| The Buddhist Centre

Vimalasara

Green Tara

From Eight Step Recovery - Using the Buddha's Teachings To Overcome Addiction on Wed, 4 Dec, 2013 - 06:20

Day 18 is the Green Tara mantra. Like Avalokitesvara, Tara is especially associated with compassion – the quintessence of compassion. Remember she was born from his tears. When we chant the Tara mantra we can feel that we are contacting deep compassion. This compassion may be expressed in tears, in the feeling of your heart opening up, in the painful or pleasureable tone of your thoughts. You may feel that you are feeling nothing at all - this is okay...

Dhammalata

Gardening our Mind

From Coogee Buddhist Group on Tue, 3 Dec, 2013 - 22:56

Gardening our Mind

From Coogee Buddhist Group on Tue, 3 Dec, 2013 - 22:56Dear Coogee Meditators

A couple of thoughts I’ve had this last week around meditation practice – not all my own original thoughts (if there is such a thing anyway) but rather musings on teachings in the Buddhist tradition and my own experience with them:

Meditation is like creating a beautiful garden of your own mind. A garden is cultivated and grows with the right conditions; good soil, water, weeding, planting the right seeds, fertilising and for some (including

Carol Robertson

Hidden Gems Dedication ceremony

From Croydon Buddhist Centre on Tue, 3 Dec, 2013 - 13:34

Hidden Gems Dedication ceremony

From Croydon Buddhist Centre on Tue, 3 Dec, 2013 - 13:34

On Sunday 1st December around 40 people gathered at the Croydon Buddhist Centre, to conduct a dedication ceremony for our new Team Based Right Livelihood charity shop Hidden Gems. Led by Sucimani and Amarapuspa, we meditated, reflected and rejoiced in those who helped make the project happen. Claudine from Lama’s Pyjamas did the honours of cutting the 3 jewel ribbons declaring the opening of the shop. We took...

Dhivan

The Tree Shrine at Lumbini

From Western Buddhist Review on Tue, 3 Dec, 2013 - 10:34

The Tree Shrine at Lumbini

From Western Buddhist Review on Tue, 3 Dec, 2013 - 10:34This is more of an ‘editor’s blog’ than an article or review - I’m using the resources available here on The Buddhist Centre Online a bit more. Dhivan (editor, Western Buddhist Review).

There was some fascinating news last Tuesday 26 November – that archaelogists have uncovered a shrine from the 6th c. bce at Lumbini, the site of the Buddha’s birth. (Here’s a link to the BBC version). It’s not often that archaeology, let...

Vimalasara

May you be peaceful

From Eight Step Recovery - Using the Buddha's Teachings To Overcome Addiction on Tue, 3 Dec, 2013 - 05:20

Day 17 is a song meditation on loving kindness, using phrases that are often used in loving kindness meditation. Loving kindness has a strong element of liking. Sometimes we can love people but don’t actually like them. This sometimes happens in our families. We love our parents or siblings but realize we don’t actually like them.. But to like someone, is to take love deeper. That is loving kindness. To like is to open up and accept ourselves and others...

viriyalila

The Bodhisattva Tara

From Free Buddhist Audio on Tue, 3 Dec, 2013 - 00:47

The month of December will be filled with the spirit, love and symbolism of Bodhisattva’s. We had our first meeting with Tara in Saturday’s podcast by Vajratara titled “Mindfulness: The Great Love”. Today’s FBA Dharmabyte is a further tribute to “The Bodhisattva Tara” by Kamalashila. From a series about the final mantras of the sevenfold puja, Kamalashila talks about the birth and significance of this bodhisattva.

Candradasa

Back on the meditation trail...

From Online Meditators on Mon, 2 Dec, 2013 - 16:55

Back on the meditation trail...

From Online Meditators on Mon, 2 Dec, 2013 - 16:55Hi all, we’re back meditating online this week. We’ll be here as usual on Tuesday at 2.30pm EST / 7.30pm UK / Australia and New Zealand (Wednesday morning) at 6.30am/8.30am and on Thursday at 11am EST / 4pm UK / 9.30pm Mumbai.

As ever, join us on Skype as user: thebuddhistcentre.com (send us a message on Skype to be added to the call) or via the Google hangout event we’ll post on our...

Vimalasara

Ocean breath

From Eight Step Recovery - Using the Buddha's Teachings To Overcome Addiction on Mon, 2 Dec, 2013 - 04:26

Day 16 is a meditation on breathing, in which we can think of the breath as a Higher Power. When we connect to the breath our lives can change without us trying to change it. Although the Buddhist tradition has no place for God as a creator divinity as understood by the theistic traditions, there is nevertheless a clear and definite understanding of a supra-personal dimension, an “Other Power” in Buddhism. The breath can act as the groundwork for connecting...

Vimalasara

A message from my co-author Paramabandu (week one meditations)

From Eight Step Recovery - Using the Buddha's Teachings To Overcome Addiction on Mon, 2 Dec, 2013 - 04:18

Hello we’ve been excited by our 21 day meditation for recovery and busy lives. Apologies to those of you who joined our community this week and have not been able to find the first week of meditations. We have just posted them for you now. These meditations are our trailer for our book, Eight Step Recovery - Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. We wanted to produce a selection of meditations and reflections that are bite size in length,...

Vimalasara

Padmasambhava mantra

From Eight Step Recovery - Using the Buddha's Teachings To Overcome Addiction on Sun, 1 Dec, 2013 - 07:25

Welcome to those of you who have joined our community recently. And welcome back to some of you who have been busy doing other things. Day 15 is the Padmasambhava mantra. Padmasambhava is associated with taking Buddhism to Tibet and transforming demons. When we chant the Padmasambhava mantra we can think of our own demons – the difficult and often painful forces within us – being transformed. We can imagine asking Padmasambhava to help us with our struggles, freeing up...

Pages