Wednesday Evening Meditation Class via Zoom
2020-08-12 18:30 - 19:30, 2020-08-19 18:30 - 19:30, 2020-08-26 18:30 - 19:30, 2020-09-02 18:30 - 19:30, 2020-09-09 18:30 - 19:30, 2020-09-16 18:30 - 19:30, 2020-09-23 18:30 - 19:30, 2020-09-30 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Practicing Peace & Equality in Daily Life

We have been looking to others to solve the conflict we see in our world, but the solution is something we create inside our own mind. Although many countries and cultures have enshrined the ideas of peace and equality within their constitutions, it is up to each individual person to PRACTICE peace and equality. Mahayana Buddhism presents the methods and instruction for developing these essential views, in particular, the practice of Kadam Lojong, or Training the Mind.
Please join us for an ongoing practical examination of these special ways of viewing ourself and others. Through listening to, contemplating, and meditating on the meanings of these instructions, we can transform our own mind into the love and respect that views all living beings as equally precious. Then in our own life, we live the example of peace and equal kindness towards everyone.

Sign up here to receive an invitation to attend our online Zoom meditation classes

Each class begins with a guided breathing meditation and culminates with a second meditation based upon the evening’s topic. Drop in to any or all classes in this course. Perfect for beginners or those with meditation experience. Open to everyone.

Quick Path to Great Bliss
2020-08-18 07:30 - 09:00, 2020-08-25 07:30 - 09:00, 2020-09-01 07:30 - 09:00, 2020-09-08 07:30 - 09:00, 2020-09-15 07:30 - 09:00, 2020-09-22 07:30 - 09:00, 2020-09-29 07:30 - 09:00, 2020-10-06 07:30 - 09:00
* Highest Yoga Tantra practitioners only, please.

Meditation for World Peace via Zoom
2020-08-23 10:30 - 11:45, 2020-08-30 10:30 - 11:45, 2020-09-06 10:30 - 11:45, 2020-09-13 10:30 - 11:45, 2020-09-20 10:30 - 11:45, 2020-09-27 10:30 - 11:45, 2020-10-04 10:30 - 11:45
Please send us your email through our Contact form if you would like to receive and invitation to join this class online.

“Without inner peace, outer peace is impossible.” ~
Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche

Prayer and meditation are neither small nor passive actions. Rather, they are a force for change in our shared world. Join us to bring peace to our world through the action of meditation, and dedicating our prayers for world peace. Everyone is welcome – you do not need to be a Buddhist to attend. Just leave your email on our Contact page and we will send an invitation to you to join the zoom meeting. Class is $10, payable through our Donate page.

Each class consists of a guided breathing meditation, a short teaching on the practice of wisdom and compassion, and prayers (in English) to the Buddha of Compassion. Prayer booklets and downloaded e-prayer booklets can be purchased HERE.

Guru Yoga Mandala Offering Retreat Online
2020-09-05 08:00 - 17:30, 2020-09-06 08:00 - 17:30
Retreat sessions will be on Saturday, September 5 and Sunday, September 6. The second session of the retreat on Saturday will be an introduction to the practices of Guru Yoga and Mandala Offering by our Resident Teacher, Kadam Keli Vaughan. The retreat is open to everyone. Each retreat session is 90 minutes long including prayers.
The practice of Mandala Offering creates vast good fortune and is a method to attain the Pure Land of a Buddha.
Giving with a mind of bodhichitta unmixed with attachment is the first of the Six Perfections. Buddha taught giving as the first of the Six Perfections so that living beings can generate good fortune, or merit, to sustain all necessary conditions for our spiritual practice. While meditation plants the seeds of realizations within our mind, if our mind is devoid of merit, or good karma, we will be planting seeds in barren ground. Accumulating merit creates a rich and fertile mental environment within which our meditations will swiftly ripen and transform into realizations.
The blessings arising from the practice of Guru Yoga are rain that nurtures and sustains the seeds of our meditation. Guru Yoga is a special and powerful method that enables us to receive the blessings of all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and holy beings. Receiving this inspiration into our mind bestows inner peace and gives rise to realizations of renunciation, universal compassion, and wisdom realizing emptiness.
Session 1 8:00-9:30am
Session 2 10:30am-12:00pm (Introduction to the practice on Saturday / Meditation for World Peace on Sunday)
Session 3 2:00-3:30pm
Session 4 4:00-5:30pm
Each session is $5 or $20 for whole day.
Free for Foundation Program students.

Thursday Evening Meditation Class via Zoom
2020-09-17 18:30 - 19:30, 2020-09-24 18:30 - 19:30, 2020-10-01 18:30 - 19:30
Let Go of the Past – The Art of Forgiving
Buddha’s teachings on the pointlessness and pain of resentment and anger lead us to contemplations on patience, karma, and emptiness. This series of meditation classes examines these precious topics as a way to let the past go, and to move into a more peaceful present. We will explore special ways of thinking that help us to let go of anger towards ourself and others, and then meditate together on our new, uplifted understanding.

Sign up here to receive an invitation to attend our online Zoom meditation classes

Each class begins with a guided breathing meditation and culminates with a second meditation based upon the evening’s topic. Drop in to any or all classes in this course. Perfect for beginners or those with meditation experience. Open to everyone.

Celebrating Buddha's Return from Heaven
2020-09-21 18:00 - 20:00
Join us for a special Offering to the Spiritual Guide practice to celebrate on the eve of Buddha’s Return from Heaven Day. Please email us for a zoom link.

September 22 marks the celebration of Buddha’s Return from Heaven Day.
The following explanation is an extract from a talk given by Geshe Kelsang on this day in 1991:
‘On this day we celebrate Buddha’s return from the desire god realm called Land of the Thirty-three Heavens, where he had been to visit his mother who had been reborn there.
Traditionally this day also marks the end of the summer retreat. Every year, during the summer months, Buddha did a three-month retreat with his disciples. His reason for doing this was to avoid harming insects and other animals.
If we go out a lot during the summer months we will naturally kill more insects and other animals than at other times of the year. The nature of Buddhadharma is compassion – an unbiased compassion that is not just for human beings but for every living being, including animals.
In fact, we should have stronger compassion for animals than for human beings because animals suffer more. Human beings have better conditions and are more fortunate than animals. Because animals have so much suffering and no freedom, out of compassion Buddhists should try not to kill or disturb them. So, for three months during the summer, Buddha advised his disciples to retreat, staying always inside and living carefully and conscientiously.
One year during the annual summer retreat Buddha went to the Land of the Thirty-three Heavens. After his mother died she had taken rebirth in this god realm, so-called because it has thirty-three different types of god.
The king of this realm is called Indra. The Indra who was king at that time was also Buddha’s disciple and he invited Buddha to go there. So Buddha went to benefit his mother and also, at Indra’s request, to benefit the other gods living there. He stayed three months, and then returned on this day.
This day is therefore very special. It is said that if we engage in any kind of virtuous action on this day it becomes especially powerful and our merit greatly increases. For example, if we offer one single light offering this action is multiplied to become millions of light offerings.
On this day we should especially remember Buddha’s kindness.’

Wednesday Evening Meditation Class via Zoom + In-person
2020-10-07 18:30 - 19:30
The Happiness Habit
Our thoughts are paths that lead us places. If we habitually think about things that disturb our mind, we should not be surprised that what we experience is anxiety, anger, depression, and fear. On the other hand, if we learn to recognize our bad habits of mind and stop following their paths, we can transform our life.
In these meditation classes we will familiarize ourselves with good habits of mind – mental paths that lead us to the happiness we are looking for.

WE ARE TRANSITIONING TO IN-PERSON CLASSES ON WEDNESDAY EVENINGS!
We can accommodate 8 people plus the Teacher under the current county-wide safety guidelines. Bring your own water bottle and mask. We have hand sanitizer by the door. Or…

Sign up here to receive an invitation to attend our online Zoom meditation classes

Each class begins with a guided breathing meditation and culminates with a second meditation based upon the evening’s topic. Drop in to any or all classes in this course. Perfect for beginners or those with meditation experience. Open to everyone.
