When I was in Norwich in December, I visited Sarvananda, who wished to make a short video, thanking the Abhayaratna Trust and its supporters for helping him go on retreat by providing a grant. Due to having a ‘bad cold’ at the time he asked his auntie Jean to speak on his behalf. I was moved. (click on image to watch the video)
If you are someone who donates to the Abhayaratna Trust, or have benefitted from the Trust in some way,...
Bodhidasa poetically explores the image of the reclining Buddha - at his physical passing, the Buddha did not stop being a force for good, did not meet a final end in oblivion - and neither do we. The Buddha acts as an inspiration, a story, an influence, a guide, an exemplar - and that continues in the lives of those who remember him. Excerpted from the talk entitled Death Is Not the End - Parinirvana given...
Angulimala Sutta – a story of extraordinary transformation
Angulimala was a brutal, bloody-handed bandit devoted to killing and slaying and yet his encounter with the Buddha resulted in a transformation which ultimately led to him becoming enlightened. How could this have happened and what does it mean in practical terms for spreading the Dharma in this world? Join us this Tuesday as Vimaladasa recounts this popular story about the mystery and power of meeting the enlightened mind.
What was The Buddha really like?
We are told that the Buddha broke through into a radically different state of being, transcending ordinary human consciousness. What might it have been like to encounter that?
There was something magnetic, awesome, mysterious, and powerful about The Buddha. Some people even ‘WOKE UP!’ just by being in his presence.
During this series we will go on a journey, where we will glimpse The Buddha by imagining our way into some of the brilliant stories handed down to us - stories of an Enlightened Being interacting with the people he met.
We’ll be asking ourselves, what we can learn about The Buddha from these stories…and we’ll attempt to bring some of those qualities into the situations and people that we encounter in our daily life.
As we’re approaching Parinirvana Day, many of us bring to mind friends and loved ones who have died in the last year.
For those preparing for events on retreat, at centres and online, here is a list of Order members who have died since 1st February 2025. We remember them with loving kindness:
Our meditation doesn’t always go how we want it to. But working with what is going on is where we start. This course will give us ways to work with what prevents deeper states of concentration, identifying them and freeing ourselves from their clutches. Opening up to our own deep potential, we can find and build more inspiring, absorbed and effective states of mind. And grow the confidence to take them out into our everyday lives.
A Sangharakshita lecture celebrating the anniversary of the Parinirvana or ‘death’ of the Buddha. It outlines six basic meditation practices crucial to the attainment of the ‘Deathless’: Enlightenment. Excerpted from the talk entitled The Meaning of Parinirvana given as part of the series Parinirvana Day, 1972.
Here, Vishangka explores what it means to live a full buddhist life, and the place of meditation and community within it. Excerpted from the talk entitled Awake to Life given on the Summer Great Gathering: What Meditation really is at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2025.
Here is the latest edition of Shabda in six digital formats:
eBook Shabda .EPUB – read on most other eBook readers (eg Nook or Kobo, etc) and most eReader apps on tablets, smartphones etc.
eBook Shabda .MOBI – This format is now deprecated, but this can still be used on older Kindle devices, and some older eReader apps on tablets, smartphones, etc.
