I come to you with four gifts.
The first gift is a lotus-flower.
Do you understand?
My second gift is a golden net.
Can you recognize it?
My third gift is a shepherds’ round-dance.
Do your feet know how to dance?
My fourth gift is a garden planted in a wilderness.
Could you work there?
I come to you with four gifts.
Dare you accept them?
Sangharakshita – The Four Gifts

Sangharakshita founded the Order to revive the essential teachings of the Buddha and make them relevant in the modern world. This continues to be a fundamental task for Order members. But what are the essential teachings? How did Bhante understand and present them? And how can they be practised effectively in the 21st century? These are questions we’ll explore on this retreat by taking inspiration from Bhante’s 1976 lectures on ‘Buddhism for Today and Tomorrow’.

He articulated four things in these talks that the Order has to offer: a method of personal development, a vision of human existence, the nucleus of a new society and a blueprint for a new world. Bhante also gave poetic expression to his vision for the Order in the poem ‘The Four Gifts’. We will dwell deeply upon these four gifts during the retreat and we will dare to accept them!

Banner and thumbnail image: Painting by Aloka ©

Details and Timings

The retreat starts with dinner on the first day at 6:30pm and finishes on the final day at 10.15am.