5326 E. Pima Street, Tucson, AZ 85712
Tel: 520-441-1617
Holiday Hours
Christmas Holiday: Center closed 23 - 28 Dec
A Modern Buddhist Temple
School Visits
Kadampa Meditation Center Arizona’s staff is happy to send speakers to local schools and to arrange for group visits to our Temple. This is a casual and easy way to introduce children and young adults to meditation and basic Buddhist concepts. We are happy to adapt our programs to your specific needs. For more information or to book an event, please contact the Education Program Coordinator: EPC@MeditationInTucson.org
Bookstore
Our bookstore sells books from Tharpa Publications written by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. These books reveal the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment with titles suitable for both beginners and advanced practitioners alike. Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso is an internationally-renowned teacher and Buddhist meditation master, Venerable Geshe-la has published 23 books which range from accessible introductory works to highly acclaimed commentaries on the most profound aspects of Sutra and Tantra.
Additionally, we have an assortment of gifts and other items.
Our Center
Kadampa Meditation Center Arizona. is a special Kadampa Dharma Center that serves the local, national, and international communities.
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Kadampa Meditation Center Arizona was founded as Tara Mahayana Buddhist Center in 2002 by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso and offers Buddhist meditation classes and retreats in Tucson and the surrounding areas.
The classes are accessible, practical, and open to everyone. KMC Arizona offers a path of wisdom and compassion to help anyone find a happy, meaningful life through explanation and practice of Kadampa Buddhism. The Center is a non-profit 501(c3) organization run by volunteers.
Volunteering
KMC Arizona operates almost exclusively through the kindness of volunteers and donates all our profits to the International Temples Project. You are welcome to help out at any time, either when you have spare time or on a regular basis.
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Some ways you can help: Welcoming folks at events, cleaning, gardening, assisting at classes, graphic design and much more! Whatever your skills are, please let us know, and we will find an opportunity for you.
To volunteer, please contact the Administrative Director at info@meditationintucson.org or
call (520) 441-1617.
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Public Service
School Visits
Kadampa Meditation Center Arizona’s staff is happy to send speakers to local schools and to arrange for group visits to our Temple. This is a casual and easy way to introduce children and young adults to meditation and basic Buddhist concepts. We are happy to adapt our programs to your specific needs. For more information or to book an event, please contact us at info@MeditationInTucson.org
Hospital & Hospice Outreach
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Compassion and Care for Everyone
As part of our chaplaincy program, we offer bedside visits and a variety of meditation sessions for both staff and patients to help create more peaceful, calm and positive minds in a time of adversity and pain.
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We also offer Powa services, a practice for transferring the consciousness of the deceased to a Buddhist Pure Land at the time of death. This can be done in the hospital or hospice at the time of dying, in a formal session for family and friends at Kadampa Meditation Center Arizona, or in conjunction with funeral services. For more information, please contact us at info@MeditationInTucson.org
Prayers for those who have recently died
(Powa Ceremony)
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Held the first Monday of the month, or by special arrangment.
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We perform this Powa practice on behalf of those who have recently died, traditionally within forty-nine days of their death. This practice of transference of consciousness, known as ‘Powa’, can be done either by a group of practitioners or individually. The purpose of doing this is to lead countless deceased beings to the Pure Land of a Buddha.
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We understand that throughout this world millions of humans and billions of animals die every day from so many different causes. If these living beings have the opportunity to take rebirth in a Buddha’s Pure Land they will attain permanent liberation from suffering and experience pure and everlasting happiness. Our practice of this Powa offers them this precious opportunity. By engaging in this practice we ourselves will create a great collection of virtue, which will also lead us into the pathway to the Pure Land of a Buddha.
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Traditionally, try to bring a photo of the deceased and bring offerings for the shrine. It is also beneficial to make a donation on behalf of the deceased for the accumulation of merit for them.