Tag Archives: Triratna

Retreats of inspiration, reflection and community

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Sunrise in Devon at the Spirit of the Drum Retreat

From the end of June to the middle of October, I had the privilege – of inclination, time and financial resources – to have gone on a number of retreats. For those for whom this is unfamiliar, going on retreat is a way of dedicating some time and space to practice something.

This year I have been practicing mediation, exploring Buddhism or learning more about the ‘imaginal’ or ‘formless realms’.

Each retreat has been nourishing to body, mind, spirit and interconnectedness with nature.

29 June to 5 July Deep Ecology Camping Retreat. I was co leading this retreat with two other Order Members and it was heartening to share teachings and practices that can empower and inspire us are we face the Climate Emergency using Buddhist teachings.

This retreat was ‘well timed’ in many ways, including because I had just completed Level 1 of a City and Guilds Horticultural Course. I did the course with Organiclea and was delighted to learn lots about Organic Gardening, including soil types, companion planting, weed identification etc. I was so inspired and deeply feel that this is a way to feel empowered in the light of the climate catastrophe that I am now doing the Level 2 training – this time the focus is on Practical Horticultural skills.

28 to 31 July 2022: Into the Wild Retreat with James Low. I went on this camping retreat with my partner. We both engaged in the approach of openness, clarity and sensitivity of direct-seeing into the ‘nature of reality’ – a bright, fresh awareness emerges in each moment that is scintillatingly refreshing!

17 to 21 August 2022: Combined UK/Ireland Are Order Convention. This was an inspiring event and deepened an experience of connection to the Triratna Buddhist Order – and in case you missed it, I was ordained in July 2021. It was heartening!

I enjoyed meeting so many Order Members and felt deeply appreciative and part of an inspiring community – the teachings were heartfelt and I was especially delighted to be lead through the Vajrasattva Sadhana by Suryagupta, the Chair of the London Buddhist Centre, who also lead the POC retreat (see below).

I also camped, and packed my tent, sleeping bag and roll up mat into the front bag of my Brompton and carried my clothes in a rucksack on my back. So I was able to cycle to the venue with everything that I needed for the event. It was fun and something with lots of potential.

The POC retreatants – what an lovely and inspiring group of people!

25 August to 2 September 2022: A retreat for People of Colour (POC) at Vajrasana with the Triratna Buddhist Community. I was on the team for this retreat – and came a day earlier so we could reflect upon and review the experiences of the POC team over the last year or so.

Then the retreat began and I found that being with other POC people, evoked a spirit of openness, appreciation and vibrant connection. There is a freedom in POC spaces – and a resultant deep embodied sense of joy and friendliness.

The theme was on the Wisdom of Equality, evoked through the spirit of the Buddha Ratnasambhava. There were periods of silence on the retreat and this offered an opportunity to connect deeper into the mystery of being and the realms of embodiment and formlessness.

At the Spirit of the Drum Retreat I connected with and came away with a brand new, beautiful black drum which has been a pleasure to bring with me to a number of subsequent retreats.

2 to 5 September 2022: The Spirit of the Drum retreat with the Sacred Trust. This profound and inspirational retreat plunged into the depths of the arupaloka – the formless realms – and it was deeply transformative.

9 to 18 September 2022: Taraloka Retreat on Ritual and the Imagination in which we explored the mythic dimension of rituals and the imaginal realms. It was lead by Order Members – Punyamala, Moshalila, Singhcandra and Samantabhadri.

It was tremendously beautiful to plunge into this retreat so soon after the previous one. I appreciated the opportunity to invoke and ‘work with’ the magic and majesty of various Bodhisatva figures – also within the formless realms – in the ‘homeland’ of Triratna.

I also had the pleasure of drumming during the rituals and that was a transformative experience, enabling beings from the formless realms to be evoked, welcomed and appreciated.

Once I returned, I was blessed to be able to lead another puja at the North LOndon Buddhist Centre and this time, I was inspired to dedicate it to Akshobya – there is an Akshobya pond at Vajrasana that may have connected me to this. This Buddha figure is a majestic blue-black in colour. I wanted to evoke the darkness and beauty of the midnight sky and celebrate the Mirror-like Wisdom of Water and the depths and values that this can bring. I also brought drumming into this ritual and the feedback was positive.

Shrine to Akshobya that I was inspired to create after the retreat on Ritual and the Imagination. I wanted to evoke the qualities of peaceful imperturbability and unshakeable resolve. I used the colours of blue and black or the midnight sky and put water in the tray to evoke the element of Water.
The reservoir near Tiratnaloka – ona bright and sunny day in October 2022.

7 to 14 October 2022: Buddhist Retreat for those in the Nissaya period. The Nissaya period is the first five years after ordination. It was lead by the Tiratnaloka Ordination Team and I was in a group lead by Dharmadassin.

This retreat was the first of its kind for women order members, focused on aspects of ‘weaving oneself in to the Order’. The Order, of course being Triratna Buddhist Order and as I was ordained in July 2021, this was just the kind of retreat that I needed for this stage of emerging as an Order Member.

There were talks on relevant topics such as Being in a Kula and How to give Feedback – it was practical and supportive. There was also time to practice ethics – through ‘confession practice. This is where we bring awareness to how one or more of the ten precepts (undertaken at ordination) may not have been followed close enough. We practice awareness, remorse and resolve to change. It is a healing and life affirming practice that leaves one feeling lighter and liberated.

So now I am back and enjoying being back home again – and on another retreat, this time online, called the Mandala of Awakening. it is happening live at Vajraloka and I am honoured to to set recordings each day and be able to join a group of other Order Members to follow the practices and teachings. It has been illuminating.

Precious teachers of the present

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Sometimes, we are blessed to have auspicious conditions that bring inspiring teachers into our lives.  Perhaps it was a book that they wrote or said at a lecture, retreat or on-line video.  Perhaps a chance meeting brought you together.  Whatever it was, a seed was sown that changed your life for the better.  For this reason, these teachers are precious.

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A selfie with Bhante at Adhisthana on 7 April 2018, celebrating 50 years of the Triratna Buddhist Order.

Yesterday I was fortunate to meet (for the second time since 2012) a teacher who has deeply inspired me and many of my friends in our commitment to practicing meditation: Urgyen Sangharakshita (aka Bhante).

This weekend I was at Adhisthana, a retreat centre in Herefordshire.  It was for a short weekend retreat to celebrate 50 years of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, now the Triratna (“Three Jewels”) Buddhist Order and Community.  About 50 or so people were present for the event.

We were celebrating what happened fifty years ago when Bhante started a chain reaction of ever increasing friendships of those inspired by his teachings.  For 20 years Bhante had lived in India, where he was ordained and studied with a range of Buddhist teachers. Inspired by all major aspects of Buddhism, he has since written and lectured prolifically both in the West and the East. In the light of modern scholarship and his own spiritual experience, he has brought out and emphasised the core teachings that underlie and unify the Buddhist tradition as a whole.  His teachings clarify the essentials and outline ways of practice that are spiritually alive and relevant to the 21st century.

In 1997 I first went to the London Buddhist Centre, one of the Triratna centres and where Bhante once lived.  Since January 2009, I started going regularly.  I really appreciate what I have learned since then, the friendships that I have developed and the love, joy and light that has been a deep inspiration, including for the research into mindfulness, becoming a mindfulness teacher and also, more recently, becoming one of the support yoga teachers at the LBC.

Taraloka and the “Wisdom of the Awakening Heart” retreat (July 2014)

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During July this year, I was priviledged to be at the “Wisdom of the Awakening Heart” Retreat at Taraloka.  It was led by Vijayamala and Maitrivajri, two ordained Buddhists from the Triratna Buddhist Community.  I realise that it is beneficial to attend retreats regularly to develop my own practice of mindfulness and meditation.  In the past, I had attended classes by a range of teachers.  I noticed that I found Maitrivajri’s style of teaching meditation to resonate with me and for that reason I chose this particular retreat.

Taraloka is a beautiful retreat centre in Shropshire, run by members of the Triratna Buddhist Community.

Taraloka is a beautiful retreat centre in Shropshire, run by members of the Triratna Buddhist Community.

The retreat ran for seven days and each day involved several hours of meditation, starting at 7am with a 90 minute session before breakfast.  After breakfast there was a talk and another 90 minute session before lunch.  In the afternoon, there was a third practice before supper and a final one before bed time.  So each day, apart for helping out in varioius community related activites (such as helping to make a meal or with tidying up), there was ample opportunity to develop meditation experience.  The retreat was also held in silence, from the second day to the second last day, allowing five days of no speaking (or speaking limited to essential moments) except during the two 10 minute meditation reviews, which for me, were on the third and 5th days of the retreat.  I also enjoyed running each day and doing some yoga, and altogether this helped deepen the experience of being.

The meditation practices and talks were on an aspect of Buddhism called the “Mandala of the Five Prajnas”.  The Prajnas (or ‘wisdoms’) are qualities that are beyond words and which need to be experienced to be understood, as they exist in the awareness we bring to our experiences.  One ‘wisdom’ was in perceiving things as they are, thereby coming into relationship with our experiences in an authentic way.  Another was in awareness of our shared humanity.  The third wisdom was in noticing, accepting and rejoicing in our uniqueness and individuality.  The fourth was in cultivating freedom and spontaneity in awareness.  The fifth was in deepening awareness into something beyond words, the infinite and boundless present.

Overall the retreat was a much appreciated as a opportunity to cultivate insightful and deeper aspects of awareness.  I hope that in reading this, you may feel inspired to explore the Mandala of the Five Prajnas.  For more information, please get in contact.

Here I am (Bottom left of picture) at the Wisdom of the Awakening Heart retreat at Taraloka. It was an inspiring event that helped to further develop and deepen my meditation practice.

Here I am (see bottom left of the picture) with almost all the other participants at the Wisdom of the Awakening Heart retreat at Taraloka. It was an inspiring event that helped to deepen my meditation practice.