Abhayamaitri's picture
Abhayamaitri

Bristol Women's Community - Vacancy March 2020

Sat, 23 Nov, 2019 - 22:17

Bristol Women's Community - Vacancy March 2020

Sat, 23 Nov, 2019 - 22:17

A place is becoming available in the Bristol Women’s Community, Kalyanaloka, from 1st March 2020.

We are looking for a Mitra or Order member who would like to join us, to live with three others.

We’re in a spacious house 5 minutes from the Bristol Buddhist Centre, near the vibrant Gloucester Road.  Easy access to public transport.  Our own shrine room where we meditate together.  We’re a warm, welcoming vegetarian/vegan household.  £443 pcm for rent and bills. £4 per day for food.

If you’re interested please get in touch. ...

Satyalila's picture
Satyalila

Day 6: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

Thu, 2 May, 2019 - 15:49

Day 6: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

Thu, 2 May, 2019 - 15:49

Day 6 - the final day! The 2019 Rains Retreat is now over. Here are some final photos - Bhadra, the Chair of the Bristol Buddhist Centre, thanking and rejoicing in Vajradevi, and then the inevitable dismantling of the shrine and farewells.

***
Listen to the audio recordings from day 6 on Soundcloud

Early Morning Meditation Session

Exploring Our Momentum with Mindfulness + Closing Ritual

Listen to the whole series on Free Buddhist Audio

View...

Satyalila's picture
Satyalila

Day 4: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

Wed, 1 May, 2019 - 12:27

Day 4: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

Wed, 1 May, 2019 - 12:27

The morning of the fourth day of our rains retreat saw us diving into the ‘dangerous neighbourhood’ of our minds where the kleshas (poisons) hang out. With Vajradevi as a fearless guide, we explored both aversion and craving. With a skilful use of personal examples, she helped us venture into the territory with the companionship of mindfulness, helping us to distinguish the ‘knowing mind’ from the ‘known mind’.

Our afternoon session was devoted to exploring two very different...

Satyalila's picture
Satyalila

Day 3: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

Tue, 30 Apr, 2019 - 12:24

Day 3: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

Tue, 30 Apr, 2019 - 12:24

On the third full day of the Bristol Rains Retreat Vajradevi continued the exploration of mindfulness with a talk on working with thinking, followed by a sitting meditation  in which we became aware of ‘thoughts as thoughts’ by the practice of gently ‘labelling’ what arose.  After tea, a led walking meditation provided the opportunity to carry that ‘thread of mindfulness’ from sitting into walking; this was followed by the exploration of ‘mood’ as a major conditioning factor of our experience...

Satyalila's picture
Satyalila

Day 2: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

Mon, 29 Apr, 2019 - 12:40

Day 2: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

Mon, 29 Apr, 2019 - 12:40

In this second full day of our rains retreat on the Satipatthana Vajradevi explored the faculties of wisdom (prajna or panna)  and energy (viriya) in relation to mindfulness.  In the morning about 40 of us took part in a (very mindful!) led walking meditation round the shrineroom. 

During the day there were also opportunities to do the ‘sofa practice’! This a Bristol invention…  a term Khemajoti coined on one of our early Rains retreats 5-6 years ago when Lisa, a...

Satyalila's picture
Satyalila

Day 1: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

Sun, 28 Apr, 2019 - 09:31

Day 1: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

Sun, 28 Apr, 2019 - 09:31

Our Bristol Rains Retreat 2019 had a rich first day with about 40 Order Members and Mitras taking part through the day.  Vajradevi gave us a great overview of mindfulness and awareness and skilfully wove what she’s learned of the practice in Burma with Bhante Sangharakshita’s teachings on the five spiritual faculties (drawing on the Essential Sangharakshita, What is the Dharma? and A Survey of Buddhism.)

In the evening we had a 45-minute Mindfulness of Breathing followed by the...

jvalamalini's picture
jvalamalini

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 6

Fri, 15 Sep, 2017 - 17:14

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 6

Fri, 15 Sep, 2017 - 17:14

The last morning of the retreat found me with a mind full of reflections in the early morning double meditation, and a fair bit of energy released – I was dancing in my living room when I popped home for a few things after breakfast.

This was the day we’d been building up to – the day we met the Buddha! Ratnaguna introduced the Buddha Amitayus of the Guan Jing, the ‘Buddha beyond the Buddha’, the principle of Buddhahood which the Mahayana...

jvalamalini's picture
jvalamalini

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 5

Thu, 14 Sep, 2017 - 14:07

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 5

Thu, 14 Sep, 2017 - 14:07

As Ratnaguna pointed out, dwelling in such an uncompromisingly bright land tends to invite one’s shadow. Every retreat brings a process for each of us, and today I knew the retreat was reaching something more in me when I found myself weeping in morning meditation. After last night’s talk, I was touching a deep grief for all the imperfection in me-and-my-sangha: the views I bring that make things hard for me; the ways interpersonal dynamics sometimes obscure our shared faith; the ways...

jvalamalini's picture
jvalamalini

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 4

Wed, 13 Sep, 2017 - 13:22

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 4

Wed, 13 Sep, 2017 - 13:22

Today we focused on the very beautiful descriptions of the beings in the happy land of Sukhavati. In many ways these are my favourite sections of the sutra; I’ve spent happy meditations in the past basking in the golden light as I imagined being amidst great beings with “minds of equality, minds of loving-kindness, gentle minds, affectionate minds, diligent minds, clear minds, stable minds, unhindered minds, unshaken minds, unagitated minds, minds which practise the perfection of wisdom” who stroll around...

jvalamalini's picture
jvalamalini

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 3

Tue, 12 Sep, 2017 - 09:04

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 3

Tue, 12 Sep, 2017 - 09:04

Another beautiful day in the pure land!  On my way home, I sighed - “oh it’s all so lovely!”.

Today our sutra reading was sections of the text describing the land of Sukhavati, which is the Dharma aspect of the text. (Yesterday focused more on the Buddha - including beautiful descriptions of bodhisattva activity)

I found the description of the river particularly beguiling - the sound of the river is both soothing, and conveys the Dharma. It conveys the Dharma by murmuring the only,...