Inconceivable Emancipation
An Order retreat on the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra
29th January–5th February 2016
with Dhammarati, Lokeshvara, Parami, Saddhaloka + Saddhanandi

In 2016, Adhisthana will hold a series of Order retreats and seminars beginning with a week long retreat on the Vimalakirti Nirdesa sutra. On these events we hope to offer the same richness of vision that was witnessed on the Order weekend in celebration of Bhante’s 90th birthday, with its magnitude and diversity, though on a different scale.

Saddhaloka, Dhammarati, Parami, Lokeshvara and Saddhanandi, along with other members of the resident sangha, invite you to join them in a week of study and reflection, all within the context of the Bodhicitta.

The Vimalakirti Nirdesa teaches the validity of Buddhist practice beyond formal monasticism, a validity that is central to Triratna, and reveals the danger of superficial judgements based on external appearances, echoing the Perfection of Wisdom teachings.

When Sangharakshita chose to deliver a series of talks on this text in 1979, he drew on some profound themes and we want to re-visit these and their relevance to us and our Order today: 

freedom as the transcendental critique of religion;  
the nature of upaya-kausalya (skilful means); 
the sickness of ignorance; 
the great compassion that arises from seeing through that sickness; 
the non-validity of conceptual constructions; 
the nature of routine and habit vs. freshness and spontaneity;
and ‘adhisthana’ and the nature of effort in the spiritual life.

We will use the sutra as well as extracts from the 1979 lecture series, plus some of the seminar material from 1987 to reach a level of understanding that can inform the rest of our lives. In this way, Adhisthana will start to reveal the depth of inspiration, teachings and practices that form the lineage of Triratna.  Rather like a Mahayana sutra - it is a vision unfolding.

Book Here: http://adhisthana.org/retreat/?ev=76