About Us
Our small centre with a big heart is on private property, providing a unique experience of privacy and tranquillity, to find a space to escape the pressures and stressors of every day life, for those who aspire to gain happiness and inner peace.
The founder and spiritual teacher, Therese Bottomley, provided her students great insights in her teaching style that represented her own experiences of student, teacher, wife, business woman and universal mother to many. Therese was warmly supported and respected by spiritual leaders who visited the Centre, that provided to our students weekend courses, pujas, special healing classes, retreats and initiations.
Therese Bottomley Founder of the Beaumaris Buddhist Meditation Centre
The Beaumaris Buddhist Meditation Centre began its roots in 1978 when Therese Bottomley taught very basic philosophy and meditation at her home in Beaumaris. At this time it was a gathering of friends with a common interest in the exploration and development of spiritual knowledge and awakening.
Therese brought up as a Catholic and taught by nuns left the Church at the age of eighteen years and started seeking to find some purpose and meaning to life – always enquiring to fulfil an inner spiritual vacuum.
Her journey took her to seek out Masters who taught her Yoga, Tai-Chi, Taoism, including Sufism and these studies marked the beginning of spiritual interest in Eastern Philosophy.
The word somehow spread and before long the classes gradually increased in numbers and the spare room adjoining the family home was soon converted to a meditation room.
The major turning point in her spiritual journey was when Therese attended the first teaching given by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in 1982 at Dallas Brooks Hall, Melbourne. A private interview with His Holiness had such an impact on her, that Therese knew at last she had found what she was searching for all her life. His Holiness’s wisdom, compassion and strength shone so much that she instantly knew this was the path for her.
Her journey thus began and she attended classes at the Tibetan Buddhist Society in Balaclava given by Venerable Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden and continued in-depth study over many years when they moved to East Melbourne and later to their home in Yuroke.
Therese’s commitment to study and her passion to learn never wavered and gradually she was able to impart the depth of profoundness of Buddhism and meditation to ever increasing numbers in class. Alternative accommodation had to be found. In 1994 the Centre relocated to a new property in Beaumaris, where students could enjoy more comfortable and peaceful surroundings with a beautiful environment surrounded by trees and nature.
As well as her Spiritual life, Therese is a respected business woman who has held several senior roles in both private and public companies. She has shared her insights and experiences on what it takes to live a happy life and to be successful in business. As in her spiritual journey Therese has been tireless in her business career, she has been appointed to several committees, both within local council and local community. She was able to share her extensive skills including communication, financial acumen and her organizational expertise, she has been generous with her time in her local community. With passion, good humour and her adaptability, she is recognised for her business savvy.
Therese is also a loving wife to Laurence her life partner and a mother and grandmother. In all that she does she is present, authentic and loving. Showing us that we can live a dharma life and fulfil our personal and professional roles and accountabilities.
At a retreat led by Therese one of her students shared a prayer for her, “We give heartfelt thanks to you Therese for the opportunity to study the profound aspects of the dharma. Your understanding and experience with the dharma is our window to insights and realisations, our inspiration/or greater discipline and allows us to transform our minds. It is with gratitude, we give thanks for the teachings we receive, it is with respect, we are grateful to you as our teacher. And it is with love, we wish you peace, good health and long life.”
The BBMC roots are entrenched in its founder Therese and today the centre continues her commitment to the Dharma with a Sangha of students old and new alike who share the aspiration to awaken our Bodhichitta mind and be of benefit to all sentient beings.
