Another wabi sabi scan, this time of Friday morning’s poignant meditation poem. A great choice by Varasahaya which prompted some tears as the eight young women prepare to leave Adhisthana today after their 5 month Dharma course…
Running parallel to the Writers’ Convention - and coming to an end at the same time - was a young women’s extended Dharma course, with women from around the world taking part. Here we meet Shraddhavajri and Vidyadharini from India who, along with their fellow long-term retreatants, have been using writing as another way to explore spiritual life and the meaning of the Buddha’s teaching in their own lives…
“Meditation and and the effects of mindfulness on body and mind are now accepted in our society. Meditation enables us to create the conditions for the most profound changes in body, mind and emotions.
Most of us have little self knowledge because we tend to be so externally focussed on objects, events or situations. We’ve been able to walk on the moon, but not find peace in our hearts, because we don’t know how to work creatively with our thoughts and feelings.
Our morning meditation poem on Thursday was Summer Farm by Norman MacCaig. I’ll definitely be buying this volume of Selected Poems. It’s wonderful!
In our sessions we’ve re-instituted ‘the listening chair’ we used to have for Manjusvara - and I snapped some occupants (interesting body language!) We were exploring themes from Ananda’s talk the other night about William Stafford, especially around the relationship with the Muse and receptivity.
There was a spirited discussion about the pros and...
This Dhamma is for one who is reclusive, not for one who is entangled.’ Thus was it said. With reference to what was it said? There is the case where a person, when living in seclusion, is visited by persons, nuns, lay men, lay women, kings, royal ministers, sectarians & their disciples. With their mind bent on seclusion, tending toward seclusion, inclined toward seclusion, aiming at seclusion, relishing renunciation, they converse with them only as much as is necessary
After our weekend break, Satyalila is back with the latest installment from the Triratna Writers Conference. It’s unusual perhaps for a Buddhist community to place such an emphasis on the Arts as a route to spiritual inquiry - but it’s a real pleasure to listen to it happening ‘as live’!
This conversation with Satyadaka takes place in the brand new Sangharakshita library and we hear much about one of “Bhante’s” literary heroes, Dr. Johnson, as well as the...
Join us for the first men’s working retreat at Adhisthana led by Sanghadasa and Sanghadeva. Both are members of the Adhisthana community, and have many years experience of working for the Movement
The theme of the retreat will be Integration, and you will be joining the young men here on the Dharma Training Course. Together we will explore how doing simple, practical tasks, especially working with others, can be great way to integrate the energies of the body...
Even more storytelling! Our FBA Dharmabyte today is called “The Mystery of the Buddha”, the beginning of a short talk by Khemasuri where she Khemasuri tells the story of Angulimala’s meeting with the Buddha. From a talk of the same title, “The Mystery of the Buddha”.
Four young women from Adhisthana’s DharmaLife course - which finished yesterday - talk to Amalavajra about how their lives have been changed by Sangharakshita’s life and writings.
Bhante’s 90th birthday present will be the collation, editing and publication (paper and digital) of everything that he has ever written. This is an enormous project that will need five years work and £100,000 (including some translations from English).
Without it, the scattered share of Bhante’s writings that is currently available will simply become harder to come by and explore in full.
