Chanted, or group prayers are held at the Temple every day. Concentrating on the meaning of the prayers allows us to connect with the Buddha's inspiring blessings, to accumulate a collection of positive energy, or merit, in our mind, and to remove obstacles to our spiritual growth. The power of these prayers is greater in a group, and joining in is a part of our practice of refuge - seeking protection in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Everyone is welcome to join in and experience the power of these prayers. All are FREE of charge. You do not need to be Buddhist to participate.​
Chanted Prayers
Please check the Online Calendar for days, times and any changes.
Wishfulfilling Jewel w/ Tsog
Sundays, 1:00pm
A special practice for developing compassion, wisdom, and spiritual strength by relying on the Wisdom Buddha Je Tsongkhapa, and for overcoming obstacles and difficulties on the spiritual path by relying on his Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden.
Please bring a vegetarian food or drink offering with you if you wish.
Prayers for World Peace
Mondays, 6:30pm
By learning to cherish others we can experience greater peace of mind and help to establish world peace in general. Through contemplating these prayers compiled by Geshe Kelsang from traditional sources, we learn to cherish others. If everyone sincerely prays to be able to cherish others, then gradually through the power of this prayer, everyone will actually cherish each other. The world will then be permanently at peace, and pure and everlasting happiness will pervade the entire world.
Heart Jewel with Meditation
Tuesday through Saturday
4:30 - 5:30pm
Heart Jewel is a Kadampa practitioner's daily prayers that contain two essential practices of Kadampa Buddhism revealed by Wisdom Buddha Manjushri: a special Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa and a special method for relying upon the Dharma protector, Dorje Shugden. By engaging in these practices regularly and sincerely we will reap a rich harvest of pure Dharma realizations, and eventually, come to experience the supreme joy of full enlightenment.
Offering to the Spiritual Guide​
On the 10th and 25th of every month
1.5 hours long
​The special Guru yoga practice of Je Tsongkhapa in conjunction with Highest Yoga Tantra, which also includes all the essential practices of the stages of the path to enlightenment.
​This puja i​s done with food (tsog) offerings and is done every 10th and 25th of the month. ​If you wish, bring a vegetarian food or drink offering with you.
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Tara is a female Buddha, a manifestation of the ultimate wisdom of all the Buddhas. Her name means "Rescuer" because she rescues us from all outer and inner fears. Ultimately she rescues us from all suffering and guides us to full enlightenment. Like a mother she protects us from all internal and external dangers; she provides us with all the necessary conditions for our spiritual training, and guides us and inspires us with her blessings as we progress along the spiritual path. These prayers include praises to the twenty-one manifestations of Tara. Because these are Sutra, the actual words of Buddha, they are particularly powerful and blessed.​
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Powa - Prayers for the Deceased
Monthly
See online calendar for updated days and times.
Through practicing transference of consciousness, known as ‘powa’ with faith, compassion and concentration we can transfer the consciousness of those recently deceased to a higher rebirth or to the Pure Land of a Buddha. The Powa Ceremony can be done either by a group of practitioners or individually on behalf of one or more deceased persons, or countless deceased beings. By engaging in this practice we also create a great collection of virtue, which will also lead us into the pathway to a Buddha’s Pure Land. This puja is held monthly.
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Please email epc@meditationcharlotte.org with any names you would like added to the dedication list to be read out loud during the service.
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Please bring a vegetarian food or drink offering with you if you wish.
Dakini Yoga Prayers
Wednesdays, 8:00am
Quick Path to Great Bliss is a practice of prayers and meditations that contain the essence of the self-generation practice of Vajrayogini – the female enlightened Buddha Deity of Highest Yoga Tantra who is the manifestation of the wisdom of all Buddhas (Must have Highest Yoga Tantra Empowerments). It is also a six-session yoga – a simple but powerful daily practice for maintaining all Tantric commitments for those who have received a Highest Yoga Tantra empowerment – that has been specially arranged for those who have received the empowerment of Vajrayogini. Also included are lists of the Bodhisattva and Tantric vows and commitments, and an explanation of how the practice of Dakini Yoga fulfils these commitments.
A Pure Life - The practice of taking and keeping the eight Mahayana precepts
15th of every month at 6:30am
This is a precious and powerful practice that purifies negative karma and produces positive karma, or good fortune for our future. It functions to improve our familiarity with the practice of moral discipline, deepen our compassion and make our human life meaningful. When we take the eight Mahayana precepts, we explicitly promise to abstain for twenty-four hours from eight actions:
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Killing
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Stealing
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Sexual activity
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Lying
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Taking intoxicants
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Eating after lunch
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Sitting on high or luxurious thrones or seats
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Wearing ornaments, perfume, and singing and dancing
These eight, however, are merely symbolic, for we promise to abstain from all non-virtuous actions for twenty-four hours.
Taking and keeping these precepts is a special purification practice. Buddha realized that all living beings’ suffering comes from their previous negative karma, and so he taught special practices to purify it.
Melodious Drum Victorious in all Directions
On the 29th of every month
3.5 hours long
This is a monthly practice of making offerings and requesting the Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden, to remove obstacles and to gather all favorable conditions for our spiritual practice. This practice includes a tsog offering. For tsog pujas, we gather together to pray and make special offerings.
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Please bring a vegetarian food or drink offering with you if you wish.