind, she gives us the ability to overcome obstacles, and the keys to unlock our full potential. Everyone is welcome and invited to join us for Tara's chanted prayer practice, Liberation from Sorrow. (1 hour)
Offering to the Spiritual Guide (OSG)
Held on 10th and 25th day each month. Check calendar for times
This is a special Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa in conjunction with Highest Yoga Tantra that is a preliminary practice for Vajrayana Mahamudra. The main practice is relying upon our Spiritual Guide as a Buddha and making praises and requests, but it also includes all the essential practices of the stages of the path, and training the mind, as well as both the generation state and completion state of Highest Yoga Tantra. By relying upon Je Tsongkhapa our compassion, wisdom and spiritual power naturally increase. This practice includes a tsog offering - please bring a food offering with you if you wish. (2 hours)
Powa - Prayers for the recently deceased
Held once a month, check the calendar for date and time
Powa, or transference of consciousness, is a profound method for transferring the consciousness of the deceased to the Pure Land of Buddha. After a person dies and before they take their next rebirth, there is an opportunity for those who have some connection with them to guide their consciousness' away from the painful rebirths of samsara and into the pure lands, worlds created by minds experiencing things in a pure way.
Powa Ceremony, a beautiful and powerful ritual practice drawn from the Buddhist tantras, enables us to benefit the deceased by coming together as a group and making prayers and offerings on their behalf. Then, through the power of our compassionate intention, strong prayer, and concentration on the practice, we transfer the consciousness of the deceased to the Pure Land of the Buddha of Compassion so that they will experience a pure and lasting peace and finally be freed from the painful cycling of suffering and it's causes.
Everyone is welcome. Bring an offering of food or flowers if you wish.
Melodious Drum
Held the 29th of the of select months (check calendar for exact date and time)
This monthly practice consists principally of prayers to our Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugdän. A Dharma Protector is an emanation of a Buddha or Bodhisattva whose main functions are to avert the inner and outer obstacles that prevent practitioners from attaining spiritual realizations, and to arrange all the necessary conditions for their practice. Dorje Shugdän always helps, guides, and protects pure and faithful practitioners by granting blessings, increasing their wisdom, fulfilling their wishes, and bestowing success on all their virtuous activities. (3.5 hours)
Everyone is welcome. This practice includes a tsog offering so please bring an offering of food if you wish.
Eight Mahayana Precepts - A Pure Life
Held the 15th of select months (check calendar for date and time)
The practice of taking and keeping the eight Mahayana precepts is a special practice of moral discipline that is performed with a strong motivation to benefit others. In this practice we take eight precepts and vow to keep them purely for a period of 24 hours. In so doing we acquaint ourself with the practice of pure moral discipline and thereby make our human life meaningful.
Because it is performed with bodhichitta motivation, this practice is very powerful for purifying negative karma. It accumulates a vast collection of merit and creates the cause for us to attain the unsurpassed happiness of enlightenment. (45 minutes)