Welcoming in the New Year, the Adhisthana Community, led by Saddhaloka, hosted a weekend retreat entitled – Building a Heaven in Hell’s Despair.
The topic was drawn from the Vimalakirti Nirdesa talks, given by Sangharakshita in 1979. These talks opened up a world of inspiration, profound mystery, lightness, laughter, and endless possibility. It is here that Bhante looked at what it could mean to create spiritual community, a Buddha Field or a Buddha Land.
Taking this lecture series as a basis therefore, the community and over 30 online retreatant’s plunged into the material.
With lots of time in groups, as well as short talks on the Sangrahavastus, or means of unification, the retreat created a strong atmosphere of Sangha, which was commented on and rejoiced in by those attending.
You can find the talks on the Sangrahavastu’s given over the weekend here, or in the Dharma Talks section of the site, under ‘Stream’.
You can also catch up on the Puja we did on Saturday night, continuing the tradition of livestreamed Pujas that we began in lockdown. The full recording of this is available to watch on Facebook here.