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:

Meditation Course:

‘Meditation is an integral part of Buddhist practice. Over four evenings, Maitrijyoti and Manjurava will be exploring meditation: Looking at the two foundational practices of the Mindfulness Of Breathing and the Metta Bhavna we will look not only at the fundamentals but how to go deeper and reinvigorate these practices making it suitable for newcomers and also those with experience. 

2nd September – Maitrijyoti on the Mindfulness of Breathing: History, fundamentals and working creatively with breath perception
9th September – Manjurava on the Metta Bhavna – The fundamental elements
16th September – Matirjyoti on the Mindfulness of Breathing: Exploring breath through scope, directionality and intensity.
23rd September – Manjurava – the balance of receptivity and activity

These evenings work as a course or stand alone if you cannot make every evening. 

‘Meditation’. Bhante Sangharakshita.
Here perpetual incense burns;
The heart to meditation turns,
And all delights and passions spurns.
A thousand brilliant hues arise,
More lovely than the evening skies,
And pictures paint before our eyes.
All the spirit’s storm and stress
Is stilled into a nothingness,
And healing powers descend and bless.
Refreshed, we rise and turn again
To mingle with this world of pain,
As on roses falls the rain’.

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

https://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/audio/details.php?num=LOC6460

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________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.