Year of the Mandala 2025
“The Mandala is not just an exotic symbol, not just of artistic interest. We all suffer from psychic disintegration... we are in need of a means of integration. We must find that higher point, that nucleus, which reconciles conscious and unconscious. And around that we have to organise, re-organise, re-integrate our own psychic contents, we must give birth, if you like, to our own Mandala”. - Urgyen Sangharakshita
In a Buddhist mandala, the central focus is Enlightenment, symbolised by a Buddha figure evoking love, wisdom, and creativity. The NLBC exists to help us bring these qualities into the centre of our own lives, with the NLBC itself serving as a ‘mandala’ of events, principles and community to participate in. To enter into the mandala, just step through our doors:
Daytime Dharma Class: Wednesdays on the Five Spiritual Faculties
The Mandala of Five Faculties
The Buddha recommended that you need certain resources to become complete as a human being, and to 'wake up'. We will be looking at a comprehensive set of personal qualities, the five faculties. These are ways of "meeting" the experience of life and of others, analogous to the physical senses.
Young People: the Buddha’s Five Faculties
The Buddha’s Five Faculties 21 Feb, Cultivating Faith 21 March, Discovering Wisdom 18 April
Monthly Class for Women+: We will be exploring the Year of the Mandala by inviting different members of the sangha to share their personal approaches and inspiration, under the theme of "What I have learnt about Buddhism from..." In January, "What I've learnt about the Dharma from working with difficult emotions". Upcoming through the year will be themes of art, embodiment, and more.
Saturday Class:* on a Circle of Five Buddhas Mandala
A Circle of Buddhas 8 Feb, The Self-Aware Buddha 8 March, The Buddha of Beauty 12 April, The Buddha of Love 10 May, The Buddha of Fearlessness 12 Jun, The Buddha of Ultimate Reality 12 July.
*part of the Saturday class weekly programme
