Why is Buddhist practice hard? Why are we not already Enlightened? During this talk, Tārānīta explores how so much of our behaviour and perceptions are based on our biological inheritance. This means that front-and-centre are survival and procreation - or protecting the 'self', and sex. No wonder when trying to practise as Buddhists it can feel as if we're 'going against the stream'. Listen and discover the ways that our genes trick us, but also how they have left open a 'back door' - which we can use to our advantage.

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In October 2024, Vajrin spoke in the Bristol Buddhist Centre about his life-changing accident in New Zealand. He fell 20m from his bicycle in the pandemic year and gave a talk here four years later entitled, “Touching the Void – a Catastrophic Fall into Heart”. This is a follow-up talk. Now six years in a wheelchair, he speaks about living with chronic pain – does Buddhism help?

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Chandranishta shares her personal experiences with psychotherapy and Buddhism, and how it has changed over time.

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Writer of the recent “page turning” biography of Sangharakshita The Boy, the Monk, the Man, Nagabodhi is an engaging speaker with lots to say about the twists and turns in Triratna’s history.

Ordained over 50 years ago and having lived and worked closely with Sanghrakshita, he speaks about the early days of the movement and his experience of our founder.

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Part 1: The Search for Mind | 10 March

The Dhammapada tells us “Everything has mind in the lead, has mind in the forefront, is made by mind”. But what is the mind? This series of four evenings from Sangha Night at the Bristol Buddhist Centre explores various aspects of working with the mind in a Buddhist context. This first episode introduces the series and uses Milarepa’s text “The Shepherd’s Search for Mind” to begin our journey. In addition to a talk, this recording includes short exercises where we try to answer for ourselves the questions that the Tibetan sage posed to the young shepherd.

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Part 2: Right Effort | 17 March

Continuing our investigation into the mind from a Buddhist perspective in the ‘All in the Mind’ series of four, in this the second week we look at Perfect or Right Effort, one of the elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. This exceedingly useful practice guides us in our efforts to work with the mind, and can be employed, not just on a daily basis, but moment by moment.

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Part 3: Perception & Reality | 24 March

A goal of Buddhism is to understand the true nature of Reality, which implies we don’t currently know what it is. Yet we tend to think that Reality is all around us and evident, so where are we going wrong? Starting with the Discourse of the Explication of Underlying Meaning (Saṅdhinirmocana Sūtra), we unpack and explore the Buddha’s teaching on mind and perception in the light of a modern scientific understanding. This is the third week of four of the ‘All in the Mind’ series from Sangha Night. The recording comprises a talk with tricky questions and a guided meditation.

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Part 4: Stillness, Simplicity and Contentment | 31 March

In the final of four talks of the ‘All in the Mind’ series we look at the Third Precept. At first glance, it may seem that this precept against sexual misconduct has little to do with our exploration of the mind, but the positive aspect of the precept – the development of stillness, simplicity and contentment – gives us a clue as to its core essence. How do we transform our mind from one mired in craving, to one that is steeped in contentment. After all, without contentment, how can we ever be happy?

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