Thank you with all of my heart for the opportunity and experience of attending the Glorian Gnostic Retreat UK 2013. It was the best experience imaginable and could only have been improved by being longer. Some massive life changes came into force when I discovered the gnostic path and now my journey as a student has really come into a new dimension.
To anyone considering attending the upcoming retreat in Australia; do it! To any who can help sponsor someone to attend; do it! The gift of dharma is priceless and is an investment into the positive karmic bank of all humanity.
To anyone considering attending the upcoming retreat in Australia; do it! To any who can help sponsor someone to attend; do it! The gift of dharma is priceless and is an investment into the positive karmic bank of all humanity.
Accepted Answer
The moment an Awakening Mind arisesWhat more can be said about an opportunity to practice the art of virtue with like-minded souls and aspirants of knowledge? Leisure is a rare gift; use your time to develop your practice. If you can make it to the retreats, come!
In those fettered and weak in the jail of cyclic existence,
They will be named 'a Son of the Sugatas',
And will be revered by both men and gods of the world.
It is like the supreme gold-making elixir,
For it transforms the unclean body we have taken
into the priceless jewel of a Buddha-Form
Therefore firmly seize this Awakening Mind
Since the limitless mind of the Sole Guide of the World
Has upon thorough investigation seen its preciousness,
All beings wishing to be free from worldly abodes
Should firmly take hold of this precious Awakening Mind.
All other virtues are like the plantain tree;
For after bearing fruit they simply perish.
But the perennial tree of the Awakening Mind
Unceasingly bears fruit and thereby flourishes without end.
This intention to benefit all beings,
Which does not arise in others even for their own sake,
Is an extraordinary jewel of the mind,
And its birth is an unprecedented wonder.
How can I fathom the depths
Of the goodness of this jewel of the mind,
The panacea that relieves the world of pain
And is the source of all its joy?
If merely a benevolent intention
Excels venerating the Buddhas,
Then what need to mention striving to make
All beings without exception happy?
Although wishing to be rid of misery,
They run towards misery itself.
Although wishing to have happiness,
Like an enemy they ignorantly destroy it.
For those who are deprived of happiness
And burdened with many sorrows
It satisfies them with all joy,
Dispels all suffering,
And clears away confusion.
Where is there a comparable virtue?
Where is there even such a friend?
Where is there merit similar to this?
-Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva, I.9-12, 25-30
Joyful in hope, suffering in tribulation, be thou constant in thy prayer.
Benedictis, qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna in excelsis.
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!"
Accepted Answer
The moment an Awakening Mind arisesWhat more can be said about an opportunity to practice the art of virtue with like-minded souls and aspirants of knowledge? Leisure is a rare gift; use your time to develop your practice. If you can make it to the retreats, come!
In those fettered and weak in the jail of cyclic existence,
They will be named 'a Son of the Sugatas',
And will be revered by both men and gods of the world.
It is like the supreme gold-making elixir,
For it transforms the unclean body we have taken
into the priceless jewel of a Buddha-Form
Therefore firmly seize this Awakening Mind
Since the limitless mind of the Sole Guide of the World
Has upon thorough investigation seen its preciousness,
All beings wishing to be free from worldly abodes
Should firmly take hold of this precious Awakening Mind.
All other virtues are like the plantain tree;
For after bearing fruit they simply perish.
But the perennial tree of the Awakening Mind
Unceasingly bears fruit and thereby flourishes without end.
This intention to benefit all beings,
Which does not arise in others even for their own sake,
Is an extraordinary jewel of the mind,
And its birth is an unprecedented wonder.
How can I fathom the depths
Of the goodness of this jewel of the mind,
The panacea that relieves the world of pain
And is the source of all its joy?
If merely a benevolent intention
Excels venerating the Buddhas,
Then what need to mention striving to make
All beings without exception happy?
Although wishing to be rid of misery,
They run towards misery itself.
Although wishing to have happiness,
Like an enemy they ignorantly destroy it.
For those who are deprived of happiness
And burdened with many sorrows
It satisfies them with all joy,
Dispels all suffering,
And clears away confusion.
Where is there a comparable virtue?
Where is there even such a friend?
Where is there merit similar to this?
-Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva, I.9-12, 25-30
Joyful in hope, suffering in tribulation, be thou constant in thy prayer.
Benedictis, qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna in excelsis.
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!"
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