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Ongoing teachings at the Tibetan Buddhist Society
Sundays 1.30 to 3.00 pm - Introduction to Buddhist Psychology and Meditation
During these classes a variety of meditation techniques are introduced, including
breathing meditation, visualisation and analytical meditation. The fundamental Buddhist
principles of cause and effect, impermanence, love, compassion and the nature of
human experience are explained drawing from texts by the Tibetan Buddhist Society’s
Founder and Spiritual Leader, Venerable Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden, Essence of
the Path to Enlightenment and Meditations on the Path to Enlightenment. All welcome.
More details...
Sundays 4.00 to 5.30 pm - Path to Enlightenment
Comprising teaching and guided meditation, this series provides practical instruction
on all the key Buddhist concepts and practices based on Geshe Loden’s authoritative
text, Path to Enlightenment in Tibetan Buddhism. Engaging in the path to enlightenment
is the only assured method for progressing from the initial stages of a beginner,
through to the attitudes of refuge and renunciation, the mind of enlightenment,
to the wisdom perceiving ultimate truth and finally Buddhahood. Path to enlightenment
practice also is the key to achieving peacefulness and contentment and a strong
mind able to cope with any kind of adversity. All welcome. More details...
Mondays 7.30 to 8.30 pm - Bodhichitta Practice
Experienced students lead the practice of bodhichitta, the ‘mind of enlightenment’,
as taught in Venerable Geshe Loden’s book Path to Enlightenment in Tibetan Buddhism.
Sessions include prayers, meditation and a focus on the verses by Shantideva from
his text Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds, as quoted in Geshe Loden’s book. All
welcome.
NEW SESSION Tuesdays 7.30 – 8.30 pm - Sadhana practice
This session will involve reciting and meditating on sadhanas from Geshe Loden’s
book Prayers for the Path of Indivisible Great Bliss and Emptiness. These include
Shakyamuni Buddha Sadhana, Maitreya Buddha Sadhana, Manjushri Sadhana, Medicine
Buddha Sadhana, White Tara Sadhana, Amitabha Sadhana and Vajrasattva Sadhana. Each
sadhana will be practised for four weeks. All welcome.
Wednesdays 7.30 to 9.00 pm - Vajrayana Practice
For students who have received empowerment, on alternating Wednesdays we perform
the practices of Yamantaka and Vajrayogini. These sessions draw from Path to the
Union of Clear Light and Illusory Body, and Ocean of Indivisible Method and Wisdom
by Geshe Loden. During the classes we perform the sadhanas together with guided
meditation. More about Vajrayogini classes... More about Yamantaka classes...
Thursdays 7.30 to 9.00 pm - Mahamudra Practice
Based on Geshe Loden’s Great Treasury of Mahamudra, this series presents the teachings
on emptiness, the ultimate nature of all phenomena. That all phenomena are existent,
yet void of true existence, is the heart of the Buddha’s teachings and the reason
that nirvana and enlightenment are achievable. All welcome. More details...
Saturdays 7.30 to 9.00 pm - Discussion Group
These sessions provide an opportunity to discuss the various topics presented in
Geshe Loden’s text Path to Enlightenment in Tibetan Buddhism. All welcome. More details...
Retreats
Each year the Tibetan Buddhist Society holds a calm abiding retreat at Easter and
Vajrayana retreat for advanced students in late September and early October. This
year we are expanding our retreat programme to also include a short retreat over
Queen’s Birthday weekend and a one week retreat in January 2011.
NEW RETREAT DURING QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY WEEKEND
The first Dharmachakra, the Four Noble Truths - Sat 12 June to Mon 14 June
This new three day retreat will focus on the four noble truths. Shakyamuni Buddha
taught the four noble truths in the Four Noble Truths Wheel of Dharma Sutra.
From Geshe Loden’s book Path to Enlightenment in Tibetan Buddhism “Liberation
from cyclic existence is attained by realising the third and fourth truth, true
cessastion and true path. Realising these depends on first realising the first two
truths, true suffering and true source of suffering. To begin you must know true
suffering to be the very nature of cyclic existence, and then you will be motivated
to escape suffering. By then recognizing that the true source of the suffering of
cyclic existence is delusion and karma, you will correctly identify the target to
be destroyed.”
Yamantaka retreat - Monday 20 September to Sunday 3 October 2010
Annual Vajrayana retreat for students who have received empowerment. Read more....
NEW RETREAT IN JANUARY
Introduction to the Three Dharmachakras - Sunday 2 Jan - Sunday 9 Jan 2011 (tbc)
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.
Buddhist Spring Festival - November 6 and 7 2010
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 7 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 2000 rose bushes
in 400 varieties. The gardens also feature tranquil lakes and more than 2500 trees
including 23 Californian redwoods, 36 golden robinias, 31 olive trees and weeping
mulberries.
Festival highlights include:
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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;
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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;
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Temple tours explaining
the significance of the religious and artistic treasures such as the 18 foot statue
of Shakyamuni Buddha, constructed in Nepal;
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Delicious vegetarian food and home-made cakes in a delightful outdoor cafe; and
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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 $6. Children 12 and under
are free. 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 2,300 rose bushes in 400 varieties. There are also
2,500 trees including 22 Californian redwoods, 36 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 $6, temple tours $5. 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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