Bristol Buddhist Centre

Great Faith, Great Wisdom, Day 2 - Rainy Season Retreat 2017 by Ratnaguna

On Tue, 12 September, 2017 - 21:17
Centre Team's picture
Centre Team

A wonderful second pair of talks, bringing to life Sukhavati, the great Pure Land or Happy Land of Amitabha.

Talk 3: The ​D​eathless Buddha - Possible Roots of Sukhavati in the Pali Canon
In this fascinating talk, Ratnaguna shows us remarkable resonances between the Sukhavativuyha sutras and two late Pali suttas - the Mahaparinibbana sutta and Mahasuddassana sutta, and suggests the Sukhavativuyha sutras may have arisen from the distress of the Buddha’s followers after his Parinirvana. 

We also explored meanings of ‘amita’: as ‘measureless’ it can connote ‘boundless’, but also ‘ungraspable’. Like the Dharma, like life, each of us is “profound, subtle, hard to understand.”

Talk 4: Bodhisattvas of Radical Humility​ - A Short Introduction to the Longer Sukhavativyuha Sutra
A short introduction to the Longer Sukhavativyuha Sutra and its non-heroic presentation of participation in the Bodhisattva Ideal. 

See all the resources and blogs from this year’s Rainy Season Retreat

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