Regular events

Dharma Monday

Five great stages of the spiritual path

During this five week Dharma Monday theme we will be exploring the five great stages or aspects of the spiritual path. This path offers a guideline for practice and is based on interpretations by our founder, Sangharakshita, of the early Mahayana teachings on the 'Five Chief Paths'. On each evening we have a different speaker presenting a particular aspect of the path.

The five great stages of the spiritual path are integration, positive emotion, spiritual death, spiritual rebirth and spiritual receptivity. The stages are not separate and distinct from each other and as we work on one we are in a sense working on them all. They offer a valuable guide in better understanding what is required in living a spiritual life on a path towards awakening.

The metaphor of radical falling away
The term spiritual death is a metaphor. The journey leads not to a place of loss and lack, but to superabundance and endless plenitude. Self is not really an existing thing that we need to renounce. Spiritual death is pointing to the need to see through our view of a really existing self, our assumption that life is the way we think it is. As we do the spiritual work we can and must do we can begin to feel more in contact with new possibilities, life can feel more inherently meaningful, good, and true. Eventually, we discover that what we thought of as 'me' and 'mine' was just another idea, a construction getting in the way of life. Akampiya will be our speaker on this evening.

Dharma night is suitable for those who would like to learn more about Buddhism. It is also a popular night for regular friends to drop in and practice together. If you are a beginner but can't get to/or have just started one of our meditation classes, you are still welcome to come and join in.

The usual program for the evening is a talk on some aspect of Buddhism, tea break, then group meditation to end the evening.

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