Gyumed Khensur Losang Jampa: Kalachakra Practice Instructions May 10 -12

Friday May 10, 7:30 to 9:30 PM
Saturday May 11 & Sunday May 12, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (with breaks for lunch and tea)

Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jampa will teach for this weekend on Kalachakra. His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other high lamas have often given the Kalachakra Initiation for world peace in the West. But, it’s rare to hear detailed teachings on Kalachakra from a fully qualified lama. Over the course of this weekend, Rinpoche will explain the essentials of Kalachakra practice, noting how it differs from other tantric practices and how it can grant enlightenment in one lifetime!

These teachings are only open to those who have received a highest yoga tantra empowerment (whether into the practice of Kalachakra or another highest yoga tantra deity).

Registration is not required.

Suggested donation: Members $35, Non-members $50, no one will be turned away due to lack of funds

Location: 10875 Main Street, Unit 108, Fairfax, VA
Hosted by: Guhyasamaja Center
Questions? info@guhyasamaja.org

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Ven. George Churinoff’s March 2013 Teachings on YouTube

Guhyasamaja Center had the honor of hosting Venerable George Churinoff in March of 2013. He taught the FPMT Discovering Buddhism on Death & Rebirth, a class on Calm Abiding, and one on Emptiness. Recordings of all his classe are available on our YouTube channel.

Our YouTube channel also has recordings of Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche’s blessing of the Center and Lorne Ladner’s classes.

Enjoy!

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Ven. George Churinoff’s Teachings Begin Feb 13 2013

The Guhyasamaja Center is delighted to host Venerable George Churinoff. He will be teaching on a variety of subjects including meditation and the FPMT Discovering Buddhism course Death and Rebirth.

Venerable George Churinoff (Gelong Thubten Tsultrim) was born in Chicago and graduated from MIT in 1967 with a B.Sc. in Physics. He was ordained in India with Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche in 1976 and later with Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in 1977. Ven. George Churinoff will teach on various subjects, from Discovering Buddhism (Death and Rebirth) to mediatations to more advanced subjects (Calm Abiding) from February through March 2013.

Basic Talk – Introduction to Meditation; Date: February 13, 2013; Time: 7:00 PM

Basic Talk – Calm Abiding; Date: February 27, 2013; Time: 7:00 PM

Lama Chopa with Tsog – Dates: February 20, March 7, 2013; Time: 7:30 – 9:30 PM

All classes will be held at our Center: 10875 Main Street Unit 108, Fairfax, VA.

For details, please visit our website.

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Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Emptiness Retreat: July 1 to 7, 2013

Save the Date!  We are honored and very pleased to announce that Guhyasamaja Center’s next week-long retreat with Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche will be July 1-7 , 2013 at a retreat center in Maryland.  The topic will be “Realizing Emptiness: Praise to Dependent Origination.” This will be the first time that Rinpoche has given an extensive teaching on emptiness to Western students, and it’s a teaching not to be missed.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

Registration details will follow in a month or two on our website: http://www.guhyasamaja.org.

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Our New Meditation Hall: part two

(This is the second in a series of posts, here is part one). I invited some of the Center members who participated in the opening of our new meditation hall on Saturday, January 12^th to share their reflections about its significance in their lives.

For as long as I can remember I had a sense that there must be something beyond the surface, materialistic world that appeared to me.  For a long time this was just a nebulous concept, an undefined longing for meaning.  It wasn’t until I found the Dharma in 2005 that I found the words and the direction to describe what I had always felt to be true, and this was a home-coming for me.  Having spent nearly the last three years at the Guhyasamaja Center what I have learned most deeply is that the path is internal, but more importantly it is relational.  It is to each other that we owe our fidelity and our effort, we are brothers and sisters in the Dharma and we individually bear the responsibility to bring each other along the path the enlightenment.

It is because of this that I was most gratified by the recent purchase of our new meditation hall.  Here is where we, as a community, will come together to do the work of gaining realizations of the path to Enlightenment.  Here is where I as an individual will repay the inexpressible kindness of my teachers with my practice and my intent to be of benefit in whatever small ways I can.  I am forever grateful to the Guhyasamaja Center for providing me with these tools to make good on my obligation to the community, and for the friendship of our Sangha which makes it possible.

~ Matthew Gausman

Saturday, Jan 12th, was such an exciting day.  We moved into our new meditation center after years of looking forward to this day!  We had so much help that, at least for me, it was never hard work.  Many people drove to our director’s house in Manassas, VA to load up their cars with thangka’s, stupas, statues, pictures, water bowls, cushions, trays and many other items.  My husband took the mini-van to haul the life-sized Maitreya statue.  Several of us went directly to the new location with our cars loaded with items that we were storing at our homes. There was a flurry of activity unloading cars and then we proceeded to carry everything upstairs to our lovely, and aptly numbered suite: 108.  This was my first visit since the remodeling and it looked great!  It felt like home!

The space came “furnished” and with so many people, it was fairly easy to move all the furniture to appropriate locations.  The fact that the electric company mistakenly turned off the power only made it more interesting. After setting up, eating and rejoicing, we spent some time in quiet mediation. Having a center means so much to us and is truly a dream come true.  We will have more activities throughout the week and expect our membership to increase, which means new dharma friends. My husband and I have been very happy to meet fellow Buddhist practitioners and we truly appreciate all the teachings from Khensur Rinpoche, Dr. Ladner, and Ani-Tendrol.  The dharma has made such a positive impact on our lives, we cannot imagine living without it.

~ Jodi  and Mike

I think what it means to have a Buddhist temple here in our community is a chance to really connect with each other.  I’m excited also that other people who are curious about Buddhism but don’t have an opportunity to learn about it will have more opportunities to do so.  There’s something about having the space set aside and always available for this singular and sacred purpose that I think makes this more possible for more people!

~ Annie Noble

The move into the new Center facility was truly a moving experience for me (no pun intended!). I’ll admit being choked up a bit by the outpouring of generosity from folks like long-time Center members (some 20 years and counting?!?), new Dharma friends I’ve met recently through the Center, and lots of new folks I’d not met before, all working together to setup the new space — in the dark, no less (temporary power company glitch)! Having joined the Center in January this time last year, it was a good opportunity to reflect on not only how far I’ve come with the Center’s help and due to the kindness of all of you, but also how far the Center’s come.

My first Center class last year was in a cramped, kind of sterile-feeling Church basement classroom for kids a fraction of our size. The heating system was so loud, it was difficult to hear Lorne teach. And I remember feeling so nervous, trying something so new and different with a bunch of strangers. Now? Wow! Since the power was off the day we moved, the verdict is still out on how loud the heating/cooling system will be! But I can tell you, for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, the space is AMAZING! It’s perfect, really (note, suite number in building complex is auspicious #108!). There’s plenty of room. Ample amenities. Lots of inspiring sacred art and other holy objects. The altar is beautiful. Even the room itself seems warm and inviting; even the floor plan seems conducive to learning and meditating! Many of us commented that day on how it felt like home or like we’d been there before.

Big, big thanks to everyone involved in making this happen!

~ Jen Thompson

May we all be able to work together well and harmoniously for years to come in making the space highly useful in providing Dharma teachings, meditations, retreats, movie nights, pujas and other gatherings where beings practice the path to enlightenment!

~ Dr. Lorne Ladner

Our Dharma Center is a gift to the local community. It is a quiet, sacred place where people of all faiths are welcome to meditate and re-gain their equilibrium. The meditation hall is our way of honoring and repaying the kindness of our spiritual teachers.  It’s a place where glittering Dharma jewels are preserved and shared with all who seek them.

~ Ani Losang Tendrol

Please feel free to share your thoughts.

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Thoughts About Our New Meditation Hall: part one

I invited some of the Center members who set-up our new meditation hall on Saturday, January 12^th to share their reflections about its significance in their lives. This is the first in a series.

There we were. On a foggy Saturday morning a group of dharma friends including children and parents met at Lorne’s house packing prayers books and various dharma objects, images, tangkas and lights to move to the newly found home of the Guhyasamaja Center.

The center has been a moving entity for many years where the constant thread has been an increasingly larger number of people with a strong interest and growing devotion to the Buddha’s teachings. Over the course of the years we gathered periodically wherever possible to listen to enlightened, precious Buddhist teachers who gave us freely their time and the gift of their wisdom constantly inspiring us and providing their guidance to steer our mind towards a path that decreases suffering and benefits everyone. The spaces for these teachings were made available by the generosity of the leading members, some of them teaching themselves and opening their homes, or by renting meeting places in various churches throughout the DC, Maryland and Virginia area. Many teachers, classes and prayers later, all efforts had created the time and conditions to move into a more stable place. There we could gather and meet our community members and all others who are coming for a short visit or will keep coming for longer time.

We arrived at the new location a few hours later where other friends and members of the center had arrived earlier and were already at work. We had no specific plan or priority list to follow. As the boxes were brought into the new large prayer hall they were opened by anyone who was nearby, and the working puzzle dance kept playing for hours as every piece found its place. We all worked together taking on tasks as needed, guided by where we could put our abilities to their best use from dusting to moving large pieces of furniture and placing vases of flowers by the window sill. Our enthusiasm was palpable and the joy of each task was a reward in itself.

By the time the daylight started to fade, the shrine had been set up with the saffron water offerings in the beautiful line up of crystal bowls and candle lights in front of the images and tangkas. Sixteen panels showing Lama Tsongkhapa’s life were beautifully decorating the side wall. Maytreya was majestically presiding on the left of the shrine and a large carpet had been placed in front of the shrine for our prostrations.

We all sat amazed and surrounded by the beauty of the new prayer hall which already felt like home. In silence we felt the peace and quiet of the moment and a smile in our hearts and on our faces. We expressed our gratitude to all our teachers, center founders and everyone and everything that contributed to bring to fruition and experience the precious day. We all joyfully parted looking forward to seeing each other again soon in the same blessed space to receive and share more teachings for as long as we will be able.

~ Alessandra

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Guhyasamaja Center Property Purchased

Dear Friends and Members of Guhyasamaja Center,

After many years of aspiration and much effort by many people, Guhyasamaja Center today–for the first time in its history–purchased a property!

The property is a commercial space in an office building in Fairfax, VA. Beginning next year, we’ll be holding our ongoing classes, meditations, pujas, Dharma movie nights, and weekend retreats there.

The address is 10875 Main Street, Unit 108 in Fairfax, VA.

Over the next month, some construction work will be done on the space to make it suitable for our classes. Then, in January, we’ll be holding a couple of days for members to come together there to organize the space; put up our paintings, statues and altar; have lunch together there; and do some initial group prayers to begin blessing the space.

Due to many of your generous donations, the center was able to put over $100,000 down on the purchase. The center will also pay directly for the work that will be done on the space. And, one individual generously lent us a mortgage of $145,000 which we will now begin paying on. Over the next few years, we’ll be fundraising to work together to pay off the mortgage! We’ll also be increasing our Dharma programs now that we have a space in which to do so!

This is an exciting time of Guhyasamaja Center during which we very much hope to all work together to bring increased benefit to many. Also, too many people to mention have contributed their time, energy and donations to help achieve this next step for the center. With regards to the actual process of securing a space, though, I wanted to specifically acknowledge the hard work of Jeff Nye and Matt Gausman, without whose recent efforts this current goal would not have been achieved this year!

Thanks to all of you!

Sincerely,

Dr. Lorne Ladner

Director

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Guhyasamaja Center Online Gift Shop

Please visit our new online gift shop. Proceeds help support our Center as we seek to grow and offer a place for our community to meet and learn about the Buddha’s teachings. We’re offering a collection of t-shirts, mugs and other goodies all carefully designed by Center members.

http://www.cafepress.com/guhyasamajacenter

Thanks for your support.

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Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Losang Jampa: Completion Stage Practices Retreat Nov 5 – 12 2012

This week-long retreat with Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Losang Jampa will focus on the completion stage practices of highest yoga tantra. A particular focus for the retreat this year will be on the subtle energies and channels of the body as described in Buddhist tantra. These teachings will cover the remarkable, skillful methods of the Vajrayana which allow a practitioner to achieve full enlightenment in one brief lifetime! The unique methods and qualities of illusory body and clear light will be discussed, which is an extremely rare opportunity. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has noted that studying the illusory body and clear light as presented in such teachings allows one to much more deeply and clearly understand the nature of enlightenment itself and how it is achieved.

Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche is a former abbot of Gyumed Tantric College and is also a senior teacher from Sera Monastic University. In India he often taught on tantra to other Lamas and Geshes. During this retreat, Rinpoche will give those same teachings to Western students!

During this week-long, residential retreat, Rinpoche will teach on the essential points for practicing the completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra. His teachings will be based on a text that has been translated into English and will be available to participants entitled The Condensed Meaning of the Path of the Vajrayana. Rinpoche will focus on the sections of the text that address the practices of the completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra. This text covers the stages and paths of tantric practice and contains the essence of all the teachings in Lama Tsongkhapa’s Great Path of Secret Mantra. The important points of deity yoga and the generation stage sadhanas are covered as are the secret instructions related to the completion stage which allow one to progress in realizing the Illusory Body, Clear Light, and their union. Rinpoche will also cover the topic of the 9 mixings, which is an essential element also taught in the Six Yogas of Naropa.

The retreat will be held November 5 – 12, 2012 at the Am Kolel Sanctuary, Beallsville, MD. The sanctuary is about a 30 – 45 minute drive from Washington, DC.

For more information and to register, please visit the Guhyasamaja Center website. Registration closes on October 15th.

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Lama Chopa Offered July 28 2012

Using skillful means drawn by the strong force of compassion,
May I clear the darkness from the minds of all beings
With the points of the path as I have discerned them.
May I uphold Buddhas’ teachings for a very long time.

From the Final Lam Rim prayer

Photo of the altar offered on behalf of the Guhyasamaja Center to honor our spiritual teachers and for all sentient beings.

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