Hotel Kadampa Italy

November 1st

Montecatini-Terme, location of the NKT Fall Festival, is a charming, tree-lined Tuscan spa town with lovely views around every corner. It is a destination for international visitors who come to enjoy its famous hot baths and a complete range of healing water therapies.

This week Montecatini is buzzing with the activity surrounding our Festival. Between sessions, the streets, shops and local accommodations are full of happy Kadampas.

The event venue is an easy walk from Hotel Kadampa Italy. The Hotel beautifully reflects the Buddhist principles of cherishing others and giving them happiness. It offers 34 rooms and a World Peace Café. Its beautiful meditation room is open to guests and the general public.

Meditation
Following yesterday’s teaching, Gen Wangden helped us recall that we’ll seek sincere, qualified refuge in the Three Jewels if we believe that temporary freedom from suffering for ourselves and others is not good enough. Yearning for permanent freedom, we generated the determination to accomplish it by applying effort to receive Buddha’s blessings, Sangha’s help and to put Dharma into practice.

Teachings
In this second day of commentary to Medicine Buddha Sadhana, Gen-la Dekyong encouraged us to strengthen our wish to come under the influence of Medicine Buddha so that we can be of profound service to others. She reminded us that when we plant seeds of faith within the Field of Merit, spending time with Medicine Guru as often as we can, these seeds will ripen as future happiness and realizations.

If we visualize with a faithful mind that Medicine Buddha (who is not separate from our Spiritual Guide) is with us throughout our life, we can communicate with him all the time and he’ll continually pour down his blessings and inspiration. Faith is the life force of our spiritual practice!