Lama Jampa’s April Visit to Sakya Buddhist Center 15th April 2017 Lama Jampa’s visited Sakya Buddhist Center from March 30th to April 8th to give an extended week of teachings, initiations and appointments to students. The teachings were the continuation of the text ‘Rain of Clarity – The Stages of the Path in the Sakya Tradition’, which was recently digitally published on Amazon as an e-book. Teachings on Madhyamaka Lama Jampa began the teachings on April 1st continuing the detailed presentation of Madhyamaka philosophy, the means to clear away the mistaken ideas and views that we have accumulated about the world and then project onto reality. The text covered the history of the transmission of Madhyamaka in India and Tibet and how the view was transmitted and upheld as the ‘middle way free from extremes’ within the Sakya tradition. Then, the following Saturday, Lama Jampa began the explanation of the teachings themselves, covering conventional and ultimate truth and ‘personal selflessness’, the process of examination to overcome the clinging to the existence of a permanent, singular self. A study group will start in mid-April to go over the text, before Lama Jampa returns on July 6th to continue the teachings. Initiations During his visit Lama Jampa gave two initiations. The first Saturday was the Initiation of White Mahakala or Gonkar, originally from the Shangpa Kagyu lineage and now preserved in the Sakya tradition. The second Saturday Lama Jampa gave the initiation of Namgyalma, the goddess of wisdom and longevity from the lineage of Bari Lotsawa.