Meditating on the Bahiya Sutta
With Padmasagara and Rijumitra
August 7 - 14, 2026
In the Bahiya Sutta of the Udana we not only find an inspiring story of one person’s spiritual quest and awakening, but also a simple yet profound guide to meditation.
The Buddha instructs Bahiya: “…as regards things seen, heard, sensed or cognised, there will be in the seen only the seen, in the heard only the heard, in the sensed only the sensed, in the cognised only the cognised.”
In other words, the Buddha invited Bahiya to remain present with what is, without overlaying, projecting or reading anything whatsoever into his experience.
On this retreat we’ll cultivate clarity, metta and stability of mind before contemplating this simple yet profound teaching to Bahiya.
Meditating on the text in this way, perhaps we can follow in Bahiya’s footsteps, which led him, as the text tells us, into a mysterious and somewhat paradoxical realm where,
“neither earth nor water
nor fire nor wind find a footing,
[where] the stars do not glimmer,
nor does the sun spread its light;
[where] the moon does not shine
nor is darkness to be found.”
Leaders
Padmasagara comes from Yorkshire and discovered Buddhism in Leeds in 2011. He was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2016 and given the Buddhist name “Padmasagara”, which means “Ocean of Lotuses”. For 6 years (2017-2023) he lived at Padmaloka Retreat Centre and led retreats there as part of the men’s ordination team. He now lives in Berlin and teaches Buddhism and meditation at the Buddhistisches Tor Triratna centre in Kreuzberg. He’s particularly interested in the connection between the body and the imagination, and explores this relationship in his own meditation practice and through his teaching style. He is currently…
Learn more about Padmasagara
I have been living at Vajraloka for some twenty years years now having moved from working at the Leeds Buddhist Centre for twelve years in 2005. Both meditation and Vajraloka are very important to me. My first longer retreat was a Brahmaviharas Retreat I attended at Vajraloka in 1992, where I realised that I did not have to accept my habitual ways of being and that different possibilities were available to me. Not long after that retreat I left my career job and started a new way of life working for Triratna. I enjoy helping people recognise that they can…
Learn more about Rijumitra