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'What is the Order?' Online - Available Spaces

We’re happy to announce that the capacity for the online component of the ‘What is the Order?’ retreat has been increased, so there are now spaces available for booking.

Going for Refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha needs a specific spiritual community for it to be fully expressed: it needs, in other words, an Order. During this retreat we’ll explore what the Triratna Buddhist Order is, the Order that transcends the distinction between monk and lay and places the spiritual and existential act of Going for Refuge at its very heart.

Reverencing the Guru

Last Friday on Bhante Sangharakshita’s second death anniversary, Padmavajra gave a very personal talk to the Padmaloka Community and to the Dublin Men's Sangha who requested the talk and joined us via Zoom for the evening.

In the talk, Padmavajra tells us about his connection with Bhante Urgyen Sangharakshita, including his first and last meetings with him, as well as a number of other significant meetings in between. Padmavajra is in no doubt that his meeting with Bhante completely changed his life.

An Update on Retreats at Padmaloka

We’re sorry to announce that following the UK prime ministers briefing last night of a nationwide lockdown, we will be suspending our residential events here at Padmaloka.

However, the beauty of hosting hybrid events is their flexibility, so the online aspect of our retreats will continue to run, and people from all over the UK and Europe will virtually gather here at Padmaloka to join the community for study, meditation and puja.

The Taste of Freedom - Padmavajra

During the Men's Great Gathering at Padmaloka, Padmavajra explored the Buddha's proclamation that just as the great and mighty ocean has the taste of salt, the Buddha's Dhamma has the taste of freedom.
By freedom, the Buddha meant complete liberation from the wheel of life, but he also indicated the importance of social freedom.

In his talk, Padmavajra begins with a quotation from the great Indian Dalit leader, Dr B R Ambedkar on the occasion of the great mass conversion to Buddhism of hundreds and thousands of Dalits.

Five New Dharmacharis

Dear all,
We're delighted to announce that 5 new Dharmacharis were ordained here at Padmaloka on 1 October 2020.
After the ceremony, the clouds cleared tp reveal the sun and then after a rain shower a double rainbow appeared. An auspicious end to an auspicious afternoon.

- Public preceptor: Satyaraja -

Alex Stirling becomes Shraddhavadin
He who communicates confidence in the Dharma
Private preceptor: Mahashraddha

Clive Fletcher becomes Karunadhara
He who is a bearer of compassion
Private preceptor: Danapriya

Lightning Flashes from the Blue Beyond - A New Series of Talks

As an offering and a way of celebrating the festival day of Guru Rimpoche on Saturday the 26th of September, we'll launch on our YouTube channel the first video of the new series of short talks by Padmavajra, "Lightning Flashes from the Blue Beyond".

Follow this link to see Padmasagara introduce the series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqaIqaQeIG4

Public Ordinations Coming up at Padmaloka

In just over a week Padmaloka will be opening its gates to men coming on retreat here for the first time since March. In the past few weeks, we’ve been finalising our hygiene procedures, dusting off the dorms and hoovering down the carpets - heaving the great Padmaloka bellows and bringing the flames back up to retreat ready temperatures - so to speak.

The first retreat here will be an Ordination retreat, for five men who were due to be Ordained in April:

-Clive Fletcher
-Chris Petts
-Michael Procter
-Alex Stirling
-Mike Whittam