Foundation Program is designed for those who wish to deepen their understanding and experience of Kadampa Buddhism through a systematic study of six texts by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche. Joining a structured study program of Buddha’s teachings brings great benefits: developing a good heart, improving wisdom, and enhancing cherishing of others all come from going deeper into study and meditation practice. Read more about the texts studied and benefits on our website.
Foundation Program is taught by experienced buddhist practitioners.
Teacher: Jennifer DeSantis
When: Sundays, 1pm – 3pm
Contact: info@MeditationInPalmSprings.org for registration and questions about Foundation Program
We all have the potential for self-transformation, and a limitless capacity for the growth of good qualities, but to fulfill this potential we need to know what to do along every stage of our spiritual journey. With this book, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso offers us step-by-step guidance on the meditation practices that will lead us to lasting inner peace and happiness. With extraordinary clarity, he presents all Buddha’s teachings in the order in which they are to be practiced, enriching his explanation with stories and illuminating analogies. This is a perfect guidebook to the Buddhist path.
"The practice of Lamrim is very important because everyone needs to cultivate peaceful states of mind. By listening to or reading these teachings we can learn how to control our mind and always keep a good motivation in our heart. This will make all our daily actions pure and meaningful." —GESHE KELSANG GYATSO
There are three reasons why we need to study and practice the teachings of Buddha - to develop our wisdom, to cultivate a good heart and to maintain a peaceful state of mind.
Our Founder, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, specially designed the Foundation Program to provide a systematic presentation of particular subjects of Mahayana Buddhism to enable practitioners to deepen their knowledge and experience of the spiritual path.
By studying on this program we shall gain confidence in our meditation practice – from basic techniques for overcoming our everyday problems to practices leading to heartfelt happiness and lasting inner peace.
In this way, we are able to gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of Buddha’s teachings, maintain a daily meditation practice that is effective and focused, and make genuine spiritual progress.
Learn five essential topics of Buddhism in Foundation Program. These subjects and practices form the foundation for effectively integrating Buddhist meditation practice with our daily life. They are:
Joyful Path of Good Fortune – We gain the ability to put all Buddha’s teachings of both Sutra and Tantra into practice. We can easily make progress on and complete the stages of the path to the supreme happiness of enlightenment. From a practical point of view, the Stages of the Path, or Lamrim, is the main body of Buddha’s teachings, and the other teachings are like its limbs.
Universal Compassion and The New Eight Steps to Happiness – We gain the ability to integrate Buddha’s teachings into our daily life and solve all our human problems, especially learning how to transform adverse conditions in to the path to enlightenment.
The New Heart of Wisdom – We gain a realization of the ultimate nature of reality, emptiness. By gaining this realization we can eliminate the ignorance of self-grasping that is the root of all our suffering.
Meaningful to Behold – We transform our daily activities into the Bodhisattva’s way of life of the six perfections, thereby making every moment of our human life meaningful.
How to Understand the Mind – We understand the relationship between our mind and its external objects. If we understand that objects depend upon the subjective mind we can change the way objects appear to us by changing our own mind. Gradually we shall gain the ability to control our mind and in this way solve all our problems.
Jennifer DeSantis is a Teacher Training Program student at KMC Los Angeles, and has been a manager and has helped at may centers in the US, including KMC Philadelphia. She is known for her warmth and kindness, as well as her ability to give practical teachings on how to apply Dharma in daily life.
923 Crossley Road,
Palm Springs, CA 92264
info@MeditationInPalmSprings.org
(760) 656-8117
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