New Kadampa Tradition
Duldzin Kadampa Buddhist Centre is the principal centre of the New Kadampa Tradition - International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU), for Merseyside, north of the Mersey.
The NKT-IKBU is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition founded by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. Geshe Kelsang gave the tradition this name to inspire his students to follow the Kadampa practitioners of ancient times who were renowned for the sincerity and purity of their practice.
About 1600 years after Buddha passed away lived a great Indian Buddhist Master named Atisha. Venerable Atisha, who is sometimes known as the second Buddha, created a very special arrangement of Buddha's teachings called 'The stages of the path to enlightenment' or 'Lamrim' in Tibetan and his followers were known as Kadampas. 'Ka' refers to all of Buddha's Teachings, 'dam' refers to Atisha's special arrangement of them and 'pa' to a person who practices them. So a Kadampa is someone who takes all Buddhas teachings as personal advice and puts them into practice in thier daily life. The Kadampas put special emphasis on transforming the adverse conditions of life into the path to enlightenment. After Atisha passed away, the Kadampa Tradition was handed down through various Buddhist Masters such as Je Tsongkhapa and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche to Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.
Since arriving in the West in 1977 Venerable Geshe Kelsang has worked tirelessly to flourish the Kadampa Tradition in the West. To this end he founded the New Kadampa Tradition to make these precious teachings available to people of modern times. There are now over 1100 New Kadampa Tradition centres and branches in over 40 countries throughout the world, together with hundreds of Kadampa monks and nuns and qualified lay teachers.
Geshe Kelsang has also written 20 highly acclaimed books on Kadampa Buddhism, ranging from Buddha's basic teachings up to the highest tantric instructions. All of his books are commentaries to the works of previous Kadampa Masters. Studying and engaging in meditation retreat on these teachings is at the heart of the New Kadampa Tradition.
Every year the New Kadampa Tradition organizes Buddhist Festivals around the world which provide a great opportunity for people from all walks of life to meet up and enjoy Buddha's teachings and engage in meditation.
Geshe Kelsang has also established the New Kadampa Tradition International Temples Project (ITP) with the vision of a Buddhist Temple in every major city in the world.
The main aim of the NKT-IKBU is to guide others to the experience of permanent inner peace, through providing all the means for studying and practising the complete lineage of Buddha's teachings handed down through the great Kadampa Masters of old such as Venerable Atisha and Je Tsongkhapa, to our present day precious Spiritual Guide, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.
