1/2 Day Course
DATE: Sunday, 16 April
TIME: 10 am – 1 pm
with Resident Teacher, Birgit Saunders
This course is sold-out and will be offered again next term.
Class is limited to 20 participants. Please register early to avoid missing out.
ABOUT THIS EVENT
A mala, like a rosary, is a string of beads used for keeping count while reciting, chanting, or mentally repeating a mantra. For Buddhist practitioners, this ritual object is revered as precious, becoming more powerful and meaningful the more it is used. Both beautiful and spiritual, it is often carried with them or kept very close by. Using beads of a wide variety of colours and materials, full length malas traditionally have 108 beads.
During this workshop, you will have the opportunity to make a mala to use as your personal mala, give as a gift, or donate to the centre shop.
We will also learn about the meaning of mantra, Sanskrit for ‘mind protection’, and the power and benefits of mantra recitation. We will pick a specific mantra to recite and learn how to use our mala to help us focus.
This is a simple, powerful and very beautiful method to attain a calm, controlled and positive mind, which is ultimately the cause of the supreme inner peace of enlightenment.
WHAT TO EXPECT
These classes are based on Buddha’s teachings on the mind, but you do not need to be a Buddhist to attend, or to benefit from them. There is no physical exercise involved and you can choose to sit either in a chair or on a cushion. These classes are suitable for all levels of experience.
WHERE
Amitabha Kadampa Buddhist Centre
174 Albert Street, Palmerston North
Phone: 06 355-3524
Birgit Saunders, Resident Teacher of Amitabha Kadampa Buddhist Centre
Birgit has been a student of Kadampa Buddhism since arriving in New Zealand over twelve years ago. She began teaching with Kadampa Meditation Centre in Wellington where she was also Admin Director (AD) for three years.
Since moving to Palmerston North in 2016 she worked closely with Gen Kelsang Demo as the Education Programme Co-ordinator (EPC) for the Centre and teaching classes in Dannevirke, Feilding, at the Cancer Society and Massey University, while also working at the Cancer Society.
Birgit was appointed Resident Teacher of Amitabha Kadampa Buddhist Centre at the beginning of 2020, and brings sincerity, bubbly enthusiasm and kindness to her teaching. She is always looking for ways to make Dharma practical, relevant and meaningful so that students are able to see how to use Dharma and meditation to make positive changes in their lives.