Tag: Preceptors' College

College of Public Preceptors
College of Public Preceptors

Chairs' Letter – March 2021

By ratnadharini on Wed, 31 Mar, 2021 - 15:23

Chairs' Letter – March 2021

By ratnadharini on Wed, 31 Mar, 2021 - 15:23

Dear Order members and friends,

The main international College meeting is in November and this year we are also meeting for a weekend in March and July, as well as parallel gatherings in our individual College Kulas. (The Kula system is intentionally flexible, to allow for the different number of people training for ordination in different parts of the world, as well as the geographic spread of Public Preceptors in each Kula.) 

Apart from the option...

College of Public Preceptors
College of Public Preceptors

Sangharakshita + the Gestalt

By akasajoti on Wed, 31 Mar, 2021 - 14:44

Sangharakshita + the Gestalt

By akasajoti on Wed, 31 Mar, 2021 - 14:44

You asked, ‘What is this transient pattern?’
If we tell the truth of it, it will be a long story;
It is a pattern that came out of the ocean
And in a moment returned to the ocean depth.


– Omar Khayyam
the epigraph in The Rainbow Road

A series of personal reminiscences from some Public Preceptors, on the theme of Sangharakshita + the Gestalt. These were shared during a couple of sessions of the...

College of Public Preceptors
College of Public Preceptors

Public Preceptor Appointment: Yashodeva

By akasajoti on Sun, 28 Mar, 2021 - 18:25

Public Preceptor Appointment: Yashodeva

By akasajoti on Sun, 28 Mar, 2021 - 18:25

Dear friends

I’m delighted to say that the College of Public Preceptors has appointed Yashodeva as a Public Preceptor. 

Yashodeva was ordained in 1981 and is now 59. He lived at Guhyaloka for 12 years, which is where he began working with men who were training for ordination, and has continued to be involved with GFR retreats in Spain since moving to Adhisthana eight years ago. He conducted his first ordination in 1999, and is now private preceptor to four men and kalyanamitra...

College of Public Preceptors
College of Public Preceptors

Eight Guidelines | Ethical Practice

By akasajoti on Sun, 28 Mar, 2021 - 13:38

Eight Guidelines | Ethical Practice

By akasajoti on Sun, 28 Mar, 2021 - 13:38

Maitripala, from Melbourne, Australia, and Santavajri from the UK, discuss the theme of Ethical Practice, covering aspects of sensitivity, remorse and confession, in the second in a series of informal, personal, conversations between Public Preceptors about the Eight Guidelines for Ordination Training.

The Eight Guidelines offer a framework through which Order Members and Mitras can reflect on and communicate about their going for refuge and process of training for Ordination into the Triratna Buddhist Order. In this series, members of the...

College of Public Preceptors
College of Public Preceptors

Chairs' Letter – February 2021

By ratnadharini on Mon, 1 Mar, 2021 - 12:24

Chairs' Letter – February 2021

By ratnadharini on Mon, 1 Mar, 2021 - 12:24

Dear Order members and friends,

Being someone who only seems able to write when up against a deadline can be a little scary, as there comes a point when you just have to press ‘send’. This is what had emerged by 2am. It isn’t what I expected or set out to do, but what I happened to be reflecting on.

February has been spent mainly in zoom meetings and writing emails, with Covid lockdown beginning to...

College of Public Preceptors
College of Public Preceptors

Chairs' Letter – January 2021

By ratnadharini on Mon, 1 Feb, 2021 - 09:16

Chairs' Letter – January 2021

By ratnadharini on Mon, 1 Feb, 2021 - 09:16

Dear Order members and friends,

I’ve appreciated being able to work as a team with deputies from as far afield as New Zealand (Ratnavyuha) and India (Amrutdeep) as well as with Punyamala (Sheffield) and Jnanavaca (LBC) within the UK. I appreciated Ratnavyuha’s theme of unity / diversity last month, and look forward to contributions from the others. (You can read Ratnavyuha’s December letter at thebuddhistcentre.com/preceptors) 

My last update was about the (online) College...

College of Public Preceptors
College of Public Preceptors

Chairs' Letter – December 2020

By ratnavyuha on Tue, 29 Dec, 2020 - 13:25

Chairs' Letter – December 2020

By ratnavyuha on Tue, 29 Dec, 2020 - 13:25

Dear Order Members and friends,

Ratnadharini has been writing these monthly letters for about a year now, and recently asked if those of us serving as College deputies would like to write one from time to time. I’m the first to take up this opportunity.

At the start of the pandemic, Ratnadharini started meeting weekly with her College deputies as a way of keeping in touch together with what was happening in the world and in the...

College of Public Preceptors
College of Public Preceptors

Chairs' Letter - November 2020

By ratnadharini on Mon, 30 Nov, 2020 - 23:40

Chairs' Letter - November 2020

By ratnadharini on Mon, 30 Nov, 2020 - 23:40

Dear Order members and friends,

Thinking back over my first year as chair of the College: I took on the responsibility in November 2019 as we marked the first anniversary of Bhante’s funeral, and in spite of having been a fairly active Deputy prior to that, it’s still taken some growing into. I wanted more channels of communication with the Order generally, and in January 2020 I began writing these monthly letters. 

In March our Area...

College of Public Preceptors
College of Public Preceptors

Chairs' Letter – October 2020

By ratnadharini on Sat, 31 Oct, 2020 - 18:52

Chairs' Letter – October 2020

By ratnadharini on Sat, 31 Oct, 2020 - 18:52

Dear Order members and friends,

The theme I’m currently aware of is death / rebecoming. Partly due to it being Autumn in this hemisphere; partly due to the pandemic and being in lockdown again; and today, 30 October, is the second anniversary of Bhante’s death.

I expect we all remember where we were when we heard that Bhante had died. I was in Sweden, and it was such a relief to get to the Centre where Prasadacarin had just opened...

College of Public Preceptors
College of Public Preceptors

Chairs' Letter – September 2020

By ratnadharini on Wed, 30 Sep, 2020 - 19:11

Chairs' Letter – September 2020

By ratnadharini on Wed, 30 Sep, 2020 - 19:11

Dear Order members

Two days ago I attended the public ordination of 16 women at Adhisthana. When Bhante chose the ‘miracle’ design of the stupa for Dhardo Rimpoche at Tiratanaloka, he said it was because the greatest miracle was Going for Refuge; it seemed especially miraculous to be having public ordinations, given the Covid 19 restrictions, with around 500 people joining the live zoom. I was on the balcony, above the flags and aware of the blessings of blue...

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