Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

Day 4: Guided Meditation - Sitting In The Mandala (With Amitabha Mantra)

By Centre Team on Thu, 19 Mar, 2015 - 00:08
Another session with Ratnavandana, helping establish where we are in the Mandala and in relation to our heart this morning as we set up for the day by chanting the mantra of Amitabha, the great red Buddha of love and light in the West.

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Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

The Suffusion of the Divine Abidings (Brahma Viharas)

The Suffusion of the Divine Abidings (Brahma Viharas)

By Centre Team on Tue, 17 Mar, 2015 - 18:40Some reflection verses from the retreat to help dedicate your intention…

To download, read the document in full screen mode and choose ‘download’ from the sharing options (top right of the navigation panel).

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Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

Day 3: Notes on Love - Approaching the Metta Bhavana

By Centre Team on Tue, 17 Mar, 2015 - 17:29
Some lovely, personal notes on the core practice in the Brahma Viharas sequence - the cultivation of loving kindness (metta), which is said to glow, shine and blaze forth like the sun… From Rumi and Subhuti to the Itivuttaka, we hear about how love transforms both self and world in ways extraordinary and everyday.

The short guided meditation and initial notes are by Ratnavandana. The main talk is by Jvalamalini.

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Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

Day 2: Guided Meditation - Just Sitting (With Amitabha Mantra)

By Centre Team on Mon, 16 Mar, 2015 - 13:24
Ratnavandana lead us through a meditation where we just try to be present with our experience in the context of the mandala of the Five archetypal Buddhas. Today we are invited to sit in the “heart’s natural state” of metta (loving kindness) and to visualise the great tree of the Brahma Viharas.

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Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

Day 1: Sevenfold Puja (With Readings)

By Centre Team on Mon, 16 Mar, 2015 - 11:02
A full puja with some great readings to close the first full day of the retreat. Complete with Ratnavandana’s introduction to ritual as an important element of sitting with the archetypal Buddhas, and a short guided meditation.

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Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

Day 1: Guided Meditation - Just Sitting In the Mandala (With Akshobhya Mantra)

By Centre Team on Sun, 15 Mar, 2015 - 15:44
Ratnavandana lead us through a meditation where we just try to be present with our experience in the context of the mandala of the Five archetypal Buddhas. With an introduction and the mantra of Akshobhya, the blue Buddha of the east…

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Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

The Mandala of the Brahma Viharas

The Mandala of the Brahma Viharas

By Centre Team on Sat, 14 Mar, 2015 - 22:27Just as a map is a very useful thing to help know where you are, and how to get to where you want to go, so too is the mandala of the Brahma Viharas. It can do the same thing on an internal level. Firstly you need to know where you are, which means you need to be awake to your present experience to know that, and then you can see where it fits in the Mandala. So firstly, once...
Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

Dedication Ritual - Rainy Season Retreat 2015: Living In The Mandala

By Centre Team on Sat, 14 Mar, 2015 - 12:58
The opening ritual to dedicate the Rainy Season Retreat included meditation, readings (from Dilgo Khyentse Rimpoche and Nyanaponika Thera) and chanting to invoke the mandala of the five archetypal Buddhas and the qualities of kindness, compassion, gladness, and equanimity.

Led by Dharmacharini Ratnavandana

Five Buddha Mandala readings included in this recording

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Bristol Buddhist Centre
Bristol Buddhist Centre

Some Ways To 'Live In the Mandala' by Ratnavandana

Some Ways To 'Live In the Mandala' by Ratnavandana

By Centre Team on Fri, 13 Mar, 2015 - 21:13

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).

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Community Highlights
Community Highlights

Monasteries and the Rainy Season Retreat

By Candradasa on Wed, 11 Mar, 2015 - 20:24
Take part in a Rainy Season Retreat with us and Bristol Buddhist Centre from March 13th-20th!

A track from the classic 1971 Dharma talk on ‘The Individual, the Group and the Community’ by Urgyen Sangharakshita, exploring how the Buddha and his early disciples practiced together.

Listen to the rest here | Login and join the Rainy Season Retreat Online

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