Bump elbows, say hello!
The Community Toolkit for Uncertain Times

Introducing the Afrikan Wisdom Summit: Curated and co-produced by Dharmacharani Vimalasara

By Vimalasara on Thu, 24 Mar, 2022 - 11:17

Introducing the Afrikan Wisdom Summit: Curated and co-produced by Dharmacharani Vimalasara

By Vimalasara on Thu, 24 Mar, 2022 - 11:17

April 5-11 | ONLINE | Free 7-day summit

I have curated and co-produced this inspiring Afrikan Wisdom Summit, with speakers from the UK, USA, Canada, Caribbean.

Topics include spiritual traditions, the arts, liberation, wisdom of the body and raising our next black generation, and ancestors. Topics that all speakers say involve the whole of humanity. It’s free, and you can upgrade to keep the talks and teaching tools. 

To find out...

Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

5 Years of the Buddhist Centre Online: #8 Wisdom Beyond Words

By Sadayasihi on Wed, 29 Aug, 2018 - 15:30

5 Years of the Buddhist Centre Online: #8 Wisdom Beyond Words

By Sadayasihi on Wed, 29 Aug, 2018 - 15:30

“The culmination of wisdom is freedom from all views. You have nothing to say. When all the answers are in your being, you have no need to keep them in your head.” - Sangharakshita (Seminar on The Door of Liberation)

The goal of Buddhism is the attainment of Enlightenment - but what is Enlightenment? One way of describing it is seeing the true nature of reality and living in accordance with that vision. An Enlightened being is free...

Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 6

By jvalamalini on Fri, 15 Sep, 2017 - 17:14

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 6

By jvalamalini on Fri, 15 Sep, 2017 - 17:14

The last morning of the retreat found me with a mind full of reflections in the early morning double meditation, and a fair bit of energy released – I was dancing in my living room when I popped home for a few things after breakfast.

This was the day we’d been building up to – the day we met the Buddha! Ratnaguna introduced the Buddha Amitayus of the Guan Jing, the ‘Buddha beyond the Buddha’, the principle of Buddhahood which the Mahayana...

Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 5

By jvalamalini on Thu, 14 Sep, 2017 - 14:07

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 5

By jvalamalini on Thu, 14 Sep, 2017 - 14:07

As Ratnaguna pointed out, dwelling in such an uncompromisingly bright land tends to invite one’s shadow. Every retreat brings a process for each of us, and today I knew the retreat was reaching something more in me when I found myself weeping in morning meditation. After last night’s talk, I was touching a deep grief for all the imperfection in me-and-my-sangha: the views I bring that make things hard for me; the ways interpersonal dynamics sometimes obscure our shared faith; the ways...

Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 4

By jvalamalini on Wed, 13 Sep, 2017 - 13:22

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 4

By jvalamalini on Wed, 13 Sep, 2017 - 13:22

Today we focused on the very beautiful descriptions of the beings in the happy land of Sukhavati. In many ways these are my favourite sections of the sutra; I’ve spent happy meditations in the past basking in the golden light as I imagined being amidst great beings with “minds of equality, minds of loving-kindness, gentle minds, affectionate minds, diligent minds, clear minds, stable minds, unhindered minds, unshaken minds, unagitated minds, minds which practise the perfection of wisdom” who stroll around...

Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 3

By jvalamalini on Tue, 12 Sep, 2017 - 09:04

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 3

By jvalamalini on Tue, 12 Sep, 2017 - 09:04

Another beautiful day in the pure land!  On my way home, I sighed - “oh it’s all so lovely!”.

Today our sutra reading was sections of the text describing the land of Sukhavati, which is the Dharma aspect of the text. (Yesterday focused more on the Buddha - including beautiful descriptions of bodhisattva activity)

I found the description of the river particularly beguiling - the sound of the river is both soothing, and conveys the Dharma. It conveys the Dharma by murmuring the only,...

Community Highlights
Community Highlights

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat Online!

By Centre Team on Mon, 11 Sep, 2017 - 16:37

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat Online!

By Centre Team on Mon, 11 Sep, 2017 - 16:37

All this week we’ll be bringing you online resources and blogs from the Bristol Buddhist Centre’s Rainy Season Retreat on ‘Great Faith, Great Wisdom’ with Ratnaguna.

Follow the retreat online

On this retreat Ratnaguna will guide us on a journey into Amitābha’s Pure Land, Sukhāvati – a mythical realm where the ground is golden, trees are made of jewels, heavenly musical instruments play ravishing music, and magical birds sing the Dharma. It is...