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Poetry and the Arts

In the past Sangharakshita was accused of "wasting time writing poems" when he could be writing about Buddhism. Fortunately for us he has continued to do so. He has always encouraged the appreciation of the arts as part of one's spiritual life. The poems he reads, and his poems explored by Padmavajra below, display a keen sensibility and imagination, and constitute an important way of understanding him.

Jewels from the Three Worlds

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This talk was given at the Aryaloka Retreat Centre (New Hampshire, USA) in May 1993. The poems here, some written in his early days in India and others more recently, are arranged under the headings of the Sangha, the Dharma and the Buddha, then further set into a particular geographical context.

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Secret Wings

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Reading at the Vajrapani Institute in California Sangharakshita selected poems written almost 50 years ago. Grouped chronologically, they were written during three periods - his wandering days in India, his 14 years in Kalimpong and his time in the West. Moving, amusing, and satirical...

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Who is the Buddha?

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>At the London Buddhist Arts Centre Sangharakshita vividly evokes the life of the Buddha through his own poetry and beautifully read extracts from Sir Edwin Arnold's 'The Light of Asia'. He also recounts Arnold's life and importance to Buddhism in the West.

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Triumph of Life (a Buddhist opera)

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In February 2002 a new Buddhist opera was performed in London’s East End - 'The Triumph of Life - Last Days of the Buddha'. This DVD set contains a record of the final performance as well as a documentary on the making of the opera, two FWBO Newsreel stories about it and interviews. (178 mins: 2 DVDs)

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The Message of the Bowl

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This talk was the highlight of the 1991 Western Buddhist Order Convention. Padmavajra explores Sangharakshita's poems that deal with the theme of Going Forth and so presents a valuable insight into his Going Forth and a moving introduction to this vital Buddhist principle.
(60 mins)

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Entering the Greater Mandala

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This varied selection reveals further facets of sangharakshita's personality -
poems observing the beauty of the world, poems of insight, poems of sympathy, poems which describe an active, heroic, defiant engagement with the world
and a deepening exploration of the greater mandala. (77 mins)

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The Four Gifts

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Transformation in the Poetry of Sangharakshita.
Padmavajra points to and explores the themes of the short
poem 'Four Gifts'. Throughout Sangharakshita's poetry, life
and work, he shows the many different senses in which the
theme of transformation occurs in his poetry. (107 mins)

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