ABOUT THE GAMPOPA CENTER
Buddhist Center in Annapolis, MD
Our Center
The Gampopa Center is a spiritual community, where we learn and practice the teachings (philosophy, meditation, and science of mind) of the Buddha. Our Dharma center holds a variety of spiritual practices, ranging from meditation to philosophical study and sadhana practices.
Rooted in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the Gampopa Center draws on the teachings and practices of countless realized figures across many different lineages and schools of thought. When it comes to Dharma studies and activities, we consider ourselves as nonsectarian followers of the Buddha, whereby we invite Dharma teachers from all major traditions of Buddhism, to teach Dharma in ways that preserve those different traditions. However, when we are doing more serious and specific Dharma practices, we follow the Kadam masters and the Kagyu lineage of Vajrayana.
Our Community & History
The Gampopa Center was founded in 2009 in Annapolis, Maryland, by Lama Phurbu Tashi Rinpoche, based on the Buddhist understanding that the teachings of the Buddha can bring us peace, happiness, and freedom.
Rinpoche’s students were excited to welcome a qualified Tibetan Buddhist teacher into the community and wanted to provide a place for learning and practicing Dharma—the teachings of the Buddha.
In accord with this vision, the Gampopa Center holds weekly study sessions, short courses, and special events at our Annapolis location. Our location offers the perfect environment for friends and members to fully experience the teachings. Inspired by the great 11th century teacher Gampopa, the center’s namesake, the Sangha strives to enable others to receive direct insights into the teachings of the Buddha.
As a growing community of lay Dharma practitioners, we are grounded in, but not limited to, the Karma Kagyü lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Since 2009, our continuing objective is to sustain a Sangha or a virtuous community in Annapolis. The Center’s mission is to offer an authentic tradition and make it relevant to the lives of modern-day people.
Our Vision
We facilitate the making of a Buddhist community that is proactive in learning, studying, and practicing the noble teachings of the Buddha, achieving enlightenment, and is energetic in benefiting all sentient beings. Beside that, our community center is dedicated to sharing and sustaining Buddhist teachings and practices.
Our doors are open to all who seek a deeper, truer, and more significant experience of life— from the general public to Buddhist practitioners of all levels.
Our Mission
In keeping with the Bodhisattva’s vow to alleviate the suffering of all sentient beings, our mission is to be a source of spiritual refuge, respite, and wellness to all who choose to come through our doors.
For those who seek guidance on the Buddhist path, we will provide it.
For those with an interest in meditation, we will share our knowledge.
For those who want to alleviate suffering, we will offer assistance based upon our experience and practice of teachings.
Our Namesake
Our non-profit organization is named after Gampopa Sonam Rinchen (1079-1153), the chief disciple of Milarepa, who studied under Marpa. Together, they were known as The Three Masters of the Kagyu lineage.
Gampopa, a scholar, doctor, and Tantric guru, renowned for the clarity of his teachings, established the foundation of the Kagyu school, as we know today, by synthesizing the monastic tradition and structured instructions of the Kadam practice with the oral teachings of Mahamudra.
Gampopa first studied as a Kadam monk for six years, practicing the stages of the path, lamrim (tib), in a Kadam monastery. At the age of 32, he met the ascetic yogi, Milarepa, from whom he studied the Mahamudra teachings of the nature of mind and the Six Yogas of Naropa.
Prior to Gampopa, Mahamudra, like most Tantric practices at the time, was largely undertaken by householder yogis practicing in remote places. Gampopa codified these ascetic teachings and founded the Dakhla Gampo Monastery as the first center for learning Kagyu methods in a structured, community-based monastic setting. His seminal work, The Ornament of Precious Liberation is the core text for Kagyu and the first lamrim written in Tibetan, being the source upon which all later lamrim texts are based.
Gampopa, our namesake lineage master, thus inspires our organization to have clarity in our intentions, to be systematic in our approach, and to build centers of learning, in order to spread the authentic Dharma for the liberation of all beings.
