Buddhist center opens new location on South Park

People gather for the opening of the Akanishta Kadampa Buddhist Center & Bookstore on South Park (Courtesy photo).

Above the frosted window panes of the small store-front at 1216 S. Park St. hangs a sign with the words “Everyone welcome” and a picture of Buddha.

Long-time followers and curious newbies alike gathered at the building on March 2 to celebrate the opening of the Akanishta Kadampa Buddhist Center & BookstoreA view of outside the new location for the Akanishta Kadampa Buddhist Center & Bookstore on South Park (Stephanie Sykes/Madison Commons).’s new location.

The Center’s teacher and an ordained nun, Gen Kelsang Gomlam spoke about what she described as “the path of compassion and wisdom.” After the lecture, attendees enjoyed a lunch and mingled with senior students, friends, and new acquaintances.

The open house was a way for the Center to spread awareness about its presence in Madison and celebrate their move to this new, larger location.

“Many people had never been in a Buddhist center, and there’s a lot of ‘hmm, what’s that like’ and so they got to see this is very lighthearted, friendly, fun,” Gen Gomlam said.

The Center used to operate out of a residential house at 17 N. Fifth St., where weekly meditations and teachings were held. Expansion of the Kadampa Buddhist Tradition in Madison prompted the Center’s move to S. Park St., along with the need for a site with parking and full accessibility.

All programs will now take place in the new commercial building, which Gen Gomlam believes is a more approachable meeting-space for Westerners. The new site also includes a small bookstore where patrons can purchase books related to Kadampa Buddhism and “all the equipment you could need for meditation” according to Gen Gomlam. The Fifth St. Dharma house will remain the residence of Gen Gomlam and two other residents, one ordained and one lay-practitioner.

“It functioned very well for some years, to kind of get the littler sprouts going,” Gen Gomlam said.

A Kadampa Buddhist monk first began offering teachings in Madison after being invited to visit fromVisitors at the opening of the Akanishta Kadampa Buddhist Center & Bookstore hear teachings from the tradition (Courtesy photo). Chicago in the 90s, according to Administrative Director Jay DeNovo. It has steadily expanded since then. The Center had operated out of three previous locations before moving to S. Park St.

About 60 people attended the open house, half of whom had never visited the Center before. The Dharma house was only able to comfortably hold 20 participants.

Gen Gomlam and DeNovo agree the new location allows the Center to expand their services to the community. It has already added 30-minute, guided, drop-in meditation classes during the Wednesday and Friday lunch hour, but will wait to add further programs until May. Gen Gomlam says she wants to gather feedback from the community about what services are most helpful before expanding.

Currently, the Center’s most popular program is “Prayers for World Peace,” a teaching that takes place Sundays from 10-11:30 a.m. and is free and open to the public. Gen Gomlam suspects it is the time frame that makes it so appealing to Westerners.

“We’re kind of used to doing something like this on Sundays, unless there’s a Badger game!” Gen Gomlam said.

The New Kadampa Tradition is a modern form of Buddhism that condenses Buddhas’s teachings into 22 books for busy, modern people. Gen Gomlam said the tradition helps people find relief from negative feelings like anger, pain and depression through meditation and teachings that use logic to train the mind.

“What we’re offering is methods for people to develop their own inner peace and positivity,” Gen Gomlam said.

Kadampa Buddhism is a politically unaffiliated tradition that does not require followers to commit to Buddhism.

“You don’t have to be a Buddhist to come here, to practice here, to learn how to meditate. There’s just no requirement like that,” DeNovo said.

Madison resident Summer Laird said this flexibility, along with a desire to become a happier person, are what motivated her to get involved with the Center.

“I didn’t really know what I was getting into, I just knew I was too stressed out to deal with my life,” Laird said.

In the three years since she began attending meditations at the Center, Laird believes she has become a happier, kinder, more peaceful person.

“And it’s given me community, which I didn’t know I wanted,” Laird said.

Gen Gomlam and DeNovo hope that the larger, more-approachable, commercial building will attract more people who are curious about increasing the peace and positivity in their lives.

Below is a video produced by the group about the opening day of the new center

Akanishta Kadampa Buddhist Center Grand Opening from Timothy W Coursen on Vimeo.