A monthly event throughout the year focused on meeting and engaging in the practice of different Kadampa Deities. Enjoy a rare opportunity to engage in these very special chanted prayers that help us to make our life more meaningful. No need to book and no fee, just drop in!
The prayers start at 7.30 pm and the duration varies based on the prayer booklets (sadhana) we use. The sadhanas used and the length of the prayer sessions are below.
Maitreya is the manifestation of all the Buddha's realization of loving kindness, who helps and guides us along the stages of the path to enlightenment. By relying upon Buddha Maitreya with faith we will receive this Buddha's special care, and he will bestow upon us the realizations of Kadam Lamrim through which we can solve our own and others' wishes.
42 min
Thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara is the embodiment of the compassion of all the Buddhas. By engaging in this practice we will continually receive this Buddha’s special blessings and thereby experience inner peace, a peaceful mind, all the time. We will also make rapid progress in our Dharma practice, and gain the ability to control our anger, attachment and self-grasping ignorance.
30 min
The sadhana, or ritual prayer for spiritual attainments, of Manjushri, the embodiment of the wisdom of all the Buddhas. By relying sincerely upon Manjushri we will naturally increase our wisdom. Wisdom is like an inner Teacher and Protector that guides and protects us from engaging in wrong actions and having to experience their unpleasant results.
46 min
Avalokiteshvara is an enlightened being who is a manifestation of all Buddhas' compassion. By relying sincerely upon Four-armed Avalokiteshvara, and reciting his mantra with strong faith, temporarily we will improve our realizations of all the stages of the path, especially our realization of great compassion, and ultimately we will attain supreme Buddhahood in Avalokiteshvara's Pure Land.
42 min
Tara is a female Buddha, a manifestation of the ultimate wisdom of all the Buddhas.
The Liberation from Sorrow prayers include praises to the twenty-one manifestations of Tara. Her name means 'Rescuer' because she rescues us from all outer and inner fears. Like a mother she protects us from all internal and external dangers; she provides us with all the necessary conditions for our spiritual training, and guides us and inspires us with her blessings as we progress along the spiritual path.
50 min
White Tara is a female enlightened being whose function is to bestow long life, wisdom and good fortune. Because Tara is also the manifestation of the wind element of all Buddhas we can receive her blessings quickly, and by relying upon her with faith we can quickly receive her protection from contagious diseases, the dangers of fire, and other disasters.
30 min
Vajrapani is an emanation of Buddha Vajradhara whose function is to destroy the delusions of living beings by bestowing special power upon their body and mind. Vajrapani means ‘Vajra Holder’, indicating that he is the holder of Secret Mantra, the lineage holder of Buddha’s Tantric teachings. The actual vajra is the union of great bliss and emptiness – the subtlest blissful mind’s direct realization of ultimate truth – which has the power to cut through all delusions. By engaging in the self-generation sadhana (or ritual prayers for spiritual attainments) of Vajrapani we can destroy all our delusions, and eventually attain the union of great bliss and emptiness.
30 min
When the world is pervaded entirely by problems and dangers due to uncontrolled minds and inappropriate actions, one of the most important practices is that of Medicine Buddha. Medicine Buddha is a Buddha Doctor whose function is to release living beings from outer and inner sickness by bestowing blessings upon them. By relying on Medicine Buddha sincerely, we can be cured of heavy physical and mental disease, find release from the internal pain of the three poisons – attachment, anger and ignorance – and receive protection from many other dangers and obstacles.
43 min
The greatest obstacles to the fulfilment of our wish to experience pure happiness are death and ignorance. Death destroys our opportunity to take the essence of our precious human life, and ignorance destroys our opportunity to develop a pure experience of Dharma. To overcome these obstacles, we need to increase our lifespan and our wisdom, and the principal method for doing this is the yoga of Buddha Amitayus, which is also a special method for increasing the positive power of our mind, or merit.
31 min
The meditation and recitation of Vajrasattva is a powerful practice of purification and a quick method to attain future happiness and spiritual realizations. Under the influence of deluded minds, we have engaged in many negative actions and, as a result, we now experience suffering and problems everyday. By relying upon Buddha Vajrasattva, the Buddha of purification, we have the precious opportunity to purify this negativity, and thus transform our mind and our experience of the world in which we live.
38 min
