Dhivan offers this short discourse showing the Buddha addressing a group of people called the Kalamas, who have heard all too many religious teachers telling them what to think, even when it contradicts what the last teacher said. The Buddha instead advises them how to judge for themselves about religion. He also teaches them how to practice the brahma-vihara meditations, and to think for themselves how effective they are.
Is it possible not to be confused about race? Is it possible to respond authentically to the hurt and discomfort of racism?
The construct of race is an integral part of Western society’s DNA and if we are to address the social injustice of racism, we need to have the race conversation. Yet all too often, attempts at such a dialogue are met with silence, denial, anger or hate. Eugene Ellis’ wonderful book actively supports anyone striving...
Vishangka explores the joys and challenges that arise in a spiritual community. Here he explores the story of Anguillamala and what we can learn from this sutta.
Vishvapani has been studying, reflecting upon, and living out the Dharma life as presented by Urgyen Sangharakshita, Triratna’s founding teacher, for over 40 years. To mark the fourth anniversary of “Bhante” Sangharakshita’s death in 2018, this new talk delves deep into the heart of what Vishvapani calls a “unique and strange” intuitive approach to Buddhism that, at its best, seems to capture and...
Weekend for Young Women thinking for asking for ordination, or who have asked (residential)
Friday 27 - Sunday 29 January 2023
Only the Bodhisattva Ideal can carry us beyond ourselves and the world - and back again into them on a totally different basis
Here we are in this life, in this world, with all its troubles and moments of beauty coming into being. What are we to do with our life, who are we to be? These questions can feel at times a burden, at...
The Buddha famously said that fellowship is the whole of the spiritual life. Is that really true?! Abhayanandi has been following this teaching notably by living in a residential Buddhist community and working in a team-based right-livlihood business. Hear her inspirational and hard-won reflections from the talk entitled Living Sangha given at London Buddhist Centre, 2016.
Vishvapani has been studying, reflecting upon, and living out the Dharma life as presented by Urgyen Sangharakshita, Triratna’s founding teacher, for over 40 years. To mark the fourth anniversary of “Bhante” Sangharakshita’s death in 2018, this new audio essay delves deep into the heart of what Vishvapani calls a “unique and strange” intuitive approach to Buddhism that, at its best, seems to capture and vibrate with the essential vital energy of the universe.
Many people’s lives have been touched and profoundly changed in relation to Sangharakshita’s teaching, which is never less than ambitious, bold, imaginative and uncompromising. Here Vishvapani looks at what lies at the core of “the organic whole” of Sangharakshita’s approach to Buddhism, tracing its roots through the words of Lama Anagarika Govinda, John Middleton Murry and the Diamond Sutra back to the original spirit of the Buddha’s revolutionary approach to spiritual life.
For anyone concerned with trying to understand Sangharakshita or Triratna, this is a brilliant primer on the principal ideas that animate our community today; and an excellent general introduction to the work of a pioneer of “Western” Buddhism, whose life was dedicated to the cultivation of a new garden of the Dharma where the flowers of wisdom and compassion might bloom resplendent.
