Meditation in Westchester

Vajra Light Kadampa Buddhist Center is a non-profit Buddhist meditation center in Westchester, NY. We offer instruction in meditation and Buddhist spiritual practice through meditation classes, retreats and special events. Taught by qualified Western teachers, Vajra Light's meditation classes are very easy to understand and apply to our daily lives. The classes are suitable for both beginners and more advanced meditation practitioners. Everyone welcome!

Where to Start

All of the classes listed below are a great place to start for both beginners and experienced meditators.

Classes are especially designed to help busy, modern people find more inner peace and happiness. No prior experience with Buddhism or meditation is necessary. Everyone is welcome! Please follow the links to individual class pages for more details about the current topics and pricing.

Sunday Mornings
10:30am -12:00pm

Living Life With A Fully Engaged Heart 

WITH KADAM DONNA CAMPANELLI

VAJRA LIGHT KADAMPA BUDDHIST CENTER
875 MAMARONECK AVENUE
SUITE 205
MAMARONECK, NY 10543

Continuing our ongoing series on the essential insights that make up the Buddhist path to enlightenment, also known as Lamrim.

In this series, we will be looking at the teachings that make up the great scope, those teachings that enable us to actualize our highest potential. This means we will be exploring the profound insights that enable us to open our hearts to others with love and compassion. Instead of being locked in self-centered views of ourselves, others and our world, we will come to understand the interdependence of everyone. The love and compassion we experience as a result changes everything; it will open us up to the extraordinary possibilities for joy, connection and enlightenment that this life offers us.

Everyone welcome; suitable for both beginners and experienced meditators.

Wednesday Evenings
7:00pm - 8:30pm

Finding Tranquility
Discovering Inner Stillness

WITH Kadam Donna Campanelli

The best gift we can give ourselves is an understanding and insight into the peaceful pure nature of our mind. In this series, Kadam Donna will teach a meditation known as absorption of cessation. This meditation quickly frees our mind from distraction and enables us to experience a more subtle, spacious and joyful mind. Combining this method with Buddha’s teaching on transforming the mind opens us to our potential for real change and enables us to quickly liberate ourselves from painful habits such as anger, hurt and compulsions.

In these teachings, we will explore the possibilities for truly transforming our lives and becoming the confident, joyful, creative and beneficial person we all long to be. 

Everyone welcome; suitable for both beginners and experienced meditators.

Friday Mornings in Nyack
10:30 - 11:45am

How to Change Negative Patterns of Thought

WITH Julia Rust

NYACK LIBRARY
59 S. BROADWAY
NYACK, NY 10960

IN THE COMMUNITY MEETING ROOM

Happiness and suffering are merely states of mind. So if we are to experience the happiness we all long for we must learn how to connect with that state of mind and not the ones that cause us so much pain.

Part of this process entails identifying our negative patterns of thought so that we can begin to learn to let them go. This will allow us to actively replace those painful thoughts with the positive states of mind that lead to happiness.

Special Events

Discovering The Beauty Of Our Mind
Half-Day Course

Saturday, May 18
10:00am - 1:00pm (with tea break)

with kadam donna campanelli

Our mind creates our reality. This challenging statement is the truth. Through engaging in the meditation on the nature of the mind we can come to understand this directly for ourselves. We tend to relate to our mind as if it were something fixed and in particular we can easily get stuck in bad mental habits, such as unhappiness and frustration. By exploring the mind in meditation, we uncover something profoundly beautiful - a potential to create limitless peace, love, compassion and wisdom.

In this half-day course, Kadam Donna will clearly explain the nature of the mind, guide us in these meditations, and show us how to integrate this wisdom into our life. This will open us up to a life of extraordinary beauty, meaning and joy.

The Source of Happiness & Goodness
Weekend Retreat at Kadampa Meditation Center New York

FRIDAY, JUNE 7 – SUNDAY, JUNE 9

WITH KADAM DONNA CAMPANELLI & GEN CHOGYOP

Kadampa Meditation Center New York
47 Sweeney Rd
Glen Spey, NY 12737

Join us for our first ever community weekend retreat, a collaborative effort by Vajra Light, Menlha KMC and Dharmachakra Centers. This event not only provides the chance to receive teachings and engage in meditation but also offers the opportunity to connect with fellow practitioners from Vajra Light and the surrounding region. This retereat will be led by Kadam Donna and Gen Chogyp, the resident teacher at Menlha KMC and Dharmachakra KBC.

NKT IKBU International Spring Festival 2024

Dorje Shugden Empowerment and teachings on the Extensive Protector Puja

WITH GEN-LA KELSANG JAMPA, DEPUTY SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR OF NKT-IKBU

MAY 24 - 29, 2024, AT MANJUSHRI KMC, UK

Accomplishing the Great Wisdom Protection

Dorje Shugden Empowerment and teachings on the Extensive Protector Puja with Gen-la Kelsang Jampa

Dorje Shugden is a Dharma Protector emanation of the Wisdom Buddha who averts obstacles to our spiritual practice and gathers necessary conditions for our attaining spiritual realizations.

During this Festival, Gen-la Kelsang Jampa will grant the Blessing Empowerment of Dorje Shugden.

Then, based on instructions received from Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, he will teach on the Melodious Drum practice, the ‘Fulfilling and Restoring Ritual’, which is usually performed monthly in Kadampa centers.

NKT IKBU International Summer Festival 2024

Prajnaparamita Empowerment and Teachings on the Heart Sutra.

And COMMENTARY TO BLISSFUL PATH AND THE UNCOMMON YOGA OF INCONCEIVABILITY

WITH GEN-LA KELSANG DEKYONG, GENERAL SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR OF NKT IKBU AND GEN-LA KELSANG JAMPA, DEPUTY SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR OF NKT-IKBU

JULY 26 - AUGUST 10, 2024, AT MANJUSHRI KMC, UK

In October 2013, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche gave his last public teachings in Portugal.
During these teachings Geshe-la granted the empowerment of Great Mother Prajnaparamita, taught the Essence of Wisdom Sutra (Heart Sutra), which contains the heart essence of Buddha’s perfection of wisdom teachings, and gave commentaries to The Blissful Path, the condensed self-generation sadhana practice of Buddha Vajrayogini and to The Uncommon Yoga of Inconceivability, the special instruction of how to reach the Pure Land of Vajrayogini with our present human body.

NKT IKBU International Fall Festival 2024

The Gateway To Highest Yoga Tantra
Highest Yoga Tantra Empowerments of Heruka & Vajrayogini & Commentary

WITH GEN-LA KELSANG DEKYONG, GENERAL SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR OF NKT IKBU

OCTOBER 25 - NOVEMBER 4 - AT KMC BRAZIL

As Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche explains in Modern Buddhism, the gateway through which we enter Tantra is receiving a Tantric empowerment. This bestows upon us special blessings that heal our mental continuum and awaken our Buddha nature. In this Festival Gen-la Dekyong will grant the empowerments of the principal Deities of Highest Yoga Tantra – Heruka and Vajrayogini – and introduce their essential practices.

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