Triratna International Council
Triratna International Council

Ritual - The Bodhisattva's Reply

By Candradasa on Thu, 4 Aug, 2016 - 00:18

An experimental “cloud” reading, led by Parami, of Sangharakshita’s poem “The Bodhisattva’s Reply” to mark the end of a strong morning at the 2016 International Council on the theme of “Meeting the Needs Of The World.” 

THE BODHISATTVA’S REPLY
What will you say to those
Whose lives spring up between
Custom and circumstance
As weeds between wet stones,
Whose lives corruptly flower
Warped from the beautiful,
Refuse and sediment

...
London Buddhist Centre
London Buddhist Centre

Some Divinity Shaping our Ends

By Maitreyabandhu on Mon, 1 Aug, 2016 - 12:33

Some Divinity Shaping our Ends

By Maitreyabandhu on Mon, 1 Aug, 2016 - 12:33

The poet Robert Frost had a sense that meaning was to be found neither in the supernatural (God) nor in the intimately psychological (the self), but transcended these distinctions. Maitreyabandhu investigates.

‘The interest, the pastime, was to learn if there had been any divinity shaping my ends and I had been building better than I knew.’

   –  Robert Frost in the preface to a selection of his poems, 1942

Other people’s confidence can astound me. They often seem to know who they are and what...

Espace Sangha de Paris
Espace Sangha de Paris

Pétales

By Ujumani on Sun, 5 Jun, 2016 - 20:52

Pétales

By Ujumani on Sun, 5 Jun, 2016 - 20:52

Un matin, il y a peu, j’ai vu que les pétales de la pivoine qui était au-dessus de mon petit Bouddha étaient presque tous tombés sur lui… J’ai bien sûr pensé à un poème de Sangharakshita, que je vous livre ci-dessous.

Pétales

Pétales
Du lilas, pétales
De plumes mauves et blanches des
Fleurs des pommiers du verger en écume...

Community Highlights
Community Highlights

Maitreyabandhu - Poetry and Receptivity

By Candradasa on Tue, 24 Nov, 2015 - 18:47

Maitreyabandhu - Poetry and Receptivity

By Candradasa on Tue, 24 Nov, 2015 - 18:47

It’s not too late to join the Urban Retreat! 

A lovely short talk by Maitreyabandhu, illuminating why poetry is itself an act of receptivity and requires that of us as readers and, in the context of an Urban Retreat, Buddhist practitioners. Taking as his source Kay Ryan’s poem ‘The Niagara River’ we get a simple but encouraging close reading of how poetry can help us slow down, take things in, and really...

Online Meditators
Online Meditators

2013 Total Immersion Retreat poetry

By Mahabodhi on Mon, 13 Oct, 2014 - 19:30

2013 Total Immersion Retreat poetry

By Mahabodhi on Mon, 13 Oct, 2014 - 19:30Here is poetry from the 2013 Total Immersion Retreat, as recited by Paramananda.

http://mahabodhi.org.uk/wp/2013/10/total-immersion-retreat-poetry/
San Francisco Buddhist Center
San Francisco Buddhist Center

Two Videos From Suvarnaprabha's Funeral

By Dayamudra on Mon, 30 Sep, 2013 - 21:17
Two video fragments from the funeral. Raymond Carver’s ‘Late Fragment’ read by Padmatara and the final sadhus. The sound on the poem is quite hard to make out, here are the words:

Late Fragment
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

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