Here all the main audio recordings we made on the International Retreat in May, now with added Soundcloud goodness!

You can also hear delightful little audio snippets from the retreat over on audioboo, and subscribe to our ongoing podcast there featuring little bits of life from around the Triratna Buddhist Community.

Thanks to Advayasiddhi from Denmark for some great images of the retreat, available here...

Thanks to Kalyacitta for these beautiful images from the International Retreat shrine - and for creating the shrine itself!

A few last images from the retreat - thanks to Arthur Hyam for being there and capturing the moment(s). Find him on Facebook. Arthur Hyam Photography. Were you there? Post your own in our 'Imagine the Buddha' space! Or let us know the link if they're elsewhere...

Here's a link to the Pali Buddha Puja sung by Joe on the last day of the Retreat, with a transcript of the words and their translation below...

Vanna gandha gunopetam,
Etam kusum santati,
Pujayami Munindassa
Siripada saroruhe.
Pujemi Buddham
Kusumen nena
Punnena metena labhami mokham
Puppham milayati
Yatha Idam me
Kayo tathayati vinasa bhavam
Ghanasarappa ditena
Dipena tamadhansina
Tiloka dipam sambuddham
Pujayami tamonudam.
Sugandhi kaya vadanam
Ananta guna gandhina
Sugandhi naham gandhena
Pujayami Tathagatam
Buddham Dhammam cha Sangham
Sugata tanubhava
Dhatavo dhatu gabbhe
Lankayam Jambudipe
Tidasa puravare
Naga loke cha thupe
Sabbe Buddhassa bimbe
Sakala dasa dise
Kesa lomadi dhatu vande
Sabbe pi Buddham
Dasabala tanujam
Bodhi chetiyam namami
Vandami chetiyam sabbam
Sabba thane su patitthitam
Saririka dhatu Mahabodhi
Buddha rupam sakalam sada

and in English -

This spread of flowers, fresh-hued and fragrant,
I offer at the sacred lotus Feet of the Noble Sage.

With flowers in great variety, the Buddha I adore
And by this merit may I gain release.
Even as these flowers must fade,
my body too will pass away.

With lights brightly shining, dispelling the gloom,
I honour the Fully-Awakened, that Light of the Triple World,
Who dispels the gloom (of ignorance).

Perfumed with infinite qualities, the Tathagatha,
fragrant of face and form, I revere with incense,
sweet and penetrating.

To the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha,
in the relics of His body,
enshrined at Lanka, Jambudvipa, Nagaloka
and the Heaven of the Thirty(-three) - in stupas there:
I give honour.
To all the images of Buddha, in all ten directions,
to even hairs and other relics, I give honour.
To the Ten Powers of the Buddha,
to the Cairn of Bodhi, I give honour.
Greetings every stupa, that may stand in any place,
The relics, the Great Bodhi, and Buddha forms everywhere!

Me and Jnanarakshita as the fire gets going for the evening...

In the third in our series of talks from the 2012 Triratna International Retreat, Dhammadinna evokes Ratnasambhava, the 'Richly Endowed Buddha of the Southern Realm'...

We had a great idea during our live Facebook discussion today - a group for everyone who might like to get together with others and meditate on Skype. So roll up, roll up... :)

On the last full day of the International Retreat, we held a 24-hour cycle of ceremonies to the Buddhas of the Four Directions, starting with a Dawn Ritual to Akshobya, the Buddha of the East... 4.45am, the birds were singing, the sky was red, and 60 buddhists began their day of practice...

Hi all, remember we'll be having a live discussion space on Facebook this afternoon/evening on themes from the International Retreat. Join us anytime between 2-4pm EST / 5-7pm UK for as long as you like. We'd love if you can! Here are some topics we might look at, but any other ideas also welcome and we'll see what emerges from the live space:

1. How do YOU imagine the Buddha? We've seen pictures, heard talks, etc. about how others do. But what keeps you connected to him?

Do you think connection with the Buddha himself as a figure is important? Or do you think you can consider Buddhist ideas without the Buddha?

2. In Ratnaguna's talk he speaks beautifully about some differences between an oral culture and a literary one:

He says: "Reading and writing changes the structure of consciousness…"

What do we think? Does that make sense to you? And what do you think the Buddha would make of the internet? What do you make of it?!

3. Do Facebook and other social networks (including this new one!) make things better or worse in terms of our ability to engage with the Buddha imaginatively? What do you look for in Dharma spaces online?

4. We've found it inspiring to hear reports from places like Denmark and the Netherlands:

How do you stay connected with others who share your values but may live a world away?

Live on the 2012 Triratna International Retreat, Arthamitra introduces Metta Vihara - Triratna's new purpose-built Retreat Centre in the Netherlands. Find it at http://www.mettavihara.nl/

A talk given by Kamalashila on the 2012 Triratna International Retreat, in which he explores the 'Mandala of the Buddha' - some of the Buddha's many qualities which, perhaps, gave rise to the later Mahayana 'Mandala of the Five Buddhas'.

A deliciously spacious Sevenfold Puja with all the trimmings, including two beautiful Shakyamuni Mantras, recorded live on the 2012 Triratna International Retreat at Taraloka.

Including verses from the Dhammapada read in Danish and the Heart Sutra in French.

On the second evening of Triratna's 2012 International Retreat, Ratnaguna tells the sad story of the Buddha and Devadatta...

We've all read the words of the Buddha - but what did he sound like? What might it have been like to actually hear him...? A beautifully imaginative and well-researched evovation of the Buddha.

Given on the 2012 Triratna International Retreat, under the overall theme 'Imagining the Buddha'.

Here's the original pdf version of the paper by Subhuti following his conversations with Sangharakshita.

‘Imagining the Buddha’ was probably chosen as the theme of the 2012 Triratna International Retreat thanks to the influence of a paper entitled ‘Re-Imagining The Buddha’ jointly published by Sangharakshita and Subhuti some 18 months ago. Since then it’s become a theme widely studied and debated throughout Triratna. Sangharakshita introduces it like this:

“Towards the end of August, 2010, Subhuti and I had a series of discussions centred on the topic of the imagination. I had long wanted to talk to Subhuti on this topic because I had a few new ideas which I wished to communicate. Subhuti managed to make himself available for a few days and we had the discussions in question at my Madhyamaloka flat. Our starting point was the subject of animism, on which I had been reflecting. In fact I reminded Subhuti that many years ago, when I was still living in Kalimpong, I had written a poem with the title ‘Animist’. From animism we branched out first to empathy, then to ethics and aesthetics, and finally to the imagination or imaginal faculty. This lead us to a quite wide ranging exploration of the spiritual life, including meditation, and faith in, and devotion to, the historical Buddha. Our discussion was not at all systematic, especially as I kept remembering things I wanted to say, and as Subhuti did his best to draw me out on certain points. I am therefore extremely grateful to Subhuti for not just writing up our discussions but for presenting them in a more organised and systematic manner. The title he has given to this article, ‘Re-imagining the Buddha’, very well encapsulates the overall thrust of our discussion. I very much hope that this article will be a source of inspiration to all Order members and have the effect of clarifying the place of the imagination in the spiritual life”.

And the paper itself begins:

“To live the Buddhist life, to become like the Buddha, we must imagine the Buddha. The goal must be embodied in our imaginations, our deepest energies gathered in an image of what we are trying to move towards”.

‘Re-Imagining The Buddha’ is available in our resources section and on Sangharakshita’s own website.

Vajragupta leading the first evening's ritual at the retreat! Be there now (almost)!

Snatches from the first evening of the 2012 Triratna International Retreat - welcome, dedication ceremony, and some beautiful Shakyamuni chanting.

If you're partial to a Tweet or two (but not a twit!) the hashtag for Twitter shenanigans with the International Retreat is #internationalretreat.

If you want to help spread the love for the new social network itself, the hashtag is #triratnaconnect.

ps. Our actual Twitter account is here, should you wish to follow...

Hi all, here are a few things to bear in mind for the online version of the retreat, which we'll be running from Friday till Tuesday - and beyond! We hope it'll be a great space to connect with each other and keep your inspiration burning bright when the tents are all folded away and everyone's home again...

1. This main space (the 'Project') will be the place to check for news and events and media from the retreat itself. We'll be recording the talks for you and we hope you'll feel free to discuss them as fully as you like in the 'responses' (comments) section to each post.

We'll also have audio snippets from our roving reporters, Lokabandhu and Ivan, plenty of pictures, and we hope some video too.

2. If you want to post your own images or videos or inspired ramblings on the theme of the retreat, the broader Sangha context for that is the 'Imagine the Buddha' space (a 'Group' within this Project). If you took part in the Urban Retreat last year, you'll know the score! If not, it's basically a space for all of us to contribute our experience of reflecting on the Dharma within our everyday lives. Don't be shy - it's a great way to connect with others from around the world who, just like you, think this stuff matters... Let the conversations begin!

3. We have an On-site Parents Group space too. Feel free to post to it if you're off-site too! Any stories you tell your kids to bring the Buddha alive? All discussion of being Dharma parents welcome!