Guided Lamrim Meditation Retreat
Monday 13 to Friday 17 January
- 2 Sessions Each Day -
Location: Ganden Centre
Fee: $10 per session or $75 whole Retreat
Retreat Leader
Gen Kelsang Tsalden is the Resident Teacher of Ganden Kadampa Buddhist Centre.
She is a fully ordained Australian Buddhist nun who has practised Kadampa Buddhism for over 18 years, training in Sydney and the UK.
With 14 years experience as a Resident Teacher her clear, light-hearted, inspiring teachings and gentle manner make Buddhist wisdom accessible to all.
LAMRIM RETREAT
The Stages of the Path To Enlightenment
Discover for yourself the inner peace and clarity of mind that comes from meditation. Lamrim is a series of twenty-one special Buddhist meditations that lead to increasingly peaceful and beneficial states of mind.
The stages of the path to enlightenment, or Lamrim in Tibetan, is the backbone of Kadampa Buddhism.
Lamrim is a special set of instructions that includes all the essential teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni arranged in such a way that all his Hinayana and Mahayana teachings can be put into practice in a single meditation session.
It was compiled by the great Indian Buddhist Master Atisha, who was invited to Tibet by King Jangchub Ö in AD 1042, and who spent the rest of his life there spreading pure Dharma.
There is a completely pure and unbroken lineage of these Lamrim instructions from Buddha Shakyamuni up to our present day Spiritual Guides.
Freedom from all suffering
If we gain deep experience of Lamrim there will be no basis for problems; we shall be completely free of all of them.
Residen Teacher Gen Tsalden will guide and inspire us to understand the value of Lamrim. Then by joyfully and patiently doing the meditations we shall gradually experience the fruits of Lamrim practice.
Eventually we shall attain freedom from all suffering and the unchanging peace and happiness of enlightenment.
Twenty-one meditations
There are 21 Lamrim meditations, which are usually practiced in a three-week cycle as a daily meditation practice:
- Our precious human life
- Death and impermanence
- The danger of lower rebirth
- Refuge practice
- Actions and their effects
- Developing renunciation for samsara
- Developing equanimity
- Recognizing that all living beings are our mothers
- Remembering the kindness of living beings
- Equalizing self and others
- The disadvantages of self-cherishing
- The advantages of cherishing others
- Exchanging self with others
- Great compassion
- Taking
- Wishing love
- Giving
- Bodhichitta
- Tranquil abiding
- Superior seeing
- Relying upon a Spiritual Guide
These meditations, along with instructions on how to practice them and essential background material, can be found in The New Meditation Handbook.
An extensive presentation of Lamrim can be found in Geshe Kelsang’s book Joyful Path of Good Fortune.
THE RETREAT
During a retreat we reduce our normal worldly activities and concentrate for a period of time on developing spiritual qualities and peaceful minds.
Each session lasts for one and a half hours and consists of prayers sung in English and silent mantra recitation. Sessions are free.
SESSION TIMES EACH DAY
Session 2 - 11.00am - 12pm
FEE
Free to members
$75 whole Retreat