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
Quick Path to Great Bliss
These instructions on the Highest Yoga Tantra practice of Venerable Vajrayogini Quick Path to Great Bliss were taught by Buddha Vajradhara in the Condensed Root Tantra of Heruka. This Narokhachö lineage was passed directly from Vajrayogini to Naropa, and through an unbroken lineage of realized practitioners to present-day Teachers. After Buddha Vajradhara taught this practice, he left the mandalas of Heruka and Vajrayogini intact in twenty-four auspicious places in this world. Even now there are countless manifestations of Vajrayogini in this world who help sincere practitioners gain realizations by blessing their mental continuums. This practice is ideally suited to the present day and by relying on it sincerely and faithfully, it’s definitely possible to attain full enlightenment. To accomplish such results we must practice the extensive sadhana regularly. Every weekday, must have received HYT empowerment to participate.
Mahayana Precepts
During this monthly ceremony on the 15th of the month, we take the eight Mahayana precepts, and explicitly promise to abstain for twenty-four hours from eight actions: killing, stealing, sexual activity, lying, taking intoxicants, eating after lunch, sitting on high or luxurious thrones or seats, wearing ornaments, perfume, etc, and singing and dancing, etc. These eight, however, are merely symbolic, for in reality we promise to abstain from all non-virtuous actions for twenty-four hours. Taking and keeping these precepts is a special purification practice. Buddha realized that all living beings’ suffering comes from their previous negative karma, and so he taught special practices to purify it.