Reflecting on the Sangha

Non-residential retreat

The Buddha once said that kalyana mitrata, spiritual friendship, or ‘friendship with what is beautiful’ is the whole of the spiritual life. Our community takes these words to heart. You might say Kalyana mitrata is the whole of the Triratna Buddhist Community.

Our centre is not simply just a place for teaching meditation and Buddhism. When a person first attends they are considered a friend. They may take part in all our public activities and there is no obligation to take their involvement further. For those who do want to go further though - there is the opportunity to get to know other practitioners and strengthen those connections. Our structures can all be seen as a framework for kalyana mitrata or friendship to develop.

On this non-residential retreat we will be connecting with the significance of the Sangha jewel in the Triratna tradition. We will begin our retreat by joining the Sangha festive puja (a devotional practice) with other practitioners on Friday evening at 6.50pm. Being part of this friendship Puja, celebrating kalyana mitrata or spiritual friendship, is a wonderful way to experience aspects of both the historical and present day Sangha as well as touching on the magic of the Arya Sangha - the community of the noble ones.

During this non-residential retreat there will be story telling, poetry, meditation and ritual along with time to reflect on our personal connections with Sangha and what that means to us. We hope that by the end of this weekend you will have a deeper connection with the Sangha jewel.

We'll meet on Friday night from 6.50-9pm and then again on Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 1pm. All our time will be spent discussing, meditating and reflecting on the Sangha but perhaps in new ways that you are not expecting. Hopefully in ways that will leave you with a new appreciation of what is possible.

Suitable for those who are familiar with our meditation practices.