The Gompa (temple or meditation hall) has been home to numerous courses, teachings, and meditation classes and continues to be a place for group learning and personal practice.


This Gompa was built on the exact spot where our founder, the great Lama Thubten Yeshe first sat to meditate in September 1974 and said, "Good place for a centre. Build the Gompa here!"

"Gom" is the Tibetan word for meditation and it means "to become familiar with".  Tibetan Buddhist meditation is intensely practical. A student will hear the teachings, then reflect on them, then engage in the deeper concentration of meditating on them. This allows a student to appreciate the teachings as a philosophy, and also to "live" the teachings; to change negative ways of behaviour into positive behaviour which will create lasting happiness for yourself and others.   

In the Gompa there are representations of some of the different manifestations of the Buddha, including Chenrezig - the Buddha of Compassion, Shakyamuni Buddha - the historical Buddha and Green Tara, a feminine manifestation embodying the Buddhist teachings (or Dharma) in action.  

During 2010 we plan extensive renovations to the Gompa to raise the ceiling height in order to accommodation a more traditional Tibetan Buddhist altar space as recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche many, many years ago. We hope the renovation process will not be too disruptive and most of the study programme will continue as normal in the "Community Hall" which will be re-purposed as the Gompa during the building works. Your donations to our tax-deductible Building Fund will enable us to achieve as many of our objectives as possible. Apart from the higher ceiling we need to build beautiful cabinets to store the texts and statues, enable handicap accessm make the entire space much more comfortable to be in during summer and winter, extend the Protector Room, commission an 11-foot high 1000-arm Chenrezig statue, commission 21 Tara statues, enhance the external appeal of the building - befitting the incredibly beautiful artwork and statues contained within.   

A Gompa is a very special space to support and enhance our practice. There are a number of guidelines that we ask you to be mindful of when in the Gompa:

• Shoes and hats should be removed before entering the teaching room
  
• Modest dress is required for both men and women. This means: long trousers or skirts/short below the knee, covered shoulders and modest necklines (short-shorts, singlets and short skirts are not appropriate)
  
• Texts and other holy objects should not be placed on the floor or walked over
  
• During the teachings one should not point the soles of one's feet towards the teacher or the altar; a respectful upright posture should be maintained. Please sit in a chair if it is difficult for you to sit on a cushion on the floor
  
• Prostrations, while not compulsory, are a sign of respect for the teaching and the qualities of the teacher
  
• If you must move about or leave the room during a teaching, do so with respect for the teacher and fellow students, making as little disturbance as possible
  
• Stand respectfully when the teacher enters and leaves the Gompa.
  

The Gompa is available for personal practice whenever there is not a scheduled class on and you can enter the Gompa from 6:ooam – 9:oopm seven days a week