Regular classes and one-off events exploring Buddhist practice
Wed PRACTICE Night:
Mitra Ceremony
Wednesday 11 March 7pm – 9:15pm
Becoming a mitra (which means "friend") is a significant step someone's spiritual life. It is a declaration that they consider themselves to be a Buddhist within the context of the Triratna Buddhist Community. It is also a commitment to deepening their practice. This is an important occasion both for the new mitras and those who witness them as they make their commitment to their practice.
This evening four from our community - Graham, Karl, Jacquie and Paul - are making a formal commitment to their practice in the midst of an evening of joy, love and celebration. Open to all over 18.
Thursday DAYTIME Class: The Path to True Contentment
Every Thursday from 8th January - 11.00am to 1.15pm
This is a wide-ranging, practical and fascinating exploration of the Buddha’s teaching over eight months which you can fit into your normal week. It will give you a solid basis for living your life in a spirit of peace and harmony with others. This is a drop-in course looking at Buddhist Practice mostly in the context of how we approach it in the Triratna Community.
We are a contemporary tradition founded by an Englishman in 1968 so our approach is very accessible for people in the West. You don’t need to become a Buddhist or want to be one. Each week will begin with a guided meditation.
Finding Peace in a Turbulent World: An Introduction to Buddhism (EVENING COURSE)
True happiness can be elusive. Good times so easily give way to anxiety, anger, disappointment and other painful states. Yet much of the suffering we experience can be avoided. Buddhism is a radically different vision of religion. Without belief in a creator god, it envisions an life of connection - with others, with the natural world and with our own precious lives.
This course will help you to identify what creates unhappiness in your life and will give you the practical tools to change the way that you respond to the difficult and uncomfortable situations and thoughts that you meet during every day.
Wed PRACTICE Night:
7 Weeks to Enlightenment - 1. Victory Over Mara
Wednesday 18 March 7pm – 9:15pm
The Buddha is said to have taken 7 weeks to become fully Enlightened, weeks which he spent meditating and reflecting under and around the Bodhi Tree. This week Shakyapada relates the story of the Buddha's Awakening on the full moon night of May, 2500 years ago and introduces Mara, a mythical figure who represents everything that holds us back - our shadow side - and the Earth Goddess who ultimately helps break the last fetter which was binding Gautama to mundane existence. Together we will explore the imagery of this profound archetypal story and see how the symbolism of Mara and the Earth Goddess can help us too to transform.
All over 18 welcome. Newcomers are also very welcome too. No need to book, just turn up.
Wed PRACTICE Night:
7 Weeks to Enlightenment - 2. The Unwinking Gaze
Wednesday 25 March 7pm – 9:15pm
In this series we're joining the Buddha as he moves from his initial Awakening towards full and perfect Enlightenment. This week Jo explores the first full week of the Buddha's Awakening when he sits at the top of a small hill and gazes back at the nearby Bodhi Tree where he had realised Awakening. He feels deep, deep gratitude. Gratitude directed to the ancient tree, just down the hill. which has sheltered him from the sun and rain with it's vast canopy of huge heart-shaped leaves
All over 18 welcome. Newcomers are also very welcome too. No need to book, just turn up.
Wed PRACTICE Night:
7 Weeks to Enlightenment - 3. The Cloister Walk
Wednesday 1 April 7pm – 9:15pm
In this series we're joining the Buddha as he moves from his initial Awakening towards full and perfect Enlightenment. This week the Buddha is walking up and down near to the Bodhi Tree, reflecting on his experience of Awakening. He is incredibly aware and his mind is sharp and crystal clear as he takes each step. It is in this week that he realises that all things, all experiences, arise on conditions and that nothing is permanent or fixed - the basis of all his subsequent teaching. This evening Shakyapada will explore with us what this means and how an understanding of change can help us to transform our lives for the better.
All over 18 welcome. Newcomers are also very welcome too. No need to book, just turn up.
Wed PRACTICE Night:
7 Weeks to Enlightenment - 4. The Jewelled House
Wednesday 8 April 7pm – 9:15pm
In this series we're joining the Buddha as he moves from his initial Awakening towards full and perfect Enlightenment. This week the Buddha sits and meditates deeply, really absorbing his experience so far. And as he meditates a host of devas gather around him and create a small house. He has ceased to be in time and space. He is no longer restricted in the way we are - he is just constantly here, now, as part of everything that is arising, absorbing what it means to be Enlightened. This evening Shakyapada will explore with us what this means and how we might begin to understand - at least on an intellectual level - what it means to be Enlightened.
All over 18 welcome. Newcomers are also very welcome too. No need to book, just turn up.
Wed PRACTICE Night:
7 Weeks to Enlightenment - 5. Under the Banyan Tree
Wednesday 15 April 7pm – 9:15pm
In this series we're joining the Buddha as he moves from his initial Awakening towards full and perfect Enlightenment. The Buddha is continuing to experience the deep bliss of Awakening in the shade of a large banyan tree when he is disturbed by someone who barges in on him - the first person he has encountered since Enlightenment.
He is an arrogant Brahmin called Uhungajataka. He tells Shakyamuni that, as a Brahmin, he is superior to all others. The Buddha however insists that a true Brahmin is someone who practises the Dharma. It is about how you live your life, he states- not how high your birth was in the caste system. This conversation had important ramifications for the social order of north-eastern India at that time. This was revolutionary in his world and marked him out as a new radical force in this caste-ridden society because he accepted anyone as his disciple, regardless of birth, regardless of social status.
All over 18 welcome. Newcomers are also very welcome too. No need to book, just turn up.
Wed PRACTICE Night:
7 Weeks to Enlightenment - 6. Under the Mucalinda Tree
Wednesday 22 April 7pm – 9:15pm
In this series we're joining the Buddha as he moves from his initial Awakening towards full and perfect Enlightenment. The Buddha has moved again and is is sitting under the 'Mucalinda Tree' when a great storm arises. The Buddha is going to get soaked and become very cold. But a great Naga or serpent called Mucalinda lives in the tree and comes down to the ground and winds his coils around the Buddha seven times opening his (cobra-like) hood above the Buddha's head, keeping him warm and dry. And, after 7 days, the rain stops and the Naga transforms into a beautiful young man who bows to the Buddha.
All over 18 welcome. Newcomers are also very welcome too. No need to book, just turn up.
Wed PRACTICE Night:
7 Weeks to Enlightenment - 7. The Four Great Kings
Wednesday 29 April 7pm – 9:15pm
In this series we're joining the Buddha as he moves from his initial Awakening towards full and perfect Enlightenment. The Buddha is now fully enlightened, all that remains is for him to go out into the world and teach the Dharma. He is preparing himself to leave and deciding where to go when two passing merchants chance upon him. The experience of seeing him stops them in their tracks. They are deeply moved by the blissful state which radiates from him. Both suddenly feel full of deep devotion and feel the need to make an offering of rice and honey - the first ever offering. At this, the earth shakes and the Four Great Kings appear, concerned that the Buddha has no bowl with which to receive the rice.
All over 18 welcome. Newcomers are also very welcome too. No need to book, just turn up.