Chanted Prayers
All the essential practices of Kadampa Buddhism are included in a series of sadhana booklets prepared by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso and published by Tharpa Publications. Please confirm all dates and times on the calendar. You can add your personal dedications to our Dedications List.
Wishfulfilling Jewel
This is a special practice for developing compassion, wisdom, and spiritual strength by relying on the Wisdom Buddha Je Tsongkhapa, and for overcoming obstacles and difficulties on the spiritual path by relying on his Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden. It is explained in the book Heart Jewel by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. Regular practice of this meditation practice helps us develop and maintain an invaluable spiritual anchor enabling us to gain heartfelt experience of the teachings when practicing them in a very distracted world. DAILY
Offering to the Spiritual Guide
Offering to the Spiritual Guide is a special Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa in conjunction with Highest Yoga Tantra. It was compiled as a preliminary practice for Tantric Mahamudra that is perfectly suited to our modern day lifestyle. These prayers present all the diverse spiritual practices of the path to enlightenment in a manner that is easily understood and in the order in which they are to be practiced. The theme is meditation on reliance upon our Spiritual Guide. Within this we focus on all the essential practices of the stages of the path (Lamrim) and training the mind (Lojong), and both the generation and completion stages of Highest Yoga Tantra. By relying on our Spiritual Guide as one with Je Tsongkhapa, our compassion, spiritual power, and especially our wisdom will naturally increase. A complete commentary to this practice can be found in Great Treasury of Merit by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.
EVERY 10TH & 25TH OF THE MONTH
Tara Prayers: Liberation from Sorrow
Tara is a female Buddha, a manifestation of the ultimate wisdom of all Buddhas. Each of the Twenty-One Taras in Liberation from Sorrow is a manifestation of the principal Green Tara, known as the “Mother of the Conquerors”. She is our common mother, our Holy Mother. When we’re young, we turn to our worldly mother to protect us from immediate dangers, to provide us with all temporal needs, to guide and encourage us in our learning and personal development. In the same way, for spiritual growth, we turn for refuge to our Holy Mother Tara to protect us from all internal and external dangers, provide us with all the necessary conditions for our spiritual training, and guide us and inspire us with her blessings as we progress along the spiritual path.
EVERY 8TH OF THE MONTH
Powa Ceremony
Through practicing the Powa Ceremony with faith, compassion and concentration we can transfer the consciousness of those recently deceased to a higher rebirth or to the Pure Land of a Buddha. We can practice alone or with a group, on behalf of one or more deceased persons, or countless deceased beings. By engaging in this practice we also create a great collection of virtue, which will also lead us into the pathway to a Buddha’s Pure Land.
ONCE A MONTH