A special retreat to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Bhante Urgyen Sangharakshita. 

On this special retreat for men who have asked for ordination and dharmacharis we will be celebrating the life and teachings of our beloved teacher, the founder of the Triratna Buddhist Order, Urgyen Sangharakshita.

Urgyen Sangharakshita is the name that Bhante was given by his teacher Kachu Rinpoche at the time of initiating Bhante into the Sadhana of Guru Padmasambhava.

Urgyen is the mysterious land where Guru Padmasambhava was born, a place of wonders, mysteries and profound spiritual depths. When Kachu Rinpoche gave him this name, it suggested to Bhante that his true home was in the mysterious land of Urgyen.

Certainly, in the tradition of Padmasambhava, Bhante is a multi-dimensioned person, with many mysteries and depths. So, in this special retreat, through talks and study groups, meditations and pujas, we will contemplate and celebrate Urgyen Sangharakshita's spiritual depths, allowing those depths to influence and transform us here and now.

Padmaloka itself is profoundly connected to both Padmasambhava and Urgyen Sangharakshita. When Bhante founded the retreat centre, which was his home for many years, he named it Padmaloka. He told us that this is one of the names of Padmasambhava’s Pure Land, so it is fitting that we celebrate Bhante here at Padmaloka on the hundredth anniversary of his birth.