Verses from The Bodhicaryavatara

Posted By Mahabodhi on Aug 8, 2022

I would be a protector For those without protection; A guide for those who wander; A boat, a bridge, a causeway For those who long for the other shore. For all beings, I would be a lamp for those needing a lamp; A bed for those needing a bed; A slave for those desiring a slave. For all beings, I would be a wish-fulfilling gem, An inexhaustible vase, A magic spell, A wishing tree, A cow of plenty. Just as the earth and other elements Are serviceable in many ways To the infinite number of beings, Inhabiting limitless space, So may I become That which maintains all beings Situated throughout space, So long as all have not attained To peace. As the Buddhas of ancient times Grasped this Bodhi-heart, And followed resolutely The practice of the Bodhisattva path So shall I awaken this precious heart, For the welfare of the world, And I too shall follow that path In all its fullness. And like a wise man, Who joyfully seizes that Bodhi-heart, I shall rejoice So that it will grow and thrive in me. Today my birth has born fruit And my humanity has been fulfilled; Today I am reborn in the Buddha-family And I am now a son of the Buddha. And now I must live up to my birth And by my actions must place no stain Upon that spotless family. Just as a blind man may find by chance A priceless jewel in a heap of refuse, So, somehow, this Bodhi-spirit is hidden Even in me. It is the elixir of life Which destroys death, the destroyer of all; A limitless treasure to destroy all poverty; The supreme cure for the world’s sickness; It is a tree of rest for the wearied world, Wandering on the road of being. It is a bridge for all travelers Passing over the waters of suffering; It is the heart’s waxing moon, Cooling the heat of passion; It is a great sun Dispelling the darkness of the world’s ignorance. It is fresh butter, Churned from the milk of the True Dharma. For the caravan of famished beings Blundering on the road of existence, It is a banquet of joy, Which refreshes completely All who hunger for happiness. Today, I invite the world to Buddhahood, And to all the happiness of the Dharma. May gods, titans and all...

Manchester Buddhist Centre Sangha Day shrine 2021

Posted By Mahabodhi on Nov 30, 2021

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Inspiring ideas: After Dark-style conversations

Posted By Mahabodhi on Oct 16, 2021

A relaxed human conversation On 17 March 2020, the day after the British prime minister Boris Johnson announced the lockdown, I felt a compulsion to help with the Coronavirus crisis and began teaching live daily meditation sessions on Facebook, which turned into series of themed talks uploaded on my YouTube channel ‘Compassionate Response to Covid-19 with Mahabodhi.’ After Dark In one series – called ‘Meet the Order‘ – I made an interesting discovery. Interviewing friends who were fellow members of the Triratna Buddhist Order I noticed that when I interviewed two together the tone was relaxed, easy, but took on a certain level of depth and subtlety, and I was reminded of a  discussion programme broadcast in the UK between 1987 and 2003 on Channel 4 television and later on the BBC called After Dark. It aired live at midnight on Saturday night and ran open-endedly throughout the night – often lasting for three or more hours – attaining widespread acclaim: After Dark earned a remarkable spread of critical enthusiasm, from the Socialist Worker (“my favourite chat show”) and The Guardian (“one of the most inspired and effective uses of airtime yet devised”), and The Daily Telegraph (“A shining example of late-night television”), to more media focussed journals such as the BFI’s Sight & Sound (“often made The Late Show look like the Daily Mirror“) and even the US showbiz bible Variety in its review of the year (“compulsive for late-night viewers”).The Listener magazine called it “The programme in which you can see the people think” (1)   Open Media – After Dark’s production company – recently uploaded excerpts from these iconic TV programmes onto YouTube, and there has been a recent rekindling of interest in the programme: in 2020 Simon Heffer wrote in a Daily Telegraph article No Twitter mobs, just intelligent debate, that “the time is surely ripe for the return of a programme such as After Dark, and from an article in The Guardian called Rerun the jewels: the TV shows we’d like to see back on the box: “With no host, no audience and a distinct lack of commentators fighting an unending culture war, it offered a thing that’s now extinct: constructive debate.” Constructive debate is important in today’s chaotic and divided world, yet instead of the ‘currency of debate’ being solely about the exchange of ideas, I thought it would also be helpful if another key aim of the conversation was to bring more of the humanity of the participants into visibility; the Buddha taught that the truly human society is brought about through four means: i) human beings who exemplify the qualities society...

Ivermectin Global Summit

Posted By Mahabodhi on May 25, 2021

Dr Sabeen Hazan

Posted By Mahabodhi on May 25, 2021

Dr Sabeen Hazan of California shows how 5 patients with severe Covid symptoms got better with combination therapy without going to...