Day 4: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

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...

The Lotus Blooming: Creating the Story of Triratna in Spain

Here’s an interview with Dharmakirti, based in Valencia, about the recent Order Day celebration in Spain. He gives us a bit of the history of Triratna in Spain, as well as the challenges and hopes for the future.


When did Triratna Spain first come into being?
Here’s a timeline of Spanish activities over the years:

1986: Guhyaloka land was bought by Subhuti, and the same year Bhante gave his first talk in Valencia.

1988: Moksananda...

Day 3: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

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...

Public Ordinations at Guhyaloka Retreat Centre, Spain

We are delighted to announce that following the Public Ordination ceremony today at Guhyaloka Retreat Centre in Spain we have 15 new Order members.

Here are their new names:


Public Preceptor Moksananda

Ricardo Rico becomes Acalamati, a Sanskrit name meaning “He who has an unwavering mind”.
Westernised spelling: Achalamati.
Private Preceptor: Nagapriya.

Bruno Mendosa Valdés becomes Ruciramati, a Sanskrit name meaning “He who has a brilliant and radiant mind”.
Westernised spelling: Ruchiramati.
Private Preceptor: Nagapriya.


Public Preceptor Amogharatna

Hans-Dieter Lehmann becomes Pasadin, a Pali...

Day 2: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

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...