Tag: rainy season retreat

Day 6: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

By Satyalila on Thu, 2 May, 2019 - 15:49

Day 6: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

By Satyalila on Thu, 2 May, 2019 - 15:49

Day 6 - the final day! The 2019 Rains Retreat is now over. Here are some final photos - Bhadra, the Chair of the Bristol Buddhist Centre, thanking and rejoicing in Vajradevi, and then the inevitable dismantling of the shrine and farewells.

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Listen to the audio recordings from day 6 on Soundcloud

Early Morning Meditation Session

Exploring Our Momentum with Mindfulness + Closing Ritual

Listen to the whole series on Free Buddhist Audio

View...

Bristol Buddhist Centre

Day 4: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

By Satyalila on Wed, 1 May, 2019 - 12:27

Day 4: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

By Satyalila on Wed, 1 May, 2019 - 12:27

The morning of the fourth day of our rains retreat saw us diving into the ‘dangerous neighbourhood’ of our minds where the kleshas (poisons) hang out. With Vajradevi as a fearless guide, we explored both aversion and craving. With a skilful use of personal examples, she helped us venture into the territory with the companionship of mindfulness, helping us to distinguish the ‘knowing mind’ from the ‘known mind’.

Our afternoon session was devoted to exploring two very different...

Bristol Buddhist Centre

Day 3: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

By Satyalila on Tue, 30 Apr, 2019 - 12:24

Day 3: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

By Satyalila on Tue, 30 Apr, 2019 - 12:24

On the third full day of the Bristol Rains Retreat Vajradevi continued the exploration of mindfulness with a talk on working with thinking, followed by a sitting meditation in which we became aware of ‘thoughts as thoughts’ by the practice of gently ‘labelling’ what arose. After tea, a led walking meditation provided the opportunity to carry that ‘thread of mindfulness’ from sitting into walking; this was followed by the exploration of ‘mood’ as a major conditioning factor of our experience...

Bristol Buddhist Centre

Day 2: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

By Satyalila on Mon, 29 Apr, 2019 - 12:40

Day 2: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

By Satyalila on Mon, 29 Apr, 2019 - 12:40

In this second full day of our rains retreat on the Satipatthana Vajradevi explored the faculties of wisdom (prajna or panna) and energy (viriya) in relation to mindfulness. In the morning about 40 of us took part in a (very mindful!) led walking meditation round the shrineroom.

During the day there were also opportunities to do the ‘sofa practice’! This a Bristol invention… a term Khemajoti coined on one of our early Rains retreats 5-6 years ago when Lisa, a...

Bristol Buddhist Centre

Day 1: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

By Satyalila on Sun, 28 Apr, 2019 - 09:31

Day 1: Pathways to a Beautiful Mind

By Satyalila on Sun, 28 Apr, 2019 - 09:31

Our Bristol Rains Retreat 2019 had a rich first day with about 40 Order Members and Mitras taking part through the day. Vajradevi gave us a great overview of mindfulness and awareness and skilfully wove what she’s learned of the practice in Burma with Bhante Sangharakshita’s teachings on the five spiritual faculties (drawing on the Essential Sangharakshita, What is the Dharma? and A Survey of Buddhism.)

In the evening we had a 45-minute Mindfulness of Breathing followed by the...

Buddhist Centre Features

Pathways to the Beautiful Mind: Bristol Rains Retreat 2019

By Sadayasihi on Sat, 27 Apr, 2019 - 13:55

Pathways to the Beautiful Mind: Bristol Rains Retreat 2019

By Sadayasihi on Sat, 27 Apr, 2019 - 13:55

The 2019 Bristol Rains Retreat is now underway! This year’s theme is ‘Pathways to the Beautiful Mind’ which will be using the framework of the Satipatthana Sutta and the 5 spiritual faculties to cultivate receptivity to beauty and truth, while allowing the whole range of our experience to be known. The retreat is being led by Vajradevi who will be exploring the theme through the ‘pathways’ of meditation, reflection, input, discussion and ritual.

We will be sharing the talks from this retreat as it happens over...

Community Highlights

Highlights from the 2014 Brighton Rainy Season Retreat

By Rijupatha on Wed, 19 Mar, 2014 - 01:55

Highlights from the 2014 Brighton Rainy Season Retreat

By Rijupatha on Wed, 19 Mar, 2014 - 01:55Brighton Buddhist Centre has begun their 2014 Rainy Season Retreat, continuing through Saturday, 22 Mar, 2014 - and we can enjoy it along with them! Some spectacularly fun updates are being made every day from the retreat, including audio, video, photos and blog entries summarizing the day’s events. You can + follow along with the retreat on Brighton Buddhist Centre’s space on The Buddhist Centre Online.

This special retreat for Order...