A single event that spans one or more consecutive days. Attendee’s register for the first date-time only
11am – 1pm and 2.30pm – 4.30pm
Many of us probably feel we are familiar with Mandalas. They are a central part of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and found in the yoga traditions. Carl Jung made them a central feature of his work, and they are commonly used in therapeutic settings.
But this work often only touches the surface of what mandalas are about – the creation of a whole world manifesting from a central point.
Our minds constantly create mandalas – the core belief, assumption or motivation at the centre of our awareness at any time colours and creates our world. And from this develops our narrative about our experience.
Like a kaleidoscope, shifts in central point re-arrange the objects of our awareness into constantly shifting patterns. Usually we assume these patterns are a true reflection of the world, rather than something born of our own awareness, and struggle to make some reliable meaning from this play of light and colour.
Based the work of the well-known Buddhist teacher, Chogyam Trungpa, and his students Rigdzin Shikpo and Shenpen Hookham, this day retreat will explore how awareness of mandala can inform our meditation, and understanding of ourselves and our relationships.
The day is led by Ian Mackenzie (Sherab Dorjay), one of Lama Shenpen Hookham’s senior students. Please contact Ian on sherab-dorjay@redbuddhahouse.net to find out more about the retreat and the themes it explores. Along with Namka Nyima (Sheila Roche), Ian leads the Brighton Awakened Heart Sangha group. The group offers meditation teaching and exploration of how (more…)
Medhina explored different traditions before settling with Theravadan practice. For twenty years she was a trustee of the English Sangha Trust stewarding monasteries in the UK, and was the founding teacher of the Dhamma School which welcomed teachers of all schools of Buddhism. She has also delivered this course for U3A. (more…)
Ven Canda began meditating in 1996 with SN Goenka and practiced intensively in India for many years. In 2006 she ordained in Burma as a Buddhist nun and in 2012 went to Australia to learn under the guidance of Ajahn Brahm and take full ‘bhikkhuni’ ordination. Ven Canda’s teachings emphasise kindness and letting go as (more…)
10am until 12pm & 2pm until 4pm Sheila Roche (who facilitates the Bodhi Tree Brighton LGBTQ+ Meditation Group) is leading a day of practice which aims to help heal and restore our energies in these difficult times. We will share practices to centre and connect with ourselves and others, opening to the resources (more…)
Jiva has been practicing since 1997, mainly in the Western Insight and Forest Sangha traditions, and teaches secular mindfulness and self-compassion as her day job. She has completed the Gaia House Community Dharma Leader training and also leads their Online Dharma Hall once or twice a month. (more…)
BTB A.G.M. 28th June 2019 (Minutes) Present: Judy, Ian, Jiva, Sheila, Corky, Isla, Anne, Matthew (Zen Group at IO), Ben (Jiva’s group), Steve (Forest Sangha), Tim (Jiva’s Group), Dolly. Apologies: Frances Minutes of the 2018 AGM We discussed the minutes from last year. There were no matters arising. Chair – Annual Report We discussed (more…)
Active hope is waking up to the beauty of life on whose behalf we can act. We belong to this world’ -Joanna Macy
A day outdoors: meditating, creating and exploring with others, in community. There will be opportunities to connect with nature, create with natural materials and practice a range of guided mindfulness meditations.
The inspiration for the day is ‘Active Hope and The Work that Reconnects’ – experiential group work developed by Joanna Macy (and collaborators). The day will include Insight Meditation, Eco Therapy and Art Therapy practices.
In this creative and supportive context, we will bear witness to our individual and collective experiences. Some of the challenges in the time we live include: climate crisis, the global pandemic and structural racism. Feelings of fear and grief, will be held with the compassion and care that is the orientation of mindfulness practice. This will help us engage and potentially take actions.
We will be meeting the challenges and difficulties that are present for us, and move into including our hopes and aspirations. What positive change do we may wish to be part of? We will be connecting with our imagination, potential to be resilient and the ways that we can resource ourselves.
You are welcome to attend if you are a beginner, or more experienced, in meditation or any of the practices – gentle support and encouragement will be offered throughout.
Nicky Roland is an experienced HCPC registered Art Therapist, a trained mindfulness teacher, and a Work That Reconnects facilitator with several years work experience in the NHS, voluntary sector and in private practice. Nicky is training to be a Community Dharma Leader with Gaia House Insight Meditation Centre. Further Information (more…)
This Event has been moved to 23rd May 2020
Following the successful day in last November, Bodhi Tree Brighton and MindOut are pleased to host another LGBTQI+ day of meditation and sharing.
Last November, in another world entirely, some of us spent a day together, considering the Rainbow Body. I used a framework from Buddhism called the Four Immeasurable Qualities – Loving Kindness, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity – to explore different ways in which we relate, and block relating, to ourselves in body and in mind.
This day, which we will share online (due to the current suspension of life as we have known it), we will continue this exploration, concentrating more on how we relate to ourselves and others through, and with, our Hearts. I have been amazed how powerful the connections we have been making online over the past four weeks, so long as we have our hearts, our intentions to connect, and each other.
We will do meditation practices relating to body and heart, and share on themes coming from Buddhist and other teachings on what it means to connect to ourselves, and as one person to another; and how we can enhance this vital resource in this time of isolation, fear and anxiety.
As we will all be in our homes, we can go into our kitchens and have lunch, and then return for more practice in the afternoon.
I look forward to seeing you then! Sheila
This is a day for all who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, non-binary, intersex, questioning, and their allies. No experience of meditation is needed.
Please book below or email: btbsecretary@gmail.com and we will send you joining instructions closer to the date.
The day will be led by Sheila Roche, who facilitates Bodhi Tree’s regular LGBTQI+ meditation Group. Sheila has been practicing meditation since the 1980’s and has trained as a Mindfulness teacher, leading Mindfulness courses for MindOut. (more…)
Book Reading Event: Friday, 10 July, 7- 9 pm
Lama Rod Owens—the dharma teacher, meditation and mindfulness instructor and co-author of the best-seller Radical Dharma—explores with grace and candour the power and uses of anger.
In Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation Through Anger he shares his personal journey with rage—how, at a young age, he internalised the belief that his anger was dangerous. “I have seen over and over again,” he tells us, “that anger can get me killed. I know that this is how I have survived in a Black queer body in America. My fear of death and policing has translated into a self-policing of my anger to such an extent that if it weren’t for my meditation practice, I wouldn’t know how to find my anger.”
Owens frames his approach within accessible Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice, offering meditation exercises throughout the book to help readers recognise, honour and tap into their anger.
Many practices focus on self-preservation and self-care. In a time when the politics of anger—who gets to be angry, how, when and at whom—infuse every institutional and cultural sphere, Owens offers a radical re-envisioning of a deeply timely topic.
Love and Rage will resonate with many: young adults, activists, political organisers, Buddhists, POC, those living in marginalised bodies and anyone who wants to metabolise or harness their anger for change.
Lama Rod Owens is an author, activist, and a teacher in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism. Considered one of the leaders of the next generation of Dharma teachers, Lama Rod Owens has a blend of formal Buddhist training and life experience that gives him a unique ability to understand, relate and engage (more…)
Teaching Event for LGBTQ+ and Allies: Saturday, 11 July, 6.30-9 pm
Love and Fear During Times of War
The world is having a difficult moment. Each day we learn of a different conflict or crisis, which threatens the lives of so many people. It is easy to live with a lot of fear right now and it is even easier to react out of that fear was well. When we react out of fear we tend to create much more harm in the world. This is a time of darkness and war and fear lies at the heart of much of the violence we are experiencing. How do we befriend our fear and offer it permission to teach us how to move through it into a state of freedom? How do we use our fear to connect to the fear so many other people are experiencing? Ultimately, how do we begin to love what is unlovable, especially our fear? During our time together, we will call on the teachings of Buddhadharma as well as our own intrinsic wisdom to lean into our fear with love.
Lama Rod Owens is an author, activist, and a teacher in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism. Considered one of the leaders of the next generation of Dharma teachers, Lama Rod Owens has a blend of formal Buddhist training and life experience that gives him a unique ability to understand, relate and engage with (more…)
