In this slightly deeper series of drop in meditation classes we will draw inspiration each week from the book Modern Buddhism which teaches the Kadampa Buddhist path of compassion and wisdom.

In Modern Buddhism, it says, Kadam Dharma cannot be separated from daily life. Everyone needs it to make their lives happy and meaningful, to temporarily solve their human problems, and to enable them ultimately to find pure and everlasting happiness through controlling their anger, attachment, jealousy and especially ignorance.

Kadampa practitioners emphasise training in meditation and choose objects of meditation that are deeply meaningful.

Come along for a weekly dose of inspiration and guided meditation. Everyone Welcome

The individual topics of each week are below:

Recommended Reading – Modern Buddhism

5 May – Scientific methods taught by Buddha

Buddha’s teachings are scientific methods to solve the problems of all living beings permanently. By putting his teachings into practice we will become permanently free from all our suffering and problems and eventually enjoy pure, everlasting happiness.

12 May – Faith – the key to inner peace

When our mind is peaceful and calm we are really happy; but if our mind is not peaceful we are not happy, even if our external conditions are perfect. By receiving Buddha’s blessings with a mind of faith we will experience mental peace and enjoy true happiness within

19 May – How our mind continues after death

When we understand that our mind is a separate entity from our body we realise that even when our body dies our mind continues. In this way we can understand clearly the existence of our future lives and prepare for them now, in this life. There is nothing more meaningful.

2 June – What is modern Kadampa Buddhism?

Modern Kadampa Buddhism is a special presentation of Buddha’s teachings that is especially suited to the modern world. Everyone, even non-Buddhists, can benefit from it. Discover how it can help you transform your life

9 June – Controlling our mind with Lamrim

Everyone needs to make their life happy and meaningful, to solve temporarily their human problems and ultimately to find pure and everlasting happiness. We can accomplish this through Buddha’s Lamrim teachings from which we learn how to control our anger, attachment, jealousy, and especially ignorance.

16 June –What is meditation and how does it help?
We want to be happy all the time, even during our dreams. How can we do this? Through training in meditation. Meditation makes our mind become peaceful, and when our mind is peaceful we are happy all the time, even if our external conditions are poor.

23 June – What is the real meaning of human life?

Material possessions, reputation, good looks, power, excitement, adventure and relationships can make us superficially happy for a short time, but they can never give us the real happiness that in our hearts we long for. This we can find only through an authentic spiritual practice

30 June – How awareness of death enriches our life

Although we usually do not like to think about death, Buddha says awareness of our mortality is the best way to make our life truly meaningful. Meditating on death opens the door to the spiritual path.

7 July – Avoiding future suffering

We may wonder what happens when we die. Buddha taught that the kind of rebirth we take depends on our actions, or karma, and he explained that performing non-virtuous actions is the main cause of taking lower rebirth. How can we be sure we do not take lower rebirth in our next life?

14 July – Who can really protect us?

When our life is in danger or we are threatened or sick we usually seek refuge in the police, doctors etc. But they can provide only temporary protection. We can enjoy permanent liberation from all sufferings only by seeking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha

21 July – Do you believe in karma?

From non-virtuous actions comes suffering and from virtuous actions comes happiness: if we believe this, we believe in karma. Buddha gave extensive teachings that prove the truth of this statement and showed how we can use our understanding of karma to avoid future suffering and enjoy pure happiness.