Ideas for Communicating Triratna’s System of Practice Compiled by Mokshini and others

Integration Positive Emotion Spiritual Death Spiritual Rebirth Spiritual Receptivity New  Four foundations of  Karma in context of  Talk about letting go of  Talking about Awakening  Acceptance , allowing mdf and/pr Bhante’s ethics = Five Precepts unskilful habits  Buddha and archetypes  Stopping and relaxing comers four dimensions – to  Talk about ethics  Talk about changing habits  Vimeo Mark Williams – mdf  Talking about med as being Concepts get to think of  Talking about  Talk about – school of life receptive to our experience awareness brahmaviharas earlier change/transformation  Talk of’ freedom’  “Meditation is about getting  Communicate what  Three lakshanas – espec  Encouragement of positive to know our mind, our actual integration is  Talk about friendship, dukkha - mention it states of mind experience”  talk about kindness regularly;  Talk about Four Right Efforts  Talk about openness, just  Talk in terms of   esp ‘Developing’ sitting authenticity/congruen  Emphasis on community  Need to find accessible  Incorporating ritual from the  Teach breadth and focus cy/interest – not and value of practicing language/term for ‘spir very beginning  rewarding ‘good with others death’  Five spir faculties  Five spir faculties meditations’  Interconnectedness – letting   Teach the five spiritual go of ‘me’ and ‘mine’  Teach the five faculties  Five spir faculties spiritual faculties Attitudes  Act and speak  Be friendly, non-  ‘confessional’ – giving  Exemplifying reverence on  Being receptive to what new mindfully dogmatic and personal stories the shrine room people have to say  Congruency, encouraging  Being approp. ‘challenging’  Turning to the Buddha  Being interested in them, authenticity, interest  Being welcoming and  Being appreciative, showing taking them seriously  Not rewarding ‘good encouraging  Being less attached to sense gratitude, and devotion meditations’  Be generous of self; admitting faults,  Not being shy about  Really listening  Taking time to  Exemplify friendship by apologizing easily, communicating we want to  Expressing our appreciation explore an issue fully working in a team  Being open to what people emulate the Buddha and the for virtue/beauty/goodness/ and hear all voices  Showing positive self- say – not being reactive we believe in our potential Truth  regard for change and Waking Up  Rejoicing in my own   Not being afraid of being  Not being afraid of being  and other’s merits  Talk about death and loss idealistic idealistic   Looking at people –  noticing them   Show faith in other’s   Exemplify just sitting around good intention sometime doing nothing!  Make a point of working  /teaching in teams to  exemplify friendship Practices  Mindfulness of body,  Metta bhavana: but can  Noticing beginning and end  Threefold puja  Have a tea break in silence thoughts, vedana, we explore how to teach of breath and constant  Dedication ceremony  Listening exercise emotions this more effectively? change  Simple visualization of the  Mdf walking Common feedback is  “each inbreath a new Buddha (e.g. from ‘Meeting  Introduce just sitting in  Mdf movement – chi that people find this beginning, each outbreath a the Buddhas’) terms of ‘just settling down’, gung, yoga, difficult. letting go”  Can we provide more ‘just waiting’, just listening  “Mindfulness circuit”:  Anapanasati Sutta experiences of pujas in large right from the start etc tasting, smelling,  Rejoicing in merit  Communication exercise numbers – say at festivals? drawing, listening,  Encouraging peer  This week do one thing   Awareness of vedana without touching, just sitting friendship different to what you  Ask them to reflect on trying to change anything – for 5 mins each  Communication ex; normally do. ‘I’m the kind of vision – what brought them  Sitting in silence with a cup  ‘work as practice’ –  ‘do one generous act in person who…’ - challenge it! here? What have they liked? of tea reflecting on a mindful work the week and notice Change one habit this week question  Voice work, chanting? how you feel’ and notice how it feels  Introduce ways of reflecting  Awareness of  Asking people as home  after a meditation sounds/senses practice to look at  Discussion  Do a ‘receptivity metta  people/go on a bus  Noticing change bhavana’  Emphasize practice  Noticing feeling in the  explore metta as spiritual  ‘doing nothing practice’ as a truthful turning body death  Listening as a practice towards ones   led reflections on the three  Make sure we teach breadth experience  Introduce lakshanas as well as focus chanting/devotional  use of inquiry  Teaching drop-ins in terms of practice – as a vehicle ‘turning towards our for positivity experience’ rather than only focusing in the breath Symbols  Descriptions of the  “talk in pairs about  Poems – The Journey/ In  Tell the life story of the  Story of Ajatasattu in the four dhyanas? qualities that inspire Blackwater Woods M Oliver Buddha forest with the 500 monks Stories,  Image of horizontal you”  Espec the ‘Four Sights’ = metaphors, and vertical  “Bring people to mind  Autobiography in 5 chapters our existential qs  Symbol of the lotus images, integration that you love and  Story of Kisagotami  Or the rose-apple tree symbols, experience how you  And other stories from the  Being in nature, on the  Poems:? feel”  Wheel of Life Buddha’s life beach, on the Downs sound, etc  Tea breaks and talking  Bahiya of the bark garment  Set the CONTEXT of our  Telling my own practice early on: give 10  stories of my journey  More full moon pujas  Personal stories minute talk about Bhante  Use of poems, chanting,  and, how he came to do rituals, simple what he did and how the devotional practice movement started in first or second week of med course;  Stories of the Buddha’s so it’s clear we don’t ‘just life teach meditation’  Share the symbol of the  Case of 1000armed AK as the Dysentery/Anuruddha/K symbol of the order isagotami/Ananda/  Personal stories from OMs  Share personal stories and mitras leading classes – ‘ Why I am a Buddhist’; or  ‘How I got involved in Movement’ - personal journeys  ‘Talk in pairs about qualities that inspire you’ – use as intro to Buddha’s qualities

 Ask them to reflect on vision -what brought them here? What did they like?  Poems The thread you follow/Stafford  Ask – why have you come along?  Use of images – what draws us, inspires us? Regulars  Relating metta to  Parinirvana Theme  “what would you like to Teaching reflection – using insight achieve in your life” Ratnaguna’s 6 pointers; ie  Do we do enough to  Lakshanas  Pause keep inspiration and  “What do you want people  Relax confidence alive?  Practicing ‘just sitting’ to say at your graveside?”  Open - these come together. Then:  Trust emergence: trust it  Realizing what we are  Given that death is  Listen deeply attached to – inevitable, what will really  Speak the truth views/identity/’I’ matter in your life in the building this into day retreats etc end? more frequently  Four Reminders  Reflecting on qualities of  Allowing silence, a sense of  Poems on impermanence Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, ‘waiting’ heroes and heroines  Stupa visualization practice  Five Buddha Mandala and  Exemplify and communicate other bodhisattvas a genuine openness to the  Have pujas dedicated to Truth bodhisattvas

 Letting go of identification  Speak in terms of altruism with any particular opinion (eg in context of TBRL) and personal preferences  Bring in the bodhicitta early  More talking about the and what we are trying to inevitability of death achieve

 More emphasis in practice on  Never losing sight of the the impermanent nature of greater good pos and neg vedana  Include art, nature, music,  The Four Reminders poetry as part of the Path

 Introduce confession/benefit of admitting faults Mitras  Being aware of  Being warm and  Bhante’s poem “the six  Review of dharma training  The reflection and insight people when leading enthusiastic in study elements speak” course - greater connection module on dharma training study  to the Buddha, and things course    Reflection on “The Five from Bhante’s paper on   things everyone should what is the WBO?  Include spaces for reflection reflect on”  on practice days  Make pujas and collective   Making much more of the events a regular feature of  Be open to and highlight Three Lakshanas and making one’s practice when we see virtue and more conscious that we want  goodness and beauty on to recognize them in our others experience, make them more part of our language Ordination  Practice: led   Led reflection on ‘letting go   reflection on letting of views’ training go of views  Confession  Working on  Revive Nidana Chain ‘integrating with reflection reality’  Exemplify being open about faults and failures and not identifying with them Order  Still working on  Large pujas on  Confession  Do we talk enough about  Opening to the Buddha integration…. conventions and NOWE  Explore spir. death in our ideals and our vision members   Rejoicing, encouraging chapter as an Order?  The blue sky  Integration with true each other, sharing  Regular practice of Six  Coming together at nature of reality  Generosity – sharing Elements/Reflection on the Conventions  Reflection on the Buddha  our inspiration “Five facts”  Exemplify ‘shrine room  Do we exemplify  Teaching in teams at  Need more input from etiquette’  More time spent in reflection integration and/or Centres/retreats etc experienced practitioners mindfulness??   Need more emphasis on practice of ‘enquiry’