Hidden Treasures
Padmasambhava Festival Month – September 2026
A Month of Discovery and Celebration
You have found a terma
Perhaps you found one of our terma flyers.
Perhaps the idea of a hidden treasure made you curious enough to scan the QR code.
Either way, you’ve found your way here.
For centuries, stories have been told of Padmasambhava hiding precious teachings — termas, or “treasures” — for future generations. They were not hidden forever. They were hidden until the right moment. That is now.
So … what is a terma?
A terma is a “treasure” in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition: something precious that is hidden away to be discovered and revealed at a later time, when it can be of benefit. We love this idea because sometimes the most important things in our lives are like hidden treasures — a new way of seeing, a practice that changes how we meet difficulty, or simply a sense that life could be lived differently.
Meet Padmasambhava
You may not have heard of him before.
Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, meaning “Precious Guru”, is one of the great figures of Tibetan Buddhism. His story is part history, part legend and part myth. He is said to have brought Buddhism to Tibet, where he encountered powerful forces that stood in its way. But he didn’t simply try to destroy those forces. He met them, transformed them and brought them into relationship with the Dharma. And before leaving Tibet, he is said to have hidden many treasures for people in the future to discover.
For us, Padmasambhava represents something particularly relevant right now:
- the courage to meet obstacles,
- the imagination to respond creatively, and
- the confidence that something precious can emerge from difficulty.
Discover the hidden treasure in Dublin
At the heart of Dublin, there is a Buddhist Centre — a place where people come to meditate, explore Buddhism, practise together, and build community.
A place to ask questions about life, discover new ways of seeing, and meet people who are exploring how to live with greater awareness, compassion and courage.
A place where friendship and spiritual practice grow together.
This is the Dublin Buddhist Centre. And we think it is a hidden treasure — not because it is secret, but simply because you might not know it is here.
Come and see what you find
You don’t need to be Buddhist. You don’t need to know anything about meditation. You don’t need to know who Padmasambhava is. You can simply come with your curiosity.
This September, we’re extending our annual Padmasambhava Day into a whole month of discovery and celebration. There will be meditation, Buddhist ritual, storytelling, mantra, creativity, community events and a special retreat at Shubha Vihara, our new retreat centre.
Some highlights
Culture Night · Friday 18th September
Padmasambhava storytelling with visiting Order member Vidyasakhi, a prayer-flag making workshop and mantra chanting.
Padmasambhava Day · Sunday 20th September
A festival day of practice, ritual, stories and celebration with Subhadramati, President of the Triratna Buddhist Community, and Vidyasakhi.
Alongside these events, our regular meditation, puja, study and sangha activities will have a Padmasambhava theme throughout the month.
What treasure might you discover?
Maybe you’ll discover meditation, or a teaching that changes the way you see something. Maybe you’ll discover community, new friends, or a different way of meeting difficulty.
You won’t know until you look.
Help us keep the treasure alive
A Buddhist centre doesn’t exist by itself.
The Dublin Buddhist Centre has been built over many years by people who have given their time, energy and money to make meditation, Buddhist practice, friendship and community available to others. We’re now raising much-needed treasure of our own. We want to repay the loans that helped us establish Shubha Vihara, our retreat centre, and continue offering our programme to everyone who wants to practise with us. We’re aiming to increase regular giving to the Centre by €10,000 a year.
If the Dublin Buddhist Centre has brought something valuable into your life — or if you want to help make it possible for others to discover what is here — would you consider starting a regular gift of €10 a month, or increasing your existing gift by €10 a month?
€10 a month can help keep this treasure available to the next person who finds their way here.