What are we up to at the end of 2021?

If you are reading this page for the first time ever, or for the first time in a long time (like me) you have probably taken a glance at the previous posts and assumed nothing has been going on in Exeter Triratna for some time.

But this is not the case! We have been going for nearly two decades and have kept going all through lockdown.

However, it is true that we havent been very good at keeping this page up to date. In fact, the whole website has been in need of a bit of refresh for while. We’ve started doing that now. But… Everyone “behind the scenes” here at Exeter Triratna Team volunteers their time and so it could be that we don’t update this page as much as we would like.

If you are looking to get involved in our activities for the first time, the best thing to do is send an email to us via triratnaexeter@gmail.com . We can send you links and details to all of our events, both in-person and online.

With love and metta,

Alex

Introduction to Buddhist Meditation course

Thursday evenings: Four weeks from 14th January 2021, 7  to 9 pm.

Meditation is a natural human activity in which we can take time to notice the way our mind works and connect more deeply with our hearts. It offers a practical way of becoming more calm, clear and alive to our moment-to-moment experience.

At our meditation classes we teach simple but profound meditation practices rooted in the Buddhist tradition that were taught over two thousand years ago, the Mindfulness of Breathing and the Metta Bhavana, (Loving kindness).

Meditation can also be described as a conscious training in mindfulness or awareness and in this course we will explore four aspects, or dimensions, of awareness – awareness of self, of others, of the world and of reality.

The course will take place online in our regular Thursday Sangha (‘spiritual community’) evening, so you will also be joining, and get the chance to meet, established members of our community. To book a place please email us. There is no charge for the course but if you would like to make a donation to help us cover costs, please let us know.

Changes for Triratna Exeter

As you will know, Mokshini recently left our team and moved to Berlin where she is happily settling . As a result we have been reviewing how we run our group and our activities in Exeter.

I am very pleased to be able to say that a number of us will be forming a more conscious team so that our Sangha becomes more a ‘shared enterprise’; I feel optimistic about this and believe it is a positive development that will mean our Sangha can prosper. As it stands our developing team include Alex, Sue, Sarah, Will, Paul, Stewert, Bernadette, Paul, Laila, Robin, Vidyadasi, Karunadarshin, Sukamala, Satyajit and Nandavajra.

As part of our review we decided that it is important that we continue with a weekly evening event (Sangha evening) as a focus for our Sangha, but that from the beginning of 2019 it will change to Thursday evening as this is a better fit for a number of us in the team. I hope that those of you who attend Sangha evenings will not be inconvenienced by this change.

Nandavajra

Practice Nights in August

We are continuing our practice nights throughout August at the Exeter Natural Health Centre in the Phoenix Room, at 7pm  – next week is Dharma Day, one of the Buddhist Festivals that celebrates the teachings of the Buddha and other wise Buddhist teachers over the millennia. Over the next few weeks we’ll be looking at stories and key texts in the Buddhist tradition, All welcome!

 

Sangha Nights June & July 2018

As it’s Buddhist Action Month we are looking at the figure and myth of the bodhisattva, all those beings that are dedicated to achieving Enlightenment for the sake of all beings, not just for oneself alone. Bodhisattvas can be, and are, real human beings! However at the moment we are looking at archetypal bodhisattvas, and in particular a group of five well-known figures who form the Five Buddha Mandala.

Last Wednesday, we started with the Buddha of the East, Akshobhya; Wednesday 13th is dedicated to the exploration of, and practice of Amitabha, the red Buddha of the Western realm whose special quality is Love.  We look forward to seeing you there, newcomers very welcome, Wednesday 7pm in the Phoenix Room in the Exeter Natural Health Centre on the first floor.