Paramita Center Southeast

Paramita Center Southeast the 14th Dalai Lama We offer meditations, teachings, retreats, initiations, and other activities.

Paramita Center Southeast - Meditation and Buddhist Philosophy in the Heart of the South sponsors teachings and events in meditation and philosophy in the Tibetan Buddhist Gelug tradition of H.H. Paramita Center Southeast - Meditation and Buddhist Philosophy in the Heart of the South

We are a US Center affiliated with the Paramita Centres of Québec, Toronto, France, and India. We teach meditation

and Buddhist philosophy in the Tibetan Buddhist Gelug tradition, as founded by the great teacher Je Tsongkhapa and today led by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. The Centre made its beginnings in Quebec in 2003, founded by Geshe Lobsang Samten. Since then many Centers have been established in Quebec province and in France. The Centre started its activities in Ontario in 2015 and opened a location in Toronto in 2019, welcoming everyone to study and practice Meditation and Buddha’s Teachings in English. We are opening a center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to bring the Paramita Centre teachings to the US. The Center is directed by Lama Samten and one of his senior teachers, Tibetan monk Tenzin Gawa (Jason Simard). Lobsang Tharchin (Les Kertay), will teach classes in calm-abiding meditation and will organize other events through the Center.

Coming off our weekend retreat on emptiness and the Middle Way, or after any practice or teaching, the question is alway...
05/06/2026

Coming off our weekend retreat on emptiness and the Middle Way, or after any practice or teaching, the question is always: how do we bring this into our daily lives?

Emptiness is a profound philosophical concept, but it's also a practical tool. It doesn't mean nothing matters; it means things don't exist in the solid, independent way they appear to. When we start to see this, we can hold our experiences more lightly. We react with less anger and grasping, and more space for compassion.

How are you bringing your practice home this week?

This week's practice tip is drawn directly from the theme of emptiness and the Middle-Way view.Choose one experience tod...
05/02/2026

This week's practice tip is drawn directly from the theme of emptiness and the Middle-Way view.

Choose one experience today — an emotion, a thought about yourself, or a belief about someone else — and sit with it for a few minutes in analytical meditation.

Ask: Is this as solid and fixed as it feels? What is it made of? What conditions gave rise to it? Would it look the same to someone else?

You are not trying to make the experience disappear. You are simply looking more carefully at its nature.

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, this kind of careful examination — analytical meditation — is not a technique for relaxation. It is a method for seeing reality more clearly. And seeing more clearly, the tradition teaches, is the beginning of freedom.

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, this kind of careful examination — analytical meditation — is not a technique for relaxation. It is a method for seeing reality more clearly. And, the tradition teaches, seeing more clearly is the beginning of freedom.

Sometimes amusing things make the day unexpectedly better.
04/30/2026

Sometimes amusing things make the day unexpectedly better.

04/28/2026

What does it mean to say that things are "empty"? And why does it matter — not just philosophically, but in how we actually live?

In this week's teacher highlight, Les (Lobsang Tharchin) shares a brief reflection on the teaching of emptiness and the Middle-Way view — and what it has to do with the way we experience suffering, relationships, and the stories we tell about ourselves.

Les teaches Buddhist philosophy and meditation in the lineage of Lama Lobsang Samten and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and brings both the depth of the Gelug tradition and the clarity of a teacher who has walked this path as part of life and his profession as a psychologist.

🎥 Watch and share.
📅 Retreat this weekend: May 2–3 | Register: https://bit.ly/4svCfAi

"Whatever is dependently co-arisen, that is explained to be emptiness. That, being a dependent designation, is itself th...
04/27/2026

"Whatever is dependently co-arisen, that is explained to be emptiness. That, being a dependent designation, is itself the middle way."
— Nāgārjuna, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (MMK 24:18)

This verse — perhaps the most important single verse in the entire Madhyamaka philosophical tradition — is Nāgārjuna's answer to a profound challenge: if everything is empty, how can anything function?

His answer: emptiness does not mean that things do not exist. It means that things do not exist independently, from their own side, under their own power. They arise in dependence on causes, conditions, and the mind that designates them.

This is the Middle Way: neither the extreme of thinking things exist absolutely and independently, nor the extreme of thinking they do not exist at all.

It is a view that takes careful study — and careful practice — to understand. But it changes everything.

04/27/2026

What does it mean to say that things are "empty"? And why does it matter — not just philosophically, but in how we actually live?

In this week's teacher highlight, Les (Lobsang Tharchin) shares a brief reflection on the teaching of emptiness and the Middle-Way view — and what it has to do with the way we experience suffering, relationships, and the stories we tell about ourselves.

Les teach Buddhist philosophy and meditation in Lama Lobsang Samten's lineage and the lineage of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, and brings both the depth of the Gelug tradition and the clarity of a teacher who has walked this path as part of his life and profession as a psychologist.

🎥 Watch and share.
📅 Retreat this weekend: May 2–3 | Register: https://bit.ly/4svCfAi

From Compassion to ClarityLast week, we sat with the image of two wings: wisdom and compassion. Neither is optional. Nei...
04/26/2026

From Compassion to Clarity

Last week, we sat with the image of two wings: wisdom and compassion. Neither is optional. Neither is secondary.

This week, we turn our attention to the wing of wisdom — and to a question that has occupied Buddhist philosophers for more than two thousand years:

What is the nature of reality, as it actually is?

In the Gelug tradition, this question has a precise answer. It is not mystical or vague. It is the subject of rigorous philosophical inquiry, careful analytical meditation, and — ultimately — direct experience.

This week, we begin to explore what that answer looks like.

Did you know? In Tibetan Buddhism, compassion is not simply a feeling of sympathy or sadness at the suffering of others....
04/25/2026

Did you know? In Tibetan Buddhism, compassion is not simply a feeling of sympathy or sadness at the suffering of others.

It is defined as the active, courageous wish to relieve the suffering of others— and the willingness to take on the effort required to do so.

This is why, in the Gelug tradition, compassion is understood as a form of strength, not weakness. It is grounded in the wisdom that all beings — without exception — wish to be free from suffering, just as we do.

This is the second wing. And it is as essential as the first.

One week from today, we begin."Emptiness Is Not Nothingness" — a weekend retreat with Les Kertay (Lobsang Tharchin)This ...
04/24/2026

One week from today, we begin.

"Emptiness Is Not Nothingness" — a weekend retreat with Les Kertay (Lobsang Tharchin)

This retreat explores the wing of wisdom: what does it mean to understand reality as it truly is? What is emptiness — and what is it not?

This is an accessible, in-depth exploration for practitioners at all levels.

📅 May 2–3, 2026
📍 Paramita Center Southeast, Chattanooga, TN
🔗 Register now: buddhismsoutheast.org/upcoming-events/

Spaces are limited. Scholarship assistance available.

The two essential qualities that carry us toward awakening: wisdom and compassion — and why we need both.In the Tibetan ...
04/22/2026

The two essential qualities that carry us toward awakening: wisdom and compassion — and why we need both.

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, these are not optional extras. They are the very structure of the path.

Slide 1: Introduction — The Bird Cannot Fly with One Wing
Slide 2: The Wing of Compassion (Karuna)
Slide 3: The Wing of Wisdom (Prajna)
Slide 4: Bringing Both Wings Together in Practice

oin us May 2–3 for a weekend retreat with Les Kertay (Lobsang Tharchin):"Emptiness Is Not Nothingness"Exploring the Midd...
04/21/2026

oin us May 2–3 for a weekend retreat with Les Kertay (Lobsang Tharchin):

"Emptiness Is Not Nothingness"
Exploring the Middle-Way View of Reality

One of the most commonly misunderstood teachings in Buddhism is the doctrine of emptiness (Shunyata). This retreat will explore what emptiness actually means in the Gelug tradition — and why understanding it is the second wing of awakening.

📅 May 2–3, 2026
📍 Paramita Center Southeast, Chattanooga, TN
🔗 Register at buddhismsoutheast.org/upcoming-events/

Some experience with Buddhist philosophy is recommended. Scholarship assistance available.

Last week we posted: "All the happiness there is in the world arises from wishing others to be happy, and all the suffer...
04/20/2026

Last week we posted: "All the happiness there is in the world arises from wishing others to be happy, and all the suffering there is in the world arises from wishing ourselves to be happy."
— Shantideva, Bodhicaryavatara

Here we repeat this verse as often cited by H.H. the Dalai Lama, which is one of the most powerful distillations of the compassionate mind in all of Buddhist literature. It is not merely a sentiment. It is an invitation to examine the very root of our experience.

This week, we reflect on compassion as one of the two wings that carry us toward awakening.

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Chattanooga, TN

Telephone

+14236376606

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