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dayaketu

Pointing to the Moon - Led by Tejananda with Advayasiddhi

A home retreat exploring self-view.

by dayaketu, 12/03/2025 21:37

Pointing to the Moon, led by Tejananda with Advayasiddhi
A home retreat on working with self-view.

Reserve your place here

Friday 2nd May - Thursday 8th May

The well-known metaphor of ‘a finger pointing at the moon’ is itself a hint at something essential in Dharma practice. It suggests ‘don’t mistake the finger for the moon’. But what is the moon, and what is the finger? The finger could be taken as whatever gets us looking and going in the ‘right’ direction. For example, the eight ‘right’ perspectives on Dharma practice that the Buddha taught.

But neither these nor any other Dharma practices are ‘right’ (or ‘wise’) if we’re relating to them literally, as ends in themselves. That would be ‘attachment to rules and religious practices’ – believing that it’s enough to do our practices by rote, and losing touch with that to which the practices are pointing us.

What they are pointing us to is ‘waking up’ – bodhi. Waking up from the delusions that give rise to suffering. Bodhi is the ‘moon’ of our true nature, which is always here, even when obscured by clouds.

In this retreat, we’ll focus on the ‘moon’ by addressing a core delusion – that “I am separate”. This is better known as anatta, ‘not-self’, but this core pointing-out on the Buddha’s part isn’t suggesting that we’re somehow non-existent! Rather, it is pointing us back to our essential non-dividedness.

We’ll approach this by first cultivating calm, embodied, aware presence and opening to unconditional love. With that as our ground, we’ll explore our experience directly and interactively, using pointers as to how we create and sustain the delusion of separation and a self-other dichotomy. Seeing through such delusions wakes us up from our self-view and to an essential truth of the Dharma, the ‘moon’ of our undivided nature here and now.

Reserve your place here

Friday 2nd May - Thursday 8th May

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Candradasa

New Podcast: Hinterland Sober Bar

Brewing a New Society in 2025

by Candradasa, 18/01/2025 16:51

Enter Hinterland sober bar, “the realm beyond what’s known”… And meet founders Sanghadhara and Stephen Jeffreys in their cosy, cool, poetic, liminal space for a cocktail and meaningful conversation about how Buddhism and the Dharma can inform modern culture—and people’s social lives—in new ways.

Hinterland has been a passion project from the start. And on this busy Friday evening on one of the busiest nights of the year in one of the hippest areas of Manchester, UK, we hear that passion come pouring through as we discuss ethical work in 2025; and how anyone can impact society by building an entrepreneurial business that is also a commercially counter-cultural social enterprise.

For any building makeover heads out there, we hear how transformative interior and graphic design can express some of our deepest values. And, of course in a sober bar, how the look and feel of a social space can also support recovery through helping us shift how we perceive and experience the world—with no alcohol required.

It’s clear talking with Stephen and Sanghadhara that working together can both challenge and enhance a personal friendship, taking it to the next level. And in terms of specifically Buddhist practice, what an amazing testing ground Hinterland has been for the work of attending to their mental states and trying to serve the happiness of others with their energies and their work.

Join us over sophisticated hemp and root spirits and delicious vegan food to explore how a bar that attempts to blend an industrial aesthetic with animist sensibilities (through the lens of Japanese minimalism) can be a ground for depth of connection, art and Dharma. And how a drink with friends or strangers can open up a way into new possibilities in our lives when we have that sense of wanting to change…

This celebratory tale of inspired Buddhist practice is the perfect podcast to help you rekindle your own new year’s resolutions. Cheers! 🍸🍹

Show Notes

Hinterland Bar (Instagram)

Wholesome Junkies (Instagram)

The Pathfinder (Non-Alcoholic Spirit)

The Tale of Tipus’ Tiger (podcast episode)

Dark Mountain Manifesto: “The end of the world as we know it is not the end of the world full stop. Together, we will find the hope beyond hope, the paths which lead to the unknown world ahead of us.”

Eight Step Recovery: Using the Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction

Santa’s Slaay Cocktail

50ml Pathfinder Hemp and Root Non-Alcoholic Distilled Spirit

20ml Santa Syrup (apple and cinnamon syrup, make your own if you like!)

10ml Lemon juice

Top (75-100ml) with ginger beer

Optional splash of sparkling water

Fill a hurricane glass with ice

Add Pathfinder, Santa syrup, ginger beer and then sparkling water.

Garnish with mini candy cane…

See the Santa’s Slaay cocktail for presentation ideas… ✨

***

Subscribe to The Buddhist Centre podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Google Podcasts | On Spotify | On other podcast networks

News, event coverage, mantras and rituals, Dharma discussion with diverse guests from the Triratna Buddhist Community around the world, keeping you up-to-date with the latest in our sangha.

Subscribe to our Buddhist Voices Podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Google Podcasts | On Spotify | On others podcast networks

Our long form podcast, featuring great in-depth conversations with Buddhists from around the world. Inspiring stories that illuminate for modern times the Buddha's example of how to live and find true freedom.

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kusaladevi

Looking Back: Compassion Through Reflective Writing

Meditation & writing day retreat with Yashobodhi

by kusaladevi, 23/10/2024 10:45

Join experienced writer and meditator Yashobodhi for this day retreat tuning into compassion through meditation and reflective writing.

New date - Sunday 8th Dec

Join experienced writer and meditator Yashobodhi for this day retreat tuning into compassion through meditation and reflective writing.

We cannot force compassion to come, but we can certainly invite it to enter our experience as we delve gently into the realm of things waiting to be digested and excavated.

The writing on this day is about process rather than about a product. We are not writing texts, but using the writing for our personal reflections and explorations.

It works best if you attend both parts of the day, but you are also welcome to only come to the first or second session. And you won't have to share your writing with anyone if you'd rather not!

The ingredients of the day:

Guided meditation
Reflective writing
Some optional interaction in small groups (3-4 people)

Do come along if you want to regroup, refresh and reinforce yourself. We will be looking back together…

Reserve your space on "Looking Back: a reflective writing day retreat"

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Session timings

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Suggested sliding scale donation for the whole day:

£70-40 | $90-50 | €80-45

Like all our events, this retreat is offered by donation rather than charging a compulsory ticket price. We want to do this because we never want money to be an obstacle to taking part in a supportive community, and we know many people are struggling financially in the wake of the pandemic and cost of living crisis. The amount we suggest reflects the huge amount of work and love that goes into putting on events we hope will benefit everyone attending. If you can, please donate today to help us continue with our work and support others to attend who cannot afford to pay. Thank you!

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Centre Team

Form is empty - is it?

Exploring Suññata with Tejananda

by Centre Team, 07/10/2024 11:02

An online weekend retreat exploring Suññata with Tejananda

Friday 29th Nov - Sunday 1st Dec

Earlier this year we explored how the Buddha's teaching in the Shorter Suññata Sutta establishes emptiness in a very direct and experiential way, by noticing absence. Experience is empty of whatever isn't right here in experience now. This seems obvious, but we delude ourselves into thinking that although something isn't 'here', it's still 'there' in some way, even when we don't experience it.

Say you've been somewhere away from home (even just out shopping) - where is that place in experience now? Quite simply, it's nowhere, other than in our imagination. This is not suggesting that the place 'doesn't exist', it's about directly knowing the distinction between what is experienced and what is imagined or mentally constructed. Once we gain clarity around this, the liberating path of insight (prajñā) can unfold.

We'll use the Buddha's method to explore areas of our experience of bodily form, space and consciousness - gaining clarity about what is actual experience, what is imagined or constructed and what the emptiness teachings are actually pointing to.

Reserve your place on "Form is empty - is it?"

***

Retreat starts Friday 29 Nov on the 3rd session, and ends on Sunday 1st Dec on the second session.

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Candradasa

New Podcast: The Three Body Solution

Healing and belonging in community

by Candradasa, 30/09/2024 14:00

Home Retreats help us inject some of the powerful teachings of the Buddha directly into our everyday lives. This week we’re joined by Balajit, Singhashri and Viveka to talk about what lies behind their latest week-long collaborative venture with The Buddhist Centre [Live] - the enigmatically titled ‘The Three Bodies of Belonging’.

In this episode we dive into the the traditional Buddhist teaching / images / metaphors / experiences of the three kayas (‘bodies’): Dharmakaya, Samboghakaya and Nirmanakaya. These are correlated respectively, via Urygyen Sangharakshita’s reading of the Tibetan yogi and mystic Milarepa, with human mind, speech and physical body. The discussion that arises out of this takes in not just what it means to belong - but also questions of longing: what the heart yearns for, how we conceive of liberation itself via an embodied and relational approach to Awakening.

We explore what individuality and collectivity look and feel like in the light of the trikaya - how the whole of the teaching is pointing to human potential where we have the same faculties, senses, heart, body and mind as the Buddha and everyone else who has ever trodden this path. In that sense, like Buddhism at its best, it’s a profoundly hopeful, healing conversation requiring honesty, vulnerability and a new perspective on ‘self’, ‘other’ and our relationships in the face of the universe.

How do we change our stories to allow for genuine and profoundly transformative connection in a suffering world? How might we resource ourselves to blow open wide our own “window of tolerance” for whatever arises in life and become beings with a boundless heart? Join us on the Home Retreat - live or after the fact - to discover with other seekers the luminous and boundless possibilities beyond trauma, fear, anxiety, heartbreak and all that holds us back from a true sense of belonging.

N.B. The audio quality in some parts of this recording were affected by a poor connection at times.

Show Notes

🧘 Join us live for ‘The Three Bodies of Belonging’ Home Retreat (October 25-31 2024)

👥 Staci Haines - Exploring Trauma and Resilience in the Body

👥 Prentis Hemphill - Embodiment and Community

📖 ‘Mending Wall’ by Robert Frost (‘Good fences make good neighbors.’)

🎧 ‘The Inconceivable Emancipation - Themes from the Vimalakirti Nirdesha’ (lecture series by Sangharakshita)

🎧 The Sangha or Buddhist Community by Sangharakshita

🧘 Forces for Good: Challenging Emotions as Portals to Liberation (Home Retreat to do anytime!)

🧘 Explore the archive of Home Retreat on The Buddhist Centre Online

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Subscribe to The Buddhist Centre podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Google Podcasts | On Spotify | On other podcast networks

News, event coverage, mantras and rituals, Dharma discussion with diverse guests from the Triratna Buddhist Community around the world, keeping you up-to-date with the latest in our sangha.

Subscribe to our Buddhist Voices Podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Google Podcasts | On Spotify | On others podcast networks

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kusaladevi

Home Retreat: The Three Bodies of Belonging

Meditate in Community with Balajit, Singhashri and Viveka

by kusaladevi, 27/09/2024 12:22

An embodied opportunity to explore meditation in community

Led by Balajit, Singhashri and Viveka

October 25 – 31, 2024

Following on from last year’s successful Home Retreat ‘Forces for Good: Challenging Emotions as Portals to Liberation’, our friends Balajit, Singhashri and Viveka are back and joining forces again to offer another wonderful embodied opportunity to explore our system of meditation in depth and in community.

This year we’re all invited to draw inspiration from the Mahayana Trikaya (“three body”) teaching that points to who we actually are via three simultaneous dimensions of reality:

Nirmanakaya: coming home to presence within this body, this world
Sambhogakaya: befriending the dynamic flow of feeling and energy, and the relational dimension of being
Dharmakaya: opening to the luminous, boundless dimension of awakened being

We will delve into poetic themes of “coming home” and “belonging” as an emotionally engaging and relational approach to insight that allows:

Respect and appreciation of core human needs – belonging, safety and dignity
Holding of the tension between our ideals and our current (often messy) experience
Healing the illusion of separation and the habits of dualism
Learning to feel sensations of belonging at the levels of self, community, place, world
and to express compassionately responsive activity
Deepening of mindfulness and metta as practices capable of helping us see the true nature of reality

This retreat will include meditation, movement (somatics), music, chanting and ritual, exercises and discussions, teacher input and practice reviews.

If friendship in community is the whole of the spiritual life, here’s your chance to go deeper in your own practice in the supportive company of others.

"The Dharmakaya is… the embodiment, or the perfection of mind. Mind meaning here the deepest part of oneself, because it is with that deepest part of oneself…that one realises the ultimate. So Dharmakaya corresponds to mind, what in us is mind, in a Buddha is Dharmakaya.

In the same way Sambhogakaya corresponds to speech, what, in us is speech or communication, or communication principle, in a Buddha is Sambhogakaya. So in his Sambhogakaya form, in his ideal form, his archetypal form, he communicates with others on the same spiritual level, communicates with other Buddhas and with highly advanced Bodhisattvas.

And then Nirmanakaya corresponds with – it literally means ‘body of transformation’ – …what is Nirmanakaya in a Buddha in us is physical body. Our physical body determines where we are. The fact that we have a physical body means that we exist at a certain point in space and a certain point in time…"

Sangharakshita, Seminar on the Songs of Milarepa

N.B. This retreat is for people with at least six months’ meditation experience. Please get in touch if you have any questioins about attending: support@thebuddhistcentre.com

Reserve your place on "The Three Bodies of Belonging"

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About our Retreat leaders

Balajit
Balajit (he/him) has been leading retreats and events across the UK for around 15 years. For several years he lived and worked at Vajraloka Retreat Centre in North Wales.

He is currently based in Birmingham, where he mixes Buddhist teaching responsibilities with work as a trauma therapist. He has studied the newly emerging psycho-biological approaches to trauma work- and is qualified in Somatic Experiencing, NARM therapy and SHEN Therapy.

In the past few years, Balajit has been exploring correspondences between these emerging approaches and the canonical Dharma, as aids to becoming more embodied and the arising of the bodhicitta.

Singhashri
Singhashri (she/her or they/them) is a queer, Latinx-American dharma teacher and writer. They teach mindfulness and compassion as means to awakening to love, beauty and truth and have committed their life to supporting collective liberation for all and the joy and freedom found there. They teach at various retreat and urban centres across the UK, Europe and the USA, and support a number of projects aimed at creating greater diversity and inclusion within Buddhist sanghas and the secular mindfulness field. They currently live in London with their partner.

Viveka
Viveka (she/they) has worked for social, racial, economic, environmental and gender justice and civil rights for 30 years as a consultant, facilitator, trainer, coach and somatic coach. She specializes in guiding leaders and organizations through transformational processes: race equity and liberation culture change and strategy, team building and coaching, vision and strategy, leading innovation and change and working with conflict, leadership transition, and alliance building.

Viveka was chair of the San Francisco Buddhist Center for 15 years, until 2015. She still serves on the board, and leads meditation and Dharma retreats in the Bay Area and around the world.

***

Friday October 25 – Thursday October 31, 2024

The retreat will start at the time of the second session on October 25. This is to allow the full team to begin the retreat together. All other days will feature three sessions at the times shown below:

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Candradasa

Animated by the Dharma: New Podcast

The magic of making and telling stories in images

by Candradasa, 16/09/2024 14:00

A joyous conversation today with Buddhist artists and practitioners about illustration, animation, puppetry, model making and art - how all of these can help bring to life the Buddhist path in the most beautiful, moving and inspiring ways!

Mandarava has always been a maker. Her way into puppetry came initially through trying to make sense of deep family grief. Mandarava’s work is brimful of magic - filtered through fairy tales, her own deep immersion in illustrative art and the realm of stories accompanying long-cherished images, both from childhood and her further adventures as a grown-up. We hear about her exploration of female figures from the Buddhist and other mythic traditions, including the resonances between old mythologies and certain kinds of visualisation meditations that feature imagery representing a rich seam of possibilities for transcendent Buddhist practice.

Aryajit, animator extraordinaire, was inspired as a boy by Star Wars’ retelling of classic mythology. It was a major influence on his deciding to live out the Buddhist path as “the adventure of my life”; and to help make the tradition new in his own work animating many aspects of that path. His work appears extensively on The Buddhist Centre Online, explaining and evoking in brilliant ways both the nuances of the Dharma and the life of the Buddha as a set of nested myths and stories that still resonate today when re-presented in this way. Watch any of his animations (see the show notes below!) and you can feel his own quietly passionate heart in the work.

Prasannavira from The Windhorse Trust was instrumental in helping fund Aryajit’s new animated series, ‘The Legend of the Buddha’. We talk about helping shape a Buddhist context to fund creators and innovators. And how bringing up his own children within a broadly Buddhist culture informed by classic stories and images has helped him as a parent. We also hear about Prasannavira’s own trove of mythic reference points, including Studio Ghibli’s ‘The Tale of the Princess Kaguya’. And about his early days as a Buddhist in London, profoundly affected by modern evocations (inspired by Tibetan tradition) of the great guru Padmasambhava.

There’s so much to enjoy in these thoughtful exchanges: from the legacy of classic British children’s television and theatre to the life of the imagination itself. We explore how stories can help us work with past trauma to figure out a realistic path through life in relation to our ideals. And the connections between new work in animation, illustration, puppetry, drawing and painting and established traditions of folk and classical Buddhist art (from India, China, Japan and elsewhere). Whether it’s the value of dramatization, theatre and ritual for evoking the best of Buddhism, or how being “good” at art isn’t the point - everything flows in this fun episode about how to never lose touch with the sense of wonder and creativity we have as kids, and need now more than ever.

Show Notes

Home Retreats by Mandarava and Nagasiddhi (with original puppetry and set design):

🎬 The Myth of Innana (including silhouette storytelling)

🖥️ In the Footsteps of the Buddha (puppet storytelling each day in session 2)

—

Aryajit’s animation work:

🎬 Guide to the Buddhist Path (Legend of Buddha)

🖥️ Discover Buddhism

🎬 Letting Go of Fear

🖥️ Follow Aryajit on Substack | 🎗️Support Aryajit’s ‘Legend of the Buddha’ project!

—

Star Wars:

🎨 Original concept art by Ralph McQuarrie

Source myth and legend: 🖥️ Overview | 🎬 The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell | 🖥️ George Lucas on the mythology of Star Wars

Star Wars model making: 🖥️ Overview | 🎨 Image gallery | 🎬 Industrial Light and Magic model makers (documentary)

—

Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin (Bagpuss | Ivor the Engine | The Clangers):

🖥️ The History of Smallfilms | 🎬 A Life in Smallfilms (documentary)

—

The Wombles:

📚 Books by Elizabeth Beresford (illustrated by Margaret Gordon) | 🎬 Watch the animated series

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The Tale of the Princess Kaguya by Isao Takahata (Studio Ghibli):

🎬 Japanese trailer | US trailer (dubbed)

🎧 The Procession of Celestial Beings (from 'The Tale of Princess Kaguya')

—

Lottie Reiniger animation:

🖥️ The Art of Lottie Reiniger (The Metropolitan Museum, NY)

🎬 Silhouette Animation: The Genius of Lotte Reiniger (video lecture by Nannina Gilder)

—

Other sources of inspiration:

🖥️ Illustrator John Bauer and Princess Tuvstarr (Cottongrass)

🖥️ Buddha: Japanese manga series by Osamu Tezuka

🖥️ The Lincoln Imp

🎬 Blending indigenous Mexican culture in retelling the Tibetan Book of the Dead

🎨 The work of Alison Harper

🎨 The Impermanence of Everyone: In Studio With Buddhist Artist Hugh Mendes (Paramabodhi)

🎨 Buddhist art by Aloka

📖 The Artist and the Sangha by Aloka

🖥️ Padmasambhava and other Buddha and Bodhisattva figures

🎬 Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Walt Disney): Trailer | Excerpt

—

Podcasts episodes on the life of the imagination:

🎧 The Many Jewels: Buddhism, Writing and the Arts

🎧 The Heart of Imagination in Buddhism with Vishvapani and Amitajyoti

🎧 Mindfulness and Imagination with Vidyamala and Vishvapani

—

With grateful thanks to:

🖥️ The Windhorse Trust

🖥️ FutureDharma Fund

***

Subscribe to The Buddhist Centre podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Google Podcasts | On Spotify | On other podcast networks

News, event coverage, mantras and rituals, Dharma discussion with diverse guests from the Triratna Buddhist Community around the world, keeping you up-to-date with the latest in our sangha.

Subscribe to our Buddhist Voices Podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Google Podcasts | On Spotify | On others podcast networks

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kusaladevi

TES Conference. Responding to the cries of a burning world

The Climate Crisis and the Six Paramitas

by kusaladevi, 13/09/2024 12:53

The fourth annual Triratna Earth Sangha conference

Friday 15–Sunday 17 November 2024

How do we move beyond hope and fear with the Six Paramitas as a guide? A weekend of talks, workshops and practice exploring how we as Buddhists can respond to the climate and ecological emergencies.

The conference will include papers, workshops, guided meditations, puja, poetry and the visual arts. We will present perspectives of particularly affected communities and show what Buddhists can do in this current time of multiple crises.

We are linking the conference to COP29, which is happening at the same time

Who are the Triratna Earth Sangha?

A group of Triratna Order members, Mitras and Friends worldwide who are deeply concerned about the climate and ecological crises we face and see it as part of their practice to do something about them. We are all too painfully aware of the Buddha’s core teaching that actions have consequences. The accelerating destruction of ecosystems in the natural world caused by greed, hatred and ignorance is causing untold suffering to beings of many kinds, and we feel that it is our duty as Buddhists to do what we can to raise awareness of the plight of the planet, demonstrate an alternative way of life based on stillness, simplicity and contentment and act to relieve suffering where we can.

Confirmed speakers

David Loy: www.davidloy.org
Jem Bendell: https://jembendell.com/
Paul Hoggett (co-founding chair, Climate Psychology Alliance)
Rodashruti and Danamaya (SF Green Sangha)
Tejopala (Australian Religious Response to Climate Change ARRCC)
Maitridevi (Chair of Taraloka retreat centre)
Dhivan
Sanghasiha (LBC Deep Ecology Group)
Joe Mishan and Andy Wistreich (XR Buddhists)

Reserve your space on "Responding to the cries of a burning world"

***

Starts 7pm UK time

Find the full conference programme

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Candradasa

The Heart of Imagination in Buddhism

New podcast on how to live our life creatively

by Candradasa, 02/09/2024 14:00

The mind liberated from the pressure of the will is unfolded in symbols
W.B. Yeats

These days, mindfulness is everywhere. How can engaging with images - with imagination itself - take our awareness deeper and help us connect with something truly transformative? Join our guests Vishvapani and Amitajyoti to explore how a Buddhist perspective on consciousness can help move us towards a life touched more fully by a sense of creativity and freedom.

In this episode, we look at imagination within the framework of Triratna’s system of practice, an approach to Buddhism that represents a naturally unfolding process of experience emerging from the dedicated cultivation of awareness and kindness:

Integration, meaning embodied awareness.
Positive emotion: an open, loving and empathic heart.
Spiritual Death: releasing limiting attitudes, and finding a more authentic way of being.
Spiritual Rebirth: the realm of imagination that brings an expanded experience of ourselves and opening to a sense of mystery
Spiritual Receptivity: resting in the freedom of open, spacious awareness and creative flow

Each stage here is a doorway to a more creative realm that we can access whatever our circumstances.

We also evoke the place of nature as intertwined with the life of the imagination. Resonance, empathy, connection with the world around us - with practice, these qualities in experience can be sustained as a flowing, organic, enriching state of being.

The hopeful, practical vision here - the efficacy of cultivating a heart of imagination - can give us the confidence to allow our images, symbols and myths to open us up to new ways of living.

Enlightenment is the state of irreversible creativity
Urgyen Sangharakshita

Show Notes

🧘 Join us live for the ‘Heart of Imagination’ Home Retreat (or catch up later!)

📖 W. B. Yeats, ‘The Symbolism of Poetry’

🎧 Listen to talks on the system of practice in Triratna

🖥️ Vishvapani is a writer, broadcaster and mindfulness teacher with over four decades’ years experience of Buddhist practice

🖥️ Amitajyoti is a visual artist and a teacher of art and mindfulness with over 30 years experience of Buddhist and art practice.

🧘 'Mindfulness and Imagination' Home Retreat with Vidyamala and Vishvapani (2023)

***

Subscribe to The Buddhist Centre podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Google Podcasts | On Spotify | On other podcast networks

News, event coverage, mantras and rituals, Dharma discussion with diverse guests from the Triratna Buddhist Community around the world, keeping you up-to-date with the latest in our sangha.

Subscribe to our Buddhist Voices Podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Google Podcasts | On Spotify | On others podcast networks

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Centre Team

Entering the Burning House

Responding to the climate & eco emergencies

by Centre Team, 30/08/2024 13:32

An eight-week online course exploring the most pressing questions of our times

How we can wake up and respond to the climate and ecological emergencies?

This course follows Shantigarbha's book The Burning House: A Buddhist Response to the Climate and Ecological Emergency (Windhorse Publications)

Led by Shantigarbha

24 Sept - 12 Nov

Buddhists give great importance to mindfulness, wisdom, compassion and interconnectedness, qualities that often make them deeply concerned about the environment and climate change. So what does Buddhism have to say about the climate emergency? How can we see it for what it really is, a crisis of empathy?

This is a course for Dharmafarers concerned about the climate, Triratna Earth Sangha members, and eco-activists wishing to ground their work in a spiritual context. The sessions follow the Buddhist path from self-development to social change, inspired by the profound principle of nonviolence or love.

About the course

- Support to process your responses to the climate and ecological emergency in a safe environment.
- Support in making the climate and ecological emergency part of your Dharma practice.
- How do you decide to get involved?
- Support for eco-activists to avoid burnout: training in nonviolence, love and wisdom.

Learning objectives

- To use empathy to explore what it means to care about the environment.
- To be able to communicate the ethical basis of Buddhist environmentalism.
- To be able to bring awareness to uncomfortable feelings including anger, depression, denial, fear, overwhelm and grief that may arise as you look squarely at the climate and ecological emergency and have tools to work with them.
- To cultivate gratitude towards the earth as fuel for acting.
- To understand, be able to express and embody the principles of nonviolent social change.
- To find the emotional freedom to act now.
- To practise guided reflections to deepen your connection to the Earth and your awareness of interconnectedness.

About the course leader

Shantigarbha is a Buddhist author, activist and mediator. He is an experienced teacher of both Buddhism and Nonviolent Communication (NVC). Ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 1996, he was given the name Shantigarbha, which means ‘Seed or Womb of Peace’. Through his practice of Buddhism, he came across NVC and has been sharing it as a certified trainer since 2004. Within the Triratna Buddhist Community, he has held responsibilities as an Order Convenor, member of the International Council, trustee of the International Order Office and supporting restorative practices. He currently co-convenes the Triratna Earth Sangha. Find out more about Shantigarbha.

Reserve your place on "Entering the Burning House"

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Dates

24 September; 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 October; 5, 12 November 2024.

Each week we will ask you to read one or more chapters as preparation for the session.

- Week one: Crisis? What crisis?
- Week two: Touching the Earth
- Week three: Environmental ethics and compassion
- Week four: The Five Precepts
- Week five: The Burning House
- Week six: Anger, grief and gratitude
- Week seven: Transforming self and world
- Week eight: Be the change

Further information

For more information on Nonviolent Communication, see our what is NVC? page, the Centre for Nonviolent Communication website, or you could contact us directly.

Preparation (NB. Preparation is not required to participate)

- Video of Shantigarbha's session on The Burning House (given at Buddhist Action Month, June 2020).
- Shantigarbha’s book on empathy I’ll Meet You There: A Practical Guide to Empathy, Mindfulness and Communication.
- David Loy, Ecodharma: Buddhist teachings for the Ecological Crisis.
- Marshall Rosenberg: Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, or watch one of the videos on our training preparation page .
- Shantigarbha's NVC Life Hacks on YouTube.

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Candradasa

New Podcast: Happiness and Transformation

Mahamati on the transcendental path of responsibility

by Candradasa, 19/08/2024 14:00

Prayer to Manjushri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom
May all beings experience happiness and its causes
Be free from suffering and its causes,
Never be parted from happiness
And dwell in the condition of equanimity

Ever since his introduction to Buddhism in 1976, Mahamati has been attracted to collective, collaborative contexts. He was, from the start, delighted to find a group of people with whom he could live his whole life, practising and working together with a vision for the transformation of both self and the world. This has long characterized his relationship with the Triratna Buddhist Order and with its founding teacher, Urgyen Sangharakshita, whose lecture The Meaning of Spiritual Community ignited something magic in Mahamati’s life that continues to find new expression today.

This vision of transformation is what Mahamati will be bringing to a major role in our community as Chair of the College of Public Preceptors, starting in November 2024. Mahamati speaks about Triratna’s primary mission - and his own spiritual life - in terms of responding to suffering in the world and a vision of ‘transcendent happiness’. Understanding what that might mean - and how that works, both at an individual level and at the level of serving a spiritual community - is key.

We hear about the many-layered role of the College of Public Preceptors: its central role in welcoming new members into the Order, upholding an established lineage of practice (particularly after the death of Sangharakshita in 2018), and addressing ethical issues. What shines through most is the deeply personal lifelong connection that marks ordination into our particular community; how people are transformed through a shared sense of common project ready to meet the challenges and sorrows of the world. Happiness and the potential for it is never far away throughout the conversation as Mahamati unfolds his own sense of how that initial act of commitment - choosing to become a Buddhist - blossoms and fruits over time into a path of service and of responsibility capable of changing a life in quite profound ways.

An encouraging, inspired evocation of the opportunities to serve that light up a life lived on the Buddhist path.

Show Notes

🖥️ The Triratna College of Public Preceptors (website)

🎧 The Meaning of Spiritual Community

🎧 The Six Distinctive Emphases of the FWBO by Sangharakshita

🖥️ Addressing criticism of Triratna

🎧 Listen to talks on The Greater Mandala

🎧 Listen to evocations of Manushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom

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News, event coverage, mantras and rituals, Dharma discussion with diverse guests from the Triratna Buddhist Community around the world, keeping you up-to-date with the latest in our sangha.

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kusaladevi

Dreaming the Path with Arthabandhu

Navigating the Dharma life in the realm of dreams. Throughout November 2024!

by kusaladevi, 02/08/2024 09:42

Navigating the Dharma life in the realm of dreams

Led by Arthabandhu

2, 9, 16, and 23 November

In this 4 week course we shall go deeply into our dream experience and learn ways to become more conscious and creative dreamers and through this bring our dreams into relationship with our Dharma practice.

Using the lens of the System of Dharma Practice (Integration; Positive Emotion; Spiritual Death; Spiritual Rebirth; Spiritual Receptivity) we shall see how there are opportunities in our dreams to develop each of these 5 aspects.

In week 1, Integration, we will look at how dreams present us with the opportunity of getting to know more of ourselves by befriending and integrating the beings ‘alive’ within our dreams. Coming into harmony with these parts will mean we can then practice the Dharma more wholeheartedly.

In week 2, Positive Emotion, here we shall look at the quality of our volitions in dreams, are our actions coming out of love? Are they ethically skilful? We will go into how it is possible to deliberately bring loving kindness and ethical sensitivity into our dream experiences.

In week 3, Spiritual Death, we will explore the way dreams can at times present us with opportunities to let go of old habitual tendencies and identities. In some dreams we find ourselves at a threshold and to progress we must find confidence and courage to go into the unknown and potentially change at a radical level. We shall explore how we can resource ourselves so that we can confidently take this step.

In week 4 we will explore the final 2 stages; Spiritual Rebirth and Spiritual Receptivity. In particularly inspired dreams we can experience realms of beauty and have a sense of wisdom unfolding. We will look at how to recognise and open more fully to these experiences so they can be positively transformative.

What to expect

Each week we shall explore the different characteristics of each stage and ways of engaging with our dream experience that are helpful for each stage. There will be suggestions for practice each week which can be explored before the next session. Participants will have the option each week to join small break-out groups and explore the themes in relation to their own dreams and Dharma Practice.

Together we will be a Sangha sharing and exploring our dreams together. Learning from each other, encouraging and supporting each other so we can go deeper in this journey and deepen our practice of the Dharma.

About Arthabandhu

Arthabandhu is an ordained member of the Triratna Buddhist Order and has been practising Buddhism and engaging with dreams for 25 years. He has explored dreams through the approaches of Lucid Dreaming, Buddhist Dream Yoga and Gestalt Psychotherapy. During this time he has kept detailed dream diaries, illustrated with paintings and other artwork. These images and diary extracts are now featured in his zine 'Stuff of Dreams’.

Arthabandhu is keen to show how dreams are available to us all and how a connection with our dreams can have a very positive effect upon the quality of our lives. That connection can take many forms, it could be through lucid dreaming or dream yoga, or simply being aware of what we have dreamt and finding ways of appreciating these experiences more fully.

Reserve your place on "Dreaming the Path"

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kusaladevi

Uncontrived Mindfulness with Vajradevi

A meditation day retreat in aid of Tiratanaloka Unlimited

by kusaladevi, 26/07/2024 11:36

A meditation day retreat in aid of Tiratanaloka Unlimited

Led by Vajradevi

Sunday 29th Sept

Sangharakshita has said we should be aware of our minds at all times – but how do we do this? How do we really engage with mindfulness in a way that doesn’t feel contrived and ‘added on’, leaving us feeling stiff and unnatural? How can we connect with awareness that is completely natural, unfabricated and uncontrived?

During the 2 sessions of the day retreat we will introduce mindfulness as a path to wisdom. There will be input sessions and led meditations to work with awareness and right view to 'watch the mind' through all five physical senses as well as the mind sense. The focus will be on how we use mindfulness as a support to see more clearly, kindly and wisely.

We will look at the role of receptivity in mindfulness and the 'wise' or 'unwise' attention we bring to every aspect of our experience. And explore how continuity of mindfulness can touch and transform our experience through simple presence and intelligent awareness. This allows us to develop both steadiness of mind and heart and insight into the nature of all things.

If you can come to both sessions that's great, but the sessions will be complete in themselves.

All the dana raised through this event will go to Tiratanaloka Unlimited.

Vajradevi has been meditating since 1985 and has been ordained for almost 30 years. She has been practising and teaching mindfulness with a strong insight dimension for over 20 years. To further her practice she has been on a number of long retreats with specialists on Satipatthana, in Myanmar and the US.

She has spent much of her adult life working in Triratna Right Livelihood settings and between 2000-2007 she helped set up Akashavana, our women's ordination retreat centre, in Spain.

You can read her meditation blog here

Vajradevi's book 'Uncontrived Mindfulness: ending suffering through attention, curiousity and wisdom' is available from Windhorse Publications

Reserve your place on "Uncontrived Mindfulness"

***

If you can come to both sessions that's great, but the sessions will be complete in themselves.

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Candradasa

New Dharma Story: The Impermanence of Everyone

In Studio With Buddhist Artist Hugh Mendes (Paramabodhi)

by Candradasa, 23/06/2024 15:41

Explore the extraordinary work of Buddhist artist Hugh Mendes around death, focussed through his decades-long series of paintings, ‘Obituaries’. Our new Dharma Story exploring questions of mortality, identity and, in the end, beauty and love.

🎬 Watch the accompanying film

🎧 Listen to the extended interview

🖼️ Visit the 'Obituaries' gallery

🖥️ See more Dharma Stories online

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Candradasa

Mindfulness of Death

A Guided Meditation with Kamalashila

by Candradasa, 14/06/2024 22:09

A beautiful 20 minute gently guided reflection on how our bodies and our consciousness (parsed by Kamalashila as “manifesting a world”) might, in time, come into relationship with our own dying and death.

Listen to a conversation with Kamalashila about Buddhist practice in the face of terminal cancer

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Candradasa

New Podcast: Mindfulness of Death and Dying

Kamalashila in Conversation (with Guided Meditation)

by Candradasa, 08/06/2024 19:42

Kamalashila is dying. So are we - we are dying. Really.

In this recent conversation with Kamalashila following his diagnosis of terminal cancer - and in the closing guided meditation reflecting on death - this is the core theme to which we keep returning: the value of familiarising ourselves with our impermanence: dying and death are going to happen to every single one of us. As Kamalashila says, “Taking it out of the taboo cupboard”.

We hear Kamalashila’s perspective starting out on what he refers to in his cancer blog as “A Voyage into the Unknown”. What it’s like to be in relationship to other people’s responses as he himself comes to terms with what’s happening. What he is carrying with him by way of reflections on a path of Buddhist practice, regrets in relationship to his own Dharma life and community, and thoughts on the nature of sangha itself. Exploring how, as Buddhists, as humans, we can work effectively with the intimations of our own mortality that are there if we only choose to look.

We revisit the themes of previous conversations: modes of Buddhist practice and ways of seeing community; the effect of landscape as a space of practice; the ongoing life of a particular spiritual context (the Triratna Buddhist Order) and his sense of sometimes being “a square peg in a round hole” within it. We hear Kamalashila’s sense of Triratna’s history, its up and downs, its many gifts, its changes for better or worse, its historical dynamics, its tensions and contradictions - all with a temperamental leaning towards personal agency in practice, trust in community, and finding unity through diversity.

The exchanges here are grounded in Kamalashila’s present experience - but his thoughts on the past are naturally part of it. And as anyone who knows him might expect, we are never too far from his sense of depth connection to the importance of playful, curious, committed meditation practice and teaching, one of the great loves of his 50+ years as a Buddhist. Whether he’s talking about life back in the London of his childhood or the nature of agnosticism in relation to the teaching of Padmasambhava, Kamalashila is always a good companion in attending to what matters.

This is a fascinating and generous hour of engaged conversation - followed by a beautiful 20 minute gently guided reflection on how our bodies and our consciousness (parsed by Kamalashila as “manifesting a world”) might, in time, come into relationship with our own dying and death.

Show Notes

Follow ‘A Voyage into the Unknown’: a blog by Kamalashila

Online classes and retreats with Kamalashila (with teaching archive)

Read Kamalashila’s thoughts on his diagnosis and upcoming meditation teaching

Some previous podcast conversations with Kamalashila:

Kamalashila's Quarterly No.1

Kamalashila's Quarterly No.2 - On Landscape And Experiment

Kamalashila's Quarterly No.3 - On Gonzo Psychogeography and New Beginnings

The Magic Of Meditation with Kamalashila

Parami & Kamalashila Talk About Meditation

Satyaraja and Kamalashila Talk About Meditation