Date: Tuesdays 7:30-9:00pm
Venue: Earl’s Court Sheltered Housing, Miller street, Newcastle under Lyme ST5 1EF
Teacher: Kelsang Pagma has been a Kadampa Buddhist nun for over 20 years. She is on the Teacher Training Programme at Tara IKRC, with many years of experience in teaching Kadam Dharma. She is known for ability to clearly explain Buddha’s teachings, and how they can be applied to our daily life.
Each week we will explore, contemplate and meditate on Buddha’s teachings relating to one of these meditation objects. We will learn how, by understanding the meaning that underlies each meditation, we can gradually attain ever-deeper levels of contentment, peace and joy. Classes are based on The New Meditation Handbook, which provides a useful companion text to the series. Each class is self-contained, although presented in the overall context of the 21-meditation cycle so you may drop in as and when you’d like. The class format includes a brief talk introducing the meditation topic, a guided meditation, and suggestions on how we can carry what we have learned into our daily life.
The instructions of Lamrim are easy to understand and practice, and can readily be applied to solving the problems of daily life. If we gain deep experience of Lamrim there will be no basis for these problems; we shall be able to solve them through the power of our inner peace. First we must understand the benefits that Lamrim offers, and develop a strong desire to practice it. Then by joyfully and patiently doing these meditations we shall gradually experience the fruits of Lamrim practice. Eventually we shall attain freedom from all suffering and the unchanging peace and happiness of enlightenment.
There are 21 Lamrim meditations, which are usually practiced in a three-week cycle as a daily meditation practice and explained in The New Meditation Handbook. These meditations, along with instructions on how to practice and essential background material can be found in The New Meditation Handbook. An extensive presentation of Lamrim can be found in Geshe Kelsang’s book (available at tharpa.co.uk) Joyful Path of Good Fortune or Modern Buddhism.
