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Washington DC Metro Area
(Potomac, MD) 12540 Falls Road, Potomac, Maryland 20854 Telephone: 240-453-9200 |
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| About Us | Center Home, Calendar, Announcements |
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| General Background: Bodhi Path Karma Kagyu Buddhist Centers are a U.S.-based network whose mission is to teach Buddhist philosophy and meditation to all who are interested. The 14th ShaMar Rinpoche is the founder and one of the principal teachers of the Bodhi Path Centers. This network is loosely affiliated with other monasteries and meditation centers throughout the world that are under his aegis. Buddhism in the West: In our fast paced and pressure-filled world, many Westerners are searching for tranquility and a meaningful spiritual path. ShaMar Rinpoche believes the education and prosperity levels in the West are particularly conducive to the study and practice of meditation. For these reasons, he has established the Bodhi Path Centers to teach Buddhist philosophy and meditation to Westerners. Although much of Buddhist meditation was developed in a monastic setting, the program at the Bodhi Path Centers teaches Buddhism to lay people within our own cultural context. In this way, insight into our daily lives is achieved. Buddhism Philosophy and Practice: Bodhi Path Karma Kagyu Centers offer instruction in Buddhist philosophy and meditation. Buddhist philosophy teaches the practitioner to question everyday assumptions and points out the limits of material experience and conceptual thought. The insubstantiality of "self," the process of rebirth, the role of Karma (law of cause and effect due to a habitual pattern of thought and behavior), and the importance of generosity and compassion to all beings, are examined. This philosophical inquiry, supported by the insight gained through meditation, leads to the discovery of Buddha Nature, ultimate reality, the enlightened state. By studying Buddhist philosophy, we realize that neither conceptual knowledge nor scientific inquiry can clarify our obscured view of ultimate reality. Only meditation can accomplish this. Bodhi Path Karma Kagyu Centers offer meditation practices that lead first to glimpses of ultimate reality and later to stability of this experience. Instruction begins with tranquility and insight meditation. Both concentration and resting the mind are taught. We then gain understanding of how the mind works, the nature of emotion, and how to use both emotions and experience to illuminate the nature of mind. Our Program: The Bodhi Path Karma Kagyu Buddhist Center in Potomac, Maryland offers a regular schedule of meditation sessions, discussion of Buddhist texts and philosophy for Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Lamas and highly trained teachers from Asia and Europe, including the 14th ShaMar Rinpoche, visit the Center throughout the year to give special courses and lectures over the course of a week or two. All programs are open to members of the public, no matter what the depth of their experience with Buddhism or meditation. Most programs occur at the Center, but some lectures by visiting lamas or teachers take place at public facilities in northwest Washington and suburban Maryland. Our center is convenient to Northwest Washington DC, Potomac, Rockville, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Gaithersburg and Germantown. All are welcome. |
updated 6/10/07 webmaster@bodhipath.org