Vajradhara Buddhist Center

Kadampa Buddhism is an accessible form of Buddhism for English speaking people. We are blessed to have Gen Tilopa who became a monk in Scotland and immigrated to the U.S. The center is a welcoming place where one can learn the tenets of Buddhism and also how to meditate. To improve one’s outlook on life will be the end result.

Gen Tilopa was my first meditation teacher (whom I first met in Atlanta). I highly recommend his teachings of Modern Buddhism in Charlotte! The people at his Center are very warm and kind and open to everyone. Highly recommended!

Wednesday night they have a 6 week Intro to meditation class. It’s a bit long but very insightful and informative. Definitely recommended for beginners. Eric is great at answering questions and making you feel comfortable. Its not an easy task to keep you mind at ease and focused but this is a great place to start.

This is a Buddhist center but if you just want to learn how to meditate, they have a 6 week course for $ 5 per session on Wednesday evenings. They continuously run these lessons and you can drop in any time. I went to several sessions and they were very helpful, unobtrusive and full of useful techniques. Eric who taught the classes over the summer while the principal instructor was away is awesome. He has a very calming approach and is patient with students questions.
The introductory lessons are not strictly Buddhist so if you are just curious about meditation and want to learn ways to relax it’s a fun way to start. Meditation is one of those things that improves with practice. No matter how much you read about it, the best way to learn is by doing and the guided meditations here are relaxing and informative.
You can get a great introduction to meditation without any obligation to sign up for anything or deal with heavy handed approaches. I was grateful for the amount of information provided at these sessions. The worst thing that happened was I got a case of the giggles and had to close my eyes and put my hand over my face until serenity was restored.