Venue: Ganden Ling Centre, 9 St Mary’s Street, Truro, TR1 2AF
Based on the famous Eight Verses of Training the Mind by the great Bodhisattva, Langri Tangpa, this inspiring book reveals essential methods for transforming all life’s difficulties into valuable spiritual insights and for developing universal love and compassion, the source of true happiness for both self and others.
The Foundation Programme (FP) provides an opportunity to engage in structured study and meditation on the essential subjects of Kadampa Buddhism based on six books by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche.
Classes consist of teachings, meditation, and discussion. The emphasis is on gaining practical experience of the teachings that you can apply to your daily life.
FP is a tried and tested way to gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of Buddha’s teachings, maintain a daily meditation practice that is both focused and powerful, and make genuine spiritual progress.
If you feel you want to go a bit deeper with your study and practice – this systematic study of these essential Buddhist texts on FP may be a perfect next step for you.
“Our present understanding and experience of Dharma is quite superficial. We are like someone who has entered a huge food store and seen many things but sampled only a few. We may have received many different teachings from many different teachers, but we have taken in very little, just a few morsels.
There is a gap between us and the Dharma. It feels as if the Dharma is there and we are here. Our mind is not mixed with Dharma and so we cannot apply it in our daily lives. As a result our ordinary everyday problems remain. We also find it difficult to integrate our spiritual path into our daily lives so we cannot use this Dharma to solve our daily problems. When we study Dharma out mind remains passive, like someone watching television. Therefore our life and our Dharma remain completely separate and unrelated.
Why is this? It is because we are not studying and practicing systematically according to a specially designed spiritual program. If we just dabble superficially in a spiritual path we will never gain a deep and stable experience, and our wisdom will never develop to its full potential. This is why the spiritual programs offered by the New Kadampa Tradition are so important.” — Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche
The recommended way to join is to attend classes in person, this way you will receive the most benefit from being with the group and taking part in discussions. If you don’t live close enough to attend in person, you can join via correspondence.
If you are interested in joining or have any questions, please let us know via button below. All new students can attend 2-3 sessions initially free of charge to try it out before committing to the study programme.
Gen Kelsang Dragden has been practicing since 2000 and was ordained in 2006. Having worked and taught in many centres, Gen Dragden is currently the Resident Teacher at Ganden Ling KMC, teaching evening classes, courses, and our foundation programmes as well as branch classes.
Gen Dradgen presents Buddha’s teachings and meditations in an inspiring yet practical way. He is very skilled at explaining how to make these teachings immediately effective in our busy modern lives, which he exemplifies through his patience, kind heart and overt commitment to helping others.
Ganden Ling Kadampa Meditation Centre is a member of the New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU)
We are a Registered Charity in the UK: Charity Number (England) 108517
Our Address: Ganden Ling KMC, 9 St Marys Street, Truro TR1 2AF