For those who have completed the 12 week introductory course and those familiar with the System of Dharma Life including the Mindfulness of Breathing and Metta Bhavana. This page gives you information on what’s on every week at the Buddhist Centre as well as special events and retreats.
An evening of talks, discussion, meditation and ritual exploring the current Sangha night theme. Sangha night is open to those who have completed our Introductory Course (not suitable for newcomers).
Doors open from 6pm – food served from 6.30pm.
We invite you to bring vegetarian accompaniments for our yummy baked potatoes – salads/vegetables, curry/chilli, hummus/dips – hot food especially welcome, or desserts and sweets! Coming along early for the shared meal is a great way to meet new friends, catch up with old ones and to help build Sangha.
7.30pm – 8.20pm Dharma Talk
8.20pm – 9.00pm Discussion groups
9.00pm – 9.20pm Tea Break
9.25pm – 10pm Meditation
Watch the most recent Sangha Night talks below:
Visit our YouTube Channel and Subscribe.
You can find an archive of audio versions of earlier talks here
We run events of many sorts for people at all levels of commitment – short retreats, study of Buddhist texts, meditative ‘sesshins’ and occasional arts activities like singing workshops. We also celebrate the major festivals of the Buddhist calendar: Wesak and Parinirvana Day, commemorating the Buddha’s Enlightenment and his death; Dharma Day and Sangha Day celebrating the Buddha’s teachings and the spiritual community of his followers, and Padmasambhava Day when we fete the historical and mythological accomplishments of the character who established Buddhism in Tibet.
There is something on at the Centre most weekends. Most events are open to anyone already familiar with the Triratna Buddhist Community and the two main meditations we teach. If that isn’t you, look at the Newcomers page first.
One way of relating to mantra is as the casting of a spell. When we chant the names and qualities of a particular Buddha or Bodhisattva figure, we bring them into a mysterious sense of being. We cast a spell with our voices, and Tara, or Shakyamuni, or Padmasambhava, ‘appears’ – in the vibrations of the air, in the ripples of our breath.
The root of the word ‘enchantment’ comes from the French verb en chanter, ‘to sing’ or ‘to chant’. By making these figures present, who are themselves mythic embodiments of qualities of the awakened mind, mantra has the power to enchant – to connect us with our own potential for radical, magical transformation.
In this session, we’ll explore mantra, sound and silence as routes into presence and transformation. We’ll listen, we’ll chant, we’ll explore sound in our bodies. We’ll learn a mantra in harmony and we’ll chant it together in alternating periods of sound and silence. We’ll cast our spell together and we’ll bring the qualities of the awakened mind a little bit closer.
Led by Jo Spence
Open to everyone who has completed our 12 week intro course
Information on what’s on every week at the Buddhist Centre. Please check the Calendar during holidays, timings may vary.
Monday to Friday 7.30am-8.20am Set up a regular meditation practice by meditating with others first thing. Each session has bells rung for the meditation.
An evening of stillness and meditation. Led by Jayagupta and Dayarakshita.
One hour sessions including led body awareness and mindfulness of breathing or development of loving kindness meditation. Ideal for newcomers or anyone looking for a quieter, stiller way to spend their lunch hour.
Doors open from 12.30am, and the class starts promptly at 1pm, so if you can, come a little early, giving yourself a chance to ‘arrive’. Free, donations welcome.
We invite everyone who uses the Buddhist Centre to be part of the mandala of generosity by giving money and/or practical help. The bedrock of the dana economy is the standing order income which pays the bills and the living expenses of the Centre Team. If you value the Centre, please consider setting up one of these.
You can also make donations online or put cheques (made out to ‘Sheffield Buddhist Centre’) in the Dana Bowls at the Centre.If you’d like to set up a standing order to us please go to our Standing Orders Page
Generosity is of fundamental importance in Buddhism and our aim is to inspire a living culture of generosity throughout the sangha. This is expressed in the way we share Buddhist teachings, the way we finance the centre and our strong volunteer culture.
Most of the people running events are themselves volunteers and our busy Centre relies on people being generous with practical help. Volunteers support the Centre Team with organising events, doing administrative work as well as practical help setting up and cleaning away. A strong team of volunteers help keep our building and garden beautiful, clean and running efficiently. Most of the people who support introductory courses, sangha night and festival days are volunteers.
We invite everyone who uses the Buddhist Centre to be part of the mandala of generosity by giving in the way most appropriate to you. This could be money or skills but we find the most rewarding can be to give your time to practical work with the sangha.
There are several volunteer teams that meet on different days of the week and between them cover nearly all aspects of Sheffield sangha activities! See the diagram of volunteering opportunities available. If you have some spare time, or if you have a particular talent or ability that you’d like to share, do get in touch and join the team.
The Centre needs help with all kinds of practical tasks from gardening and DIY to supporting events and doing jobs behind the scenes. There are many opportunities to support regular events such as sangha night, introductory classes and works days. You don’t need to be experienced in order to get involved, just a friendly and willing attitude.
We welcome offers of help of all sorts and if you want to ‘help out’ but don’t know what needs doing then just ask. Do you have a particular interest or some specialist skills? Maybe you’re trained in IT, bricklaying, decorating, carpentry, artwork, organising, design or marketing. Or perhaps you’ve got an interest that you’d like to share? The sangha is a great place to practice photography, video production, drawing for posters, event planning and designing publicity.
Volunteering is a great opportunity to participate in the sangha in a different way. Discover what you have to offer by giving back to other people who benefit from using the Buddhist Centre. And meet new people as you do it – volunteering is a chance to spend more time together with sangha members.
Talk to Maitrivasin, Edward or one of the Centre team to find out more.
I first became interested in Buddhism as a teenager from a chance encounter with a book found in my school library. I was immediately struck by how Buddhism taught that I could change how I experience the world and that I could grow as a person. However, it wasn’t until many years later at the Sheffield Buddhist centre, that I began to commit myself fully to Buddhist practice as I saw that practicing Buddhist teachings was having a very positive impact on my life and on the lives of others.
I was delighted to join the Still Learning Team in November 2018. My previous work has been as a teacher and as an artist and I feel privileged to be able to bring those skills together with my passion for Buddhism in order to teach children and young people about Buddhism.
I first came into contact with Buddhism in my final year of university when I attended an introductory course at the Sheffield Buddhist Centre. I was instantly captivated by the revolutionary yet practical nature of the Dharma (teachings of the Buddha).
I began to meditate and apply Buddhism into my daily life and found that it actually worked! I had started to view the world differently and in a way that made me happier. I gained great confidence by this and became a committed Buddhist practitioner soon afterwards.
I enjoy sharing with others what I have learnt and how Buddhism has transformed me so I was delighted to join the Still Learning team in October 2013.
We have a range of exercises and activities, depending on ages and ability levels, exploring Buddhist ethics and their implications for how we might live as Buddhists.
How did the Buddha become the Buddha? Who was he before? What is enlightenment?
An understanding of the Buddha’s life story is an indispensable introduction to the religion. We draw out the key aspects using a beautiful painting that depicts the different events from the story.
We often theme our tours and visits around the Three Jewels of Buddhism, the Buddha, the Dhamra and the Sangha. Find out why the Three Jewels are common and central to all schools of Buddhism.
