Introduction to Buddhist Meditation Retreat
Introduction to Buddhist Meditation Retreat
Green Tara Empowerment: The Blessings of Our Enlightened Mother
Friday, June 19 - Saturday, June 20
Empowerment, transmission, and commentary with Gen Kelsang Norbu, KMC NC Resident Teacher
at Kadampa Meditation Center North Carolina
$65 | discounts for members
“Homage to Tara, the Swift One, the Heroine,
Whose eyes are like a flash of lightning,
Who arose from the opening of a lotus,
Born from the tears of the Protector of the Three Worlds.” - Liberation from Sorrow
An empowerment is a very special blessing ceremony that functions to heal our mental continuum and awaken our Buddha nature. Each empowerment introduces us to a particular enlightened Deity, their meditations and mantras. The particular enlightened Deity to which we will be introduced in this empowerment is Green Tara. Tara is a female Buddha who is a manifestation of the ultimate wisdom of all the Buddhas. Because she is a wisdom Buddha, and a manifestation of the completely purified wind element, Tara is able to help us very quickly.
Tara is our common mother, our Holy Mother. When we are young we turn to our worldly mother for help. She protects us from immediate dangers, provides us with all our temporal needs, and guides and encourages us in our learning and personal development. In the same way, during our spiritual growth we need to turn to our Holy Mother, Tara, for refuge. She protects us from all internal and external dangers, she provides us with all the necessary conditions for our spiritual training and she guides us and inspires us with her blessings as we progress along the spiritual path.
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Schedule
Friday
6:30-8pm Introduction with Kelsang Dechok, KMC GA Resident Teacher
Saturday
9-10am Meditation with Kelsang Dechok
11am-12:45 Empowerment
2:30-4pm Commentary
4:30pm Liberation from Sorrow
About the Teachers
Gen Kelsang Norbu first received Green Tara empowerment in 2007 from Gen-la Kelsang Dekyong. Since then, Gen Norbu has engaged in many retreats on Green Tara, and has granted this empowerment several times before.
Gen Norbu was ordained as a monk in the New Kadampa Tradition of Buddhism in 2006, by Ven. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche. He earned the title ‘Gen’ in 2012, indicating that he is a senior ordained teacher in this tradition.
Kelsang Dechok is a Kadampa Buddhist nun and the Resident Teacher at Kadampa Meditation Center Georgia. She has been studying and practicing Kadampa Buddhism for more than 20 years under the guidance of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche. During this time, she has worked in many roles within the organization including administration, artwork and Director of Tharpa Publications US.
Kelsang Dechok has studied and taught in both the US and the UK for many years. She was ordained in 2006 by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, and was requested to be the Resident Teacher of KMC Georgia in 2023.