Tara Kadampa Meditation Centre Etwall

What is meditation?

Meditation is a way to improve our experience of daily life and relationships with others by finding an quiet inner space which focuses on happy, peaceful thoughts.Tara Kadampa Meditation Centre is a place where anyone is welcome to visit and try meditation at one of our regular meditation classes, either at the centre or in many locations in and around Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

We also have classes on Buddha’s teachings, and how they are as relevant and practical to our modern world as they were when he explained his ideas 2500 years ago.In addition to the study programmes, we have a variety of day courses and meditation retreats which give you the chance to spend some quality time on developing a peaceful, happy mind.

Tara Centre is home to a vibrant, diverse community of people who have found happiness from an inner source. Please come along and find out more, or visit our facebook page to see what we’re up to.You might also like to pop in for a drink or snack at our newly refurbished World Peace Cafe, and let the kids loose our small but perfectly formed playground.

Tara Kadampa Meditation Centre is a member of the New Kadampa Tradition International Buddhist Union (NKT-IBU). This organisation was founded by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, affectionately known as Geshe-la, a Tibetan Buddhist monk who moved to the United Kingdom in the 1970s.

Over the years, he has given hundreds of teaching to tens of thousands of people, and opened over 1000 Buddhist meditation centres around the world.A prolific author, he has written 23 books on Buddhism and meditation. These texts, which range from beginner to advanced, explain clearly how Buddha’s wisdom can be applied to our modern world. They form the basis of the three study programmes that NKT centres offer: the general, foundation and teacher training programmes.

The lineage of Geshe-la’s teachings can be traced back in an unbroken chain to then Buddhist master Atisha (AD982-1054). Atisha’s teachings were passed down until the fourteenth century when the revered Buddhist scholar Je Tsongkhapa clarified them, and made them relevant to the people of that time.

The Buddhist school that Je Tsongkhapa founded was known as the New Kadampa Tradition, which combined Buddha’s Sutra and Tantra teachings, also known as Dharma. These instructions and practices were passed on from teacher to teacher through the ages to Geshe-la, who has now clarified them and, just as Je Tsongkhapa did, made them practical and relevant to the people in our modern world.By learning meditation, and reflecting on the teachings that Buddha gave, anyone can attain a peaceful mind, and develop deep wisdom and compassion.