Please note that this event will start promptly at 10.30am in the Top Shrine room, so please aim to arrive at the centre from 10am.
BOOKING ESSENTIAL – see below
Watch a video of Akasati introducing this very special event at the Brighton Buddhist Centre…
Body, heart and mind are essential facets of our being.
Mind is usually taken to mean all kinds of mental activity, but what we’re interested in here is ‘mind itself’ – the awake, aware quality of mind.
Awakeness is here even when we feel sleepy and dull. How do we know that we’re sleepy and dull? We are awake to it. We’re even awake to our dreams, despite the body being asleep.
This quality of wakefulness, knowingness or clarity is intrinsic to all of our experience and yet it is mysteriously ungraspable and unfindable. To know it, we need to discover what Zen Master Dogen was pointing to when he spoke of ‘taking the backward step’.
This is essentially a step ‘back’, from identification with our everyday mind of thoughts and imaginings, into the immediacy and presence of our body senses, just as they are.
Our body is not what we think it is – not at all! When we take the backward step, we find it is not the rather solid, rather weighty object we imagine it is. It’s an unbounded, living, vibrating cloud of sensate energy.
This also opens the heart to rest in its own nature – limitless and boundless. Here, the stream of love and compassion which is already implicitly active becomes boundless and all-inclusive. Body, heart and mind are naturally and undividedly awake.
Who is this event suitable for?
People who been doing the ‘main practices’ for a minimum of 6 months, though people who have recently come to Triratna with an existing meditation practice would be also be welcome. Not suitable for beginners.
Lunch and refreshments
To keep things simple for the team we will not be hosting a “shared lunch” or serving drinks. Please bring your own food (vegatarian/vegan only in our Centre, please) or pop out for something. You are welcome to use plates, cutlery etc and make hot drinks in the (very small) kitchen, but please tidy up after youself and load the dishwasher.
Led by Tejananda
Tejananda is a highly renowned and well respected meditation and dharma teacher, and author of “The Buddhist Path to Awakening’.
Based for many years at Vajraloka, he now leads retreats across the UK and worldwide.
Booking
You can come for either of the days, but ideally for the whole weekend. Please select which day(s) you would like to book for:
Click here for the whole weekend £95 Full Price / £75 Concession / £45 Unwaged
Click here for Saturday 13th December only £50 Full Price / £40 Concession / £30 Unwaged
Click here for Sunday 14th December only £50 Full Price / £40 Concession / £30 Unwaged
