‘In the Buddhist tradition the wish-fulfilling gem has come to symbolise the bodhicitta, and this tells you something about the nature of Enlightenment. Once you have Enlightenment, you have everything. All your wishes, all your desires, all your aspirations, are fully satisfied. Enlightenment, even in the form of the bodhcitta, is the true cintāmani, the true wish-fulfilling gem. The cintāmani is often represented in Buddhist art as a brilliant, shining jewel with flames bursting out of it, because the bodhicitta is on fire with activity and burns up all adventitious defilements of the mind.’ (Sangharaskhita)
Join us for a weekend exploring the rich symbolism of the wish-fulfilling jewel. Forged deep in the ground under the influence of strong pressures, the jewel emerges as something of beauty and value. In the same way, under the influence of the Dharma, something of great beauty is created or, we could say, discovered. How can we, like Ratnasambhava, enable our practice to emerge from abundance, radiance and beauty, letting it shine in all directions?
We are running this weekend retreat online so that as many people as possible can join us. It starts at 8pm on Friday night, and ends after the puja at 9pm on Sunday night.