Mahamudra Kadampa Meditation Center
Mahamudra Kadampa Meditation Center is a small meditation center in Hermosa Beach, CA, that acts as a “peaceful place of refuge and spiritual encouragement.” They are a specifically Kadampa Buddhist center, that specializes in meditation practices and retreats to help individuals live better lives in the day to day. MKMC is a good example of ‘convert Buddhism,’ as most of what they stress in their practice relates to individual interior ways of bettering the members’ psychological health. They believe that they can help their members solve daily problems by “transform[ing] the way they perceive themselves, others, and the world.” They aim to heal their members’ mental pain through direct application of Buddha’s teaching. They believe that, specifically through Kadampa Buddhist meditation, they can help their members ‘cultivate good qualities,’ and in so doing, recreate the way they see themselves in the world. There is a particular emphasis on not only the healing of the individual, but the healing of the world through the individual, which is typical of the Mahayana tradition. The last heading on the section of their website describing the center is about developing individual spiritual potential, and it states that they can each gradually reach enlightenment in order to be a benefit to the world.
Founder
The founder of the MKMC is Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, who only just unfortunately died in September of 2022. He was the founder and spiritual guide of around 1300 other centers in over 50 countries. Venerable Geshe’s life project was world peace. He believed that the attainment of world peace could come from a foundation of peace within the individual’s heart, which is found in the teachings of the Buddha. Venerable Geshe studied the Buddha’s teachings in his youth, then spent 20 years meditating in the Himalayas, until he was brought to become a teacher in the west in 1977 at Manjrushi Center. Since then, he has made it his goal to spread the Buddha’s teachings to as many people as possible regardless of who they are or what their limitations may be. The MKMC’s website notes the simplicity of Venerable Geshe’s message—all of the world’s troubles exist in the mind of the individual, and through right practice, may be solved towards peace, beginning in the individual and spreading back to the world. He stressed meditation and individual personal happiness in its application to daily life, and he was an astute model of what he preached.
Kadampa Buddhism
Kadampa is a school of Buddhism founded by Atisha who lived in the tenth and eleventh centuries. ‘Ka’ means word, ‘dam’ is the instructions that Atisha gave for reaching enlightenment, and ‘pa’ is the follower of this particular strand of Buddhism. It stresses the integration of all of Buddha’s teachings into the daily practice of its followers. The MKMC website emphasizes the purity of the teachers of Kadampa Buddhism, because of their desire to see Buddhism reach every aspect of their lives. It claims that the authenticity of the Buddhist tradition is “ensured through the continuation of an unbroken lineage of realized practitioners.” Kadampa was brought to the west by the center’s founder, Venerable Geshe.
Teachers
One of the resident teachers, Gen Kelsang Tsoglam, had been teaching and closely working under Venerable Geshe for the last 20 years. Before coming to this center, she taught in a similar place on the east coast. Another resident teacher, Kelsang Rak-ma, is an American Buddhist nun who operates out of the Los Angeles Kadampa meditation center. The rest of the teachers are laymen so to speak, and enjoy the light that Kadampa meditation brings to their lives, bringing their own personalities to the center in their instruction. It is representative of convert Buddhism, because it is more about how Buddhist practice touches their understanding of life, rather than attempting to reconstruct their worldview based on Buddhist mythology.
Classes
They have drop-in meditation classes on Sunday, Monday, and Thursday. In these, they teach that “Dharma is the actual method to solve our human problems.” They put this into practice through digesting what Kadampa Buddhism is intellectually, and following it through in meditation. Some classes focus more on practical solutions to problems such as daily stress and anxiety, and others serve more as a way to understand and delve into what it means to be a Buddhist.
Events and Retreats
They have events geared towards the Buddhist goals of psychological and physical well-being. These are typically paid, and are run by the more experienced teachers available to the center. One example of a retreat is their ‘Ocean of Peace’ silent retreat, that guides the participant through meditation practices in order to gain better mental clarity. It is for three or five days, there are four sessions each day, they use ‘Heart Jewel Prayers,’ and the cost is $90 for three days and $145 for five. This particular retreat is hosted by the resident teacher, Gen Kelsang Tsoglam.
Prayer
Despite being mostly aligned with convert Buddhism, and thus focusing mostly on meditation and practice, there is also a tradition of prayer within MKMC. They use Pujas (chanted prayer) to help them in their spiritual growth. An example of a Puja they chant is the ‘Medicine Buddha Prayer,’ which is said to aid in mental and physical health recovery through the help of the Medicine Buddha. They emphasize that the health they gain from the Buddha doctor can in turn help them to be a healing presence to others.
Summary and Conclusion
I was very impressed with what Mahamudra Kadampa Meditation Center did with the small space they own and work with. When I told my parents that I was going to a meditation center in the South Bay, they were surprised because real estate is hard to find and it is a predominantly Christian part of California. The center itself is a small building off of a sidestreet in a neighborhood. On the outside, it does not look like much; but the inside is well equipped with its own small community room, bookstore, and out-door sitting area. When I visited, I was not aware of the time, and had only gone in the hopes of looking around. There happened to be a meditation class going on, and as I walked by, I was invited in and allowed to walk about and look at everything while the class was in session. They even said I would be welcome to join them in all politeness, despite that I had rudely interrupted the teacher in the middle of a story they were telling. In a box on the outside, there were small pamphlets containing information about the center and upcoming dates of different events and meditation classes. On the front of the pamphlet was a large print of the words, “meditate. feel better. repeat.” I felt that this was a good summary of the philosophy of the Mahamudra Kadampa Meditation Center, and of convert Buddhism as a whole.
As someone who has lived in the South Bay for most of my life, I think that an immigrant Buddhist temple would be a strange sight in Manhattan or Hermosa Beach. But as someone who finds Buddhist teachings beneficial, it made me glad to find a center that—in my opinion—integrated Buddhism into the culture of the area in the most efficient and seemly manner possible. It is a convert Buddhism with a healthy respect to the wider tradition that it came from. It does not shirk the mythological elements and seek to be rid of them altogether, and indeed two of the teachers are closer to that tradition in their vocation. However, it is not opposed to surrounding culture for the sake of a mythology that is far removed from it. I believe that their founder, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, did a brilliant job of bringing Kadampa Buddhism to the west, and that the MKMC is emblematic of his work. There is a large poster of Venerable Geshe within the center, and it appears that they try to live and work closely to him as a teacher. Lastly, I was touched by the welcoming attitude and warm atmosphere of the place itself, and, regardless of whether one adheres to the Buddhist philosophy or not, I believe that the Mahamudra Kadampa Meditation Center is doing a good job at practicing Mahayana Buddhism, and in keeping close to the teaching of Venerable Geshe, is benefiting the world as a result.
By: Travis Slocumb
Source:
All photos are from the above website and: https://kadampa.org/the-founder