From Taraloka Retreat Centre on Sun, 23 Mar, 2014 - 13:06The day started with two meditations, held within the silence of early morning - dawn rises quietly in front of the large shrine room windows at Taraloka.
At 11am, I focused on the teaching of the Absolute Bodhicitta. In Tonglen it is sometimes called the stage of ‘Flashing Bodhicitta’. It’s taken me a few years to relate to this aspect of the practice as I’m such a practical sort-of-girl and I need things to be concrete and tangible! But...
From Akashavana on Sun, 23 Mar, 2014 - 09:35It’s almost two weeks since we picked up our volunteers for this year’s work month, and so far we are establishing a very harmonious community with Vassika, Padmalila and Samata, who is here for the second time. We are delighted to have Samata staying with us till July. Vassika will be with us for the whole month and Padmalila now regrets that she will be here for only two weeks. All three are a delight to work alongside with! So...
Saddhanandi speaks about how to create a broader perspective, to give us the capacity to turn towards whatever is happening. She talks about spacious awareness, engaging with the power of the Buddha and connecting with our heart-wish.
In her first presentation on the Tonglen retreat, Saddhanandi tells us about her personal connection to the practice. She also goes into some history of the practice, places it in the context of the seven point mind training and gives an overview.
Yesterday evening Saddhanandi introduced her vision for the retreat that will be held here at Taraloka over the next week. The topic is a meditation practice called tonglen, which is a Tibetan word for receiving and sending. In this practice the breath is used to connect to one’s heart wish for the happiness of all beings.
Some highlights: Saddhanandi tells us what happened after she had been reading Doris Lessing’s novel ‘The Marriages between zones three, four and five’...
From Triratna News on Wed, 19 Mar, 2014 - 00:20Shakyajata writes: “Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the great leader of the ‘outcaste’ (or ‘Dalit’) people of India, recommended in many of his writings a very specific way to put an end to the ‘hell of caste’ from which so many people still suffer in modern India. This ‘infallible’ method, he said, was exogamy: inter-caste marriage.
On 13th February, a Triratna marriage took place in India which was inter-cultural, even inter-racial, as well as inter-caste.
From Triratna Young Buddhists on Mon, 17 Mar, 2014 - 11:38Adhisthana is dedicated to teaching Sangharakshita’s presentation of the Dharma, faithful to the Buddha’s own teachings and honouring the best in all schools. In addition to running study retreats and colloquia for Order members, there are plans to provide 5-month Dharma study and training courses primarily aimed at young women and men under the age of 40 who are either mitras or mitras training for Ordination.
The first of these courses is for women and is ready to run...
