November

Meditations to make our life happy and meaningful

The Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, or “Lamrim” in Tibetan, is a sophisticated, practical presentation of Buddhist teachings, which is designed to help us improve and grow in a deliberate and joyful way. Over 1000 years ago the Buddhist sage Atisha consolidated the 84,000 teachings of Buddha into the Lamrim, which are 21 essential meditations, revolutionizing the practice of Buddha’s teachings. Since then, Lamrim has flourished throughout the world and it perfectly fits within our modern lifestyle. It is simple, scientific, and incredibly potent.

The Lamrim takes us step-by-step through carefully crafted meditations so we can purposefully nourish the qualities in our mind that lead to our happiness and reduce our painful thoughts and feelings.

In this class, we will go one-by-one through the Lamrim, drawing out how we can personally use these meditations and create our own meditation practice. There will be a special emphasis on the art of meditation and how to really make our meditations effective.

Recommended reading materials: The New Meditation Handbook

Registration details

Cost: $10 per class; free for members

Livestream available for members.

Location:
Kadampa Meditation Center Madison
1825 S. Park St., Madison, WI

Prayers for the recently deceased

Every month we hold a special ceremony to help those who have recently died experience peace of mind after death and be cared for by the Buddha of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara. During this ceremony we engage in the traditional Buddhist practice of “Powa” or transference of consciousness in conjunction with the prayers, “Powa Ceremony.”

You may attend in person as a walk-in.

Purchasing your own copy of the sadhana for this puja is not required, but your practice will be enhanced if you can follow along.

You may purchase the Powa Ceremony sadhana at this link.

This practice often includes a food offering. Typically, people can bring a vegetarian food offering in person. You may also use the donate button below to contribute toward the Center offerings for this puja – the form will include an area for notes where you can indicate you are making an offering.

Details

Location:
Kadampa Meditation Center Madison
1825 S. Park St., Madison, WI

Change yourself and change your world

In these classes we learn how to use the power of meditation to make our greatest contribution to peace in the world and bring a positive influence to those around us. Each class consists of guided meditations and a teaching on how we can use Buddhist principles and practice to establish harmony within ourselves and in our world. Be empowered to change yourself and change the world!

The teachings for this current series will be based on The New Eight Steps to Happiness by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, the internationally recognized author, teacher, and founder of the New Kadampa Tradition of Buddhism.

With the intention to attain
The ultimate supreme goal 
That surpasses even the wish-granting jewel 
May I constantly cherish all living beings 

Registration Details

Cost: $10 per class
Each class is stand-alone in nature, so feel welcome to drop in any time! Register online or at the door.

Livestream available for members.

Location:
Kadampa Meditation Center Madison
1825 S. Park St., Madison, WI

During these weekly classes Gen Dorje will offer teachings and guided meditations on how to recognize and develop our capacity for profound empathy and love. Each class will explore a topic related to deepening our capacity for developing a profound love. 

In ordinary life, we often confuse love with desirous attachment, and as a result we often experience pain and disappointment within our so-called ‘loving’ relationships. But authentic love can never cause pain. It only ever produces happiness. Why? Because true love actually arises from a profound understanding of our interdependence and interconnection with everyone. This understanding liberates us from our painful self-centered grasping attachments, and opens us to an expansive and ever more inclusive empathy and love that brings joy, harmony and purpose into our lives.

Topics will include Learning to Love without Pain; Developing Equanimity; Remembering Kindness; Cherishing Others;  …and more!

Everyone welcome! 

Registration details

Cost: $10 per class; free for members

Heart Jewel practice includes special prayers and requests to our Spiritual Guide, Je Tsongkhapa combined with the condensed prayer to his Dharma Protector and a guided meditation on Lamrim (stages of the path to Enlightenment).

This is a wonderful opportunity to receive the blessings of Je Tsongkhapa, the protection of Dorje Shugden and deep familiarity with the 21 meditations that reveal the stages of the path to Enlightenment.

This puja includes two practices revealed by the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri. The first is a special Guru yoga in which we visualize our Spiritual Guide as Je Tsongkhapa, who himself is a manifestation of Manjushri.

By relying upon this practice, we can purify negativity, accumulate merit, and receive blessings. In this way, we will naturally accomplish all the realizations of the stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra and in particular we will attain a very special Dharma wisdom.

The second practice is a method for relying upon the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden. Through this, we can overcome obstacles to our practice and create favourable conditions so that we can nurture and increase our Dharma realizations.

If we rely upon the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden sincerely, our faith in Je Tsongkhapa will naturally increase and we will easily gain experience of the pure Buddhadharma transmitted directly to Je Tsongkhapa by the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri.

These two practices are the very essence of the New Kadampa Tradition of Mahayana Buddhism. If we practice them regularly and sincerely, we will reap a rich harvest of pure Dharma realizations, and eventually come to experience the supreme joy of full enlightenment.

Details

Location:
Kadampa Meditation Center Madison
1825 S. Park St., Madison, WI

No matter how negative our mind is we have the opportunity to purify it completely by engaging in purification, the root of future happiness and spiritual realizations. In this practice, we visualize the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas and practice purification in their presence. Through the power of their blessings and prayers, we can swiftly purify even the heaviest negative actions simply by faithfully reciting their names. During this practice, we will make one prostration to each of the 35 Buddhas.

You may attend in person as a walk-in.

Purchasing your own copy of the sadhana for this puja is not required, but your practice will be enhanced if you can follow along.

You may purchase the sadhana at this link.

Details

Location:
Kadampa Meditation Center Madison
1825 S. Park St., Madison, WI

Tuesday Nights 6:30-8:30 PM (Enrollment is required)

Benefits of Foundation Program:

There are many benefits to joining the Foundation Program, namely:
• Increased personal insight, wisdom and experience of Dharma (Buddha’s teachings)
• Studying and meditating more effectively following a specially-designed program and qualified meditation teacher
• An opportunity to discuss and ask questions
• Help, support and friendship from like-minded people
• Gaining the ability to integrate Buddha’s instructions into busy modern life.

Foundation Program has many benefits and is not a drop-in class. Enrollment is required and we ask that everyone who enrolls has a sincere personal commitment to try to attend each class.

FP students enrollment offers all the benefits of being a KMC Madison Member. These personal commitments combined with the special structure of the class enable us to take the most from our efforts to improve the quality of our mind and realize our full potential.

The program consists of a dynamic combination of teachings, meditation and discussion, all of which enable us to go deeper into the layers of meaning within each book that we study. All of this helps us to make real progress along our spiritual path. Each class consists of preliminary prayers, guided meditation and reading from the book with commentary and discussion.

For more information about the Foundation Program from Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, click HERE

Watch a video of the benefits of this program run by another Kadampa Center in New York

If you have questions about joining Foundation Program, please email info@meditationinmadison.org or call (608) 661-3211.

Details

Location:
Kadampa Meditation Center Madison
1825 S. Park St., Madison, WI

Foundation Program is livestreamed and recorded for registered students.

Meditations to make our life happy and meaningful 

Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, or “Lamrim” in Tibetan, is a sophisticated, practical presentation of Buddhist teachings, which is designed to help us improve and grow in a deliberate and joyful way. Over 1,000 years ago, the Buddhist sage Atisha consolidated the 84,000 teachings of Buddha into the Lamrim, which are 21 essential meditations, revolutionizing the practice of Buddha’s teachings. Since then, Lamrim has flourished throughout the world and it perfectly fits within our modern lifestyle. It is simple, scientific, and incredibly potent.

The Lamrim takes us step-by-step through carefully crafted meditations so we can purposefully nourish the qualities in our mind that lead to our happiness and reduce our painful thoughts and feelings.

In this weekly drop-in classes, we will go one-by-one through the Lamrim, drawing out how we can personally use these meditations and create our own meditation practice. There will be a special emphasis on the art of meditation and how to really make our meditations effective. These classes are suitable for anyone wanting to become familiar with meditation and to deepen one’s understanding of the Buddhist perspective on how to attain true and lasting happiness. 

Everyone is welcome!

Recommended reading: The New Meditation Handbook

Registration details

Cost: $10; free for members
Please bring cash; no ATM in building.

Location:
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities
3707 Eastern Avenue
Davenport, IA 52807

Vajrayogini is a female enlightened Deity of Highest Yoga Tantra who is a manifestation of the
wisdom of all the Buddhas. To engage in this extensive self-generation practice successfully
we should first receive the empowerment of Vajrayogini, and then study authentic instructions
on the practice, such as those found in the commentary New Guide To Dakiniland. This
sadhana is suitable both for our regular daily practice and for retreat; and we can practice it
alone or in a group.

If you have the Highest Yoga Tantra empowerments and would like to attend, please feel
very welcome.

Details

Location:
Kadampa Meditation Center Madison
1825 S. Park St., Madison, WI