A Wave of Blessings
TRIRATNA DAY 2021 Re-watch all the eventsPlease support the work of Future DharmaAn International Programme hosted by Adhisthana
In April 1967 Bhante Sangharakshita founded what was to become the Triratna Buddhist Community. 54 years on, we celebrate this event and all that Bhante has given us, looking forward to how we continue to unfold his legacy in the future.
Bhante spent his last years at Adhisthana, the Place of Blessings, and we can imagine a wave of blessings spreading out from the burial mound across the world, like the waves from a pebble dropped into a pond.
A year in lockdown presented Adhisthana with the opportunity to reflect and further unfold the founding vision for the place. Those at Adhisthana have a keen sense of the worth of the words and teachings that Bhante has left us. We want to explore these treasures which reside in our library, and in the hearts and minds of those who have lived them, and bring them to life with an excitement and enthusiasm just as was around when the seminars and lectures were delivered.
The sessions are a collaboration between Adhisthana and different parts of the world, creating a bridge between the geographical areas that make up Triratna.
In the meantime, please check out their new website at adhisthana.org. Everyone at Adhisthana would be delighted to hear what you think!
Free e-book from Windhorse Publications
To celebrate Triratna Day, until April 10th, Windhorse Publications are giving everyone a free digital copy of Sangharakshita: A New Voice in the Buddhist Tradition by Subhuti.
The author considers it one of his best works, and it offers a comprehensive account of Sangharakshita’s evolution as a thinker and teacher
FutureDharma raises much-needed funds to help Triratna thrive. It makes available funds for many projects, and of course there is never enough money to fulfil all needs.
We hope to raise £15,000 today so that the Wave of Blessings of our Triratna projects can continue to benefit the world.
If 250 of us give £60 today, then we can do it!
Programme
1. The Green Stone
Beginning in New Zealand Shraddanitta leads a special, adapted dedication ceremony. Ujjalamati shares her story beginning with meeting Sangharakshita when she was eight, and ending with her recent ordination.
Purna and Saddhanandi introduce us to the green stone, it’s traditional symbolism in Maori culture, and its significance to our teacher. We end with a ritual placing of the Adhisthana green stone, a gift from Bhante, into the hands of the Buddha in the Adhisthana shrine room. Hosted by Ratnavyuha and Saddhanandi.
2. In the Presence of the Buddha
Live from the Adhisthana Shrine room Yashodeva leads a Buddhanusati meditation, a reflection on the Buddha and his qualities.
It includes the use of the Buddha Vandana, a traditional Pali chant/text which evokes and praises the Buddha’s qualities: Such indeed is He, the Richly Endowed, the Free, the Fully and Perfectly Awake, Equipped with Knowledge and Practice, the Happily Attained, Knower of the Worlds, Guide Unsurpassed of Men to Be Tamed, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the
Awakened One Richly Endowed.
3. Triratna: A Living Tradition
We head over to Sydney for the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Sydney Buddhist Centre. Ratnajyoti interviews Dharmamati about his and his friends’ adventure down under.
Keynote speaker Dhammarati presents on the meaning of lineage in our community: our collective project, since the first communication of the Buddha, to liberate beings from suffering.
Followed by small, international discussion groups. Hosted by Ratnajyoti and Shubhavyuha.
4. Ritual & Devotion: Words of Our Teacher
From Bhante’s living room, where he met hundreds of people in his time at Adhisthana, Saddhanandi shares Bhante’s strong connection with India.
We hear from Dharmacharinis Tarahridaya and Abhayanavita, Bhante’s last two visitors, two weeks before his death. Join us for a special ritual including circumambulation around the burial mound.
During the ritual everyone was invited to make an offering to their shrine of words of Bhante that have personal significance.
5. Blessings of all the Buddhas
Introduced by Yashodeva and Rochani, Jnanadakini (MEX) and Danadasa (US) share their experiences of internationality, including their time on an intensive international one-month training course at Adhisthana, during which Bhante died.
Parami evokes the Blessings of the Buddhas through internationality and the Bodhisattva ideal.
6. Triratna: What Next?
How do you make the most of what you’ve been given? What role can you play in the future of Triratna? An international panel discussion of young and recently ordained Buddhists – Varadhi (AUS), Ruchiramati (MEX), Moksharati (MEX), Moksadhi (UK) – concluding with a rousing talk from Sanghadeva at Adhisthana. Hosted by Ksantikara.