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

1. Integration, meaning embodied awareness.
2. Positive emotion: an open, loving and empathic heart.
3. Spiritual Death: releasing limiting attitudes, and finding a more authentic way of being.
4. Spiritual Rebirth: the realm of imagination that brings an expanded experience of ourselves and opening to a sense of mystery
5. 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)

***

Visit The Buddhist Centre Live (events year-round on Buddhism, mindfulness, meditation, and culture)

Come meditate with us online six days a week!

Theme music by Ackport! Used with kind permission.

Podcast episode image by Amitajyoti

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)

🎧 Listen to more talks from Mahamati on Free Buddhist Audio

🎧 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

***

Visit The Buddhist Centre Live (events year-round on Buddhism, mindfulness, meditation, and culture)

Come meditate with us online six days a week!

Theme music by Ackport! Used with kind permission.

The construct of race is an integral part of Western society’s DNA and if we are to address the social injustice of racism, we need to have the race conversation. Yet all too often, attempts at such a dialogue are met with silence, denial, anger or hate.

Is it possible to navigate diverse conversations about race without confusion? Can we authentically create a culture capable of responding to the pain and discomfort caused by racism for both people of colour and white people? These questions lie at the heart of this heartfelt conversation between Bodhilila, Chair of the West London Buddhist Centre and Eugene Ellis, acclaimed author of 'The Race Conversation: An essential guide to creating life-changing dialogue’.

Eugene’s work encompasses trauma theory and the vital need to resource inner conditions in engaging with others. Exploring the Buddhist perspective of conditionality, he emphasizes the significance of intention and working with discomfort within our conversations. As Bodhilila brings to bear her own profound experiences around race, intersectionality and Dharma practice, the discussion delves deep into the race construct, examining the profound impact of prejudice, colonialism, and slavery on individuals of all races. 

The creation of safe environments where people can openly share their experiences is vital, allowing us to acknowledge the fear that can arise when engaging in these conversations. This, in turn, enables us to move past blame towards repairing relationships and alleviating the more negative forms of shame. What emerges is a passionate advocacy for personal introspection and doing the work to understand our own racial conditioning and perspectives. Only then can we take responsibility and actively seek avenues for redress and healing.

Recorded live in London, November 2022.


***

Bodhilila has been meditating and practising mindfulness for over 25 years. She is a fully accredited Breathworks mindfulness trainer as well as a qualified counsellor, teacher and massage therapist. She also worked for many years as a classical musician and as a nursery manager. She is currently Chair of the West London Buddhist Centre, where she has been teaching meditation, mindfulness and Buddhism, as well as helping to run the Centre, since 2012. She regularly leads retreats for the WLBC and at Taraloka women’s retreat centre.

Eugene Ellis is an activist, writer and public speaker on issues of race, difference and intersectionality. He is also the founder and director of The Black, African and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN), a network of therapists committed, passionate and actively engaged in addressing the psychological needs of Black, African and South Asian people in the UK.

***

Show notes

'The Race Conversation: An essential guide to creating life-changing dialogue’ by Eugene Eliis

The Black, African and Asian Therapy Network

Events in London and Online for People of Colour

More conversations about race in Triratna

***

Visit The Buddhist Centre Live (events year-round on Buddhism, mindfulness, meditation, and culture)

Come meditate with us online six days a week!

Theme music by Ackport! Used with kind permission.

Prajnaketu, Triratna's Young Buddhist Co-ordinator, gave the keynote talk at the 2018 'Big One', which was on the theme of 'Seek Truth, Release Life'.  His talk was entitled 'A Religious Life'.

In this conversation with Sadayasihi in the Beams on the last morning of the 'Big One' he talks about the significance for him of giving this talk as well as delving into his choice of the word 'religious' and how he has benefitted from taking part in a Karuna Appeal.

Recorded at Adhisthana, October 2018.

If you enjoyed this episode, please help us by taking a moment to rate the podcast in iTunes or your favourite app. There are so many podcasts these days it really does help people find us!

For more, check out www.thebuddhistcentre.com/features

A conversation with Candradasa, Munisha, Parami and Sthanashraddha towards the end of a strong week at Adhisthana, home of Urgyen Sangharakshita, who died last week at the age of 93. We talk about our personal relationships to the founder of the Triratna Buddhist sangha over decades, and the great change his passing represents for our community. Join us online to begin saying farewell to a man whose long work for the Dharma transformed so many lives around the world for the good.

www.thebuddhistcentre.com/sangharakshita

It's the afternoon of Day 2 of the 'Big One'! Here's Caroline from Oxford and Shubhanaga from Cambridge talking about how they have been finding it and the highlights so far!

Recorded at Adhisthana, October 2018.

If you enjoyed this episode, please help us by taking a moment to rate the podcast in iTunes or your favourite app. There are so many podcasts these days it really does help people find us!

For more, check out www.thebuddhistcentre.com/features

Here's a beautiful rendition of the Shakyamuni Mantra - led by Dharmamayi from Sheffield - on the first evening of the Young Buddhists' annual gathering in Adhisthana, the 'Big One'.

Recorded after the Dedication Ceremony.

#Buddhist #Buddhism #chanting #chant #harmony #mantra

Ratnadharini and Shantigarbha give an excellent, practical introduction to using the Restorative Process in order to resolve disharmony within Triratna.

Exploring its principles and its methodology, this short talk also provides a helpful overview of why the Restorative approach is considered such a good fit for a Buddhist community. Recorded in India, spring 2018.

Find out more about Triratna’s Restorative Process with the Adhisthana Kula

"Nature is, in itself, a healing environment". 

During the 2018 Combined Order Weekend in Adhisthana, Dayajoti talks about a newly forming project - the Tara Sanctuary and Natural Burial Ground which has a vision of creating a beautiful ecological burial ground and retreat site. Here she speaks about the what the natural burial movement is about, the links between nature, death and the land, how it connects with Buddhist practice and where the project is currently at.

Find out more about the Tara Sanctuary and Natural Burial Ground: www.tarasanctuary.org.uk

Recorded at Adhisthana, August 2018.

If you enjoyed this episode, please help us by taking a moment to rate the podcast in iTunes or your favourite app. There are so many podcasts these days it really does help people find us!

For more, check out www.thebuddhistcentre.com/features

Sudaka, the Mitra Convenor in the Valencia Buddhist Centre, talks about his experience of Buddhist practice as a parent and discusses how he fits in his meditation practice, the importance of having a supportive partner and how his practice informs his parenting.

You can read more about Dharma practice in the context of a family on Families space on The Buddhist Centre Online.

Recorded at Suryavana, Valencia, July 2018.

If you enjoyed this episode, please help us by taking a moment to rate the podcast in iTunes or your favourite app. There are so many podcasts these days it really does help people find us!

For more, check out www.thebuddhistcentre.com/features

En esta conversación entre Elena y Eduardo nos comparten un poco de su experiencia en la Convención Europea de Jóvenes Budistas. Esta ocurriendo en Suryavana el Centro de Retiros Triratna de Valencia, en medio de campos de lavanda y de romero, y de un bosque de cipreses, jóvenes de Holanda, Alemania, España, Reino Unido, Francia, Bruselas, México están aqui meditando juntos y compartiendo su inspiración para llevar a sus Sanghas locales. 

Grabado en Valencia, Julio 2018

#Dharma #Budismo #Budista #Buda #Triratna

Here is a short podcast with members of the Irish Sangha discussing what has motivated them, and what continues to inspire them, to practice the Dharma. From 'finding my friends' and a sense of meaning to life, to building a Buddha-land and being able to practice within one's own culture, Jnanadhara, Vajrashura, and Pavara together with Mitras Julie, Sean and Kristina share their thoughts.

Recorded in the Dublin Buddhist Centre during Triratna Day in April 2018.

If you enjoyed this episode, please help us by taking a moment to rate the podcast in iTunes or your favourite app. There are so many podcasts these days it really does help people find us!

For more, check out www.thebuddhistcentre.com/features

To mark the great festival of Buddha Day (Wesak), when we celebrate the Enlightenment and its opening up of the path that leads to the end of suffering, here's a wonderful mythologically minded conversation with Sthanashraddha, self-confessed ritualist and all-round lover of beauty and of the Dharma as an aesthetic choice in itself.

Sthanashraddha's considerable elegance of being and of mind comes through beautifully as we hear his magical tale of a dawn adventure to meet the goddess of the Malvern springs and bear back to his home some of her water to offer to the Buddha. A rich exploration with Candradasa and Ratnadeva of why such things matter - and what this area of practice can help us achieve in our own lives within our own cultures.

Recorded at Adhisthana, Herefordshire, England, May 2018.

We're delighted to share a special Triratna Day 2023 podcast episode with you, recorded earlier this week and hosted by our friend Jnanadhara. He's joined by Saddhanandi and Nagabodhi to discuss the upcoming online gathering of the Triratna Buddhist community on the 8th of April, which celebrates its founding in April 1967. 

Saddhanandi and Nagabodhi reminisce about past Triratna Day celebrations, recalling the excitement of travelling in large groups from Glasgow to London or Birmingham for the day or weekend. These events were like big festivals, with talks, book stalls, and the opportunity to meet people from the wider movement who might only have known through their books. Whilst often the talks given at events such as these, shaped the discourse of our community as a whole. Sangharakshita, the founder of the Triratna Buddhist community, emphasized the importance of celebrating Buddhist festivals such as Buddha Day and Dharmachakra Day etc but also wanted the community to have its own traditions. Heeding the Buddha's famous call to come together in large numbers.

We also discuss Sangharakshita’s place within our tradition. Explored through the perspective of Is a Guru Necessary? A talk he gave in 1970. 

The theme of the day and the podcast is "Roots in the Earth, Roots in the Sky." Since its founding, Triratna has become a truly international sangha, with special - even sacred - spaces. Collaborating in the creation of these spaces has been crucial to our individual and collective growth. This Triratna Day, we celebrate the significance of such spaces in our history and the work being done to establish roots in new places today.

From Bhante's early work in England to the current efforts of Order Members in countries as diverse as New Zealand, Finland, Poland, Mexico, India, and Brazil, our community recognizes the importance of establishing and nurturing new ground for practice. As Bhante once said, for our Sangha to thrive, we need really deep roots - roots in the sky! This way of speaking about bodhichitta is embodied in the image of the cosmic Refuge Tree.

Show notes:

View the full programme of events and Join us April 08 online for a truly international gathering

The day is a collaboration between Adhisthana, FutureDharma Fund, and The Buddhist Centre online.

Nagabodhi’s new book: Sangharakshita: The Boy, the Monk, the Man

Check out photos from the early days of the movement at Triratna Picture Library

***

Visit The Buddhist Centre Live (events year-round on Buddhism, mindfulness, meditation, and culture)

Come meditate with us online six days a week!

Theme music by Ackport! Used with kind permission.

Abhayanavita has been involved with Triratna as a community since the age of 13. In her early days she learned to face her own difficult past with a fearlessness that is now reflected in her Buddhist name. She also learned to fight back against social injustice and gender discrimination via the Ashvaghosha project, educating people with plays and songs.

These days she continues that work in new ways, working at the Bahujan Hitay Project in her home town of Amravati to run a hostel for vulnerable and abused women, and to help young women and girls step free of domestic and sexual violence, giving them the tools they need to take their future into their own hands.

Find out more about this truly inspiring project on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bahujanhitayprojectamt/

Today's podcast features a roundtable discussion with 10 Order members from Australia, exploring the future of the Triratna community down under. Successes, challenges, the concerns of young Australians, we get a rounded picture of what Buddhist Centres in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney are doing to get ready for the next 50 years...

Recorded in a very noisy tent in India!

Hear more from the 2018 Order Convention

Welcome to the 2018 Triratna Buddhist Order Convention, marking the 50th anniversary of our Order's founding. It's fitting that such an auspicious occasion is taking place at the traditional spot where the Buddha is said to have attained liberation, Bodhgaya in Bihar, India.

Join us for a walk around the Convention site meeting wonderful beings from all around the world who are converging here to celebrate community and practice the Dharma together - for the benefit of all beings!

Follow along on Instagram or Facebook. 

For much more from the Convention: www.thebuddhistcentre.com/features

Kicking off our podcast coverage of three weeks of Triratna events in India we meet a lovely group of pilgrims from Sheffield, England as they come to the end of a journey around the places traditionally associated with the life of the Buddha. Thanks to Mokshatara, Isabelle, Aryadasa and Martin for sharing their inspiration, impressions and delight with us!

We love bringing you Dharma stories from around the world. If you enjoyed this episode, please help us by taking a moment to rate the podcast in iTunes or your favorite app. There are so many podcasts these days it really does help people find us! 🙏🏻

Find more at www.thebuddhistcentre.com/features

Saccanama talks to Karunamaya about her plans for a women’s retreat centre in India. She also tells us about two of the women she will be ordaining at the forthcoming ordinations at Bhaja in December 2017.

Recorded at Adhisthana, November 2017.

In Triratna we acknowledge the importance of the shared system of teaching and practice that we derive from Sangharakshita's particular presentation of the Dharma, while allowing for its systematic and orderly evaluation and development, so that it is more and more effective.

One of the important ways that 'evaluation and development' is happening is through the work of the Sikkha project. Sikkha means ‘training’, and the project will be bringing together teachers and practitioners to look at all levels of Triratna’s teaching and training, and share their experience.

Here Dhammarati talks to Dhammamegha about her work so far for the Sikkha project.

#buddhism #buddhist #triratna #dharma #study #learning

Arthasiddhi and the International Gathering choir sing their offering at the end of the Avalokiteshvara puja #buddhist #triratna #triratnainternationalgathering #adhisthana

Rich harmonies during the final puja of the Triratna International Gathering at Adhisthana #triratnainternationalgathering #triratna #adhisthana #buddhism

Sanghadhara talks to the International Gathering's three speakers #triratna #buddhism #triratnainternationalgathering

Jnanadakini was the first Mexican woman to be ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order and joins us to talk about her work bringing the Dharma to other Latin American women.

We hear about the recent ordination, broadcast live on The Buddhist Centre Online, and about Jnanadakini's mythic connection to building sangha at home in Mexico, in Venezuela, and across the continent. Her quiet joy in this is apparent as she evokes the strength of practical faith in the face of great political and economic difficulties.

Recorded in Mexico City, April 2017.

#Budismo #Buddhism #Buddhist #Budista #Buda #Buddha #women #Mexico #Venezuela #Triratna #LatinAmerica #Americas #ordination #ordenaçion

A wonderful conversation highlighting the themes of a brand new Home Retreat – the latest addition to our growing archive of in-depth, beautifully resourced online spaces to help take your practice of meditation and Buddhism deeper. 

Balajit, Singhashri and Viveka join us to discuss the opportunities and challenges of engaging with the gnarlier bits of our emotional lives, amid so much pressure of so many kinds in the world. A sparkling exchange about ways into integrating embodied practice where our guests collectively flip the script on how we might habitually relate to some emotions as more valuable than others in the process of getting to know ourselves. What if we could uncover the potential for integrity at the heart of emotions like fear, grief, and anger? 

It’s a strong invitation, one to be met at your own pace. And a chance to get curious about where challenging emotions come from as parts of us–and what they might need to liberate the energy usually bound up in them in some direct relationship to the wish for a more liberated world.

We also get an excellent practical sense of this kind of heart work. How do you do an online retreat? Will I find a genuine sense of community? Will it be too hard to let difficult emotions in? These and other excellent questions are engaged with in a beautifully thoughtful way, from Dharma teachers holding the experience of many years of Buddhist practice, including online-first contexts. 

The most important thing to know is: you are trusted, you are welcome! Come take part and be with whatever arises in a kindly, gracious space, looking at what it is to be simply a human being with a body and an emotional life.

This podcast ends with a short guided practice to help us imagine what it is like to be truly supported.

🧘‍♀️ 🧘‍♂️ Listen and join us for seven days of meditation, soulful exploration, and strong, supportive friendship!

Find out more: Forces for Good – Challenging Emotions as Portals to Liberation

***

Visit The Buddhist Centre Live (events year-round on Buddhism, mindfulness, meditation, and culture)

Come meditate with us online six days a week!

Theme music by Ackport! Used with kind permission.

Una conversación de Parami con un maravillosos grupo de mujeres Venezolanas Mitras de la Comunidad Budista Triratna, hablando de la importancia de la practica del Dharma en un país donde hay una enorme turbulencia política y económica. 
Su respuesta es clara: en época de guerra lo que la gente necesita es paz y compasión y esto es precisamente lo que el dharma ofrece. Una evocación conmovedora y urgente desde una perspectiva vital.

Grabado en Mexico, Abril 2017

Leer mas de este viaje de Las Venezolanas en Mexico: https://thebuddhistcentre.com/news/las-venezolanas

Para mas info. de Triratna en Venezuela: Centro Budista de Merida - http://www.meditacion-merida.com/acerca-comunidad-budista-triratna

#Venezuela #Venezolanos #Dharma #Budismo #Budista #Buda #Triratna #México

Continuing our series of in-depth conversations with Buddhists in Mexico, here is the irrepressible Upeksamati: Dharma pioneer in his homeland and founder of the Mexico City Buddhist Center.

We hear of his own Buddhist training in England in the 1980s and '90s and how that influenced his approach to bringing what he learned back home again. We get, in effect, a crash course in the essentials of starting a new Buddhist Center - at scale, and with ambition!

Always engaging, always in love with the Dharma and with Triratna, Upeksamati's clear delight is infectious. An inspiring meeting with someone who has spent 20+ years carrying the Buddha's teachings in his own culture with intelligence, creativity, and considerable success.

Recorded at Chintamani Retreat Center, Mexico.

#budismo #buda #budista #Buddhism #Buddhist #Buddha #Mexico #Dharma #Dhamma #Triratna

Some great sounds from a day celebrating Triratna at Aryaloka on the north-east coast of the USA. Bettye Pruitt interviews Dharmasuri, Chair of Nagaloka, the Triratna Center in Portland, Maine, about her travels in traditional Buddhist countries. Shaun Bartone leads the singing of the song is "I Became Awake" by Canadian folk singer Tony Dekker of the band Great Lake Swimmers. And then we get a longer harmonized chanting of the mantra associated with the Buddha Maitreya.

www.thebuddhistcentre.com/triratna50

#triratna #FWBO #dharma #sangha #community #buddhism #buddhist #buddha #mantra #song #singing #chanting #triratna50

Sanghadhara at the UK Northern region event in Sheffield to mark the 50th anniversary of Triratna as a Buddhist community. Talking to Dharmamayi and Moksatara (Padmasagara couldn't make it!). Catching up on highlights from the day, and reflecting on what it's like as younger Order members to hear stories from "the old days".

Find more at www.thebuddhistcentre.com/triratna50

#Triratna #Triratna50 #Buddhism #Buddhist #Buddha #Sheffield #Dharma #community #sangha #sangharakshita

A great talk by Subhuti, live streamed around the world from London at the time, to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Triratna Buddhist Community.

The fire of peace has been ignited in the world by the Buddha. It burns brightly today in the Triratna Order and movement, and inspired by Sangharakshita’s vision will burn well into the future – but how do we fan the flames so that the heat of practice transforms the world?

Chaired by Subhadramati. Recorded in London, 8th April 2017

N.B. This is an edited and remastered audio version of the introduction, the talk and the main part of the summing up. The original audio was quiet, though we’ve turned up the volume and this version should be easily audible. We may replace it with a higher quality version when one is available.

#triratna #triratna50 #buddhism #buddhist #dharma #community #sangha #gratitude #forgiveness #London #FWBO #Sangharakshita

Following on from his statement of personal regret about the publication of ‘Women, Men And Angels’ and the views expressed in it, here is Subhuti in conversation with Maitreyi, going into detail around that regret, and sharing his thoughts on a very painful episode in Triratna history, including the story of how it all happened. What emerges in the course of the interview is an exemplary look by two good, old friends at how confusion can arise - and how clear apologies can help with any process of healing or reconciliation that might result.

Our thanks to Sanghadhara and Clear Vision for facilitating this discussion.

For more: https://thebuddhistcentre.com/adhisthana-kula

#gender #women #Triratna #FWBO #BritishBuddhism #Buddhism #Buddhist #Dharma #Sangharakshita

A new podcast from some members of the Adhisthana Kula as they come to the end of a 10-day meeting of the Triratna College of Public Preceptors - the body responsible for maintaining the integrity and spirit of the Triratna Buddhist Order.

A great little summary of some of the more general issues discussed, including those arising from historical controversies in Triratna (formerly the FWBO). We get a little taster of other conversations to come - with news of new media, and of prospective reconciliation possibilities within the wider community.

What emerges is a picture of the College at a crucial moment, holding complexity as Dharma practitioners individually and together. Significantly, we hear a moving account of some of their own experience of 'Insight' in the context of walking a Buddhist path; one where we can both be clear about our history while also striving for the ideal of the Bodhisattva, who works to relieves suffering in the world.

Recorded at Adhisthana, March 2017.

https://thebuddhistcentre.com/adhisthana-kula

#Triratna #Buddhism #BritishBuddhism #Dharma #Buddhist #community #FWBO

First in a series of occasional episodes featuring Triratna voices from Mexico. Here we meet the wonderful Aurea and her family in Mexico City and hear their story of what it's like to be a Buddhist (or have a Buddhist in your life) in a country where that's still fairly unusual. An inspiring, warm conversation that shows the tremendous difference love and support from friends and family can make to anyone practising Buddhism.

More at www.thebuddhistcentre.com/features

#Mexico #Buddhism #Buddhist #Triratna #Dharma #family

The Adhisthana Kula is a new group made up of some of the most experienced members of the Triratna Buddhist Order, meeting together to help the community find lasting reconciliation in the face of renewed interest in historical controversies and some of the issues arising from them.

We hear Dhammarati, Lokeshvara, Mahamati, Parami, Ratnadharini and Saddhaloka share thoughtful perspectives on the work ahead, considering what is required to meet any suffering involved, to promote good communication around issues, and to encourage confidence in an approach to Buddhist practice that has developed and grown a lot over 50 years.

Fascinating listening about the lessons of the past for a now international community . Follow the work of the Adhisthana Kula online: https://thebuddhistcentre.com/adhisthana-kula

#Triratna #FWBO #Buddhism #Buddhist #Sangharakshita #Dharma #sangha #community #controversy

Welcome to a new year of podcasts from The Buddhist Centre Online!

We're delighted to welcome our first guest via Skype, Munisha, Triratna's European Safeguarding Officer, to discuss some strong work in an ever-changing field of care. A fascinating look at what's involved in contemporary safeguarding, how it relates to controversies of the past, and the challenges posed by the need to have an international approach in an online age.

What comes across most clearly is Munisha's deep sense of integrity and compassion. We get to hear what supports her in sometimes difficult, lonely work, and how her own Buddhist practice has been strengthened by taking on the role of being a protector for the vulnerable in our community.

www.thebuddhistcentre.com/features

#safeguarding #triratna #buddhism #buddhist #sangha #fwbo #dharma

Dharmachakra has been a going concern since Dharmachari Ananda first strapped a reel-to-reel tape recorder on his back in London in 1967 to record the first public lectures by Urgyen Sangharakshita under the auspices of the then Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. It has evolved over the decades to become an amazing Triratna Right Livelihood team – most importantly, a team of friends, working online together across the globe to bring the world the best of Buddhism and meditation from our new Buddhist Community.

We hear from the team in Mexico City, the United Kingdom and the United States about their work on the brand new Free Buddhist Audio, recently relaunched in its third major version for mobile devices with an archive that has swelled in 15+ years from 450 titles to over 5,500. Some magic recommendations follow (see the prodigious show notes below) – but also an evocation of the importance of working together, of taking part in a lineage of practice, and of passing on to the next generation the many treasures of the Dharma. At its best, the new FBA is just this: a chest of jewels, rich and surprising, whose light illuminates not just our history as modern Buddhists and how far we have come, but shows the way to the future of Buddhism as it adapts to new contexts, countries, languages and cultures. 

Take a deep dive with us into a world of outstanding generosity, amazing technology, and beautiful collective effort over many years to bring the words of the Buddha and the voices of diverse community to life online. Dharmachakra may already be a great Triratna institution – and Free Buddhist Audio a much loved resource and space online – but it’s just getting started.

Try the new Free Buddhist Audio

Donate to Dharmachakra and support the future of Free Buddhist Audio

Show Notes
David has now been ordained as… Dayaketu! Which means, ‘Comet of Kindness or Compassion’ ☺️

Kusaladevi’s picks
The Transitoriness of Life and the Certainty of Death by Vajradarshini

Rambles Around Reality by Subhuti

Rambles Around Consciousness by Subhuti

Rambles Around the Yogachara by Subhuti

Talks on White Tara

Talks by Vajrashura

Talks by Vajratara

Dayaketu’s (David’s) picks 
Seminar texts on Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava (1987): Cantos 37 & 39

Seminar texts on Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava (1987): Canto 38

Sevenfold Puja by Sangharakshita (1968)

Sangharakshita’s poetry

Talks from Cuernavaca Buddhist Centre, Mexico

Talks in Spanish 

Kamalavajra’s picks
Mind Reactive and Creative by Sangharakshita (1967)

The Inconceivable Emancipation - Themes from the Vimalakirti Nirdesha by Sangharakshita (1979) 

Sangharakshita’s Memoirs (audiobooks) | Sangharakshita’s Memoirs (books from Windhorse Publications)

Viriyalila’s picks
Talks on The White Lotus Sutra

Ritual and Devotion in Buddhism by Sangharakshita (1967)

Readings from the Pali Canon by Sangharakshita (2000)

Mind and Mental Events - A Series by Subhuti

Seven-Point Mind Training - A Series by Dhammadinna

Brahma Viharas and the Key Moment by Kulaprabha

Becoming a Citizen of the Present by Srivati

Early talks by Sangharakshita

Late talks by Sangharakshita

Sophe’s picks
Recordings of Mantras and Chanting

Vidyamala’s guided meditations and Dharma talks

Zac’s picks
The ‘Lost’ Padmasambhava Talk by Sangharakshita (1979)

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Visit The Buddhist Centre Live (events year-round on Buddhism, mindfulness, meditation, and culture)

Come meditate with us online six days a week!

Theme music by Ackport! Used with kind permission.

We have come to the end of the winter 2017 European Chairs Assembly meeting at Adhisthana. As I write the chairs are packing their bags and getting ready to go - and I am sure they will be taking their recharged energy, friendship and inspiration back out into the world! It has been another rich, full week, ending last night with a concluding ritual in the shrine room where we recited the Transference and Merit verse in different languages. Here, Dassini sums up the meeting for us and adds a few personal thoughts, sharing with us her own highlights of the past few days.

• follow at thebuddhistcentre.com/eca

#Europe #European #Triratna #BritishBuddhism #Buddhism #Buddhist #Dharma #community #sangha

It's day 3 on the European Chairs Assembly's winter meeting at Adhisthana, UK, and Dassini, the chair of Glasgow Triratna Buddhist Centre, 'having a wee chat' with Arthavadin and Subhadassi - chairs of Manchester and Brighton Buddhist Centres respectively.

The topic is leadership - what it is, how it manifests in different people, how to allow it to come into being...

www.thebuddhistcentre.com/eca

#leadership #Buddhism #Buddhist #BritishBuddhism #Dharma #Triratna #Buddha #community #sangha

It's January and time for the winter European Chairs Assembly meeting, held at Adhistana, UK. A bumper gathering of over 60 chairs of chairs of Triratna Buddhist Centres as well as representatives of some of Triratna's main projects are meeting for an inspiring, enjoyable, at times challenging mix of practice, talks, discussion, and ritual, for the benefit of all beings!

#Triratna #Buddhism #Buddhist #Dharma #community #BritishBuddhism #Europe #European

Karunadevi has been a practicing Buddhist since the 1980s after finding her way to California from the heartland of Iowa. The first American to be ordained in the U.S. into the Triratna Buddhist Order she is now a member of the College of Public Preceptors, helping maintain the spiritual wellbeing of the community worldwide.

We hear about Karunadevi's journey to the Dharma via family, friends, and brushes with mystic religion (via Christianity, Joan Baez and Lama Govinda). And how it was as an American to meet a new practice tradition founded in another, very different culture. It's a wonderful conversation with a woman who has long been passionate about leading a Buddhist life - and who has been inspiring others to do the same - for many years.

#Buddhism #Buddhist #Buddha #Dharma #mysticism #religion #spirituality #Iowa #California #Triratna #community #sangha #family #fwbo

Saddhaloka talks to Saccanama about the vision for Adhisthana, the future and development of the College and other matters arising at the recent College meeting. #Saddhaloka #Adhisthana

#Maitreyi #Akashavana # Preceptors' College

#India #Triratna Preceptors' College #Jnanasuri #Karunamaya

#Yashosagar #Amoghasiddhi #Ambedkar #Triratna Preceptors' College

#Amogharatna #Berlin #Triratna Preceptors' College #Triratna Germany

A conversation wth the artist and poet behind the new eBook from The Buddhist Centre Online: Anādi - Without Origin (in English and Spanish editions). We hear about the origins of the book and about Binisa's meditative inspiration that underpins her work as a Dharma painter and illustrator, looking to the classic Tibetan tradition of thangka painting.

Anādi is a beautifully illustrated art and poetry book interpreting the “Bardo Thödol” – known as “The Tibetan Book of the Dead” – derived from the eighth century teaching of Padmasambhava, who was a fundamental figure in the dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet.

This enigmatic and ancient book is to guide people at any time in their lives, but above all aims to prepare them for death and what, in the Tibetan system, will come after it. Therefore, the book divides human existence into six intermediate stages or phases: life, dreams, meditation, death, the reality after death and rebirth. These six stages are trying to tell us that life as we understand it, does not end with the death of the body. The existence continues to be reborn in another body again and again, repeating these stages, until reaching what Buddhism calls Enlightenment.

https://thebuddhistcentre.com/stories/books/anadi

https://thebuddhistcentre.com/stories/books/anadi-espanol/

#Buddhism #Buddhist #Buddha #Padmasambhava #Tibetan #Tibet #death #dying #afterlife #Dharma #Dhamma #tantric #thangka #painting #illustration #Art

A real beauty of a ‘lost’ episode from our archives! Recorded in a very lovely garden in Mexico in 2019, with nature sounds all around, Bodhikamala and Sanghadhara, who’ve been soul mates of a sort since before the age of 10, explore with us their long history of friendship as young people. A shared love of the arts, of musicals, and Harry Potter brought them together in summer camp and, eventually, led them to explore Buddhism together. Now as ordained members of the Triratna Buddhist Order they discuss their strange routes to the Dharma life, taking in auras, fear of aliens and the apocalypse, and early struggles with social despair that found only limited expression in other kinds of activism.

A magic story of how intuitive philosophy and a feeling for truth developed from a sense that while pain is inevitable in life, suffering is optional. Early insights turn into a meaningful, lived experience of Buddhist practice where mind is seen and felt as primary, and it makes all the difference. Our two “Cookie Searchers” take us from Plato’s Cave to yoga retreats with grandmothers and, eventually, across continents. What is constant – through challenges with acceptance by parents and all questioning and doubts – is a friendship where love and vital interest are irrepressible. Join us for laughter, sparkling reflection, and an uncommonly strong, easy evocation of friendship as a path that can transcend even time itself.

Recorded at Chintamani Retreat Centre, Mexico 2019.

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Visit The Buddhist Centre Live (events year-round on Buddhism, mindfulness, meditation, and culture)

Come meditate with us online six days a week!

Theme music by Ackport! Used with kind permission.

Lokamitra has spent most of his adult life working in India to support the Dalit Buddhist community in their struggle against Hindu caste prejudice and its regard of them as literally "untouchable". Inspired by the life and work of the great Dalit leader, India's first Justice Minister Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Nagaloka Institute provides an invaluable chance to thousands of young Dalits, educating them in how Buddhism can help support their democratic rights to liberty, equality, and fraternity.

We hear about Nagaloka's general work, the celebrations around the 60th anniversary of Dalit conversion to Buddhism, and about the international conference Nagaloka and Triratna sponsored with the International Network of Engaged Buddhists.

For more, visit www.thebuddhistcentre.com/stories/ambedkar/

#Ambedkar #India #Dhamma #Dharma #Buddhism #Buddhist #Buddha #Indian #Dalit #caste #justice #society #democracy #freedom #education

A special edition of Buddhist Voices, from India at the height of celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the mass conversion to Buddhism in 1956 of hundreds of thousands of Dalit (ex-Untouchable caste) Indians, inspired by their great leader Doctor Bhimrao Ambedkar to escape the horrors of the Hindu caste system and work towards a more just society in India.

Subhuti, a longstanding champion of Doctor Ambedkar as an exemplar of democratic principles for the whole world gives us a wonderful introduction to the life and work of someone who deserves a much wider audience. From his remarkable early life and education to his framing of the Indian constitution itself, we hear of the intimate connection between that constitution (still the basis of Indian society and law) and the work of the mind represented by conversion to Buddhism in pursuit of freedom, equality, and justice.

Inspiring conversation at a time of great uplift for the new Buddhists of India!

For more, visit www.thebuddhistcentre.com/stories/ambedkar/

#Ambedkar #India #Dhamma #Dharma #Buddhism #Buddhist #Buddha #Indian #Dalit #caste #justice #society #democracy #freedom

Sanghadhara in conversation with Max, Stephanie and Erika share their experience of this year's international Triratna Youth Convention in India. #Triratna #IBYC #Buddhism #Buddhist #Buddha #retreat #India #Dharma #Dhamma #Ambedkar #Dalit