CALIFORNIA DHARMA CELEBRATION 2024 – MARCH 22-24

Kadampa Meditation Center Los Angeles

The Empowerment of Buddha Maitreya
with Teachings on Loving Kindness

Join Gen Kelsang Rigpa, Western US National Spiritual Director and Resident Teacher @ KMC Los Angeles and hundreds of practitioners from around state and online for the California Dharma Celebration!

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! SEE BELOW

Training in love gives meaning to our life. Through developing our capacity to love more expansively and more purely, our whole experience of the world changes. In turn, others feel this change and respond to it. Our love makes us happy, protects us from suffering, heals our mental pain and is the cornerstone for a life well-lived, a life of meaning.

During this CADC weekend, Gen Rigpa will grant the empowerment of Buddha Maitreya, who is the embodiment of the loving-kindness of all the Buddhas. The empowerment is a blissful guided meditation that connects us to Maitreya’s enlightened love, giving us great power in our spiritual development.

Following the empowerment, Gen Rigpa will give teachings on the special brief practice of Buddha Maitreya; by identifying strongly with this Buddha’s qualities, we nurture them within ourselves. In this way, we begin to become someone whose love transforms the world. We will also learn how Buddha Maitreya is the source of the precious Kadam Lamrim, and receive teachings on the stages of the path to enlightenment.

Full Schedule

What is an Empowerment?

An empowerment is a blissful guided meditation through which we connect to a Buddha’s enlightened mind, in this case, Buddha Maitreya’s enlightened mind. By receiving these inspiring blessings, our own potential for healing increases and we draw closer to the special blessings and care of Maitreya. By doing this, we can realize the greatest meaning of this precious human life.

Prayer Booklets

The following prayer booklets will be used during the Celebration: Prayers for Meditation, Request to the Holy Spiritual Guide Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, Wishfulfilling Jewel, The Yoga of Buddha Maitreya.

If you would like to purchase any of these in advance, please visit Tharpa.com/us. These sadhanas are available both as booklets and as e-booklets.

Register for In-Person

California Dharma Celebration
March 22-24, 2024  Kadampa Meditation Center LA

Every year the New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU) organizes regional Dharma Celebrations of modern Kadampa Buddhism taught by senior Teachers. This year’s California Dharma Celebration is held at KMC LA! Everyone is welcome.  See Terms & Conditions for more info.

Register for Online Replay

Online viewing of the CADC: March 29 -April 5

Attending the Dharma Celebration online

The California Dharma Celebration will be offered online to those who live within California, and who are unable to attend in person at KMC Los Angeles. See Terms & Conditions for more info.

Registration for online has closed.

The replays will be available for streaming online Friday, March 29.

The Empowerment replay will be available for one day ONLY, on Saturday, March 30.

All other teachings and meditations will be available for streaming for one full week — Friday, March 29 through Friday, April 5.

Our Teachers

Empowerment & Teachings

Gen Kelsang Rigpa is the Western US National Spiritual Director of the NKT-IKBU. He is also the Resident Teacher at Kadampa Meditation Center LA. He will grant the empowerment and give teachings during the Celebration.

Gen Rigpa’s heartfelt and practical teachings are presented with warmth and humor, making them accessible to everyone. Through his clear presentation, he is able to help students discover for themselves how to integrate these timeless teachings into our modern world, making everyday life joyful and meaningful.

Intro Teaching

Kadam amy Peng

Kadam Amy Peng is a disciple of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche and has been practicing Kadampa Buddhism for 18 years.   With warmth and sincerity, Kadam Amy presents meditation and Buddhism in a practical, easy-to-understand way, very useful for modern people.   She shows us the joy of integrating Buddha’s teachings into daily life and is an inspiring example of a modern Kadampa Buddhist practitioner.

Guided Meditations

Kelsang Rak-ma is a close disciple of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, devoting herself to in-depth study and meditation practice under his guidance for over 25 years. Over the past 15 years, she has taught Foundation Program, General Program, and day courses in the Los Angeles area. She is now the Resident Teacher of Mahakaruna Kadampa Buddhist Center in Petaluma, CA. She is known for her clear and practical teachings as well as her joyful example in daily life.

Our Founder

Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche
Spiritual Guide & Founder of Modern Kadampa Buddhism

He has dedicated his life to laying the foundation for modern Kadampa Buddhism to flourish in this and future generations so that anyone regardless of nationality, culture, gender or age can easily understand the meaning of Buddha’s teachings and apply them to their daily life – and in this way find true, lasting inner peace.

Venerable Geshe-la is a truly international Teacher whose wish is to benefit everyone without exception. To this end, among his many extraordinary actions, Venerable Geshe-la has founded the three International Kadampa Festivals – the Spring Festival, Summer Festival and Fall Festival, which are organised every year and enjoyed by thousands of people from all over the world.