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From Adhisthana

Adhisthana


Hello from Adhisthana where the gardens are looking spectacular. I’m here for a couple of reasons.  I am on a meeting of the College Chair’s Council, a group of Order Members who hold international responsibilities in Triratna. 


Firstly, however, I came to meet with a group of Spanish speaking women mitras who had just been on retreat at Tiratanaloka. 9 of them came over to visit Adhisthana with a sense of making a pilgrimage to the last home of, and burial place of our founder Sangharakshita (Bhante). They were from Spain, Mexico and Brazil. A couple of them had been to Adhisthana before but for the majority it was their first visit. I led a very short retreat for them - just Sunday evening and all day Monday and it was very lovely to see their response to being in Adhisthana. I can take it for granted having been involved from the beginning - including the search for the property - and having lived here for the first 6 years of its existence. Seeing it through fresh eyes is always satisfying.  


It was moving to see their deepening response and appreciation of all that Bhante has given us. We spent time circumambulating the burial mound and also a fair amount of time in Urgyen House, the small annexe to the main house at Adhisthana. This is where Bhante spent the last 5 years of his life and now houses photographic displays and a beautiful, well curated exhibition space. I always find it moving to be there - I am especially moved reading hand written letters and lecture notes of material that I know well from books and from the lectures themselves. 


There is a website all about Urgyen House which gives plenty of information and also is home to a Triratna photo archive. (Use the search engine to find old photos of your pals in the Order)



We meditated in the Padmasambhava shrine room with the astonishing, large rupa of the archetypal Guru. 


Padmasambhava and Bhante


On that topic, I am looking forward to the retreat I am involved in later in the summer - Padmasambhava: The Precious Master. I’m delighted that a good group of people from the Scottish Sangha will be attending. The blurb on the Adhisthana website says:


Padmasambhava made the journey from India, the land of Urgyen, to help establish the Dharma in the particular, hostile cultural conditions of Tibet. A millennium later Urgyen Sangharakshita, impressed with that same stream of spiritual energy, made the journey from India to the West to help establish the Dharma in the modern world and in doing so gifted us a ‘true spiritual tradition’.


The retreat will explore a talk given by Sangharakshita in 1979 and there will be readings from The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava as well as rituals and meditation.  The second full day of the retreat is the centenary of Bhante’s birth and a special programme will be streamed from Adhisthana.  There are still camping spaces on the retreat and I think it will be a great experience.


Joanna Macy


Joanna finally passed away on July 2025. She was surrounded by family and friends and so much love was expressed.  There is a page in memoriam on the webpage of her work




There won’t be a blog over the next couple of weeks. Keirstan is on retreat and I am on holiday. Before going on holiday I will be attending the memorial for Rijudaya. I will write about that next time.


And, even before that I am meeting Aphid for the Spanish lesson they bid for at the skills option. I’m looking forward to having un cafe con leche with Aphid though not quite so sure about the lesson. Hola Aphid pronto y adios mis amigos, amigas y amiges


For now, as always, may all beings be well, may all beings find true happiness and its causes and may all beings be free from suffering.


Y por ahora, como siempre, que todos los seres encuentren la felicidad verdadera y sus causas.  Que todos los seres sean libres del sufrimiento

 
 
 

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