Day Courses 2010
Images of Enlightenment - 21 March
Using statues and paintings of Buddha, we can build a deep and beneficial relationship with enlightened beings. These images can be used to improve our faith in their teachings and receive powerful blessings that will bring swift spiritual progress. Holy images are not ordinary because they are a doorway to a pure, enlightened world and relying on them is a basic commitment for any Buddhist. This course will explain how we can do this most effectively.
Life is always so busy and we never feel we have much time for formal spiritual practice so it is most important to transform our daily life into the spiritual path by developing spiritual views and intentions. We need to take the ideas that Buddha teaches and transplant them into our daily life so that we can gain practical experience of the spiritual path. This course will explain how we can make every moment of our life a joyful path to permanent inner peace.
The Liberating Heart - 13 June
The Heart Sutra or Essence of Wisdom Sutra is a revered Buddhist scripture that explains in very few words the profound meaning of Buddha's teachings on the Perfection of Wisdom. By realizing the real meaning of this text in our heart we can be permanently liberated from all our sufferings and daily problems by seeing the dream-like nature of our existence. This realization will lift the huge burden of responsibility from our shoulders and enable us to live lightly in accordance with the truth. This course is a basic introduction to this liberating wisdom.
The Four Noble Truths – sufferings, origins, cessations and paths - are the foundation of all Buddha's teachings. These timeless truths are the basis for the path to liberation and enlightenment and to become permanently free from suffering, we need to realize them directly. This course will explain how we can use the Four Noble Truths to develop a strong wish to be free from all future suffering which is the foundation for all spiritual realizations.
A Pure World – 19 September
Buddha's teachings on karma or the law of cause and effect are very important for everyone to accept on a heartfelt level, as firm belief in karma is the basis for our future happiness. By looking into the mirror of karma, we see what actions we have to perform and which ones we need to abandon to live in a pure world free from suffering. This course will explain Buddha's teaching on karma and how we can live our life in accordance with it. By doing this we can avoid fear and danger and establish the foundation for deep peace and joy.
Living in the Heart - 10 October
Modern life is full of busyness and stress - we have so many responsibilities and it's difficult to cultivate a focused and peaceful mind. The key to living a peaceful life is to live in our heart with clarity and wisdom, not in our head with confusion. What does this mean and how can we do it practically? This course is a guide to living a joyful life by always maintaining a peaceful but aware heart.
Improving Relationships - 12 December
Our whole life is defined by our relationships with our families, friends and others – when our relationships are good, we are happy and when they are bad, we suffer. It is not easy to have good, harmonious relationships but Buddha gave much good advice to help us to establish good relationships and to make them more and more pure. This course will give advice on how we can develop and improve our relationships by meditating on love.
Empowerments
An empowerment is a special ceremony in which we can recieve the blessings of an enlightened being and make a strong connection, so that we can recieve their help more easily. Information about our empowerments this year will be available soon.
Retreats
Amitayus Retreat 5 - 7 February
Buddha Amitayus is the Buddha of long life, good fortune and wisdom. By engaging in this retreat we will be able to develop these qualities in abundance! A perfect start to the new academic year.
Vajrayogini Retreat Weekend 25 and 26 September
Guided meditations and instructions to invigorate and renew your experience of Vajrayogini tantra. This retreat is for those who have received Highest Yoga Tantra empowerments only
Other retreats:
Refuge Retreat 29 March to 3 April
Fasting Retreat for Buddha's 10 to 11 April
Enlightenment
Guru Yoga and Mandala retreat 1 8 to 14 June
Lamrim retreat 29 August to 4 September
Guru Yoga and Mandala retreat 2 13 to 19 September
Vajrasattva retreat 30 November to 6 December