Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center provides “Modern Buddhism & Meditation for Everyone”, offering classes in Lambertville, Princeton, and High Bridge in New Jersey and in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. It teaches the New Kadampa Tradition, a Buddhist lineage established by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in 1991.
History & Lineage
The Kadampa school of Mahayana Buddhism was founded by Indian Buddhist leader Atisha (AD 982-1054.) The tradition centers on Atisha’s Bodhipathapradīpa (“The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment”), which interprets a series of Mahayana sutras attributed to Shakyamuni Buddha as instructions for a sequential path to Liberation, called Lamrim.
Tibetan yogi Je Tsongkhapa (AD 1357-1419), traditionally regarded as an emanation of the bodhisattva of wisdom Manjushri, integrated and spread Kadampa lineages across Tibet, forming the “New Kadampa”, or Gelugpa school. The Gelug school would flourish into the lineage from which the Dalai Lamas hail.
In 1991, Tibetan monk Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso established the “New Kadampa Tradition” in the spirit of making meditation accessible for 21st-century practitioners and “following the pure tradition of Je Tsongkhapa”, in Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s words. The
Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
New Kadampa Tradition does not observe the religious authority of the Dalai Lama and brands itself as a Mahayana school with Tibetan roots rather than a lineage tied to Tibetan culture and religious expression. While the New Kadampa school acknowledges the validity of the four Tibetan Buddhist schools, it retains its distance from these lineages to more easily integrate into Western culture.
The Lambertville Chamber of Commerce reports that the Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center celebrates its 25th year in 2023. The center’s main teacher, Gen Kelsang Chogyop, previously taught at a New Kadampa center in New York City. The content presented by Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center’s online presence is near-identical to other Kadampa Meditation Centers’ sites, indicating that the Menlha center has not differentiated from Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s teachings.
New Kadampa Practice at Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center
Like other centers of the New Kadampa Tradition, the Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center interprets the path to Liberation through Lamrim, progressive instruction through the sutras to be applied to everyday practice.
The New Kadampa Tradition also prioritizes Lojong, discipline of the mind, to transform suffering into progress along the path. Further, they cite Je Tsongkhapa’s combination of Lojong with Mahamudra Tantra, the “Great Seal” practice, as the marriage of sutric and tantric approaches that defines the modern movement. Rather than seeing Geshe Kelsang Gyatso as an innovator to this practice, they view him as a defender of Je Tsongkhapa’s original instruction.
The Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center celebrates Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, the lineage’s founder, who passed away in 2022. Its approach to meditation is thus highly informed by Gyatso’s interpretation of the practice. Gyatso writes in his New Meditation Handbook (preview linked):
“Meditation is a mind that concentrates on a virtuous object, and that is the main cause of mental peace. The practice of meditation is a method for acquainting our mind with virtue.”
The handbook outlines a 21-day cycle of meditations meant to touch on all of the Buddha’s teachings and includes themes such as “Our Precious Human Life”, “Developing Equanimity”, and “Relying Upon a Spiritual Guide.” Additionally, the handbook provides multiple levels of depth to suit each meditator’s desired immersion in the practice.
Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center also practices puja, prayer and devotional practice. These include the Heart Jewel (see Dorje Shugden & Controversy in the New Kadampa Tradition), the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, Bodhisattva’s Confession of Moral Downfalls, Dakini Yoga, Avalokiteshvara Sadhana, and prayer for the recently deceased. These are practiced monthly and are accompanied by prayer books.
Dorje Shugden & Controversy in the New Kadampa Tradition
Dorje Shugden is a being traditionally seen as a Dharma protector of Je Tsongkhapa’s lineage and has consequently gained central importance to the New Kadampa Tradition, which sees itself as heirs to Je Tsongkhapa’s original teachings. Prior to the New Kadampa Tradition, Dorje Shugden became a symbol of the Gelug school’s self-perceived supremacy over the Kagyu, Sakya, and Nyingma, the other Tibetan schools. In an ecumenical spirit, the 14th Dalai Lama banned the veneration of Dorje Shugden among his followers, and the being took on a demon-like connotation in the Gelugpa imagination.
In response to the ban, the New Kadampa Tradition doubled-down on its Dorje Shugden practice, and the Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso instigated protests against the Dalai Lama’s decree. The CCP has intervened in the controversy, covertly leveraging the New Kadampa Tradition’s disagreement with the Dalai Lama on this issue as a tool to undermine Tibetan Buddhist culture. Many of these protestors are not ethnic Tibetan practitioners but Western converts to the New Kadampa Tradition.
The New Kadampa Tradition’s stance on Dorje Shugden makes it stand out among Buddhist traditions. The Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center describes the “Heart Jewel”, a Dorje Shugden practice, as the heart of the New Kadampa Tradition. The center offers a 4-week series on the Heart Jewel taught by its main teacher Gen Kelsang Chogyop, accompanied by a prayerbook. The center describes Dorje Shugden as a “Wisdom Protector” to whom practitioners can make daily prayer and supplication.
The New Kadampa Practitioner in the Buddhist World
The New Kadampa Tradition explains that Dorje Shugden is an emanation of the bodhisattva of wisdom, Manjushri. Because of the practitioner’s particular karma, Dorje Shugden is the ideal embodiment of wisdom for members of the New Kadampa Tradition rather than any other deity or bodhisattva. As he is identified with a bodhisattva, whose business is to aid all beings in their liberation, members of this tradition acknowledge that Dorje Shugden is a protective force in all practitioners lives, and that followers of the New Kadampa Tradition have the opportunity to cultivate a special connection to this being.
Due to the controversy surrounding Dorje Shugden devotion, practitioners of this tradition have strained relations with the Dalai Lama’s Gelugpa school. Dr. David Kay, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism who studied the New Kadampa Tradition for his PhD thesis, writes that “Some [New Kadampa Tradition] practitioners are absolutely certain this is the last opportunity to find pure Buddhism in the world, and that everything else is corrupt.” A former monastic of from this tradition recalls “how completely isolated that group is from the rest of the whole Buddhist world.” While some of this isolation might result from the New Kadampa Tradition’s aspiration to prime the Buddhist teachings for an modern, Western audience, the Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center only provides and teaches from the writing and commentaries of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, leaving its members disconnected from the broader Buddhist context.
Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center Demographics
Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center opens its doors to “any age; any gender; any race; any sexuality; any background; any religion; any income level.” The center’s website and Facebook are only available in English.
Both monastic and lay teachers teach at Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center locations. Gen Kelsang Chogyop, a Buddhist nun and close disciple of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, is the center’s main teacher. She is a convert to New Kadampa Buddhism. Local teachers are laymen and laywomen who emphasize meditation guidance rather than Dharma talks or other liturgical activity.
Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center advertises offerings for non-Buddhists, new practitioners, and New Kadampa Buddhists alike, in addition to a “Corporate Wellness Program.” While the center does not publish the ethnic background of its membership, the New Kadampa tradition is designed with Westerners in mind and does not subscribe to Theravada, Mahayana, or Tibetan cultural milieu most familiar to an immigrant Buddhist audience.
Membership to the Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center is tiered and requires financial contribution, although pay-per-class options are available for non-members.
Ritual and Programming
Classes
Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center offers a rich suite of programming for its members. Its classes include Dharma talks, Dharma conversations, and guided meditations lasting for two and a half hours. They also offer walk-in classes for a small price that last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Other classes are geared as introductions to Buddhist practice as a whole.
Events
Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center programs a “Kids Club” designed to teach children meditation, calm their minds, and work with negative emotions. They also offer seasonal events, such as a Dharma talk inspired by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and a New Years event. Nearly every day, the center holds at least one event as seen on the center’s calendar.
Retreats
The center offers weekend retreats based on Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s commentary on the Lamrim, or arrangement of the sutras outlining the gradual process of Liberation.
Prayer, or Puja
A wide variety of group devotional practices or puja are programmed at the center (see New Kadampa Practice at Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center.) These are offered regularly each month, and certain puja like the Medicine Buddha Sadhana and the Heart Jewel are offered on a weekly basis. Puja are free of charge and offered in-person.
Foundation Program
The Foundation Program is an “in-depth study program for busy, modern people” on texts like the New Eight Steps of Happiness, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s commentary on Geshe Langri Thangpa’s Eight Verses for Training the Mind. The class meets weekly over a month in-person with streaming options available.
Teacher Training Program
The Teacher Training Program meets weekly to discuss Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s commentary on texts like Shantideva’s verses on the Bodhisattva Way of Life and other important Mahayana texts. The teaching trainer program prepares members to become resident teachers.
Online Resources
Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center’s website provides podcasts in the New Kadampa Tradition and free eBook downloads.
Contact Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center
Email the Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center at this link:
https://www.meditationinnewjersey.org/contact-us
Or call the Lambertsville location at 609.397.4828.
Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center is a 501(c)3 volunteer-led charitable organization.
Sources
Menlha Kadampa Meditation Center: https://www.meditationinnewjersey.org/
New Kadampa Tradition site: https://kadampa.org/news
Dorje Shugden & The Gelugpa Schism: https://medium.com/leaving-the-sangha/dorje-shugden-the-gelugpa-schism-e87626a36f0a
Reuters: China co-opts a Buddhist sect in global effort to smear Dalai Lama: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/china-dalailama/
BuddhistDoor Global: The Exclusivism of the New Kadampa Tradition: The French Example: https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/the-exclusivism-of-the-new-kadampa-tradition-the-french-example/
Lambertville, NJ Chamber: https://www.lambertvillechamber.com/member_listing/menlha-kadampa-buddhist-center/
Ven. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, The New Meditation Handbook preview: https://tharpa.com/media/pdf_samples/en-uk/New-Meditation-Handbook_Preview.pdf
Atisha Dipamkarashrijnana, Bodhipathapradīpa (“The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment”) tr. Ruth Sonam: https://www.drepunggomangusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/English-Root-Text-BodhipathapradIpa.pdf
by Ben Steinman