Sangha Night is our regular get-together for members of the Bristol sangha. Each evening includes a mixture of meditation, teaching and discussion suitable for anyone who has completed an introductory course.

On Sangha Night, we cover various topics in the form of short courses or series.

COMING UP

Tuesday April 1st: The Dharma is Like an Avocado! – The Buddhist Poetry of Gary Snyder

WITH DHIVAN
What's the point of poetry? What's it got to do with Buddhism? These questions get us thinking about the important of the arts for the spiritual life, one of the distinctive emphases of Triratna Buddhism.  Gary Snyder is a good way in, because his poetry is very Buddhist and very down to earth.

Gary Snyder, born in 1934 in California, came to fame among the Beats back in the 1950s – he was great friends with the poet Alan Ginsberg, whom Sangharakshita met in Kalimpong. But Snyder's poetry developed into something unique – an engagement with Zen Buddhism, with the environment, and with America. The language is straightforward, the thinking deep. There's a lot to enjoy.

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Tuesday April 8th: A new 5 week Course: Transforming Poison into Wisdom with Bhadra

Exploring the significance and relation between the amazing symbolism of the Wheel of Life and the Five Buddha Mandala

April 8th. Week One. The Nature of poison

Exploring the nature of poison manifesting as compulsion and fixed views arising in the bubbling cauldron of awareness.

April 15th. Week Two. Manifestation of the Poisons

Investigating the haunting imagery of the Wheel of life illustrating how the poisons condense into the variety of lived experience.

April 22nd. Week Three. Imagination and Emptiness

Transformation of perception using reflections on emptiness and the tantric symbol of the Vajra.

April 29th. Week Four. Mandala of Wisdom

The beautiful vision of Liberation encapsulated in the rainbow light of the Buddha Mandala

May 6th. Week Five. The Transformation of Vision

Seeing through the poisons into their inherent wisdom nature using imaginative investigation into our lived experience

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Material from the meditation course with Prajnamati

Handouts on the approaches covered can be downloaded below:

Listen to an introductory exercise on balanced effort:

Listen to a talk and exercise on balanced effort:

Listen to a talk and exercise on the polarity map of Concentration and Relaxation:

Previous Talks:

Listen to the talk by Taranita given 7th January where he introduces the theme and skillfully offers some helpful suggestions https://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/audio/details.php?num=LOC6367

Listen to talk given by Maitrijyoti 14th January

Listen to the third talk in the series by Kayamoksini 21st January

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The year will also be peppered through with individual evenings on the theme of Living the Dharma Life. In our movement we live our Dharma lives in a wide variety of ways – in families, communities, work, study, the creative arts, activism, in solitude, in our Centres and organisations – to name only some.  Through the year we will be inviting people to come and share with us these rich and varied experiences.

All our classes are run on donations which means everyone, regardless of income, can learn about Buddhism and meditation. To keep this revolutionary approach going, please do give what you can!

If you’d like to catch up with what’s been happening at Sangha Night, subscribe to our YouTube channel for all the latest recordings, or our Listen Again pages for material from 2020 and before.