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Group Meditation, Lama Tashi Reflection, and 2025 Dharma Planning

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Join us on Dec. 7 and Dec. 21 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm at Unity of Charlottesville’s Fillmore House for group meditation, reflection on Lama Tashi’s visit and teachings, and a discussion of future Dharma topics that would be of greatest benefit to the JTS community and beyond.

We start at 1:00 p.m. with short Buddhist prayers and then have a longer group meditation.  This is followed by discussion, and we would love to get your feedback on which of the session topics below you’d be interested in for 2025.  We set aside 2:30 – 3:00 for each session for socializing time, with tea and snacks.

Here are the topics being considered:

  1. A continuation of the book study on The Art of Happiness, by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Prior to Lama Tashi’s visit, we completed the first two of five sections of this book, and we would be happy to complete our study of this book if the JTS community is interested. Please bring your copy of the book this Saturday if you have one and participated in some of our previous sessions.

  2. A deeper look at the Heart Sutra practice. We were fortunate to receive Lama Tashi‘s teaching on this significant work, and can hold space for further practice, study and discussion of this profound topic. A number of excellent books have been identified which can deepen our practice.

  3. An open space for practice and continued discussion of Lama Tashi‘s teaching, mantra & meditation practice topics, such as on Tara, Manjushri and Vajrapani, or on the Tibetan Buddhist practices around death and dying. We are open to a discussion of people’s personal explorations following Lama Tashi‘s teachings.

Please register using these links if you are able to attend:
We will be happy to bring tea and snacks accordingly.

If you are unable to attend either of the Dec. meetings, we would still love to hear from you!  Email us at JTS108Va@gmail.com to indicate your interest in JTS programming in the 2025 year, and to let us know if you’d be interested in helping out with any number of different volunteer opportunities such as assistance with social media, website, providing other computer skills, help with set-up and break down at events, fundraising, or program planning.

Please provide your input on programming for Lama Tashi’s return this Fall

Matthew Fritts Leave a comment

The Jefferson Tibetan Society is pleased to announce the return of Lama Tashi this Fall! We are looking forward to offering programming that suits the needs and dispositions of the Charlottesville community. Please help us design the experiences that will be of most benefit to you by completing this short survey. Your feedback is much appreciated!

https://bit.ly/LamaTashiFall2024 

Celebration of H.H. the Dalai Lama’s 89th birthday

Matthew Fritts 1 Comment

On Saturday, July 6th at 1:00 p.m at Unity of Charlottesville’s Fillmore House, join us in celebration of H.H. the Dalai Lama’s 89th birthday, with meditation, long life prayers for His Holiness, recitation of the Heart Sutra, and a Dharma talk on understanding the Heart Sutra practice in the context of Buddha’s teachings on the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma, followed by social time with some birthday cake! Advance registration is strongly encouraged; walk-ins are welcome.

Art of Happiness Series: Connecting Study and Meditation Practice

Matthew Fritts Leave a comment

Beginning April 20, join us on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m at Unity of Charlottesville’s Fillmore House for a new reflection and meditation series based on H.H. the Dalai Lama and psychiatrist Howard Cutler’s bestselling book, The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living. Learn more about the series here. Advance registration is requested due to space limitations. To register for individual events in the series, visit our calendar of events.

Our Lineage of Practice

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The Jefferson TIbetan Society’s primary function is to provide teaching & meditation practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, as exemplified for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings. Our center has a long history from the Ri-mey (non-sectarian) tradition.  For many years, we sponsored teachings from all 4 schools of the Tibetan tradition, as well as some Theravadin teachings.  Our resident teachers have been from the Geluk-pa tradition.

Our first teacher was Khensur Yeshi Thupten, a renowned abbot from Drepung Loseling Monastery.  He came from India to teach at U.Va. and we sponsored weekly classes for him in the community for many years to provide opportunities for the general public to have access to such a great lama.

After Khensur Yeshi Thupten returned to India, his student Geshe Jampel Thardo became the resident lama of Jefferson Tibetan Society where he taught for more than 25 years.    H.H. the Dalai Lama had a deep fondness for Geshe-la & described him as one of his best monks in America.  Geshe-la was a deep meditation practitioner & taught the classic Mahayana texts each week at our center, as well as leading retreats.   At the time of his passing, Geshe-la demonstrated physical signs of a very high level of realization demonstrating the ability to have complete control of the death process.  We are so grateful for all the guidance he provided to our sangha and the central Virginia community.  As it was Geshe-la’s wish for our Dharma center to continue to function as a teaching & practice center, we continue to offer on-going opportunities for study and practice.