Sadhana of Mahamudra

March 10th—February 28th (2025)

Date details +
    Room: KCL Main Shrine Room

    The St. Johnsbury Shambhala Meditation Center works closely with Karmê Chöling to bring meditation and meditation-in-action opportunities to our local community. Starting in March 2024, the monthly new moon practice will be in-person at KCL. It is lovely to practice together in the shrine room. Join us each month for this practice and teaching.

    About the Sadhana of Mahamudra

    Trungpa Rinpoche, the founder of the Shambhala centers, wrote a practice called the Sadhana of Mahamudra, which is chanted aloud in a group session on the new and full moons of each month. The Sadhana of Mahamudra is both a practice and a teaching on overcoming obstacles and degraded spiritual practices in our time. As a result, the blessings of this practice are particularly strong because it was uncovered for this specific time and place.

    The Sadhana of Mahamudra explains how to transmute the phenomenal world directly into enlightenment through meditation in action. Thus, this chant contains the essence of Trungpa Rinpoche's teachings for the West. Its discovery represented a major turning point in his presentation of the Buddhadharma to Western students. 

    This practice is full of symbolism which may seem very strange to new practitioners. Don't expect to understand it fully the first time you do it. As with all dharma teachings, understanding develops through patience and contemplation. So we encourage newcomers to come in and experience how a sadhana practice feels. The chant leader is also available to answer any questions and may give a brief explanation of how to do the practice before it is begun.

    Sadhana practices are usually very secret, but this one is unusual because it is public: a person may walk in and participate in the practice (although it is always lead by a person who has received the permission blessing and teachings about this practice). The practice is done on new and full moon days, when our moods and thought patterns tend to be most unruly. Instead of running away from the chaos of a busy mind, we invite you to join us for this practice!