enjoymeditation
The chanted prayers at Buddha Land Centre are a chance to help bring peace to this world though prayer and meditation.
Dedicated to world peace these chanted prayers are the perfect method to bring our meditation practice to life. By engaging in these prayers for the benefit of all we can pacify our inner obstacles, gather the necessary internal conditions for realizations and receive the inspiration of pure beings. In this way we can bring lasting peace to our troubled world.
Please consult the puja timetable for current times
(1 hour)
Heart Jewel prayers combine the Guru Yoga of Je Tsongkhapa and the practice of Dorje Shugden in a simple and effective practice.
Through engaging in the Guru Yoga of Je Tsongkhapa, we can purify negativity, accumulate merit, receive blessings and develop compassion, wisdom and spiritual strength. By relying upon the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden, we can overcome obstacles to our spiritual practice and create favourable conditions for making progress. Together, these two practices are at the very heart of Kadampa Buddhism.
The puja includes a 15-minute period of silent meditation.
We use the prayer booklet Heart Jewel for this puja. Copies are available to use at the Centre, or you can purchase your own from Tharpa Publications in either printed or electronic form: Heart Jewel – Tharpa Publications.
Please consult the puja timetable for current times
(1 hour)
Wishfulfilling Jewel is a more extensive practice based on Heart Jewel, combining prayers to the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden with additional prayers and offerings.
Through engaging in this practice, we can strengthen our reliance upon Dorje Shugden, overcome obstacles to our spiritual practice and create favourable conditions for making progress on the spiritual path.
On certain occasions, the puja includes a tsog offering – an offering of vegetarian food to the enlightened beings. Taking part in tsog is a special method for accumulating merit and transforming our everyday activities into the spiritual path. If you would like to make an offering, you are welcome to bring vegetarian food.
We use the prayer booklet Wishfulfilling Jewel for this puja. Copies are available to use at the Centre, or you can purchase your own from Tharpa Publications in either printed or electronic form: Wishfulfilling Jewel – Tharpa Publications.
Held on the 10th and 25th of each month
(1 hour 35 minutes)
Offering to the Spiritual Guide is a special chanted prayer practice for receiving the blessings of our Spiritual Guide and developing compassion, wisdom and spiritual strength.
This practice includes a tsog offering. During tsog pujas, we gather together to make prayers and special offerings. You are welcome to bring a vegetarian food offering if you wish.
We use the prayer booklet Offering to the Spiritual Guide for this puja. Copies are available to use at the Centre, or you can purchase your own from Tharpa Publications in either printed or electronic form: Offering to the Spiritual Guide – Tharpa Publications.
Held on the 8th of each month
(50 minutes)
Tara is a female Buddha and a manifestation of the ultimate wisdom of all the Buddhas. Her name means “Rescuer” because she rescues living beings from outer and inner fears, protects them from danger and ultimately guides them to freedom from suffering and full enlightenment.
Like a loving mother, Tara provides the conditions we need for spiritual progress and inspires and guides us through her blessings. These prayers include praises to the 21 manifestations of Tara.
We use the prayer booklet Liberation from Sorrow for this puja. Copies are available to use at the Centre, or you can purchase your own from Tharpa Publications in either printed or electronic form: Liberation from Sorrow – Tharpa Publications.
The practice is also included in Modern Buddhism, which is available as a free download.
Please consult the puja timetable for current dates and times
(35 – 40 minutes)
Powa, or transference of consciousness, is a special practice performed on behalf of those who have recently died. Through engaging in this practice with faith, compassion and concentration, we make prayers for the deceased to attain a fortunate rebirth or the Pure Land of a Buddha.
The Powa Ceremony can be practised individually or as a group on behalf of one or more deceased people, as well as for countless deceased beings. By engaging in this practice, we also accumulate great merit and create causes for our own future spiritual progress.
We use the prayer booklet Powa Ceremony for this puja. Copies are available to use at the Centre, or you can purchase your own from Tharpa Publications in either printed or electronic form: Powa Ceremony – Tharpa Publications.
Held on the 15th of each month at 6.30am
(30 minutes)
The practice of taking and keeping the Eight Mahayana Precepts is a special practice of moral discipline undertaken with bodhichitta motivation – the supreme good heart.
The essence of the practice is to take eight precepts, promising to abstain for twenty-four hours from the following actions:
We then make a commitment to keep these precepts purely for the twenty-four-hour period.
We use the prayer booklet A Pure Life for this practice. Copies are available to use at the Centre, or you can purchase your own from Tharpa Publications in either printed or electronic form: A Pure Life – Tharpa Publications.
Held on the 29th of each month
(3.5 hours)
This monthly practice involves making offerings and requesting the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden to remove obstacles and gather favourable conditions for our spiritual practice.
The extensive protector puja, Melodious Drum, also known as Kangso, includes a tsog offering. During tsog pujas, we gather together to make prayers and special offerings. You are welcome to bring a vegetarian food offering if you wish.
We use the prayer booklet Melodious Drum for this puja. You can purchase your own copy from Tharpa Publications: Melodious Drum – Tharpa Publications. At present, the booklet is available in printed form only.
Please consult the puja timetable for current dates and times
(40 minutes)
Avalokiteshvara is an enlightened being and a manifestation of the compassion of all the Buddhas. By relying sincerely upon Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion, and reciting his mantra with strong faith, we can improve our realizations of the stages of the path, especially our realization of great compassion.
Ultimately, through this practice, we create the causes to attain supreme Buddhahood in Avalokiteshvara’s Pure Land.
We use the prayer booklet Avalokiteshvara Sadhana for this puja. Copies are available to use at the Centre, or you can purchase your own from Tharpa Publications in either printed or electronic form: Avalokiteshvara Sadhana – Tharpa Publications.
Please consult the puja timetable for current dates and times
(1 hour – 1.5 hours)
Blissful Path, Dakini Yoga, Quick Path to Great Bliss and Vajrayogini Self Initiation are practices associated with Vajrayogini, a female wisdom Buddha.
To attend these practices, practitioners need first to have received, or have a strong intention to receive, Highest Yoga Tantra (HYT) empowerments.
If you have questions about these practices or would like information about receiving HYT empowerments, please ask at the Centre.
Prayer booklets for these practices are available from Tharpa Publications:
Please consult the puja timetable for current dates and times
(30 minutes)
In our previous lives, while under the influence of deluded minds, we created negative karma, transgressed our spiritual commitments and incurred downfalls. These can create obstacles to developing faith and conviction in Dharma and to making progress on the stages of the path to enlightenment. Through purification practice, we can remove these obstacles and create the conditions for spiritual progress.
One of the principal methods for purifying negative karma and downfalls is the practice of The Mahayana Sutra of the Three Superior Heaps, also known as The Bodhisattva’s Confession of Moral Downfalls. During this practice, we make physical and verbal prostrations to the 35 Confession Buddhas.
We use the prayer booklet The Bodhisattva’s Confession of Moral Downfalls for this practice. Copies are available to use at the Centre, or you can purchase your own from Tharpa Publications in either printed or electronic form: The Bodhisattva’s Confession of Moral Downfalls – Tharpa Publications.
