news archive
Tara KMC news
archive 2008
- 22/12/08 - Christmas 'Stop the Week'
15/12/08 - Purifying negativity
02/12/08 - Goodbye to a dear friend
02/12/08 - Strength & Stability
24/11/08 - Lady Tara's birthday
17/11/08 - A lively weekend
10/11/08 - Lighting up the darkness - 28/10/08 - World Peace Evening held at Tara KMC
28/10/08 - Basic Buddhism Weekend at Tara KMC
22/10/08 - Full meditation room for Amitayus
empowerment
22/10/08 - London comes to Tara KMC
29/09/08 - Additional day courses at Tara KMC
29/09/08 - A successful weekend course
22/09/08 - The sun shines on the UKDC
08/09/08 - UKDC: The marquee’s up!
06/09/08 - A sick sycamore
01/09/08 - Liberation from within - 29/08/08 - New Meditation Hall Progress
13/08/08 - Post Summer festival retreat at Tara KMC
22/07/08 - Could you garden for world peace?
09/07/08 - Meditation, food & good company - 28/06/08 - World Peace Garden project gets underway
26/06/08 - Summer Fayre attracts 2000 people
20/06/08 - UKDC web site now live! - 02/06/08 - Spring Post Festival Retreat at Tara KMC
14/05/08 - Manjushri Empowerment weekend - 12/04/08 - Book online!
- 27/03/08 - Tara KMC opens new shop
- 24/03/08 - 25 Yrs of Tara KMC
- 17/03/08 - Stop the Week & fundraising banquet
- 08/03/08 - Stop the Week, Banquet & Easter Course
- 21/02/08 - Health and happiness in Tuscany
- 14/01/08 - Amitayus Retreat in Tuscany
- 01/01/08 - Tara KMC begins a blessed 2008
Visit the Tara KMC news archive for 2007
Visit the Tara KMC news archive for 2009
Christmas 'Stop the Week'
Gen Jigme teaching
Relaxed and well fed!
Smooth runnings in the kitchen
Rebecca being creative
On Friday night over 80 people gathered to enjoy Tara KMC's Christmas 'Stop the Week'. The evening started with a simple meditation and talk about happiness and its origins with Tara KMC's Resident Teacher, Gen Kelsang Jigme.
Afterwards everyone moved down to our 'retreat meditation room', which had been transformed for the evening to house the event. One gentleman I bumped into returning to enjoy his three course meal said, "Fantastic evening - I'm definitely coming to them from now on!".
It makes us very happy at Tara KMC to know our efforts are putting smiles on peoples faces. We hope you can join us next year for another 'Stop the Week', click here for dates and details.
Finally, may Tara KMC say, 'Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!' to everyone. May all living beings find lasting inner peace
Purifying negativity
Buddha Vajrasattva
December is when NKT Centre's around the globe engage in the retreat of Solitary Vajrasattva. Vajrasattva is a Buddha whom we rely upon in order to purify negative karma which we have created in the past. By spending the week deliberately ridding ourselves of these potentialities for experience suffering, we clear obstacles to our spiritual practice and create the causes for future happiness.
We were spurned on in our practice by the 'quote of the day' which hangs in our main hall. The quotes, which follows a 'random' order, were as follows:
"Preparing for death is one of the kindest and wisest things we can do for ourself and others."
"Since future lives last for a very long time, gather up riches to provide
for the future."
"The time of our death is completely uncertain".
"I may die today."
"Meditation on death is a hammer that shatters our delusions."
"Our life force abides like a like a candle in the breeze."
"This body that we have cherished for so long cheats us at the time when we need it most."
"Our future life is not far away."
We took this as a subtle hint from our spiritual guide!
Goodbye to a dear friend
Cynthia in Tara KMC's grounds
On the morning of Tuesday 2nd December, our dear friend Cynthia Gladys Lawson passed away at the age of 90. Cynthia had been practising Kadam Dharma for many years and until she moved recently to a nearby residential care home was Tara KMC's longest standing resident. Known for her quick wit and no-nonsense approach to life, Cynthia gave support and encouragement to numerous Kadampas over the years, showing an inspiring example of faithful devotion to her Spiritual Guide with a penetrating mind that was always unafraid to ask questions! Cynthia's memory will be cherished by all of the many people she benefited over the years. Stories of her kindness, humour and wisdom will passed down for many years to come.
The Tara KMC community, and many other people world wide, conducted powa ceremony for Cynthia this evening, ensuring her safe pathway to the Pure Land in the care of her Spiritual Guide.
02/12/08Strength & Stability
Last weekends course 'Strength & Stability' was on the topic of how to develop faith in the three Jewels of Buddhist Refuge; Buddha, Dharma & Sangha. Over the weekend those attending looked in detail at what exactly faith is, what faith isn't and how by combining this mind with wisdom we can eventually achieve a faith that is unshakable.
Kelsang Khechog teaching during the
'Strength & Stability' weekend
Lady Tara's birthday
Until she moved into a near by residential home a few weeks ago, Cynthia (also known as Lady Tara) was Tara KMC's oldest resident. Cynthia turned 90 last Sunday and so a gang of us went round to wish her many happy returns.
We were pleased to hear that she is using the move as an opportunity to further her Dharma practice. She told us "Practicing taking and giving here is marvelous!". A true example to us all - happy birthday Cynth'!
Below are a few pics taken from our visit - to view more on our Flickr gallery click here.
Cynthia Gladys Lawson, aka: 'Lady Tara'
Cynth' regaling us with her stories
Cynthia introduced this gentleman to us as her fiance!
A lively weekend
Debbie Kefford teaching during the Meditation Weekend Course
A guided meditation
Happy meditators!
Tara KMC was fortunate enough to play host to about fifty meditators last weekend as we held both a day course and one of our regular ' Meditation Workshop Weekends'.
The latter event saw aspiring and experienced practitioners rubbing shoulders as they were guided through the rudiments of Buddhist meditation by two of our Teachers, Kelsang Lekchog and Debbie Kefford. Amongst the group was Theravadin monk Sujan who was visiting from the Thai Buddhist Vihara in Kings Bromley, looking at how we approach teaching the Dharma at Tara KMC.
The group was lively and full of questions and from the feedback we've had they thoroughly enjoyed their weekend.
Lunch at Tara KMC
Chatting in the World Peace Cafe after the evening session
We were pleased to hear a similar response from those attending 'Like a Child at Play', a day course taught by Kelsang Gema on how to fully enjoy our spiritual practice and thus get the most out of it. We wish everyone attending over the weekend all luck in their continuing mediation practice.
Lighting up the darkness
Kelsang Gema lighting candles in time for
our Sunday meditation class
Last week everyone at Tara KMC was away at the NKT Autumn festival for a week of teachings and meditations with our Spiritual Guide Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. We had some fun on our return when all the lights went out shortly before our Sunday night meditation class; it seems a power cut had wiped out all the electricity within a three mile radius. Undeterred we lit up our meditation room with candles. It would have been a beautiful teaching we're sure, but to the disappointment of some; the lights came back on just in time and the class was held sans candles.
We're hoping the electricity will hold out this coming weekend for the two courses we're running, our 'Meditation Workshop Weekend' and a day course 'Like a Child at Play', and of course for our regular Sunday night meditation class. We hope to see you there!
World Peace Evening held at Tara KMC
This evening was timed to coincide with the 'Work-a-day for World Peace' fundraising event, where people all over the country donated the wages they earned on 28th of October to the New Kadampa Tradition's 'International Temples Project'.
It consisted of a guided breathing meditation led by Tara KMC's Resident Teacher, Gen Kelsang Jigme, followed by a talk and video presentation on Kadampa Buddhist Temples and plans plans to build one of these temples in every major city in the world. The same inspiring video's of this amazing project, together with photographs and descriptions of progress being made. can viewed on the main Kadampa web site here. All proceeds from the evening have been donated to the International Temples project.
Debbie explains why the Temples project is important
An apreciative audience
Basic Buddhism Weekend at Tara KMC
Tara KMC's Basic Buddhism Weekends continue to be a firm favourite, attracting people from all over the country for a relaxing break where they can find out more about the Buddhist faith and sample some meditation. In true Kadampa fashion these weekends offer many practical methods with which to solve our daily problems, so those attending can take away some practical benefit regardless of their faith.
Full meditation room for Amitayus empowerment
Offerings to Buddha Amitayus
A full meditation room for the Amitayus empowerment
Enjoying the grounds between sessions
We weren't sure if everyone would fit in, but somehow we managed it.
Sixty five people received the blessing empowerment of Buddha Amitayus in our main meditation room last weekend along with teachings on the value of a long life and a commentary to the sadhana (or practice) of Amitayus.
An empowerment is a ceremony where we make a special connection with a particular Buddha. Having made this connection that Buddha is able to give us powerful help in making spiritual progress. Empowerment's at Tara KMC are open to everyone who wishes to attend, all you need to bring is an open mind and a good heart!
It was wonderful to see people relaxing, chatting with friends and generally enjoying a meaningful weekend.
To view more pictures of the weekend on our flickr gallery click here.
London comes to Tara KMC
Heruka Centre used Tara KMC's Retreat Room over the weekend
Heruka Centre's Resident Teacher John McBretney
Relaxing in Tara KMC's World Peace Café
Last weekend Tara KMC was pleased to host a retreat run by our sister centre Heruka Buddhist Centre.
This London based centre makes an annual sojourn at Tara KMC and their retreats here have proved very popular, regularly attracting 40 or more people, many of whom are completely new to meditation.
The beautiful grounds and peaceful atmosphere of Tara KMC provide an ideal environment in which to practice meditation and leave behind the stresses and concerns of every day life. We hope those attending take some of that peace of mind back home with them.
Additional day courses at Tara KMC
Two day courses have been added to Tara KMC's 2008 schedule: ‘How to Solve our Anger Problem’ (the title in this one speaks for itself!) on Saturday October 4th and ‘Like a Child at Play’, on Saturday November 15th, which is about joyous effort.
Both days are suitable for beginners and experienced practitioners alike and offer the opportunity to deepen our insight into these important topics.
Click on the course titles to find out more and to book.
A successful weekend course
We had another successful ‘Learn to Meditate’ weekend course here at Tara KMC last weekend. Sixty aspiring meditators
(as well as those with experience looking for a lift to their practice) spent their time learning the nuts and bolts of meditation. In addition they received lots of advice on how to make their meditation practice work on a day to day basis, with a variety of practical meditations introduced. Tara KMC's beautiful meditation rooms, grounds and World Peace Cafe aided the relaxed feel of the course!
The sun shines on the UK Dharma Celebration
Between 11th and 14th of September, four hundred Kadampa's from across the UK gathered to listen to teachings on ‘Advice From Atisha’s Heart’ and to receive the blessing empowerment of Buddha Tara from the NKT’s Deputy Spiritual Director, Gen-la Kelsang Khyenrab.
In his teachings Gen-la continually emphasised the importance of moral discipline and renunciation, revealing how the practice of these two leads to a vibrant, happy life. During the empowerment Gen-la told us about the special connection Kadampa's have with Buddha Tara and related some of her endless good qualities. Between sessions those attending were able to enjoy Tara Kadampa Meditation Centre’s beautiful grounds, aided by an unexpected blue sky which lasted throughout Saturday.
Over the course of the celebration it was heartening to see people become increasingly happy. Most people engaged in some kind of voluntary work, all of which would usually be regarded as being ‘mundane’, but those doing it looked joyful and enthusiastic.
Before the celebration finished, Gen-la reminded us that to continue to receive the special blessings of Buddha Tara, we needed to always remember that she is at our heart. We pray that we are able to do this, so that we may extend her blessings to all living beings.
To see a photographic review of the UKDC 2008 click here.
08/09/08
UK Dharma Celebration: The marquee’s up!
Is someone expecting visitors? Yes, we are! several hundred Kadampa’s in fact and as of yesterday we have somewhere to put them.
Thank you to the boys at the marquee hire company for working all day in wet conditions. If you’d like to come and shelter from the miserable weather and receive Green Tara Empowerment and some warming teachings on ‘Advice From Atisha’s Heart’, then visit the UKDC web site by clicking here and make your booking!
06/09/08
A sick sycamore
Sometimes, to protect the greater good, you’ve got to do things you’d rather not do. Like cut down 20 tonne trees. But if said tree is riddled with fungi and threatens to drop large bits of wood on peoples heads, then that’s what you’ve got to do.
In the photo’s below you can see Sam, a Kadampa and a tree surgeon with 20 years experience, lopping huge branches off the offending sycamore with her chain saw. Sam described this job as having ‘100% risk’! In the following photographs you can see Kelsang Khechog, Kelsang Sanglam, Kelvin, Kelsang Drayang and Kelsang Drolma (Kelvin being the only person with any experience of pulling down trees) pulling on a rope.
Sam’s instructions to them were, ‘When I say pull – pull. When the tree starts falling towards you run very fast in the opposite direction’. It’s always handy to have a few expendable monks and nuns around the place for a job like this. In the end though, either the tree was too strong or we were too weak because we had to get Chris The Brickie in with his 4x4 to pull the tree over.
Looking at the photo’s of the branches impaling the ground it’s easy to understand what Sam meant by ‘100% risk’!
Sam dangles from a wet tree with her chainsaw
‘A little bit off the sides Sir?’
We had to clear an escape route for Sam
before going for ‘the big chop’
This is a tug of war contest we were never going to win
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Enter our ‘night in shining alloy’ ,
Chris The Brickie saves the day in his 4 x 4
Does anyone need some firewood?
Just before being pulled over this tiny bit of wood in the middle was all that was holding the tree up |
Beautiful but deadly! We took the impaled ground as a lesson in samsara’s pleasures! |
01/09/08
Liberation from within
After the long Summer break Tara Centre started her new term with a day course entitled ‘Everlasting Freedom’.
The premise of the course was that everlasting freedom is something we all desire; freedom from suffering of all kinds. This freedom is something we’ve all worked very hard to achieve but have never succeeded in attaining.
Why is this? Buddha gave a very clear reason, it is because we mistakenly believe the causes of happiness and suffering are outside of our own mind, where as the truth is our happiness and suffering depend entirely upon our mind. Understanding this we can make the strong decision to abandon the real cause of our suffering: our own ignorance, this is true renunciation.
A full meditation room listened closely to Tara Centre’s Resident Teacher, Gen Kelsang Jigme’s clear explanation of these points. After the long break it feels very good to be receiving teachings again – if you would like to join us there are many upcoming events including the UK Dharma celebration and a new term of introductory meditation classes. We hope to see you soon!
29/08/08
New Meditation Hall Progress
If you’re a regular reader of this page you will remember us mentioning plans to build a new meditation hall at Tara Centre.
This will be built at some time in the next couple of years on the same site where we will eventually build a fully qualified Kadampa Buddhist Temple. Because the temple project isn’t expected to come to fruition for quite a number of years, and because the room we currently use to hold large events is in severe disrepair, the need for such a building has become more and more pressing.
We also hope the new meditation room will be large enough to hold the annual UK Dharma Celebration, which is coming up mid September at Tara Centre.
Despite our hopes that the new meditation room will eventually give way to a temple, we are determined that we build something beautiful and inspiring. The first picture below gives an idea of what we have in mind, a wooden structure, easy to construct and moveable which means we can sell it on when the temple becomes a reality. The second picture shows the projected scale of the planned build. The third picture shows that we’re not just talking!
The whole area shown in this last picture was recently excavated to make room for the eventual temple and in the last month we have built a retaining wall in preparation for the new meditation room project.
But of course money still needs to be raised and this is where you come in! We have several fundraising events coming up, the next of which is a sponsored dog walk on Saturday the 20th of September – though I’m assured you don’t need a dog to participate. After that on the 18th of October we have a ‘curry & video night’ where we are promised a delicious curry to accompany the film ‘The life of Buddha’. This film is a recording of the play performed every year at the Kadampa Summer Festival and if you haven’t already seen it you will be amazed at the quality of the production. The cost of this night is £10. To get involved with the walk or book for the video & curry night, e-mail us at meditate@taracentre.org.uk, or ring 01283 732 338.
Thank you!
13/08/08
Post Summer festival retreat at Tara Centre
Following on from an amazing Summer festival at Manjushri KMC, Tara Centre’s annual post Summer festival retreat is now underway. Kadampa practitioners from all over the world are taking advantage of the peaceful conditions at Tara Centre and deepening their experience of Venerable Geshe-la’s profound instructions on generating universal compassion. Led by Tara’s Resident Teacher Gen Kelsang Jigme those on the retreat are engaging in four meditation sessions each day performed in conjunction with special prayers to the Buddha of compassion Avalokiteshvara. As a large Dharma Centre, Tara Centre always feels at her best when hosting such events, and we look forward to sharing the benefit of her facilities with many more Kadampa's in the future. One such imminent event is the annual UK Dharma Celebration, coming up in September click here for more details.
'Offering to the Spiritual Guide' prayers during
Tara Centre's annual post Summer festival retreat
22/07/08
Could you garden for world peace?
A few weeks ago we posted some pictures of our new World Peace Garden (click here for a look), a project that is currently under way to create a garden overlooking Derbyshire’s beautiful countryside where people can find a bit of peace of mind. We thought you might be interested to see how it’s getting along & so have taken a few pictures for you to look at. As ever the main thing we’re missing to move this project along further is people!
So if you’ve got green fingers, or are simply willing to grab a spade and have a go, why not get in touch and come along for a working visit? Whether you’d like to stay for a week, or just have a few hours to spare here and there we’d like to hear from you.
Click here to go to our working visits page where you can fill in on online application form (please mention that you particularly want to do gardening), or just give us a call.
Thank you!
09/07/08
Stop the Week: meditation, food & good company
On Friday the 4th Tara Centre hosted another of her occasional
‘Stop the Week’ events. Starting at 6:30pm those attending engaged in a simple meditation class, comprising of breathing meditation and a talk on an aspect of Buddhist thought which can be practically applied to daily life.
Then it was time for a 2 course meal in our World Peace Café which on this occasion was a starter of spring roll, tortilla & guacamole followed by a main course of stuffed pepper, roasted sweet potato & courgette with a sweet chilli sauce and a side salad of orange, rocket & fennel head.
Reports are that all plates were picked clean! Our resident photographer, Khechog, was slow off the mark & missed getting any photographs of the event, but was in situ’ for an impromptu barbeque held in our grounds the following Friday. As this is in keeping with the culinary theme of ‘Stop the Week’ we thought we’d include some of these photo’s here:
If it’s got salad on it, then it’s healthy
Gema & Vanessa share their food with the ants
Paul, Steve & Alan practice their ‘catalogue’ poses
28/06/08
Garden for peace:
World Peace Garden project gets underway
Tara Centre was privileged to have the assistance of two kind groups of people in kick starting our ‘World peace Garden’ project.
This project will see us landscaping the area behind our Barn B&B to create a beautiful and tranquil garden overlooking the surrounding countryside. On Friday afternoon students from Abotsholme School came & enjoyed a school visit before sampling community life with a spot of gardening.
They got stuck in, shifting a massive amount of compost and preparing the ground for our next group of helpers, the ‘Helping Hands’. The Helping Hands are a group from the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who offer their help to a different project each year. We were very happy that this year they chose to help us. The group worked very hard alongside the Tara Centre community and by the end of the day, where before there had been empty ground, now a fledgling garden could be seen. They also helped us repaint the doors & window frames on the Barn B&B, keeping it beautiful for our visitors. We were pleased to hear that the Helping Hands enjoyed their day & that they expressed an interest to return & see how the garden was progressing; we thank both them and Abotsholme on behalf of the many, many people who will enjoy this garden over the coming years.
The students from Abotsholme get stuck in
‘Roll out the Barrow…’
Kindness bridges the generations
Pulling together as a team
Kelsang Gewang approves of the colour scheme
Paul has a significant stake in this project
This gentleman brought along a pogo
stick to keep the day interesting
We’ve installed a life size water feature
modeled on our treasurer Ruth
A garden appears
Admiring the good work & imagining the future
Imagine yourself here
26/06/08
Summer Fayre attracts 2000 people
It was Summer Fayre day last Sunday & somehow after a week of rain the sun came out to set the scene. Theeeko (sic) the clown was in presence as were a host of stalls selling a multitude of colourful and interesting items and delicious and nutritious food. We’re not sure what happened to the bloke who was supposed to be playing the didgeridoo but we wish him well wherever he is!
The turn out was again superb, with over 2000 people attending over the day, many of whom attended one of the free meditation samplers on offer. Many people thanked us for bringing a bit of peace as well as a smile to their weekend; to this we say, "it’s our pleasure!". This year the Summer Fayre raised a total of £6000 towards our New Meditation Hall project (wondering what the ‘New Meditation Hall project’ is? More information on this coming soon!)
Kay picks out a frock for her next dinner party
No, we don't know what they are either...
So much choice, so little time...
Alice tried to copy her name sake,
but the rabbit hole just wasn't big enough
The kids really enjoyed whacking these old prayer drums
(they're still for sale by the way...)
Theeeko will jump through hoops to entertain the kiddies
Your'e being followed ...
Our calculations show that enough cake was eaten
on Sunday to build an 800ft Buddha statue
Kelsang Gema makes a new friend
20/06/08
UKDC web site now live!
Click here to go to the newly opened UKDC 2008 web site and find out more about the teachings and empowerment planned for the event later this year.
Online booking will also be available via the web site very soon!
02/06/08
Spring Post Festival Retreat at Tara Centre
Over the last week Tara Centre has been home to Kadampa Buddhists from all over the globe as she hosted her annual post Spring festival retreat. Following on from the empowerment and teachings given by Venerable Geshe-la at the Spring festival, the international crowd spent the week meditating on the Yoga of Buddha Vajrapani. Geshe-la first gave this empowerment only three years ago and has since reworked the accompanying practice to make this ancient and profound tantra even more accessable to contemporary people. Tara Centre’s Resident Teacher Gen Kelsang Jigme gave concise reminders of Geshe-la’s instructions at the beginning of each session so that those attending could begin to gain familiarity with the practice. Familiarity, Geshe-la explained, was the second of ‘five forces’ which would make our practice successful, the others being motivation, faith, purifying obstructions & aspirational prayer. The retreaters showed their sincere wish to engage in these five forces by volunteering around the centre when they weren’t meditating. It is always inspiring for us at Tara Centre to see the joy with which people apply themselves to every day tasks around the Centre, transforming the mundane into the spiritual.
Thank you to everyone who came and enjoyed the retreat – we hope to see you again soon!
Nicole from Hong Kong cleaning inside the
Dorje Shugden shrine during the Spring post festival retreat
Manjushri Empowerment weekend
Last weekend Tara Centre hosted a weekend event with her Resident Teacher Gen Kelsang Jigme, which included teachings on ultimate truth and the blessing empowerment of Buddha Manjushri. Empowerments are ceremonies where the participants receive a special blessing from Buddha which ripens our potential to become enlightened. We also need to receive empowerment in order to practice the ‘sadhana’, or ‘method for accomplishment’ of a particular Buddha. The sadhana of Buddha Manjushri is a tantric method for attaining enlightenment and over the weekend Gen Jigme gave commentary to the practice, explaining for beginners and more experienced practitioners alike how to engage in this very special practice. Gen Jigme followed Venerable Geshe-la’s example in explaining how success in tantra requires a firm grounding in Buddha’s sutra teachings, in this way ensuring the purity of the practice and guarding against its misuse. It is our hope that all who attended found the weekend meaningful and enjoyable and make swift progress along the path to enlightenment.
Gen Kelsang Jigme teaching during the Manjushri Empowerment May 2008 |
Kelsang Pagma offering traditional Tibetan Katag (white scarf) as a thanking for the teaching |
Traditional Tibetan Katag (white scarf) offering |
A member of the Tara Centre community receiving the blessing empowerment of Buddha Manjushri |
Tara Centre teacher Paul Harrison leading a Meditation during the Empowerment weekend |
12/04/08
Online booking system
For your convenience, we are pleased to announce that our secure online booking system is now fully operational. You can now book for all Tara Centre's upcoming courses, retreats and events directly from the website using any of the following cards:
For your peace of mind, all Tara Centre's online payments are handled securely by WorldPay.
27/03/08
Tara Centre opens new shop
Tara Centre has recently opened a new shop with improved accessibility in the centre. Instead of being hidden away at the rear of the building the shop can now be found just a short walk down her main corridor. Just watch out for the sign! As well as the complete range of Venerable Geshe-la's books and a selection of qualified Buddha statues suitable for a Kadampa shrine, there are also a range of gifts with which to surprise your loved ones.
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Tara Centre's new shop - spruced up & shiny!
24/03/08
Tara Centre celebrates 25 years of existence with teachings on emptiness.
Last weekend saw Tara Centre reach a quarter century since Venerable Geshe-la first granted her name. The whole weekend was more than ordinary as Gen Jigme gave exceptionally clear teachings on emptiness and in particular on the union of the two truths, the understanding of which is the actual liberating path to Buddhahood. Complete beginners and seasoned practitioners alike benefited from these teachings and conversations about this most profound of topics could be heard everywhere. On Saturday evening there was a special 'Offering to the Spiritual Guide' puja to give thanks for 25 years of Geshe-la's kindness in manifesting this influential centre. With deep gratitude we thank venerable Geshe-la for the rain of blessings which we received this weekend, may our faith only increase so that we continue to receive them forevermore.
Gen Jigme teaching at the TC's Easter Course
Members of the TC community enjoying some tsog offerings after 'Offering to the Spiritual Guide' puja.
17/03/08
Fundraising banquet raises £1500 for New Meditation Room project
Last weekend Tara Centre hosted both a 'Stop the Week' event and a fundraising banquet. In total about 60 people attended the events over the weekend, enjoying good food, good company and relaxing meditation. There was musical accompaniment to Saturdays event (see pictures below) and an auction of promises offered by the Tara Centre community, including a trip on a narrow boat which raised £100! In total Saturday's event raised £1500 which will go towards Tara Centre's 'New Meditation Hall project'. You will be hearing a lot more about this project over the coming months, as Tara Centre plans to erect a 'temporary' temple to replace our crumbling retreat room. 'Temporary' is a relative term however as we are hoping this will be a beautiful and durable wood structure which will be inspiring to the eye. Eventually this itself will be replaced by a fully qualified Kadampa Temple on the same site. Thank you to all who contributed towards Saturdays event and the long term success of this auspicious project.
Kelsang Rinzing entertaining the guests with
some Hungarian folk music.
Sarah playing some popular numbers
08/03/08
Stop the Week, Banquet & Easter Course
Coming up on Friday the 14th March and Saturday the 15th of March respectively are Tara Centre's 'Stop the Week' event and fundraising banquet. These are well attended events that are increasing in popularity. Stop the Week combines good food with a simple introductory meditation class (follow this link for pics of our last 'Stop the Week'). For the banquet we pull out the stops and lay on a gourmet three course meal, with entertainment and an 'auction of promises' where you can bid for all manner of things which have been offered from our extended community, such as a massage from a qualified masseuse, I.T support, or personal tuition for your child from a qualified Teacher! If you can't attend the banquet, but would like to support the event by making a 'promise' which people can then bid for, then please get in touch. Details on these two events can be found in the posters below:
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Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd March:
Tara Centre Easter Course - Heart of Wisdom
Buddha explained that the things we normally see do not exist, yet, like objects seen in a dream, things appear and function. On this weekend course Tara Centre’s resident Teacher Gen Kelsang Jigme will explain this ancient wisdom and how we can use it in our daily lives to enter, progress along and complete the path to permanent inner peace for ourself and others.
Also, this Easter marks 25 years of Tara Centre. To celebrate this auspicious event we will be holding a special Offering to the Spiritual Guide ceremony on Saturday evening during the course.
To book please contact us.
Prajnaparamita, embodiment of the Wisdom
Truth Body of all the Buddhas.
21/02/08
Health and happiness in Tuscany:
Tara Centre goes to Italy!
The Tuscany area of Italy is renowned for many things, one of them being its delicious olive oil, which is reputed to have beneficial effects on a persons health, promoting a long and healthy life. Fitting then that Tara Centre held her annual Amitayus retreat there earlier this month. Amitayus is the Buddha of long life, wisdom and merit (merit meaning good karma, or good fortune) and Buddhists all over the world turn to him for help in increasing these qualities, which are essential for successful spiritual practice.
The weekend retreat was held at Kadampa Meditation Centre Italy, which is conveniently housed in Hotel Kadampa Italy, one of very few hotels which can claim to be working exclusively for world peace by raising money for the building of Kadampa temples accross the globe. The newly reurbished meditation room at KMC Italy is truly breathtaking (click here) to see pictures of its opening last year) and provided an ideal environment in which to engage in the practise of Guru Amitayus. Both beginners and more experienced practitioners were able to benefit from the practise, with a simple mind of faith being all that is needed to receive blessings from Amitayus. Building on this basis a variety of different visualisations could be used according to the experience and wishes of the individual.
Following a relaxed schedule, the retreat allowed plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful surrounds and friendly residents of Montecatini, the spa town where KMC Italy is based. Montecatini is set amongst the Tuscan hills, close to Pisa and Florence, which some people took the opportunity to visit during their stay and which were introduced to others by a generous taxi driver who took a scenic diversion on the way back to Pisa airport! We would like to thank everyone who attended and contributed time and energy to making this enjoyable and meaningful retreat happen. We hope to repeat this success next year. Arrivederci for now!
Gen Jigme leading Amitayus prayers
lunch time at KMC Italy
tsog offerings in the meditation room at KMC Italy
Callan enjoys the tsog offerings
14/01/08
special event: Amitayus retreat in Tuscany
This year Tara Centre is travelling to Kadampa Meditation Centre Italy for our annual Amitayus retreat. Click here to find out more.
01/01/08
Tara Centre sees in a blessed 2008
Tara Chanting at Tara Centre to see in the New Year
Offerings to Tara
Auspicious causes were created for a blessed 2008 when guests and residents of Tara Centre saw in the New Year with 24 hour Tara Chanting. Starting at 3pm on the 31st and going through to mid day on the 1st in six 1 hour sessions, the group sang praises to Buddha Tara as a way of dispelling obstacles to the flourishing of Dharma and improving their connection with this enlightened being.
This way of seeing in the New Year has become a tradition at Tara Centre and has proven to be a popular way to round off a relaxing weekend of teachings received at our New Year course. At this years course Gen Jigme gave teachings on Atisha's 'Advice From the Heart'. This famous Buddhist text skillfully includes all of Buddha's teachings and describes the good qualities that Kadampa Buddhists are trying to achieve. Gen Jigme gave clear commentary to these teachings and strong encouragement to use our precious human life to gain deep experience of them; thus fulfilling our fundamental wish to be happy and to enable us to help others in the same way. The atmosphere over the weekend, which follows a relaxed timetable of one meditation and two teachings per day, was light and jovial and it was lovely to hear from people how much they enjoyed their time here. We hope all who attended benefited from the weekend and wish you, as well as everyone else, a happy New Year and every success in your practice of Dharma.
To learn more about Tara and her sadhana 'Liberation From Sorrow' click here, to find out more about Atisha click here and to read his famous teaching 'Advice From the Heart click here.