General Spiritual Director
Foundation Programs at Kadampa Centers around the world
Nov 15, 2024
The Magic of Retreat: Colombia, Spain and Argentina
KMC Colombia in Bogota held an away retreat, KMC Madrid a Lamrim retreat and Nagarjuna KBC in Buenos Aires held an out-of-town day retreat. Retreats like these bring so many benefits - see the photo galleries below. People experience the joy of meditation, deepen their Sangha friendships through relaxing and meditating together and sow many seeds for liberation and enlightenment.
Away Retreat for KMC Colombia
In the beautiful countryside of Choachí (outside the capital, Bogotá), KMC Colombia held its first out-of-town weekend retreat from 1-3 March, with our new Resident Teacher, Gen Kelsang Atisha.
During the retreat, entitled Purify your Karma, Gen Atisha gave teachings on the law of karma and the practice of Solitary Vajrasattva. Then with a joyful energy, we immediately put the teachings into practice by engaging in some retreat sessions. Following the weekend retreat, we returned to our busy lives with a feeling of peace and with a better understanding of how we can purify our minds and experience deep and lasting peace.
The students of KMC Colombia give thanks for our Resident Teacher and the immeasurable kindness of our Spiritual Guide, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, through whom we can accomplish all our wishes.
Abiding in the Lamrim Pureland at KMC Madrid
At KMC Madrid-La Sierra from 8-12 March Gen Tsongmo guided our annual Lamrim retreat. About a hundred people attended this retreat where we contemplated the fifteen Lamrim meditations presented in 'The Mirror of Dharma with Additions', by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, with ‘Heart Jewel’ prayers.
We want to be happy all the time, even during sleep. How can we do this? We can do this through training in meditation because meditation makes our mind peaceful, and when our mind is peaceful we are happy all the time, even if our external conditions are poor. On the other hand, when our mind is not peaceful we are not happy, even if our external conditions are excellent. We can understand this through our own experience. Since the actual method to make our mind peaceful is training in meditation, we should apply effort to this training.
Excerpt from The Mirror of Dharma With Additions
We deeply enjoyed this retreat and the spending time together. It was a beautiful gathering and it even snowed, which was a special reminder of the presence of Guru Je Tsongkhapa from the land of the snows!
![NKT-KMC-madrid-20240309_141801[1]](https://kadampa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/NKT-KMC-madrid-20240309_1418011.jpg "NKT-KMC-madrid-20240309_141801[1]")
Nature of the mind day retreat in argentina
On Saturday, March 2, Nagarjuna KBC held an out-of-town day retreat in Victoria, Buenos Aires. Guided by our Teacher, María Eugenia Chaves, we discovered the nature of the mind and learned how to meditate on the mind itself. The group enjoyed the peace and spaciousness of mind this meditation brings. As it was such a success, we plan to hold more retreats throughout the year!
