Gampopa Center

There will be no teaching on Sunday, August 2nd. Please join us at our weekday meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The quality that is developed through the practice of The Seven Points of Mind Training is bodhicitta. Lama has explained that this text is the pointing out instructions for bodhicitta. Bodhicitta literally means the mind (citta) of awakening (bodhi). It is the two qualities, which when fully developed, makes one enlightened. These two qualities are wisdom and compassion. These are called, respectively, ultimate and relative bodhicitta. And the Seven Points of Mind Training covers both. The special practice of mind training is to take the daily life situations where our egotism is provoked and use them to confront our ego. The text gives instructions on how to use them to develop ultimate and relative bodhicitta. As most of us can’t run off to a mountaintop hermitage to practice solitary meditation, a text that explains how to develop the qualities of enlightenment in our every day ilfe is especially valuable. And I believe that is why Lama chose to teach it.

I misunderstood what Lama wanted me to do with my notes, so I removed them. I hope to have them back in their new form sometime soon. As I understand it, Lama prefers the blog format to something more formal, so expect me to continue writing about his classes here. The dharma page will be reserved for his writings.

Last Wednesday Lama pulled out a pamphlet and asked our help in translating it. The pamphlet is called Entering the Door to Liberation and contains the text of the refuge ceremony and a brief explanation of the commitments and benefits of taking refuge. In the refuge ceremony one formally makes a commitment to Buddhism in front of a teacher. Much of the text comes from Gampopa’s book, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation. Since a good translation of this text is available, it made translating the pamphlet easier.

I’ve added a new page to this site, which will serve as the top page for dharma teachings. The page has notes from Lama’s teachings on the Seven Points of Mind Training. You may find it helpful to read these notes before attending the class. I also added a map to the directions page to help you find the way to our center. In the future notes from teachings will go on the dharma teachings page and less formal comments on the class will be added to this weblog under the notes category.