JSS 080 2F Skilling Symbolso
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In the Stream of Blessings: Ordained Buddhist Women in Britain
In the Stream of Blessings: Ordained Buddhist Women in Britain Caroline Starkey Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science December 2014 2 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement ©2014 The University of Leeds and Caroline Starkey The right of Caroline Starkey to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 3 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the support, guidance, and advice of a number of people and institutions. Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the University of Leeds, and to the Spalding Trust, each of whom provided vital funding. The School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science at the University of Leeds was extremely supportive, providing me with space to work, funding for conferences, and a collegiate atmosphere. A very special and truly heartfelt thank you is due to both of my academic supervisors – Professor Kim Knott and Dr Emma Tomalin. I am grateful for their attention to detail, their thought-provoking questions, and the concern that they showed both for my research and for me as a researcher. -
Buddhist Meditation Centre 2018 As Our Archive Photos in This Programme Show, Vajraloka Has Come a Long Way
Buddhist Meditation Centre 2018 As our archive photos in this programme show, Vajraloka has come a long way. For over three decades now, Vajraloka’s team and guest retreat leaders have been contributing to Triratna’s developing lineage of meditation teaching – in particular, offering a practical, hands-on vision of ‘what’s next’ for experienced meditators. This vision goes deeply into all areas of Triratna’s system of meditation and supports all areas of Dharma practice. Yet, Vajraloka wasn’t set up to offer meditation teaching. For the first half decade or so, the resident team at Vajraloka followed a daily programme of meditation and work which others would simply join in for a week or more. The team were also exploring their own meditation deeply, and studying traditional meditation texts such as Dhyana for Beginners by Chih-I, together with Sangharakshita’s commentaries and seminars. Before long, it became clear to the resident team that practical input could greatly benefit retreatants’ practice. So the centre morphed into offering themed retreats on the main areas of meditation practice in Triratna. The current team owe a huge amount to those who went before, both for developing that lineage of helpful meditation teaching and for converting the dilapidated farm buildings into a well-appointed retreat centre. The improvement of our facilities continues – there are new projects in the pipeline for the foreseeable future, which we hope you’ll like and support. But above all, we continue to explore and offer what genuinely helps people consolidate and take their practice deeper. We have found that deepening of body awareness enhances all our practices – mindfulness, metta and just sitting included – providing a strong, positive basis for insight (spiritual death) – inquiring into ‘how things really are’. -
Addressing Ethical Issues in Triratna
ADDRESSING ETHICAL ISSUES IN TRIRATNA A REPORT ON THE WORK OF THE ADHISTHANA KULA AUGUST 2020 ADDRESSING ETHICAL ISSUES IN TRIRATNA For many years, ethical issues from Triratna’s past have afected the individuals who were involved and the Triratna Buddhist Order and Community as a whole, and a number of people have come forward with accounts of the sufering they experienced within Triratna. Some of these issues involved the sexual behaviour of Sangharakshita, Triratna’s founder. The task of the Adhisthana Kula was to address these issues honestly. We investigated what had happened, inviting people to share their experiences, especially those who were directly afected; and we worked with others to create fresh structures that could address past difculties and help prevent future problems. As the Adhisthana Kula concludes its work in 2020, this document shares its fndings and reports on progress. For all our eforts, we wish to acknowledge the wounds that have not yet healed, the stories that have not yet been told and the pain that has not yet been recognised. This is a report on unfnished business, and we suggest how this work can be taken forward in the future. ADDRESSING ETHICAL ISSUES IN TRIRATNA / 1 CONTENTS INTRODUCING THE REPORT A covering letter from the Kula, introducing and summarising the report. The report is divided into six main sections and also includes a suggestion for next steps, and a list of documents and resources relevant to the issues addressed here. 1 / APOLOGY AND REGRET Wanting to express deeply-felt sadness and regret at sufering that has resulted from involvement in Triratna and recognising the need for a clear statement representing Triratna’s current position, the Adhisthana Kula issued a Message of Apology and Regret. -
Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels Handbook Version
Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels Study material for your retreat at Tiratanaloka Page 1 of 43 Edited by Vandananjyoti, Version 2:1, July 2020 Table of Contents Introduction to the Handbook Study Area 1. Centrality of Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels Study Area 2. Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels Study Area 3. Opening of the Dharma Eye and Stream Entry Study Area 4. Going Forth Study Area 5. The Altruistic Dimension of Going for Refuge and Joining the Order Page 2 of 43 Edited by Vandananjyoti, Version 2:1, July 2020 Introduction to the Handbook The purpose of this handbook is to give you the opportunity to look in depth at the material that we will be studying on the Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels retreat at Tiratanaloka. In this handbook we give you material to study for each area we’ll be studying on the retreat. We will also have some talks on the retreat itself where the team will bring out their own personal reflections on the topics covered. As well as the study material in this handbook, it would be helpful if you could read Sangharakshita’s book ‘The History of My Going for Refuge’. You can buy this from Windhorse Publications. There is also some optional extra study material at the beginning of each section. Some of the optional material is in the form of talks that can be downloaded from the Free Buddhist Audio website at www.freebuddhistaudio.com. These aren’t by any means exhaustive - Free Buddhist Audio is growing and changing all the time so you may find other material equally relevant! For example, at the time of writing, Vessantara has just completed a series of talks called ‘Aspects of Going for Refuge’ (2016) at Cambridge Buddhist Centre. -
Triratna Festival Dates 2016 – 2025 CE
Triratna Festival Dates 2016 – 2025 CE CE Year Buddha Day Dharma Day Padmasambhava Sangha Day Day 2016 21 May 19 July 10 September 14 November 2017 10 May 9 July 29 September 4 November 2018 29 May 27 July 18 September 23 November 2019 18 May 16 July 7 October 12 November 2020 7 May 5 July 26 September 30 November 2021 26 May 24 July 16 September 19 November 2022 16 May 13 July 4 October 8 November 2023 5 May 3 July 24 September 27 November 2024 23 May 21 July 12 September 15 November 2025 12 May 10 July 30 September 5 November Fixed date festivals (solar calendar): Parinirvana Day 15 February Triratna Sangha Day 6 April (the anniversary of the founding of the FWBO in 1967) - the 50thanniversary of the Triratna Buddhist Community is in 2017 Triratna Order Day 7 April (the anniversary of the founding of the WBO in 1968) – the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Triratna Buddhist Order is in 2018 Sangharakshita’s birthday 26 August (b. 1925) The lunar calendar festivals are calculated according to the first full moon (in the UK) of May, July, and November. Padmasambhava Day is calculated according to the tenth day of the lunar month starting in September. CE years are given as there is no general agreement between the different traditions on the counting of Buddhist years, but in 1957 the 2500th Buddha Jayanti was celebrated internationally and we therefore calculate the Buddhist year by adding 543 to the CE year. There may be some variation from (and between) Indian, Burmese, Sri Lankan, and Tibetan (etc) festival dates, because their calendars vary and some are not fixed more than a couple of years in advance, and because the full moon sometimes occurs in Asia the day after the UK because of the time difference. -
JSS 028 1B Princebidyalankar
Merli tution. (National lVInl'leUuJ, Bnllgkok). J''I • ...... • THE BUDDHA'S FOOTPRINTS lly I l. If. l'!li:"-/CE R! LJL\LA;-;: KAIL\:\.\, (1) Aceon1iug to JlllJJ\llttt' buliu[ bttsu<l 011 olcl litumLnn\, tlwru tH'u livu guuuiuu FoutprilltS or thu Bnddlm: the rust <Ll'lJ imit.LttiOIJi'l. 'l'hu llttJJHJK u[ tlw tivu plaeuK whuru t.l\() Footprints :tl'u to lw fuuucl :tl'u I givun tLK fullows in tlw P£tli i:Lilg'llHg'U :-- I 1'-ln nt~l~HL!ll i"Ui ku :Sn \'tl\1 ~utp:tlllmtu S unmiutkft te Y oitak <1Jli1I'u r Nttiulltttcli'Lyn. u;tll!yii, paJie:tpii.dtt\'tlt'<Ll!t V<LtHliillli dumto. 'J'Iw t.hruu Footpriut.s, aL ,'-\nmt,l\H11lliilii;;~;-I 1lo uot. know wlwr1~ iL iH; YonilktLpnm, Uruuk eity, prohLlJly in thu Panjnl1 or Afglmnistn.u; mul NttlllllltLilii, IL rivet', wltieh Jl11WK tlu·cJllglt <~oJttr;tl IIIdi<L <lown to tlw cm.LHt. of :\Indt·as, ltl;U o1ltsidt~ tltu Kl:upu or tltiH rmpur. CH tlii~ Jivo tutnws, only two euJWul'll IlK lwn\; SuvH.!,Il,mpablmLn hns l>uen idl~llti tioLl ns 11 hill in :Sinm, and HuJIJ<LlHLki:ltn, is kuowu in pt'L;sunt-dttj' g·eogmphy ns Acl:un':-; Pou,k i11 Cuylon. In IllY pt·esotJt ]"~LIHH' I prop11S1~ t1> sptmk, fin.;t, ol' tlw Footprint to tlw nol'th-n:tst of 1\yndhyn., Oil a hill in the cliHtl'iet of Snmlmri, known 11s Snntl,l~l:lp:Ll>lmt<t. It is !Jot lll,Y purpose to <luscribo tlw Footprint, with its 'L\!inplu !Lllil untbniklingH ILJH1 gi'Ounds n:-; tlw,y stttud to-cby. -
1.5 Seeing the Buddha 1 Aniconic Representations of the Buddha by Piya Tan ©2003 Main Source: Piyasilo, the Image of the Buddha, 1988A
Background to Buddhism Buddha 5 1.5 Seeing the Buddha 1 Aniconic Representations of the Buddha By Piya Tan ©2003 Main source: Piyasilo, The Image of the Buddha, 1988a. 1. Early representations of the Buddha The Commentaries say that the Bodhi tree sprang up on the same day as the Bodhisattva was born (DA 2:425; J 1:54, 6:489; BA 131, 276, 298). After his Enlightenment, he spent a whole week in front of it, standing with unblinking eyes, gazing at it in gratitude. A shrine was later erected on the spot, north of the Bodhi tree, where he stood, and was called the Shrine of the Unblinking Eye (P. animisalocana cetiya) (J 1:77). The spot was made into a shrine even in the Buddha’s lifetime, the only shrine that could be so used. While the Buddha was yet alive, he allowed the planting of a Bodhi tree in front of the gateway of Jetavana in Svatthī, so that people could make their offerings in the name of the Buddha when he was away. For this purpose, Moggallna took a fruit from the tree at Gay as it dropped from its stalk before it reached the ground. It was planted in a golden jar by Anthapiaka with great pomp and ceremony. A sapling, it is said, immediately sprouted forth, fifty cubits1 high, and in order to consecrate it, the Buddha spent a night meditating under it. Since this tree was planted under the direction of nanda, it came to be called the nanda Bodhi (J 4:228 ff). -
Going Deeper Meditation Morning Going for Refuge
GOING DEEPER MEDITATION MORNING GOING FOR REFUGE GOING FOR REFUGE AND MEDITATION • The centrality of going for refuge is one of the six distinctive emphases of Triratna. • This was drawn out by Bhante as the unifying principle of all Buddhist traditions o All Buddhist traditions are rooted in the person, teaching, and community of followers of the Buddha • Going for refuge makes meditation distinctively Buddhist rather than secular or religious in a theistic sense • So what does it mean to go for refuge in meditation? How do we make that more explicit TO THE SANGHA • We can draw on the support of meditating amongst brothers and sisters in the sangha who are also going for refuge in the same sense that we are • As a refuge, the sangha is the company of Bodhisatvas and arahants – we don’t go for refuge to contempo- rary individuals – such as the public preceptors or Bhante. In Tibetan Buddhism practitioners would take ref- uge in their lama (personal guru). This isn’t something Bhante wanted to replicate. o So, taking the sangha refuge to be the bodhisattvas and arahants, these embody / symbolise particu- lar facets of enlightened awareness. We may have a response to a particular bodhisattva for exam- ple – in which case that figure will hold for us an authentic quality of enlightened awareness: com- passion, energy, clarity, or wisdom for example. This figure could be our focus rather than the Bud- dha Shakyamuni – and the comments on going for refuge to the Buddha given below apply. TO THE DHARMA To go for refuge to the dharma is to enter deeply into the sutra treasures whereby our wisdom may grow as deep as the ocean. -
Vision and Transformation: the Buddha's Eightfold Path Week 4
Vision and Transformation: The Buddha’s Eightfold Path Week 4 – Perfect Action and Perfect Livelihood Last week we looked at Perfect Speech, which is the first of the ‘limbs’ of the Noble Eightfold Path concerned with ethical behaviour. This week we stay within the ethical dimension by looking at both Perfect Action and Perfect Livelihood. If you attended the ‘Buddhism - Foundation’ classes you probably already studied Buddhist ethics and the formulation of the Five Precepts, so we shall cover Perfect Action in the spirit of a recap of that earlier work. In considering Perfect Action, it’s important to understand that Buddhism has a very particular emphasis on the meaning of ethical behaviour. This emphasis is arguably very important for us in our time and culture. Some would say that the old, Judaeo-Christian ‘morality’, interpreted in terms of prohibition by a higher being, is no longer relevant for most people in the west. At the same time, we are constantly made aware of the consequences of having no constraints on our behaviour, and believing that being free to express our ‘lifestyle’ is all that is important. This is a very topical area, as we hear so much about the tensions between the ‘rights of the individual’ and the need to protect other people, the coherence of society and the environment. As individuals, we might have real difficulty in identifying which of our actions are ‘right’ and which ‘wrong’, so we might either stop trying altogether, or appeal to some higher authority to give us a ‘black and white’ answer and so remove the dilemma. -
Digitalization of Buddhist Sites in India 171
DIGITALIZATION OF BUDDHIST SITES IN INDIA 171 DIGITALIZATION OF BUDDHIST SITES IN INDIA by D. Dayalan* India, being the homeland of Buddhism, is boosted with a large number of Buddhist sites. Of them, the Four Great Places namely Lumbini where the Buddha was born, Bodh-Gaya, which witnessed his Enlightenment, Sarnath, where the First Sermon was delivered and Kusinagara, where he attained parinirvānͅa (deceased) are embellished with monuments of varied kinds. Other places somewhat lesser importance in Buddha’s life, namely, Sankisa (Sͅamͅkasya), Sravasti, Rajgir and Vaisali also became the scene of monumental activities. Every spot associated with Buddha is immortalized and turned into a centre of pilgrimage by his followers who erected structures in the hallowed memory of the Master. It is mentioned that Buddha himself had suggested on his death-bed that the stūpas should be erected over his mortal remains1. Thus, the worship of stūpas was an essential feature of early Buddhism. Stūpas (Pāli thūpa), derived from the root word stūp (to heap), are mounds or tumuli. Stūpas are known in Sri Lanka as dāgāba, this being derived from Pāli dhātu-gabbha (Sanskrit dhātu-garbha), “structure containing within its womb, garbha, corporeal relics dhātu. Originally, they had a funerary association, being mounds containing the corporeal remains of the dead collected from the funeral pyre. It is mentioned that after the demise of the Buddha, a Brahmin named Drona (Dona) divided the relic of Buddha into 8 parts and gave it to Ajatasatru of Magadha; the Licchavis of Vaisali; the Sakyas * Dr., Director, Archaeological Survey of India 1. -
The Wheel of Life
Triratna Dharma Training Course for Mitras – Foundation Year Part 4: Exploring Buddhist Practice – Wisdom Week 3: The Wheel of Life Text purpose-written by Vadanya Introduction – reactive and creative conditionality In the last session we saw that conditionality is the central concept that the Buddha used to communicate his vision of reality. Conditionality can work in two ways, which Sangharakshita has called the reactive and creative modes. In the reactive mode, things go round in circles, and nothing new ever happens. In the creative mode, on the other hand, each event builds on the one before it, unfolding ever more new possibilities. The reactive mode When we are in the reactive mode we behave like machines, doing what our past conditioning has programmed us to do. We see the cake, and reach for it. A comment annoys us, and we snap. We feel bored, so we turn on the TV. The world pushes one of our buttons, and we respond, like a machine, in our usual way. Each time we react automatically in this way we strengthen our old pattern. Next time the button is pushed we are a little more likely to do the same old thing again, and we find it a little more difficult to do anything else. The classic example of this is an addictive pattern like smoking, but the same thing is true of any behaviour, of body, speech or mind. So in the reactive mode we go round in circles, deepening our old ruts. The circles we go round in can be simple, like the smoker’s endless round of craving and cigarettes. -
Bodh Gayā in the Cultural Memory of Thailand
Eszter Jakab REMEMBERING ENLIGHTENMENT: BODH GAYĀ IN THE CULTURAL MEMORY OF THAILAND MA Thesis in Cultural Heritage Studies: Academic Research, Policy, Management. Central European University CEU eTD Collection Budapest June 2020 REMEMBERING ENLIGHTENMENT: BODH GAYĀ IN THE CULTURAL MEMORY OF THAILAND by Eszter Jakab (Hungary) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Cultural Heritage Studies: Academic Research, Policy, Management. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ Chair, Examination Committee ____________________________________________ Thesis Supervisor ____________________________________________ Examiner ____________________________________________ Examiner CEU eTD Collection Budapest Month YYYY REMEMBERING ENLIGHTENMENT: BODH GAYĀ IN THE CULTURAL MEMORY OF THAILAND by Eszter Jakab (Hungary) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Cultural Heritage Studies: Academic Research, Policy, Management. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ External Reader CEU eTD Collection Budapest June 2020 REMEMBERING ENLIGHTENMENT: BODH GAYĀ IN THE CULTURAL MEMORY OF THAILAND by Eszter Jakab (Hungary) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European