Group Meditations
Group meditations give us an opportunity to come together in prayer and to
make praises and requests to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Using ancient prayers
translated into 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. These meditations are open
to everyone, though you might want to try one of the shorter ones first! People sit on
chairs or on cushions on the floor.
All group meditations are held at Tara Mahayana Buddhist Center, 1701 E
Miles St.
Please call the Center to verify times: 520-296-8626
Heart Jewel
with Lamrim Meditation,
See calendar or phone
for times
This practice is the heart essence of Kadampa Buddhism. In the first part
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 a
twenty-minute meditation on the Lamrim or 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.
(1 hour) |
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Liberation from Sorrow, Praises and Requests to Tara,
Usually, the eighth of each month (see calendar)
Tara is our holy, spiritual mother who helps and protects us in all our
activities. In particular she helps us to deepen our understanding of Lamrim (the stages
of the path to enlightenment). By offering praises and requests to Tara we increase our
wisdom and compassion and come under the loving care and protection of an enlightened
mother. Occasionally for special reasons we do 24 hour Tara practice, in which we recite
these prayers every four hours for a twenty-four hour period. (1 hour) |
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| Offering to the Spiritual Guide
Puja
10th and 25th of each month
This is a special Guru yoga 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 so please bring a food offering with you. (2 hours)
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Je Tsongkhapa Wishfulfilling Jewel Puja or Melodious Drum
29th of each monthThis is a more extensive version of Heart Jewel in
which we make prayers and requests to Je Tsongkhapa and our Dharma Protector, Dorje
Shugdän. We make a special food offering known as a tsog offering to create a vast amount
of positive energy for ourselves and others. We invite all the Buddhas and holy beings to
come and enjoy a feast of great bliss and then we enjoy the food offering together. Please
bring a food offering. (1 hour)
Sometimes we are able to do Melodious Drum (Kangso), a 4-hour puja! |
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