2009 Summer Schedule
Special Program: Celebrating His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama's Birthday
to dedicate all our efforts to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama’s long life,
that he may have perfect health,
and that all his holy wishes may be fulfilled!
Sunday, July 5 Guru Puja with Tsog at 7:30PM,
with Tara chanting all night until the morning of July 6th
We will be celebrating His Holiness, the Dalai Lama’s 74th birthday with Thupten
Rinpoche and the sanghas at the center for a full evening of events on Sunday, July 5 (the actual birthday is
July 6, but the night before in USA time will coincide with the morning of the
actual date in India).
On
Sunday, July 5 students may arrive here around 5:00PM
and a potluck dinner will begin at 6:00PM.
Please bring your favorite delicious dish to share. At 7:30PM
there will be Guru Puja with tsog. Then we will chant an all-night Four Mandalas
to Cittamani Tara in three sessions starting at 10PM
(session times: 10PM~midnight,
1~3 AM,
4~6 AM).
Auspicious rice and birthday cake will be served in the morning.
Weekly group practice:
1:30 PM every Sunday
(No practice session when special events or classes are scheduled)
1st Sunday - Medicine Buddha Puja
2nd Sunday - Prostration to 35 Buddhas
3rd Sunday - Twenty-one Tara chanting
4th Sunday - Compassion Buddha Prayer
If there is a 5th Sunday - King of Prayer
Weekly Classes:
All classes are available through live telephone conference calling.
To
listen in, please dial 1-712-432-1001 and then enter the access code:
421307490#.
If you would like to participate interactively during the live
question and answer session during class
please send us an email requesting
the required dialing number and access code.
Geshe Tenzin Sherap
Buddhist Tenets-Mind Only School - Part II Mp3
Download
Starting Wednesdays, June 17 for 10 Weeks , 6:00 ~ 8:00 PM (English with Chinese Translation)
The basic philosophical perspective is that afflictive emotions, such as desire, hatred, jealousy, etc. that bind beings in a round of uncontrolled birth, aging, sickness and death, are founded on the misperception of the nature of persons and phenomena. Since it is no easy matterto penetrate the thick veil of misconceptions within
our consciousness, Buddhist philosophy includes the study of not only the best and final system of thought, but also the supposedly “lower” systems. This provides a gradual way to approach extremely subtle topics and develops the capacity to investigate appearances so as to penetrate their reality, which leads to liberation and the ability to help a vast number of beings.
This course will be an in-depth teachings on the Mind-Only (Cittamatra) school of Buddhist Tenets, and will derive its materials from the "Treatise Differentiating Interpretable And Definitive Meanings: The Essence of Eloquence" by Lama Tsongkapa. This course
is for students who already have some background or have attended previous teachings on the mind-only school introduction course over the years. Geshe-la will use "Emptiness in the Mind-only School of Buddhism" by Jeffrey Hopkins as the English textbook for this course.
Guided Lam Rim Meditation
Sundays, 3:00 ~ 5:00 PM
Part 1 : Preliminary & Small Scope Practices, April 19 ~ May 10 (4 weeks)
Part 2 : The Medium Scope Practices, June 21 ~ July12 (4 weeks) & August 2 ~ August 23 (4 weeks)
Lam Rim Gradual Path to Enlightenment is the oral teachings of the profound and extensivelineages of Tibetan Buddhism. Indian master Atisha composed the first Lam Rim text, which presented the entire path to Buddhahood, leaving nothing out, in a clear way, and in the
correct order for practice. Since then, Lam Rim teachings have beencentral for most Tibetan schools of Buddhism.
Geshe Sherap will base his guided meditation on the outlines of the Lam Rim texts. It outlines the stages of the path by developing realizations along three major stages: Small Scope, Medium Scope,
and Great Scope. In the first two, one develops a strong wish to free oneself from present and future sufferings through understanding impermanence and developing renunciation, with the goal of liberating oneself completely from the cycle of samsara. In the third, one expands through compassion, to work with the motivation for all sentient beings to be liberated. Therefore, it is a classic
guide for the study, practice and realization of Buddhist teachings.
Please join us to learn thetechniques of analytical meditation based on the profound Lam-Rim teachings. The reference book “Lam.Rim Outlines Beginners' Meditation Guide” can be found online at www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/lam_rim_outline.pdf.
