Prayers
The principal activity of Buddhists is prayer
About
Kadampa Prayers
Prayers or chanted meditation (pujas) are a component of training in a spiritual life. They help us still our mind, connect with the Buddhas, and receive the inspiring energy of blessings. Below are some of the pujas we engage in together at the center. Please check the calendar for any schedule changes. All pujas are free. Everyone welcome.
Heart Jewel
The Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa combined with the condensed sadhana of his Dharma Protector
This practice is the heart essence of Kadampa Buddhism. In the first part of the practice, we visualize our Spiritual Guide as Je Tsongkhapa and make prayers and requests to purify negativity, accumulate merit, and receive blessings. This prepares our mind for our meditation on Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. After the meditation, we make prayers to our Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugdän. Through this, we can overcome obstacles to our practice and create favorable conditions so that we can nurture and increase our pure Dharma realizations.
~ one hour
Wishfulfilling Jewel
The Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa combined with the condensed sadhana of his Dharma Protector
Wishfulfilling Jewel is a longer version of Heart Jewel in which we make prayers to create good fortune, remove negativity from our mind and gain positive energy. During this puja, a food offering is made to our Spiritual Guide and the assembly of holy beings (Tsog).
– Please bring a food, drink, or flower offering with you if you wish.
Offering to the Spiritual Guide
A special way of relying upon a Spiritual Guide
This is a special prayer of Je Tsongkhapa in conjunction with Highest Yoga Tantra that is a preliminary practice for Vajrayana Mahamudra. The main practice is relying upon our Spiritual Guide as a Buddha and making praises and requests, but it also includes all the essential practices of the stages of the path and training the mind, as well as both the generation stage and completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra. By relying upon Je Tsongkhapa our compassion, wisdom and spiritual power naturally increase. This practice includes a tsog offering.
– Please bring a food, drink or flower offering with you if you wish.
~ two hours
Liberation from Sorrow
Praises and requests to the Twenty-one Taras
Tara is a female enlightened being, whose name means Liberator, and who is known for her swift compassionate actions. Like an enlightened mother, she protects us from the cycle of negativity and harm, and guides us in the direction of wisdom and compassion. By showing us the path to freedom that lies within our own mind, she gives us the ability to overcome obstacles, and the keys to unlock our full potential. Everyone is welcome and invited to join us for Tara’s chanted prayer practice, Liberation from Sorrow.
~ one hour
Powa Ceremony
Transference of consciousness for the deceased
Powa, or transference of consciousness, is a profound method for transferring the consciousness of the deceased to the Pure Land of Buddha. After a person dies and before they take their next rebirth, there is an opportunity for those who have some connection with them to guide their consciousness’ away from the painful rebirths of samsara and into the pure lands, worlds created by minds experiencing things in a pure way.
Powa Ceremony, a beautiful and powerful ritual practice drawn from the Buddhist tantras, enables us to benefit the deceased by coming together as a group and making prayers and offerings on their behalf. Then, through the power of our compassionate intention, strong prayer, and concentration on the practice, we transfer the consciousness of the deceased to the Pure Land of the Buddha of Compassion so that they will experience a pure and lasting peace and finally be freed from the painful cycling of suffering and it’s causes.
– Please bring a food, drink or flower offering with you if you wish.
Melodious Drum Victorious in all Directions
The extensive fulfilling and restoring ritual of the Dharma Protector, the great king Dorje Shugden, in conjunction with Mahakala, Kalarupa, Kalindewi and other Dharma Protectors
This is a monthly practice of making offerings and requesting the Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden, to remove obstacles and to gather all favorable conditions for our spiritual practice. This practice includes a tsog offering. For tsog pujas, we gather together to pray and make special offerings.
– Please bring a food, drink or flower offering with you if you wish.
~ three and a half hours
A Pure Life
The practice of taking and keeping the eight Mahayana precepts
This is a precious and powerful practice that purifies negative karma and produces positive karma, or good fortune for our future. It functions to improve our familiarity with the practice of moral discipline, deepen our compassion and make our human life meaningful. When we take the eight Mahayana precepts, we explicitly promise to abstain for twenty-four hours from eight actions:
- Killing
- Stealing
- Sexual activity
- Lying
- Taking intoxicants
- Eating after lunch
- Sitting on high or luxurious thrones or seats
- Wearing ornaments, perfume, etc., and singing and dancing, etc.
These eight, however, are merely symbolic, for we promise to abstain from all non-virtuous actions for twenty-four hours.
Taking and keeping these precepts is a special purification practice. Buddha realized that all living beings’ suffering comes from their previous negative karma, and so he taught special practices to purify it.
~ 45 minutes
The Blissful Path
The condensed self-generation sadhana of Vajrayogini
The Blissful Path is the condensed sadhana or ritual prayer for spiritual attainment that contains the essence of the self-generation practice of Vajrayogini – the female enlightened Deity of Highest Yoga Tantra who is the manifestation of the wisdom of all Buddhas. Those who wish to train in the self-generation practice of Vajrayogini as a daily practice, but who have insufficient time or ability to practice either the extensive or middling sadhanas, can fulfill their aim and draw closer to the attainment of Buddha Vajrayogini by practicing this short sadhana with strong faith.
~ one hour
35 Confession Buddhas
One of the most powerful purification practices is the Mahayana Sutra of the Three Superior Heaps, also known as The Bodhisattva’s Confession of Moral Downfalls. In this practice, we visualize the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas and practise purification in their presence. Through the power of their blessings and prayers, we can swiftly purify even the heaviest negative actions simply by faithfully reciting their names.
~ 25 minutes