STRENGTHEN
Special Events
Day Courses,
Public Talks,
Retreats
ACTUALIZE YOUR FULL POTENTIAL
“What is enlightenment? It is the inner light of wisdom that is completely free from all mistaken appearance, and whose function is to bestow mental peace upon each and every living being every day.”
- Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
SCHEDULE
Sunday, March 15
10:30 - 11:45am Sunday GP with Refuge Introduction
12:30 - 1:30pm Session 1
2:00 - 3:00pm Session 2
3:30 - 4:30pm Session 3
Monday, March 16
7:00 - 8:00am Session 1
12:00 - 1:00pm Session 2
6:00 - 7:00pm Session 3
REFUGE RETREAT
Building Mental Confidence & Strength
with Resident Teacher, John Baker
Sunday, March 15th & Monday, March 16th
$30/full retreat • $20/Sunday only • $5/Session (excluding Sunday Morning Meditation) • TTP & FP discounts apply
According to Buddha’s teachings, known as Dharma, suffering arises not from external conditions themselves but rather from how we respond to them. Suffering arises from the mind and therefore to protect ourselves from suffering we need to learn to train our mind by taking Buddha's teachings to heart and applying them to our own lives.
During this retreat, we will spend time developing the powerful mind of refuge, our actual protection from pain and problems. Through the practice of refuge, relying on the three jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, we gradually build stable, peaceful and joyful minds that give us the confidence and strength to make authentic spiritual progress.
CENTER CHERISHING
Volunteer & Community Day
Sunday, March 22nd • 12-3pm • Free
Did you know the state of your environment impacts your state of mind? A clean and organized meditation space helps promote peaceful meditation and a positive mind! Join in for an hour (or three!) to help maintain and beautify the meditation space & bookstore at Kadampa Meditation Center Philadelphia. Volunteering is a wonderful way to generate merit (positive energy), to meet other practitioners, and to have fun! Light refreshments will be served.
NO REGISTRATION NECESSARY.
THE POWER OF MEDITATION
Developing a Resilient and Positive Mind
FREE Public Talk
with Resident Teacher, John Baker
Monday, March 23rd •6:30pm
Collingswood Public Library • 771 Haddon Avenue, Collingswood NJ
When our mind is free from negativity, like anger and jealousy, we experience mental peace, and we’re best able to help ourself and others. The main cause of mental peace is the steady practice of meditation. Familiarity with this peace becomes a powerful force to develop and maintain a reliably positive and resilient mind. Everyone welcome, no experience necessary.
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Please note, this FREE public talk is in Collingswood, NJ. Accessible from the Collingswood PATCO train stop. No registration necessary.
INTERNATIONAL & REGIONAL EVENTS
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Mid-Atlantic Dharma Celebration
Buddha Avalokiteshvara Empowerment & Teachings on the Healing Power of Compassion
with NKT-IKBU Eastern US National Spiritual Director, Kadam Morten Clausen
Mar 6-8 • at Kadampa Meditation Center MD in Baltimore, MD
Everyone Welcome • No Experience Necessary
The Mid-Atlantic Dharma Celebration provides a precious opportunity to study, listen to and practice the special presentation of modern Buddhism taught by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, the Founder of the New Kadampa Tradition.
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Buddha Avalokiteshvara is the embodiment of the compassion of all enlightened beings. This empowerment is a sublime guided meditation through which we develop a relationship with Guru Avalokiteshvara, and connect with a beautiful optimistic vision of possibility and transformation in which we receive and radiate love, compassion and wisdom.
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“When we become a Buddha our happiness radiates eternally as compassion, nourishing all living beings and gradually drawing them into the same state.” ~Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, How to Transform Your Life.
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Through imagination, guided meditation and blessings, we feel personally empowered to become the person we wish to be, and to progress towards our own enlightenment.
Everyone is welcome!
NKT-IKBU US National Festival 2026
The Heart of Reality
Prajnaparamita Empowerment & Teachings on the Heart Sutra
with Gen-la Kelsang Khyenrab
Apr 24 - 29 • at Kadampa Meditation Center NY in Glen Spey, NY
Everyone Welcome • No Experience Necessary
The Heart Sutra, a beloved, sacred text taught by Buddha, includes a special technique for overcoming our own and other's inner and outer obstacles. While these obstacles can feel like walls that limit our life, we can transcend them using this profound and beautiful practice. In this festival, we will learn how to recite the Heart Sutra, dive into its profound and practical meaning, and see how it can help us overcome any obstacle life may present. This will grant us tremendous confidence to not only help ourselves, but to elevate, empower and protect others.
To aid our understanding of this profound practice, we will receive the empowerment of Buddha Prajnaparamita. Prajnaparamita is the embodiment of the higher perfection of wisdom. Empowerments are blissful, guided meditations that help facilitate a connection with a certain enlightened being. Through receiving this blessing empowerment, we will gain inspiration to understand these deep truths of the Heart Sutra and feel energized to make positive change in our life. Everyone welcome!​