Chanted Prayers

Chanted Prayers (or Puja in Sanskrit) are an important element of our spiritual training. They help us to receive blessings from enlightened beings in order to create the best internal conditions for our meditation practice to bear fruit. Prayer, “monlam” in Tibetan, simply means “wish path”.  The prayer booklets we use are known as ‘sadhanas’ meaning “methods for accomplishing attainments”. Using ancient prayers translated into English, these practices help us to purify our negativity and fill our mind with positive energy.

The sessions are suitable for beginners as well as those with experience. All prayers are free of charge and everyone is welcome. No need to book, just come along and relax.

“In general, prayers made by an assembly of many practitioners are very powerful and cannot be compared to the prayers of one or two people. The scriptures give the analogy of a broom. If we try to clean a floor with a few bristles we shall make little progress, but if we gather many bristles to make a broom we shall be successful.”

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Prayer Times

Heart Jewel / Wishfulfilling Jewel

Prayers addressed to the Wisdom Buddha, Je Tsongkhapa, and the Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden. Through this practice, we can purify our negativities, accumulate spiritual energy (or merit), receive inspiration, and attain powerful compassion, wisdom and spiritual power. We can also overcome obstacles to our spiritual progress and create the right conditions for our inner qualities to grow.

Duration: 1 hour

Monday, Tuesday & Thursday

Offering to the Spiritual Guide

Prayers addressed to our Spiritual Guide, which contain all the essential practices of the stages of the path (Lamrim) and the training of the mind (Lojong) as well as the generation stage and the completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra. By relying on our Spiritual Guide as one with Je Tsongkhapa, our compassion, spiritual power and especially our wisdom will grow naturally.

Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes

On the 10th & 25th of each month

Melodious Drum

Long prayers to the Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden. A Dharma Protector always helps, guides and protects practitioners by granting blessings, increasing their wisdom, fulfilling their positive wishes and granting success in all their virtuous activities. This practice is usually done once a month at Kadampa Buddhist centres. We rely on the Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden, who we recognise as inseparable from our Spiritual Guide and Buddha, to restore any commitments we may have broken or allowed to deteriorate.

Duration: 3 hours 15 minutes

On the 29th of each month

Tara Prayers

Prayers of request to the twenty-one manifestations of Tara, our Holy Mother. Tara is a female Buddha, the ultimate wisdom manifestation of all the Buddhas. Her name means ‘Rescuer’ because she frees us from all fears, external and internal. Just as a mother protects us from all inner and outer dangers, Tara brings together all the conditions necessary for our spiritual progress.

Duration: 1 hour

On the 8th of every month

Powa Ceremony ~ Prayers for the Deceased

When we practise transference of consciousness, or ‘powa’, with faith, compassion and concentration, we can transfer the consciousness of those who have recently died to a higher rebirth or to the Pure Land of a Buddha. The powa ceremony can be performed by a single person or a group of practitioners for the sake of one or more deceased people, as well as for the sake of countless people who have died recently. By performing this practice, we also create a vast collection of merit that will also lead us on the path to the Pure Land of a Buddha.

Duration: 1 hour

Once a month