'Ardent' comes from the Sanskrit word tapas. Tapas originally meant burning, heating, glowing. It means setting yourself on fire - emotionally, psychologically, spiritually. So tapas means a sort of spiritual heat, a spiritual energy, the fiery quality that you develop as a result of your own, very intense, spiritual life and endeavour. This concept of spiritual heat is quite important in Buddhism: your impurities and your conditionality start melting and dripping away like melted wax.

“..Bodhisattvas, contented as they may be in themselves, will not be ‘content’ as far as others are concerned.  They will see where the situation and circumstances of others can be improved or transformed, and will do something about it” (Sangharakshita: Living with Kindness)

A retreat that’s particularly suitable for those who have recently requested ordination into the Triratna Buddhist Order, and is also relevant to those with more experience.  We’ll be studying talks given by members of the team at Tiratanaloka covering aspects of practice that give a particular framework for looking at progress to ordination and beyond.  

“In the spiritual community, the rigid application of rules is replaced by something far more subtle:  a living network of friendship and communication centred on the highest shared ideals” (Sangharakshita: Living with Kindness)

What does it mean for each of us to join the Order as spiritual community – is it a support, a practice in itself or something altogether different?    We’ll be examining the nature of kalyana mitrata, what it means to become a true individual,  and the significance of the private and public ordinations in order to find our own answers.

The vajra - or diamond thunderbolt - symbolises the union of opposites and the Transcendental 'power' that breaks through all obstacles to Enlightenment.  On this weekend, we’ll look at how this union of opposites can come about, and in particular how we balance energy and receptivity in the spiritual life.

“‘Buddham saranam gacchami! Dhammam saranam gacchami! Sangham saranam gacchami! To the Buddha for refuge I go! To the Dharma for refuge I go! To the Sangha for refuge I go!’  These words from the ancient past reveal to us the origin of an act which lies at the heart of Buddhist life: Going for Refuge. They also tell us something of the tremendous spiritual significance of this act. Going for Refuge represents your positive emotional response – in fact your total response – to the spiritual ideal when that ideal is revealed to your spiritual vision.

‘What is joy in the garden of the Dharma?  It is the joy of guarding the bodhicitta, of ripening living beings’.
How can you, as Order Members, best support people train for ordination in your local situation?  What might their next steps be? What role do local Dharmacharinis play, and what is the role of Tiratanaloka?  We will be helping you, whatever your local Sangha situation is, to work out how to best to engage with those training for ordination, encouraging them to flourish and enter into the mystery of the Order.

In the second of our one-day online seminars for dharmacharinis supporting those in the ordination process, we'll be looking at how we can form effective ordination kulas. We’ll consider the practical issues of when and how kulas are formed, as well as what we can do to try and make the experience of these meetings positive and helpful for ourselves and those we are supporting.  We'll have presentations, discussions and even a chance for role-play!

Following on from our popular 2020 online events for dharmacharinis, the first of three Order seminars offered by the Tiratanaloka team in 2021 will explore the area of how to assess effective Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels. As someone gets close to being ready to join the Order, all the Order members around them will be engaged in the work of reaching consensus as to when that might happen.