Meditation in Westchester
Vajra Light Kadampa Buddhist Center is a non-profit Buddhist meditation center in Westchester, NY, marking 25 years of offering meditation instruction and Buddhist spiritual practice. We provide meditation classes, retreats, and special events taught by qualified Western teachers. Vajra Light’s classes are easy to understand and apply to daily life, and are suitable for both beginners and more experienced 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
A New Way of Being
Realizing Our Potential and Purpose
with kadam Donna campanelli
Vajra Light kadampa Buddhist Center
875 Mamaroneck Avenue
Suite 205
Mamaroneck, NY 10543
Because our “world” is shaped by how we perceive it, Buddha taught that by changing our mind, we change our experience of life. Our inner state determines how the world appears to us.
At the heart of the Kadampa Buddhist tradition is the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Lamrim), a sequence of meditations designed to gradually transform our awareness and way of being.
In this series, we begin with the meditation on our Precious Human Life, which helps us recognize the extraordinary potential and purpose of this life, giving rise to joy, gratitude, and a strong motivation to live meaningfully.
Together, we’ll learn how to engage deeply with this meditation—not only during formal practice, but also throughout our daily lives—so its wisdom becomes a lived experience, not just a concept.
Everyone welcome; suitable for both beginners and experienced meditators.
Prayers For World Peace
Sunday Mornings
9:45am -10:15am
Vajra Light kadampa Buddhist Center
875 Mamaroneck Avenue
Suite 205
Mamaroneck, NY 10543
Join us for Prayers for World Peace, beautiful prayers set to music, that give us the opportunity to develop a warm and loving heart and to help create both inner and outer peace.
Through contemplating these prayers compiled by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, we learn to cherish all living beings. If everyone sincerely prays to be able to cherish others, then gradually through the power of this prayer, everyone will actually cherish each other. The world will then be permanently at peace, and pure and everlasting happiness will pervade the entire world.
Everyone welcome!
Wednesday Evenings
7:00pm -8:30pm
A Friend to The World
with Kadam donna campanelli
Vajra Light kadampa Buddhist Center
875 Mamaroneck Avenue
Suite 205
Mamaroneck, NY 10543
Continuing our series on The New Eight Steps to Happiness, we turn to the cultivation of a truly extraordinary state of mind known as bodhichitta. Training in bodhichitta is one of the most meaningful ways to make our life deeply purposeful.
Each of us possesses an extraordinary potential—the potential for lasting happiness and freedom, known as enlightenment. Yet this potential can only be fulfilled if we genuinely wish to realize it. That wish, born from compassion and the sincere desire to benefit others, is called bodhichitta.
In this series, we will explore the remarkable benefits that arise from this single intention, along with practical ways to develop and sustain it in our daily lives.
Everyone welcome; suitable for both beginners and experienced meditators.
Special Events
Dakini Yoga
Practice Class*
Saturday, January 24
10:00am - 12:00pm
With kadam donna campanelli
*Only for those who have received Highest Yoga Tantra (HYT) empowerments or plan to receive them at the next opportunity.
In this practice class we will engage in prayers and meditations of Dakini Yoga* sadhana that contains the essence of the self-generation practice of Vajrayogini – the female enlightened Buddha Deity of Highest Yoga Tantra who is the manifestation of the wisdom of all Buddhas.
This is an opportunity to gain familiarity with the essence of Vajrayogini Tantra so that you feel confident to do it at home and gain deep experience furthering your personal practice.
Supreme Unchanging Friend
Empowerment Weekend of Buddha Shakyamuni
March 14 - 15, 2026
With Kadam Donna Campanelli
Seating is limited, pre-registration required.
Vajra Light Buddhist Center
875 Mamaroneck Avenue
Suite 205
Mamaroneck, NY 10543
2600 years ago, Buddha Shakyamuni appeared in this world, and showed how it is possible for each one of us to attain the freedom and peace of enlightenment. Since Buddha’s teachings and methods lead us on an internal path to freedom, they continue to be powerful, beneficial and effective in present times.
During this special weekend course, Kadam Donna will grant the blessing empowerment of Buddha Shakyamuni, a beautiful guided meditation through which we receive Buddha’s inspiring blessings followed by teachings on The Liberating Prayer ~ a praise to Buddha Shakyamuni, composed by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche.
US National Festival 2026
The Heart of Reality
Prajnaparamita Empowerment & Teachings on the Heart Sutra
April 24 – 29, 2026
with Gen-la Kelsang Khyenrab
Kadampa Meditation Center New York
47 Sweeney Road , Glen Spey, NY 12737
"Form is empty, emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form. Form also is not other than emptiness. Likewise, feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness are empty…”
This is an excerpt of the Heart Sutra, viewed to be the quintessence of Buddha's explanation of emptiness, or "ultimate truth". From one point of view, it is utterly simple and a bare revelation of the truth. From another angle, it is like a beautiful puzzle to be explored and understood that will yield never-ending insights. Its raw power, when recited with a compassionate motivation, shifts the mind and empowers change.
Become a Vajra Light Member!
When you become a Member of Vajra Light Kadampa Buddhist Center you're actively supporting the flourishing of Dharma in Westchester and throughout the world.
General Membership includes:
· Unlimited General Program (GP) classes at Vajra Light
· Unlimited day courses, workshops and retreats at Vajra Light
· Live-stream availability for Sunday ONLY General Program classes
· 50% off empowerments at Vajra Light
· Three guest passes per year to GP in-person classes at VLKBC.
Free Resources
How to Transform Your Life
FREE eBook download
“Through practicing the instructions presented in this book we can transform our life from a state of misery into one of pure and everlasting happiness. These instructions are scientific methods to improve our human nature. Everybody needs to be good-natured with a good heart, because in this way we can solve our own problems as well as those of others, and we can make our human life meaningful. Every living being has the same basic wish...
The Modern Buddhism Meditation App
Modern Buddhism is a free app with guided meditations, podcasts & ebooks inspired by the great works of meditation master Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche
DISCOVER INNER PEACE IN A BUSY WORLD
The Modern Buddhism App is your free companion for learning and practicing meditation in daily life. Inspired by the profound teachings of meditation master Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, the app offers accessible tools to bring clarity, peace, and joy into your life.