By jvalamalini on Sat, 14 Mar, 2015 - 10:03I and all else that moves, until awakening, Take the Triple Gem as refuge. In order to gain perfect Buddhahood for others’ sake We practise the Four Immeasurables - Whereby may sentient beings Gain happiness with its causes; Be parted from all grief with its causes; Not become parted from the happiness wherein no grief is And dwell in the condition of equanimity
Refuges and Precepts
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa Namo Tassa...
By jvalamalini on Fri, 13 Mar, 2015 - 22:59OMAKSOBHYAHUM By the power of your Samaya Deliver us from the hells By purifying the demons of hatred and aversion And transforming them into the Mirrorlike Wisdom The deep blue, imperturbable Buddha Aksobhya
OMRATNASAMBHAVAHUM By the power of your Samaya Deliver us from the human realm By purifying the demons of pride and conceit And transforming them into the Wisdom of Equality The golden yellow, jewel born, Buddha Ratnasambhava ...
By jvalamalini on Fri, 13 Mar, 2015 - 22:47This afternoon the spaces in Bristol Buddhist Centre were transformed - what used to be a shop at the front of the building is now a food preparation and dining room, and the shrine room has become a wonderful five Buddha mandala. Kumuda’s wonderful paintings of the Jinas fill the walls and we have a beautiful 5 Buddha shrine in the centre of the room.
As Alyson reminded me as people arrived - this is magic!
As part of her preparatory notes for the Spring urban retreat on the theme of ‘Living In The Mandala’ and the Brahma Viharas, Ratnavandana has prepared this great set of reflections on ways to stay connected when you’re doing an ‘urban retreat’ of this sort (whether online or at a Buddhist Centre!).
To download, read the document in full screen mode and choose ‘download’ from the sharing options (top left of the navigation panel).
All this weekend and next week we’ll be bringing teaching and blogs from the Rainy Season Urban Retreat that starts this evening in Bristol, UK. The theme is ‘Living In the Mandala’ and we’ll be exploring the...
By Centre Team on Wed, 11 Mar, 2015 - 19:30To mark the arrival of Spring in the northern hemisphere we enjoyed a great, unexpected opportunity to go a bit deeper with our practice together. Bristol Buddhist Centre in the UK took part in a ‘Rainy Season Retreat’ together on the subject of Living In The Mandala - looking at the Brahma Viharas. And they invited everyone to join in online!
By jvalamalini on Wed, 11 Mar, 2015 - 16:59It’s pretty damp in Bristol today, and last year our rainy season retreat happened in a very wet month with flooding over much of the UK. But that isn’t why it’s called a rainy season retreat (though people did joke about us invoking rain gods last year)
We’re actually referring to the times when the Buddha and his followers shetered from the monsoon.
As you know, the Buddha and his followers had a wandering lifestyle. But every...
By jvalamalini on Wed, 11 Mar, 2015 - 15:29From 13th - 21st March Bristol Buddhist Centre will host our second Rainy Season Retreat for Order Members and Mitras. This means suspending all regular Centre activities and classes and dedicating the building to providing as close as we can to retreat conditions for the week.
Last year this had a really positive effect on our Sangha, and was clearly part of us Building a Buddhaland together.
This year we’re fortunate to have Ratnavandana leading the retreat. She...
Every day, starting afresh using petals and stamens, young women at the Nagarjuna Institue here at Nagaloka make a flower mandala for us as a beautiful gift for the shrine room. Incredibly generous and very moving. We’ll try and post each day’s as it appears…
