Hi Everyone,
I hope that all is well.
I just wanted to share that I had a really amazing time last weekend. I was on retreat at the Great Gathering at Padmaloka. With near perfect conditions for meditation, many of us went a bit deeper into some beautiful meditative states. I am also going away for a week’s solitary retreat at Vajrasana next week which I am really looking forward to.
I also met some great people and had some really interesting chats at the weekend.
For example, I was sharing a room with someone who volunteered firstly on the lifeboats, and then he volunteered as a first responder. When someone local had a heart attack and called the ambulance, he would often turn up first with a defibrillator. He said he has saved 5 people’s lives, which I think is pretty amazing.
I also met Suryaprabha. He is a an independent documentary film producer who has made 15 full length films about Triratna. I have been a big fan of his work for many years. His films are on https://www.lightsinthesky.org/ and are very well produced old school documentaries, with narration, archive video footage, and lots of clips of people talking, and telling their stories. If you want to sample them, I think a good one to start with is Ordinary Magic which is all about friendship.
Anyway.
Coming up at the Hertford Buddhist Group.
Mangala is coming up on 11th June.
18th June not sure yet who is leading.
Then on Tuesday 25th June we have a six week course “Unlimited Heart” devoted to going deeper into the Mettabhavana (loving kindness) meditation.
Also we have a day retreat and also a puja on Saturday 22nd June. See below for more info.
Everything mentioned here is suitable for complete beginners as well as regulars.
Have a great June, and I hope to see you at some of these events.
warm wishes
Keith
p.s. Here is some more information about the day retreat we are running on Saturday 22nd June followed by an optional puja:
Calm Mind, Open Heart (booking required – see below)
A day exploring our main meditation practices
Saturday 22 June, 10am-4pm (by donation)
A venue in central Ware (location upon booking)
led by Kiranadhi and Samudraghosha
The mindfulness of breathing and mettabhavana (loving-kindness) meditations are powerful and deep practices that can take us anywhere from a place that is slightly more calm, aware and open-hearted all the way to Awakening.
In this day we’ll be becoming more familiar with these practices and seeing what we can do to take them a little further. We’ll have short periods of meditation, with teaching, discussion and exercises to explore the principles behind the practices. This is open to all, regardless of previous experience.
Everyone will be asked to contribute to a shared vegetarian/ vegan lunch.
We have an important health request. One of the team has a severe allergy to fragrances, so please avoiding using fragranced products (these include deodorants, lotions and hair products, as well as perfumes etc.)
The day will be shortly followed for those who wish to stay by a Full Moon Puja (see below). For those unfamiliar with Buddhist ritual, at 4:15pm Samudraghosha will be saying a bit about how we can relate to it as people in the modern West.
The meditation day is without charge (donations on the day very welcome) but strictly requires booking – please email hertsbuddhistmeditation@gmail.com (booking closes 12pm Friday 21 June, though booking sooner will aid our planning).
Full Moon Solstice Puja (booking required – see below)
Saturday 22 June, 4:30pm-5:30pm (by donation)
A venue in central Ware (location upon booking)
led by Kiranadhi and Samudraghosha
We will follow the tradition of marking the full moon (and also the solstice!) with a Puja. This is a collective Buddhist ritual taking the participants through a series of spiritual moods, each poetically evoked, and including mantra and readings. No previous experience is required. If you are unfamiliar with Buddhist ritual, there is the option of arriving early to attend an introduction that Samudraghosha will give at 4:15pm.
We have an important health request. One of the team has a severe allergy to fragrances, so please avoiding using fragranced products (these include deodorants, lotions and hair products, as well as perfumes etc.)
Please note that this event will be preceded by a meditation day (Calm Mind, Open Heart – see above).
The puja is without charge (donations on the day very welcome) but requires booking – please email hertsbuddhistmeditation@gmail.com (booking closes 12pm Friday 21 June, though booking sooner will aid our planning).