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Dedication Ceremony - Turning Arrows into Flowers: Day 1

By Sadayasihi on Fri, 15 May, 2020 - 09:48

Dedication Ceremony - Turning Arrows into Flowers: Day 1

By Sadayasihi on Fri, 15 May, 2020 - 09:48

Today, day 1, you might like to spend some time figuring out how you are going to take part - how much time do you have, what supports do you need, what is your wish for this retreat. It can be helpful to support this intention with a bit of ritual.

Often on the first night of a retreat this is marked by some kind of ceremony - in our community, this is often done with a...

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Welcome - Turning Arrows into Flowers: Day 1

By Sadayasihi on Fri, 15 May, 2020 - 07:52

Welcome - Turning Arrows into Flowers: Day 1

By Sadayasihi on Fri, 15 May, 2020 - 07:52

Globally, the coronavirus and all its implications presents us with an enormous challenge - but how are we responding? With ill-will and aversion, or with curiosity and compassion? Today marks the start of our latest home retreat: Turning Arrows into Flowers - an exploration of the Seven-point Mind Training, where we are learning to cultivate a mind free of blame and reactivity, a mind that is open, kind, interested. By delving into these teachings, facilitated by Yashobodhi, and with personal reflections from...

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Closing the Being Divine Online home retreat

By kusaladevi on Fri, 1 May, 2020 - 17:01

Closing the Being Divine Online home retreat

By kusaladevi on Fri, 1 May, 2020 - 17:01

We hope you have enjoyed Being Divine Online with us this week! 

The retreat ended with this beautiful song by Ratnavandana, which retreatants sing together at the end of her Brahma Viharas retreats.

Thank you so much to Ratnavandana for supplying us with these fantastic resources around the Brahma Viharas, for sharing her practice and experience so fully and for her wonderful evocation and explanation of the Divine Abodes in the Q & A where 138 of us gathered together.

Look out too for a ...

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Song of the Brahma Viharas - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Sadayasihi on Fri, 1 May, 2020 - 09:06

Song of the Brahma Viharas - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Sadayasihi on Fri, 1 May, 2020 - 09:06

It’s always good to finish things with a song - and happily, today, here’s one! It’s Ratnavandana chanting the Brahma Viharas song that is usually learned on each ‘Living in the Mandala’ retreat that she leads.

As Ratnavandana kindly sent on some lovely nature photos she has taken, we have made this into a short video which you can enjoy, and hopefully get a feeling for the Brahma Viharas “pervading all quarters”.

The text from this song...

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Reflections on Upekkha - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Maitrisiddhi on Tue, 28 Apr, 2020 - 11:21

Reflections on Upekkha - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Maitrisiddhi on Tue, 28 Apr, 2020 - 11:21

Hi everyone, thought I’d share one way in which I enjoy approaching equanimity.  I’ve been really enjoying listening to Ratnavandana’s material and feeling quite inspired by the ‘great tree of the Brahma Viharas’.  

Ratnavandana and I would have been running ’Living in the Mandala: The Brahma Viharas’ retreat at Taraloka this very week (April 2020) - I’m so pleased it can happen in another form.      

love Maitrisiddhi

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Reflections on Mudita - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Maitrisiddhi on Mon, 27 Apr, 2020 - 11:04

Reflections on Mudita - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Maitrisiddhi on Mon, 27 Apr, 2020 - 11:04

Hi everyone, hope you’re enjoying your explorations of the Brahma Viharas - I am!  Here’s a few of my reflections on Mudita.  Somehow I feel like this is the Brahma Vihara I always forget about, and every time I rediscover it, I find it so delightful I wonder why! 

Ratnavandana and I would have been running ’Living in the Mandala: The Brahma Viharas’ retreat at Taraloka this very week (April 2020) - I’m so pleased it can happen in another...

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Reflections on Karuna - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Maitrisiddhi on Sun, 26 Apr, 2020 - 12:11

Reflections on Karuna - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Maitrisiddhi on Sun, 26 Apr, 2020 - 12:11

Hi folks, ‘how to respond to suffering with compassion’ is quite a live question for me at the moment - and probably for many of you too - so here’s a few of my reflections. Ratnavandana and I would have been running ’Living in the Mandala: The Brahma Viharas’ retreat at Taraloka this very week (April 2020) - how amazing that instead it can happen online! 

Wishing you all very well in your practice,      

...

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Reflections on Metta - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Maitrisiddhi on Sun, 26 Apr, 2020 - 09:52

Reflections on Metta - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Maitrisiddhi on Sun, 26 Apr, 2020 - 09:52

‘Living in the Mandala: The Brahma Viharas’ retreat would have been happening at Taraloka retreat centre now - April 2020 - but then there was lockdown! So I thought I’d share some personal reflections around my own current practice of the Brahma Viharas to complement Ratnavandana’s online retreat.   

There’ll be a few more coming! 

love Maitrisiddhi 

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Additional Resources - Being Divine Online Day 2 - Beauties and Downfalls: Structure and the Metta Bhavana

By kusaladevi on Sat, 25 Apr, 2020 - 09:27

Additional Resources - Being Divine Online Day 2 - Beauties and Downfalls: Structure and the Metta Bhavana

By kusaladevi on Sat, 25 Apr, 2020 - 09:27

Here’s a talk from Maitridevi at Taraloka retreat centre - if it weren’t for the lockdown, Ratnavandana would be at Taraloka right now, leading a Brahma Viharas retreat.

In this talk, Maitridevi explores this fascinating area around how to stay creative with the metta bhavana practice. Do you find the structure of the metta bhavana like a great tree that supports you, or an oppression that dries up metta?

This talk is part of a series of talks given on The Heart Unbound: Metta...

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Letting Go - Sailing the Worldly Winds Home Retreat Day 6

By kusaladevi on Wed, 8 Apr, 2020 - 18:22

Letting Go - Sailing the Worldly Winds Home Retreat Day 6

By kusaladevi on Wed, 8 Apr, 2020 - 18:22

In today’s reflection Vajragupta encourages us to identify negative thoughts and emotions in meditation and let them go. “Ah yes”, I thought to myself as I read this reflection, “let them go”… but then I realised this phrase has quite a particular meaning for me. I often use this phrase, to myself or when speaking to others - let go - what does it really mean and how can we actually practice it? Vajragupta does explain this when...

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