At the end of last weekend's 'Conscious Surrender to the Beautiful' weekend to celebrate Sangharakshita's 90th birthday, Amalavajra was able to present Bhante with the money to fund his Complete Works!
Listen to the full event and book launch here
Mahasiddhi shot these beautiful pictures of the proceedings, which we're delighted to present here.
In this final talk from the Croydon series, Ratnachuda shares how Bhante's teachings have influenced his life. Thank you to all the speakers of these rich and varied talks, given in celebration of Sangharakshita's 90th birthday.
Yes, here it is one more time....! :-)
Three new members of the Adhisthana community introduce themselves, amid the preparations for the Order's weekend celebration of Sangharakshita's 90th birthday at Adhisthana.
Only £7,500 to go till we have the £100,000 needed for Bhante's Complete Works project, including translations!
Today we hear from Suryagupta, in a lively and engaging talk about how she has been inspired by Sangharakshita.
Just 4 days to go...and less than £10,000 to raise.
Given already? Why not give a little more?! :-)
Donate now to give the gift of the Dharma.
Dayapakshini shares how Bhante's teachings have influenced her life, together with quotes from his work, in particular the Bodhisattva Ideal. This talk was given as the first in the series to celebrate Sangharakshita's 90th birthday at the Croydon Buddhist Centre.
We cry that we are weak although
We will not stir our secret wings;
The world is dark – because we are
Blind to the starriness of things.
We pluck our rainbow-tinted plumes
And with their heaven-born beauty try
To fledge nocturnal shafts, and then
Complain ‘Alas! we cannot fly!’
We mutter ‘All is dust’ or else
With mocking words accost the wise:
‘Show us the Sun which shines beyond
The Veil’ – and then we close our eyes.
To powers above and powers beneath
In quest of Truth men sue for aid,
Who stand athwart the Light and fear
The shadow that themselves have made.
Oh cry no more that you are weak
But stir and spread your secret wings,
And say ‘The world is bright, because
We glimpse the starriness of things.’
Soar with your rainbow plumes and reach
That near-far land where all are one,
Where Beauty’s face is aye unveiled
And every star shall be a sun.
Today we hear from Dhammadinna about her long friendship with Sangharakshita, and the effect this has had on her life.
Just six days to go...
Manjuvajra talks about his personal friendship with Sangharakshita, and shares some of his memories of Bhante from their travels around the United States together in the 1990s. You can hear more from Manjuvajra at the forthcoming Order Event, in celebration of Bhante's 90th birthday.
...and 17 responses from one of Bhante's two editors, Kalyanaprabha.
Persuaded? You know the link by now...https://www.justgiving.com/Bhante90th
Today, from the Croydon series, we have a talk from Vandanajyoti. She entitles her talk ' a personal taste of freedom', and shares how studying Bhante's work has helped her to make sense of her life. And despite not knowing him well, she says that Sangharakshita has changed her life more than anyone else.
Has Sangharakshita, either personally or through his teachings, changed your life?
Fifty one years ago yesterday (12th August 1964), Sangharakshita moved into the Hampstead Buddhist Vihara in north London, having returned from 20 years in India.
You can read about this period of his life in the volume of memoirs Moving against the Stream: the Birth of a new Buddhist Movement.
Celebrate Bhante's long and varied life by making a donation for his 90th birthday project: his complete works, to be published online and on paper, for everyone, for ever.
Just £23,000 to go! By 26th August!
Today, a wonderful talk from Karunamaya, as part of the Croydon series to celebrate Sangharakshita's 90th birthday. Shraddhavajri and Vidyadharini, two Indian Order Members who recently attended the women's 5 month Dharma Life course at Adhisthana, also share how Bhante has influenced their life.
Donate today to give the gift of the Dharma to all!
Another talk from the Croydon series, this time by Amaraghosha. Among many things he shares his personal experience of hearing Sangharakshita for the first time, and how Sangharakshita has continued to influence his life. And how he walked 4 miles in the snow to meet him in Birmingham!
Over on Triratna News we recently covered the announcement of Bhante's newest book, A Moseley Miscellany.
Read what Kalyanaprabha has to say.
We still have £34,000 to go before we reach our target gift of £100,000 for Bhante's Complete Works, online and on paper, for everyone, for ever. Please help!
The collection for Bhante's birthday has reached £64,000 - 64% of the 100,000 needed for the publication of his complete works, for everyone, for ever. The project also includes plans for translations.
But the online donation page accepts nine currencies so if British Pounds aren't your thing, or the exchange rate is bad, see what other options are available.
We need to raise £1,636 per day for the next 22 days.
Or AUS $3,452 per day
Or US $2,551.
Or € 2,323.
Or South African Rand 32,259.
etc, etc...
A lovely video from the Sangharakshita Library at Adhisthana in Herefordshire, England, where Kalyanaprabha and Vidyadevi - the editors of Sangharakshita's Complete Works - speak about the project and their own heart connection to this great gathering of Buddhist Dharma to mark Urgyen Sangharakshita's 90th birthday.
How to help raise the last £39,000 for Urgyen Sangharakshita's birthday present: just paste the following line below your email signature so it goes out with every email!
Don't miss the chance to contribute to Sangharakshita's 90th birthday present! Please tell your friends.
https://www.justgiving.com/Bhante90th/
A fantastic series of talks have emerged from the Croydon Buddhist Centre, to celebrate Sangharakshita's 90th birthday. Here is a link to a talk by Padmavajra, where he shares how Sangharakshita's friendship and teachings have changed his life since the 1980s. Other speakers in the series include Vandanajyoti, Dhammadinna, Manjuvajra, and more.
Has Sangharakshita, either personally or through his teachings, changed your life? If so, donate today, to enable his teachings to benefit many others for decades to come.
The gift of the Dharma is the greatest gift that we can give the world!
This morning we have reached £60,000 of our target. Together we can raise the rest!
For the past couple of months, Saddhanandi has been conducting a very personal set of interviews with Bhante, looking back on his long life through the lens, as it were, of a set of objects he has chosen to represent each of his nine decades. They are quite fascinating conversations - I'm halfway through editing them and have already heard a number of surprising new things about Bhante and his early days as a Buddhist!
We thought you'd like to hear a sneak preview - recorded specially for the purpose, after the interviews were completed...
Plenty of good reminders here why this campaign to secure Bhante's Complete Works for future generations is so important!
Give today! Spread the word!
Written a few thousand pounds back (when we were 50% there), this is a great Triratna News report on the fundraising for Bhante's birthday present. Amalavajra, Triratna's fundraiser in Europe, explains his enthusiasm.
https://thebuddhistcentre.com/news/sangharakshita90-appeal-halfway-there
PS Today we're 58% there! We still need another £41,000 and we've got just 28 days to raise it. That's £1464 per day.
But that shouldn't be hard. Yesterday we raised more than that!
