Online pamphlet about becoming a mitra

For anyone interested in taking the next step and becoming a mitra, then check out this excellent online pamphlet explaining it:

http://issuu.com/thebuddhistcentre/docs/becoming_a_mitra_revised/1?e=0

If you have any questions, please ask Rob, Keith or Dhiyampati

Neil's mitra ceremony is on 15th September

Many of you will know Neil who has been coming along for about 6 months now.

Just to let you know he is becoming a mitra in a ceremony at Cambridge Buddhist Centre on Padmasambhava Day http://www.cambridgebuddhistcentre.com/events/event_details.php?eid=3151  on Sunday 15th September.

That should be a good day (or afternoon, or evening) out, so if you have been thinking about visiting the Cambridge Centre, this would be a great time to go.

By the way, "mitra" just means "friend", and you can read an article about its significance here: http://www.cambridgebuddhistcentre.com/resources/files/MitraBookletWeb.pdf . If you are interested in knowing more, please ask myself, Rob or Dhiyampati.

Heartful congratulations to Neil for taking this step.

Keith

New email address

To contact us, click on the contact tab at the top, and you can see our email addresses.

BBC documentary about the life of the Buddha

For those that missed all or part of the film of the BBC documentary about the life of the Buddha, you can see it here on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsEksMEE2Eg

It is 50 minutes long.

It is part historic documentary, part re-enactment, and part analysis by experts. I don't think any of them were from Triratna, but they seemed very knowledgeable.

Like most BBC documentaries it gives a very objective and rational account of his life without any spin.

Highly recommended.

The 5 precepts

I am leading the class at Hertford on the 16th April.

After the meditation, we will begin a discussion on the 5 precepts that are gateways to happiness, joy, and lightness of being:


1) loving kindness,

2) open handed generosity,

3) stillness, simplicity and contentment

4) truthful communication

5) mindfulness clear and radiant


I hope to see you all there!

Keith

Why not like us on Facebook?

I have recently brought the Facebook page back to life

http://www.facebook.com/HertfordMeditation

It is very easy for me to update with articles, videos and photos. It is also very easy for people to like, share and comment on each post.

There is a reason Facebook has over a billion monthly active users. It must be doing something right!

I have just put a video up there about the mindfulness based approaches that the London Buddhist Centre are teaching for people suffering from depression and addiction.

I am also going to post a video on there about the importance of volunteering, and some videos with volunteers at the London Centre.

Don't worry! We haven't any need for volunteers at the Hertford group!

But I just think it is good for people to see what it is like at some of the other centres, so we know that we are all connected in some way to a much larger movement.

Anyway.

There are 20 people aleady who "like" the Facebook page.

If you could visit it, like the page, and maybe interact a bit with it (like, comment, or share), it would be much appreciated. That way we can stay connected to the energy of the group throughout the week.

thanks a lot

Keith

Why not visit our page at meetup.com

You may not be aware, but we have a page at meetup.com where we try and let people know what is going on.

Go to http://www.meetup.com/Hertford-Buddhist-Meditation/

It is totally free, and people often leave little comments about whether they are coming to the next meeting, or what they thought of the last one.

It just to helps build our spiritual community a bit, by giving people a chance to communicate with each other inbetween classes.

You can leave public messages, and also privately send emails to the other members of the group etc

There are a total of 19 people who have joined our meetup.com group at the moment.

Tuesday March 19th - discussion on ethics

On Tuesday March 19th, I will be leading the class, as Rob is going to visit the London Buddhist Centre.

As well as the normal meditations, I will be leading a discussion based around the chapter on ethics in Chris Pauling's book, "Introducing Buddhism".

For some people, the word "ethics" has negative or boring connotations. It is probably a bad translation of what we are talking about. A conscious code of behaviour in our everyday lives can be a gateway into a happy and joyous life.

The opening paragraph of this chapter states:

"Buddhism is a practical tradition. It does not just offer an inspiring vision of what a human being can become. It also provides a large number of effective techniques and practices to help us grow towards this ideal and make it a real force in our everyday lives"

Everyone is very welcome to come along.

Links to some articles about meditation

I am reposting some articles from our friends at the Hornchurch Buddhist Group that may be of interest:

Here is a link to a handout on Establishing a Regular Meditation Practice

Recognising and dealing with the hindrances in meditation (PDF file)

This is a brief summary of the traditional categories of hindrances, the traditional similes for them and some suggestions for working with them. It is good to learn to begin to recognise the hindrances as and when they arise as this then puts one in a in a better position to counter them and move toward deeper absorption in meditation.

One traditional antidote that couldn’t be fitted fully on to on to the sheet is to “Go for Refuge”, which means essentially to call upon one’s confidence and faith in the ideal, the teachings and practices, and in one’s own potential and abilities. The Three Refuges are synonymous with the Three Jewels of Buddhism and are the Buddha, being the ideal of Enlightenment to which we aspire, his teaching and the path of practice known as the Dharma and the Buddhist community known as the Sangha. See also Saluting the Shrine  and a Rough Guide to Buddhism.

2 order members are coming to lead it 12th March

We have just heard that 2 order members (Dridhakarin and Diyampati) are coming from Cambridge to lead the class tomorrow (on 12th March), so it should be a good night.

Parinirvana celebrations tonight

You are welcome to come to the Tuesday 19th February meditation class at the Millbridge room in Hertford for a celebration of the Buddhist festival of Parinirvana, the final passing away of the Buddha to complete and perfect Enlightenment.

There will be readings of stories from the last days of the Buddha, we will chant mantras and, of course practise meditation.

It'll be a different evening from the usual format, so see you on Tuesday,

Article about metta bhavana (loving kindness) meditation

I found this great article about the metta via my friends at the Hornchurch Buddhist Group http://hornchurchbuddhistgroup.org.uk/ .

The article is an excerpt from Kamalashila's book on meditation. Kamalashila is a very experienced and highly respected meditation teacher in Triratna.

Sitting barefoot under a tree is optional!


Metta Bhavana Meditation: Goodwill, Loving-kindness

brief description
Here’s a brief description of the stages of the Metta Bhavana practice to give an idea. Then follows a more detailed explanation. After that, we’ll discuss some related issues. 
Prepare for the meditation. Sit quietly, settle down, connect with your body and with whatever you are feeling and thinking. 

• cultivate metta for yourself. Consider your life and experience how it feels to be you. Feel the truth of your experience, perhaps joyous, perhaps sad. Acknowledging whatever feelings are present, wish yourself happiness. Maybe say to yourself, ‘May I be well and happy'. Then just keep re-setting your attention back on to that wish. (5+ minutes.) 
•  
• For the rest of the article visit
  
  http://www.kamalashila.co.uk/blog-2/styled/
  

After a year or two of inactivity, we have started to update this blog again. We hope to update it fairly frequently, or at least much more frequently than before.

You might find the resources page of particular interest. There are a few documents, which you might find useful, including one about "Saluting the Shrine".