On the 23rd June, our Open Festival will be taking place, it will be open to all who practise within Triratna.
You can find a video with Padmavajra and Sanghanistha inviting you to the day here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJoDWWiPcPA
To book, click here: http://bit.ly/PadmalokaOpenDay
To help any you considering this deeply significant step, we've added a new page that gives a brief overview of this area. Do have a look if this is something you are thinking about and do share it with anyone you know who is considering asking to join the Triratna Buddhist Order.
You will find the page here we have also included it on this website's main menu to ensure it is easy to find. We hope you find it helpful.
Last month, we held our first Spring Short Order retreat. The theme of the retreat was 'A Boundless, Inconceivable Light', the main focus of the retreat was on Green Tara, Bhante Urgyen Sangharakshita's Yidam which he was given by Chattrul Sangye Dorje in 1956.
Towards the end of his life, Bhante wrote a paper entitled 'Green Tara and the Fourth Lakshana' in which he drew out the importance of beauty and its link with the figure of Green Tara.
You now have the opportunity to contribute to the Padmaloka Shrine Room by giving a donation and then painting a pre-printed 29 x 29cm wooden tile with a specially designed line drawing of the Buddha by Aloka, which will help to fill the walls with tens and possibly even hundreds of Buddhas.
The aim from the start has been to make the entire Shrine Room a gateway, to fill every square inch of the walls with the abundance of Enlightenment so that paintings cease to be paintings and we find we are standing on the threshold of something entirely Other.
Following on from the talk posted yesterday on 'Ordination Essentials', this talk from Satyaraja is about the 'Meditation Essentials' for those training for Ordination. This is based on his many years working on the Ordination Team and leading meditation retreats here at Padmaloka and in many other places.
The talk was given at Padmaloka during the 'Ordination Team Training' retreat, a retreat for Order Members that are helping men move towards Ordination in their local context.
During the Spring Ordination Training weekend held at Padmaloka earlier this month, Maitreyabandhu gave the keynote talk.
In that talk he spoke about what it means to become ordained, to train for ordination and to prepare for a life in the order. The talk was also given in the context of ritually sending off 11 of the 16 men who will soon be ordained at Guhyaloka.
It is now available on Free Buddhist Audio, you can find it here: http://bit.ly/OrdinationEssentials
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Image:
Drawing by Aloka ©
From the 31st May to the 2nd June, the second Great Gathering weekend of 2019 will take place at Padmaloka. It will be led by Dharmashalin and Bodhinaga.
You can find a video inviting you to the weekend here:
https://youtu.be/MVOnCosETeQ
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Image:
Painting by Aloka ©
Having enjoyed a couple of meditation-focused Area Order Weekends (November and February), this weekend will focus on Dharma Study. Ratnaguna will introduce the weekend with a talk on the Friday evening — he needs no introduction as one of our leading lights on the subject of Dharma study.
In February, Padmasagara gave a series of talks on the Cosmic Refuge Tree retreat.
The talks are practical, in that they help us to more readily access and deepen our relationship with the Refuge Tree. At the same time, they highlight the profundity of the Refuge Tree as an image and a vision of existence.
You can now listen to the talks on Free Buddhist Audio.
In April 2018, Subhuti gave a series of talks at Padmaloka on the theme of the Bodhisattva Ideal.
The intention behind this series of talks was to produce new material that those training for Ordination could study when they attend the Bodhisattva Ideal retreat, a retreat devoted to a crucial part of Bhante Sangharakshita’s teaching.
These booklets have been transcribed and turned into a booklet which is now available from the Padmaloka bookshop and via our website.
