Chanted Meditations
Heart Jewel
Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Lambertville, 5:30 - 6:15pm
Sunday Mornings in Lambertville, 9:30 - 10:15am
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in Philadelphia, 5:45-6:30pm
This sadhana, or method of accomplishment, is the essential practice of the New Kadampa Tradition of Mahayana Buddhism. By relying upon this practice, we can purify negativity, accumulate merit, receive blessings, overcome obstacles to our practice and create favorable conditions so that we can nurture and increase our Dharma realizations. If we practice this sadhana regularly and sincerely, we will reap a rich harvest of pure Dharma realizations, and eventually come to experience the supreme joy of full enlightenment. | |
Avalokiteshvara Sadhana
Avalokiteshvara is an enlightened being who is a manifestation of all Buddhas' compassion. He is known as the Buddha of Compassion. Through this practice we can ripen our mind of love and great compassion.
Dakini Yoga
Fridays in Lambertville, 10 - 11am
Dakini Yoga is the tantric practice of Vajrayogini, a female enlightened being. This session is open only to those that have received the Highest Yoga Tantric empowerment.
Wishfulfilling Jewel
Sundays in Philadelphia, 5:30-6:30pm
This practice contains the Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa and a practice for relying upon the Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden. Through this, we can overcome obstacles to our practice and create favorable conditions so that we can nurture and increase our Dharma realizations. In particular we make offerings to the Dharma Protector to help us in our spiritual training.
Offering to the Spiritual Guide
Held twice a month – 2 hours
Offering to the Spiritual Guide is a special Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa in conjunction with Highest Yoga Tantra. It was compiled by the first Panchen Lama, Losang Chökyi Gyaltsän, as a preliminary practice for Vajrayana Mahamudra. The main practice is relying upon the Spiritual Guide, but it also includes all the essential practices of the stages of the path (Lamrim) and training the mind (Lojong), as well as both the generation stage and completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra. By relying upon Je Tsongkhapa, our compassion, wisdom, and spiritual power naturally increase.
Precepts
Held once a month – 15 minutes
The practice of taking and keeping the eight Mahayana precepts is a special practice of moral discipline that is performed with bodhichitta motivation. The essence of the practice is to take eight precepts and to keep them purely for a period of twenty-four hours. By doing this practice again and again we acquaint ourself with the practice of moral discipline and thereby make our human life meaningful.
Melodious Drum
Held once a month – 3 hours
This practice consists of five parts primarily of making offerings to the Dharma Protectors. A Dharma Protector is an emanation of a Buddha or a Bodhisattva whose main functions are to avert the inner and outer obstacles that prevent practitioners from gaining spiritual realizations, and to arrange all the necessary conditions for their practice. Beings in this present time have a strong karmic link with Dorje Shugdän, and so he is the Dharma Protector who is most able to help them. Therefore it is said that, now is the time to rely upon Dorje Shugdän. 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.