What's on? - Buddhist Events
Latest News
Last updated 25/03/2012
Ongoing teachings at the Tibetan Buddhist Society
Teaching program
In addition to our regular program
explained below we will offer:
Two Learn to Meditate seminars from
10 am to 3 pm on Saturdays 5 May and
1 September. A number of different
meditation techniques are presented to
help deal with a fast paced Western
lifestyle including breathing, relaxation
and visualisation meditation. Registration
is required. Contact details below.
Three sadhana practice sessions on
Saturdays from 2 pm to 5 pm including:
White Tara - 19 May;
Shakyamuni Buddha - 21 July; and
Manjushri - 18 August.
Sundays 1.30 to 3.00 pm - Buddhist Meditation – Philosophy & Practice Introductory Series
In this series the fundamentals of
Buddhist practice are presented, along
with meditation methods. Classes are
based on Geshe Loden’s book - Essence
of the Path to Enlightenment - and
include the topics of impermanence,
cause and effect, love, compassion and
wisdom. The current series is led by
Venerable Tim McKibben, a teacher and a
director of the Tibetan Buddhist Society.
A new introductory series will start on
Sunday 11 March, led by Venerable
Joseph Tassone, also a teacher and a
director of the Society. All welcome.
More details...
Victorian Multicultural Commission support
We are pleased to thank the Victorian Multicultural Commission for an organisational support grant that it has provided to assist with our introductory meditation and philosophy lecture series.
Sundays 4 – 5.30pm, from 11 March - Path to Enlightenment
The path to enlightenment teachings
provide the core practices of Tibetan
Buddhism. In these classes Geshe Loden’s
extraordinarily clear text - Path to
Enlightenment in Tibetan Buddhism – is
presented. Michael Joseph, a student
of Geshe-la’s for over 30 years, and a
teacher and a director of the Tibetan
Buddhist Society, is leading the course.
All welcome.
More details...
Mondays 7.30 – 9pm, from 19 March - Vajrayogini Practice
As Vajrayogini and Yamantaka are
vajrayana practices, students must have
received appropriate highest yoga tantra
initiation to attend.
These sessions include sadhana recitation,
guided meditation and instruction on
Vajrayogini generation and completion
stages, drawn from Geshe-la’s Path to the
Union of Clear Light and Illusory Body.
Jean D’Cruz, a regular teacher and a
director of the Tibetan Buddhist Society,
leads the class.
Wednesdays 7.30 – 9pm, from 14 March - Yamantaka Practice
As Vajrayogini and Yamantaka are
vajrayana practices, students must have
received appropriate highest yoga tantra
initiation to attend.
These sessions include sadhana recitation,
guided meditation and instruction on
Yamantaka generation and completion
stages, drawn from Geshe-la’s Ocean
of Indivisible Method and Wisdom. The
class is led by Anthony Joseph, a regular
teacher and a director of the Tibetan
Buddhist Society.
Thursdays 7.30 to 9.00 pm from 15 March - The Fundamental Potential for
Enlightenment Study Group
The fundamental nature of our mind is
the natural potential for enlightenment.
In this weekly study group, various subjects
from Geshe-la’s book The Fundamental
Potential for Enlightenment are analysed
and discussed. The group will be led by
Venerable Tim McKibben. All welcome.
Saturdays 7.30 to 9.00 pm, ongoing - Discussion Group
All students are welcome to join these
informal sessions, which provide an
opportunity to discuss and deepen one’s
understanding of the various path to
enlightenment subjects.
More details...
Retreats
Each year the Tibetan Buddhist Society holds a New Year retreat, a calm abiding Easter Retreat,a Queen's Birthday Weekend Retreat and a Vajrayana Retreat in late September and early October for advanced students.
Please contact Jean on
9333 1770 or via contact@tushita.org
if you would like to attend a retreat or
seminar.
Easter Calm Abiding retreat Friday 6 to Monday 9 April
The Easter retreat will focus on
bodhichitta and the practice of calm
abiding. The retreat comprises six guided
meditation sessions each day and time
to relax in the magnificent gardens and
talk with fellow students. This retreat is
suitable for all levels of practitioners.
Queen’s Birthday Retreat
9 - 11 June
This retreat will focus
on the teachings and meditations of
Medicine Buddha, a powerful practice
for healing meditation and promoting
well-being with the motivation to benefit
oneself and others. This retreat is suitable
for all levels of practitioners.
Read more...
Yamantaka Retreat - 22 Sept - 7 Oct
This retreat will focus on the highest
yoga tantra practice of Yamantaka,
during which participants complete
the recitation of 100,000 mantras. To
attend the retreat it is necessary to have
received Yamantaka initiation.
Read more....
Tibetan Buddhist Society Festivals
The Tibetan Buddhist Society holds two weekend festivals
each year. The first celebrates the Tibetan New Year in February/March and the Buddhist
Spring Festival follows this each November. Teachers from a variety of traditions
including Tibetan, Thai, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese give talks and lead meditations.
There are also temple and garden tours, vibrant market stalls, courtyard café and
much more.
The 2012 Tibetan New Year festival will be held on the weekend of 3 & 4 March 2012.
Buddhism teaches that happiness depends solely on the state
of our mind, rather than the events and circumstances of our lives. Meditation opens
practitioners up to the world of the mind and helps transform the way we approach
the world so our lives are happier, healthier and more peaceful and satisfying.
Hosted by the Tibetan Buddhist Society, Buddhist teachers will explain
the benefits of meditation and offer insights from the rich traditions of Buddhist
psychology. Talks from Tibetan, Thai, Zen and other Buddhist teachers
will take place in one of the only traditional Tibetan temples in the Southern Hemisphere,
which was blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his 2002 Australian tour.
The talks provide a taste of Buddhist teachings on compassion,
love, karma, enlightenment, impermanence, ethics and concentration. These themes – and especially
the way that we can use them through the practice of meditation to change our personal
experience – are more deeply explored in subsequent weeks during a Sunday afternoon
introduction series.
More than 2,000 people are expected to take part in this
community festival at the Tibetan Buddhist Society’s magnificent 10-acre property
in Yuroke, located 30 minutes from Melbourne’s CBD. Alongside talks and guided meditations,
the festival offers many activities - tranquil gardens to relax and explore thousands
of roses in beautiful bloom, browsing at cosmopolitan market stalls, delicious vegetarian
fare in an outdoor cafe and a photo exhibition.
A popular highlight of the festival is the non-denominational
ceremony for world peace. At 12.00 noon on Saturday 5 November,
Buddhist monks and nuns along with members of Christian denominations, political leaders and community representatives join together in
prayers for world harmony and universal wellbeing.
Festival visitors are encouraged to wander through the
10 acres of landscaped gardens, relax and enjoy the fragrance of hundreds of rose bushes
in many varieties. The gardens also feature tranquil lakes and more than 2500 trees
including 23 Californian redwoods, 35 golden robinias, 31 olive trees and weeping
mulberries.
Festival highlights include:
-
Cosmopolitan market with hundreds of items including Tibetan and local handicrafts, Indian shawls, Thai
jewellery, Tibetan and Nepalese blankets, kimonos, books, meditation cushions, bags,
ornaments, candles, soaps, and incense;
-
Garden tours with Venerable Tim McKibben providing explanations of the many rose varieties, the history
of the centre and the art of companion planting and pesticide free cultivation;
-
Temple tours explaining
the significance of the religious and artistic treasures such as the 18 foot statue
of Shakyamuni Buddha, constructed in Nepal;
-
Delicious vegetarian food and home-made cakes in a delightful outdoor cafe; and
-
Photographic exhibition showing the Tibetan culture in pre-1959 Tibet and giving an account of today’s exiled
communities in India.
Entry to the Festival is $5. Family rate $10 - parents and school age children or younger. There is a facility charge for talks - $10 for one class, $15 for two
and $20 for three or four classes per day. Temple tours are $5 and garden tours are free. All proceeds
are donated to support the temple.
For more details and photos of our Buddhist festivals click here
Rose Garden Open Days
The Peaceful Land of Joy Rose Garden Open Days, at the Tibetan Buddhist Society
in Melbourne, are held in March and November.
The gardens are a prime example of sustainable rose growing using recycled water.
Through careful and far-sighted water management and the hard work of many volunteers,
these gardens have maintained their beauty in the enduring drought.
The gardens are one of Victoria’s largest and most successful examples of rose companion planting, maintained without herbicides or pesticides. They are proof
that beautiful gardens and responsible use of water resources are compatible.
The Tibetan Buddhist Society’s water management initiatives undertaken since acquiring
the property at Yuroke 20 years ago include:
- Significant investment in water recycling equipment, which
allows use of house water on the gardens.
- Rainwater collection systems including big gutters on the traditional Tibetan temple and the main buildings to collect water.
- The garden, driveway and all paved areas designed and plumbed to channel rainfall to the dam, which is used on the garden.
- Early adoption of water saving devices, like water efficient showerheads and dual flush toilets.
In the gardens deep mulch covers all rose garden beds and helps reduce water use
and conserve moisture. Calendulas (marigolds), which are planted to attract insects
away from the roses are subsequently mulched with organic matter to use around the
base of trees like the golden robinias.
Under the guidance, inspiration and energetic example of the Society’s Founder and
Spiritual Leader, the Venerable Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden, students and residents
have made the Peaceful Land of Joy a peaceful haven that brings happiness and a
sense of calm to all who visit.
The 10 acre property at Yuroke, just 30 minutes’ drive from Melbourne CBD, features hundreds of rose bushes of many varieties. There are also
2000 trees including 23 Californian redwoods, 35 golden robinias, 31 olive
trees, weeping elms and mulberries and blue spruce. Visitors are welcome to enjoy a picnic in the grounds and relax by the tranquil lake.
Thousands of birds of many species, such as ducks, ibis, herons and
cormorants also enjoy the environment, and have been attracted in
no small way by the bread and rice fed to them every morning for
many years.
The Rose Garden Open Days feature:
- Regular free tours by resident garden guides, with rose pruning demonstration and cultivation tips.
- Delicious Devonshire teas in an outdoor café, with homemade scones, cakes and a special blend of spiced chai tea.
- Tours of the stunning traditional Tibetan temple, one of the few of its kind in the West and which was blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his 2002 Australian tour.
- Free relaxation meditation sessions in the temple on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 12.30 pm.
Entry is $5. Family rate $10 - parents and school age children or younger. All proceeds support the temple.
For dates of the Open Days please check this
website around late February and mid November, or phone 03 9333 1770.
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