Frequently Asked Questions about Active Participation
How do I get involved?
Talk to an experienced Sangha member, study a book, do your best on the meditations, apply spiritual teachings to daily life, ask questions, and share your experiences. Please inquire about what help you can give to keep the classes and Center running smoothly.
I feel I've found at home in Kadampa Buddhism. How can I pitch in?
It is wonderful that you have found us and we are happy to have you join us. Our tradition has many opportunities to participate in practical ways, including helping at the Centers with many tasks, contributing financially to ensure our viability and to enable our growth, and studying and practicing enough yourself to become a teacher who can offer the tradition to others. All are of great value, and welcome to your new home.
Who are all the pictures of?
That is a wonderfully complex question—enjoy discovering the answer yourself by coming to know these Buddhas in your own experience. Each Buddha, male or female, is the embodiment of an aspect of enlightenment, like a facet of a jewel. Each has specific qualities that can help us with our spiritual practice and enable us to fulfill our own spiritual potential. Avalokiteshvara, for example, is the Buddha of Compassion and can help us to actualize our own universal compassion. You can find out more about these Buddhas and do the special meditation practices, mantras, and visualizations associated with them by, for example, attending the weekly chanted meditations. Feel free to ask questions about the pictures, the offerings, the objects on the shrine, and so on.
Why do people put food and flowers on the shrine in front of the room?
In all Buddhist traditions, offerings are made to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas out of respect and gratitude for their attainments and teachings, and with the wish that we gain the same attainments ourselves. The bowls filled with water symbolize different offerings. Flowers add beauty, and the food, blessed, is enjoyed by everyone after it has been on the shrine. Please feel free to make offerings—they create merit, or good karma, the cause for swift progress on the spiritual path.
What are the rules here?
There are different types of Buddhist vows and precepts, including refuge vows, lay and ordained pratimoksha vows (vows of moral discipline), Bodhisattva vows, and Tantric vows--all for those with varying levels of personal commitment. Vows are an individual's sole responsibility and each person voluntarily and privately chooses to take them or not. Nobody will judge you or expect anything from you other than common courtesy and respect. All of the vows serve the purpose of helping us overcome our faults and train our mind. The most important promise a Buddhist makes is the promise never to deliberately harm other living beings. Beyond that, we try to avoid placing our books or prayers on the floor, to remain quiet during meditation, and to stand when the teacher enters and departs out of respect for the teachings.
What about the prayers, prostrations, and other rituals?
We use the practices of prayers, prostrations, and other rituals, to help us purify our mind, increase our merit or good karma, and receive inspiration from enlightened beings. Some of the most sacred and ancient prayers and mantras have been retained in their original Sanskrit, but most of the prayers have been translated under the guidance of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso into our own language. The prostrations are a way of showing humility, gratitude, and respect for the teachings. Decide for yourself whether or not to join in with the prayers, prostrations, or any other ritual. You do not have to worry about not knowing what to do.
What are the economics of the Center and the Sangha?
Each NKT Center is an independent, non-profit entity, receiving no financial support from the tradition's leadership or any other government or corporate entity. We sustain the running of the Center, the offering of all Dharma activities, and the living expenses of our principal teachers through your class fees and donations as well as through the contributions of those who are core supporting members. Our Centers in Pennsylvania are growing, and we welcome contributions to finance the facilities needed for our sustenance and growth.