Tag: Vajradevi

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...

Triratna News

Total Immersion - it's not about swimming

By Munisha on Wed, 24 Aug, 2016 - 08:21

Total Immersion - it's not about swimming

By Munisha on Wed, 24 Aug, 2016 - 08:21

Vajrapriya reports from this summer’s 28-day Buddhafield ‘Total Immersion’ retreat 2016 which took place in England in May and June, led by him and Kamalashila.

“’A world-class event!’ declared an Order member reporting out. Looking round the cluster of comrades gathered in the home-made dome, in a slightly boggy Devon field, it was easy to underestimate the extraordinariness of this event.

‘Total immersion’ doesn’t just refer to the intensity of meditation, but also to immersion in the elements....

Tag: Vajradevi

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