New Year's Day: The Great Mother
2025-01-01 10:30 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Mahakankala Kadampa Buddhist Center, 1825 State Street Suite 202, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101, United States
Start the new year with us! Join us for four sessions of reciting The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra within the prayers to the Great Mother. This brief practice is a traditional Mahayana Buddhist method for dispelling obstacles. Drop in for any or all sessions. (Prayer booklets available for use.)
New Year’s Day Schedule
10:30-11:am Session 1
11:15-11:45am Session 2
Light lunch break
12:30-1:00pm Session 3
1:15-2:00pm Session 4
Free of charge. Donations welcome.

Wishfulfilling Jewel Prayers w/ Meditation
2025-01-03 17:00 - 18:15
If you enjoy meditating with others, chanted meditations are a great opportunity to engage in group meditation. These chanted meditations are also known in Sanskrit as puja, meaning offering, or as sadhana, which means method for receiving attainments.
Using prayers in English, we receive the blessings, protection and guidance of the holy beings. We can make requests for ourselves or for others who need help or protection. These spiritual practices create a strong connection with the Buddhas, and help us purify our negativity and fill our mind with positive, healing energy.
Wishfulfilling Jewel puja includes a period of silence for meditation on Lamrim. 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 to Enlightenment and attain a very special Dharma wisdom.
All chanted prayers are free.

Introduction to Lamrim Retreat
2025-01-04 15:00 - 16:15

Lamrim Wisdom Retreat
2025-01-04 15:00 - 2025-01-09 19:45
Meditating on the cycle of Lamrim meditations is the same as meditating on the essence of all of Buddha’s 84,000 teachings. Join us in this Lamrim retreat to create good momentum in the mind for the new year! All sessions will be guided by our Resident Teacher, Kadam Keli Vaughan.

Saturday introduction to the retreat — 3:00-4:15pm with Kadam Keli, followed by Session 1 of retreat — 4:45-6:00pm — Meditation on the Preciousness of our Human Life

Sunday — Initial Scope Meditations (4)
9:30-10:30am — Meditation on Death
11:00am-12:00pm — (Special General Program Class on Stages of the Path to Enlightenment)
12:30-1:30pm — Meditation on Danger of Lower Rebirth and Going for Refuge
2-3:15pm — Meditation on Karma

Monday — Middling Scope Meditations (4)
2:30-3:30pm — Meditation on Renunciation
3:45-4:45pm — Meditation on our Determination to Recognize, Reduce, and Abandon the Root of Samsaric Rebirth
5-6pm — Meditation on our Determination to Engage in the Actual Path to Liberation
6:30-7:30pm — Meditation on our Determination to Attain True Cessations (Monday Guided Lamrim class)
(Monday’s sessions will be live on zoom for FP and online members)

Tuesday — Great Scope Meditations (2)
5-6pm — Meditation on Cherishing All Living Beings
6:30-7:30pm — Meditation on Universal Compassion
(Tuesday’s sessions will be live on zoom for FP and online members)

Wednesday — Great Scope Meditations (2)
5-6pm — Meditation on the Supreme Good Heart, Bodhichitta
6:30-7:30pm — Meditation on our Determination and Promise to Practice the Six Perfections (Special General Program class)

Thursday — Great Scope Meditations (2)
5-6pm — Training in Meditation on Emptiness
6:30-7:45pm — Meditation on Relying on our Spiritual Guide

The retreat introduction with Kadam Keli on Saturday is $15.
Each guided retreat session is $10.

Registering for the whole retreat is $35.
This retreat is free for Foundation Program members.

Sunday Morning Meditation Class
2025-01-05 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-01-12 11:00 - 12:00
Each Sunday morning class begins with a guided breathing meditation and Dharma talk, and culminates with a second meditation based upon the morning’s topic. Perfect for beginners or those with meditation experience. Open to everyone.
Please arrive a few minutes early to settle.

Guided Lamrim Meditation Live + Zoom
2025-01-06 18:30 - 19:30, 2025-01-13 18:30 - 19:30, 2025-01-20 18:30 - 19:30, 2025-01-27 18:30 - 19:30
Learn the most essential teachings of Mahayana Buddhism as we meditate together on most Monday evenings. Please check our web calendar to confirm class meetings.
Each class begins with a guided breathing meditation, preparatory prayers, and culminates with a second meditation based upon the topic of the evening. Drop in to any or all classes in this course. Perfect for beginners or those with meditation experience.
About the Class
Lamrim is a special presentation of Buddhist teachings that modern people can practice in their daily lives. Lamrim originated with the Indian Buddhist Master Atisha, and was later clarified by Tibetan Master and scholar Je Tsongkhapa.
Our Founder, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, makes Lamrim even more accessible for modern people in his books, which appear in many languages. These are the texts we use in the class for our Lamrim meditations.

Please arrive five minutes early to settle, either in person or on zoom.
(Zoom access is available with a monthly membership.)
Membership: Class included with Online, GP, FP and Benefactor Memberships. Contact us to join.

Guided Lamrim Meditation
2025-01-06 18:30 - 19:30, 2025-01-13 18:30 - 19:30, 2025-01-20 18:30 - 19:30

Lunchtime Guided Meditation
2025-01-07 12:30 - 13:00, 2025-01-14 12:30 - 13:00, 2025-01-21 12:30 - 13:00
Simply breathe. Relieve stress. Find peace.

Our Lunchtime Meditations are great for beginners and experienced meditators. Drop in any Tuesday at 12:30 for 30 minutes of peaceful meditation.
Cost per class: $5

Lunchtime Guided Meditation
2025-01-09 12:30 - 13:00, 2025-01-16 12:30 - 13:00, 2025-01-23 12:30 - 13:00
Our Lunchtime Meditations are great for beginners and experienced meditators. Drop in on Thursday at 12:30 for 30 minutes of peaceful meditation. If you would like to pre-register for an 8-week series, you will receive a copy of the book we’ll be using as inspiration for our guided meditations.
$40 Call or text to pre-register: 8 oh 5 – 7 oh 5 – 6654
$7 to drop in per class
Free for Monthly Members

Quick Path to Great Bliss w/ Offerings
2025-01-10 17:00 - 19:30
*Highest Yoga Tantra practitioners only, please.

Heart Jewel Prayers w/ Meditation
2025-01-13 17:00 - 18:00, 2025-01-20 17:00 - 18:00, 2025-01-27 17:00 - 18:00
Join us In Person
If you enjoy meditating with others, chanted meditations are a great opportunity to engage in group meditation. These chanted meditations are also known in Sanskrit as pujas, meaning offering; and the prayers we recite are sadhanas, meaning methods for receiving attainments.
Our prayers are in English. We request the blessings, protection and guidance of the holy beings. We can make requests for ourselves or for others who need help or protection. These spiritual practices create a strong connection with the Buddhas, and help us purify our negativity and fill our mind with positive, healing energy.
Heart Jewel puja includes a period of silence for meditation. 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 to Enlightenment and attain a very special Dharma wisdom.
All chanted prayers are free.

Heart Jewel Prayers
2025-01-15 17:00 - 18:00, 2025-01-22 17:00 - 18:00

Wishfulfilling Jewel Prayers w/ Offerings
2025-01-17 17:00 - 18:15
By relying upon this practice, we can purify negativity, accumulate merit, and receive blessings.
If you enjoy meditating with others, chanted meditations are a great opportunity to engage in group meditation. These chanted meditations are also known in Sanskrit as puja, meaning offering, or as sadhana, meaning method for receiving attainments.
Using prayers in English, we receive the blessings, protection and guidance of holy beings. We can make requests for ourselves or for others who need help or protection. These spiritual practices create a strong connection with the Buddhas, help us purify our negativity, and fill our mind with positive, healing energy.
In this way, we will naturally accomplish all the realizations of the stages of the path to Enlightenment and attain a very special Dharma wisdom.
All chanted prayers are free.

Introduction to Vajrayogini Retreat
2025-01-18 15:00 - 16:15
This event is postponed until January 18.

Blissful Path Retreat
2025-01-18 15:00 - 2025-01-19 16:30
Suitable for Highest Yoga Tantra practitioners.
Saturday introduction to the practice – 3:00-4:15pm with Resident Teacher Kadam Keli, followed by Session 1 of retreat — 4:45-6:00pm
Sunday
9:30-10:30am (guided session)
11:00am-12:00pm (guided session)
12:30-1:30pm (guided session)
2:00-3:15pm (guided session)

Blissful Path prayer booklets are available for purchase in our bookstore. These prayers also appear as an appendix in the texts The Mirror of Dharma and Modern Buddhism.

Cost for whole retreat $35
Saturday teaching only $15
Each guided session $10
Free for Foundation Program members

Heruka Day Offering to the Spiritual Guide Prayers
2025-01-24 17:00 - 19:00
Everyone is welcome to join us for this beautiful prayer practice.
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.
This puja (prayer practice) normally takes place on or near the 10th & 25th of the month.

All chanted prayers are free.

Guru Sumati Buddha Heruka Retreat
2025-01-25 15:00 - 2025-01-26 15:15
Suitable for Highest Yoga Tantra practitioners and those who have intention to receive HYT empowerments.
Saturday introduction to the practice — 3:00-4:15pm with Resident Teacher Kadam Keli, followed by Session 1 of retreat — 4:45-6:00pm (guided session)
Sunday
Session 1 9:30-10:30 am (guided session)
Session 2 11:00 am-12:00 pm (guided session)
Session 3 12:30-1:30 pm (guided session)
Session 4 2:00-3:15 pm (guided session)

Prayer booklets for the practice, Hundreds of Deities of the Joyful Land According to Highest Yoga Tantra, are available for purchase in our bookstore. This prayer also appears as an appendix in the texts The Oral Instructions of the Mahamudra and Mirror of Dharma with Additions.
Bring your mala for mantra recitation, or pick up a new one in our bookstore.

Cost for whole retreat $35
Saturday introduction only $15
Each guided retreat session $10
Free for GP and FP members
