Jnanagita lives in Tampere, Finland, and was ordained in Helsinki in January 2011. Her private preceptor was Bodhishri, who died later that same year. I am her public preceptor. Jnanagita and I were able to meet in Helsinki in June this year, when she told me she was intending to resign from the Order. She recently wrote to me confirming her wish to resign - which I have accepted.
Celebrated Anagarika Dhammapal Jayanti by hearing Bhante talk Great Buddhist of 20th Century as well Dhammachari Subhuti recent talk Solidarity Bodhisattva Aspiration.
Women GFR Retreat from 9th to 16th Sept 17. Subject for retreat is Ten Pillar. Led by Dhni. Abhayavati, Dhni. Shilvati, Dhni. Tarahardiya, Dhni. Kamalchitta, Dhni. Gunmati, Dhni. Danachitta, Dhni. Utpala. Attended by 30 GFR women.
A huge thank you to everyone who gave to FutureDharma at the International Gathering 2017 at Adhisthana. It was an amazing weekend of friendship, worship and sunshine, of puja, bonfires and singing, and of course, our vegan FutureDharma doughnuts!
Our lovely team were to be found in the barn, telling people all about FutureDharma projects, and helping them make their pledges to support them. During the Sunday evening puja, Amalavajra led a short meditation and gave us the opportunity to offer our pledges...
The following women received their Public Ordination on September 16th at Akashavana:
Public preceptor Parami:
Elizabeth Hellard becomes Kamalasiri, a Pali name meaning: ‘She who has the beauty of a lotus’. Westernised spelling: Kamalasiri. Private Preceptor: Dayalocana.
Penny Strange becomes Vidyamani, a Sanskrit / Pali name meaning: ‘She who is like a Jewel of Knowledge’. (Long first’a’ and last ‘i’ and dot under the ‘n’). Westernised spelling: Vidyamani. Private Preceptor: Saddhanandi.
Meera Vig becomes Aksobhini, a Sanskrit name meaning: ‘She who is imperturbable’. (Dot under the ‘s’...
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...
In this introduction to a series of talks on the Means of Unification of the Sangha (the Samgrahavastus), Ratnaghosha explores another aspect of Skilful Means, the little known teaching of the four Analytical Knowledges or Pratisamvids.
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...
What I Said (and Didn’t Say) at the Combined Area Order Weekend
A little while ago, Dhirangama and I went to Adhisthana for the Combined Area Order Weekend. We travelled there with some trepidation as neither of us has spent much time in Order gatherings for many years and we wondered what we’d find.
It was good to see several old friends and I was delighted to hear Vishvapani’s landmark talk. We missed Lokeshvara’s closing talk, but I’ve since caught it online and very...
Sariputta, one of the Buddha’s two chief disciples, was once meditating in the open air on a full-moon night. A passing mischievous spirit, beguiled perhaps by the moon shining on Sariputta’s freshly shaven head, found such a tempting pate irresistible and gave it a hefty swipe with his club. However, Sariputta was so deeply absorbed in meditation he felt nothing. His friend Mogallana, who had seen the assault, asked him if he was in pain. After thinking about it,...
