Free Buddhist Audio News – RSS Updates, Podcast, New Sangharakshita, Top 10

Welcome to the news from Free Buddhist Audio,
the free download, podcast and streaming service from the Dharmachakra audio and text archives. To receive more regular updates on the site, you can always subscribe to our own blog.

This month, there's quite a lot to tell you about! We've been busy changing and improving the site, so here are a few of the things we've been up to...

Updates:

Whenever you see either of these symbols in your web browser's address bar, it means you can subscribe to a special version of the page you're on (a bit like a blog) and get updates whenever we add new content for that particular section – without lifting a finger...

So, it'll work to keep track of titles from a specialised area of the site (eg. meditation), or for uploads from any individual centre in our new community pages (eg. Taraloka). And it's really simple!

All you have to do is click the symbol itself. When the page changes, add it as a 'bookmark' or 'favourite' in your web browser (usually typing 'command-D' will work). And that's it. When we upload a new talk or series, you'll get a little notification in your bookmarks list.

Podcast

If you haven't discovered our free monthly podcast yet, then this is a great time to start! Over 10,000 people now subscribe to this service (you can get it easily via iTunes), and we've already distributed over 350,000 Dharma talks by podcast since late 2005.

The latest episode has just appeared online, a great talk by Ratnaguna: 'The Early Teachings of the Buddha' – a splendidly engaging evocation of the fundamentals of Buddhist thought and practice from the recent FWBO International retreat.

Come and give it a whirl!

Two talks by Sangharakshita

Over the last wee while, Sangharakshita has been steadily adding to his already considerable archive of recorded public talks. This week, we are delighted to bring to your attention two of his latest, which are well worth a listen...

'Growing the Spiritual Community' was also given at the FWBO International retreat, and is a timely exploration of what it's going to take to maintain the Western Buddhist Order and the FWBO as a vibrant and spiritually prospering community.

'Forty Years On – The Six Emphases of the FWBO' is a pleasing reprise of classic Sangharakshita, with some delightful reminiscences about the early days of the FWBO. The talk was given in Manchester, and marked the 40th anniversary of the founding of our spiritual community.

And finally...

Before we go, we thought it was high time we revisited with you our top 10 chart of most popular downloads. Try them - they're all marvellous!

1. The Mindfulness of Breathing: Introduction and Guidance by Kamalashila

2. Simplicity by Kamalashila

3. Buddhism and Quantum Physics by Jnanavaca

4. The Mindfulness of Breathing: Short Lead-through by Kamalashila

5. Mindfulness for Just About Everything by Paramabandhu

6. Tibetan Book of the Dead (Talk 1): The Six Bardo by Padmavajra

7. Cutting Away the Old by Abhaya

8. Breaking the Mould by Dhammarati

9. What Meditation Really Is by Sangharakshita

10. Entering the Mandala by Garava

Buddhafield Festival 2008 - new site, new line-up - coming soon!

The FWBO’s largest event outside India is the annual Buddhafield Festival, now in its 13th year and going strong. From 350 in 1996 it’s grown to around 2,500 people – small enough to retain the intimacy that’s one of its hallmarks, yet large enough to contain an extraordinary diversity of, well, everything!!!

This year they’re moving to a beautiful new site just a few miles from the old one on the Devon-Somerset border. They’ve written to FWBO News to say –“The new site is secluded and peaceful, away from roads, with coppice woodland, and plenty of space. We’ve been hard at work preparing for this year’s Festival – and it’s coming up soon! We warmly invite you to join us – and please do tell your friends. It’s a great way for them to meet a bunch of Buddhists and get a taste of what we’re about”.

Here is a sneak preview of some of this year's programme (all included in the ticket price!!):

Kids Area: AMAZING and varied range of activities for kids - trampolines, dressing up, carnival processing, crafts, bushcraft and nature awareness, storytelling, toddlers' space, daily theatre extravaganza; Teens Space.

Bands: Gadjo Club (superb Gypsy Balkan Jazz); Seize the Day (protest folk stalwarts); Green Angels (upbeat Breton dance); Vogue Gyratory (Brighton faves, 7 piece funk-reggae); Manjinga 7; Toggy Mess (upbeat Irish folk); Manos Puestas (super-spicy flamenco jazz); a variety of fantastic DJs, including Matt Black of Coldcut (Thurs pm), followed by Cinema

Poetry and art: Inter-Ference; open mike poetry evening; Poetry Slam; 'The Big Q' play written specially for Buddhafield!; The Buddhafield 'Artery'; carnival costume-making from found natural materials; creativity and poetry-writing; Mr Be, mime, clown and family show; Stilted butterfly walkabout; Marionettas giant puppets.

.Dharma Parlour and meditation: talks and discussions on Buddhism, speakers from the Western Buddhist Order and other traditions, including Christopher Titmuss. Meditation teaching from FWBO teachers and others. Ceremonies and devotional practice. Network of Engaged Buddhists; Amida Trust, and others.

Workshops: MASSES of all-day yoga, Tai Chi and Chi Gung. Healing Area, great range of alternative therapies, pay by donation. Dozens of workshops to die for, including Ecstatic Dance with Jewls; 5 Rhythms with Jo Hardy; Brazilian Forro; Indian Classical Dance with yoga/visualisation; Shamanic Trance Dance with Zilia; many more dance workshops; 'Soulful Singing' with Mahasukha; 'Voice as Sacred Instrument'; Tibetan singing bowls; tin whistle, bodhran, drumming; daily Buddhafield Community Rhythm event; 'Work that Reconnects'; Transition Towns; big debate on Climate; Palestine Peace Campaign; Non-violent Communication; Skilful Flirting; Heart-to-Heart tantric workshops; Green babycare on a budget; Shamanic Journeying from Northern Drum….

Special Spaces: the 12 Step Dome; Women's Space; Land and Permaculture; Radical Midwives Space for pregnant women and new mothers; Queer Spirit Space; Crafts Area; Wildheart Medicine Wheel Space; Dzogchen and Big Mind teachings; bushcraft; tracking; fire making; sky-gazing meditation.

Saunas including Lost Horizon, featuring chillout space and cabaret; cafes including the Buddhafield Café with strolling musicians. And last but not least, wood-fired showers and compost toilets; all power on site from the sun and wind.

The 2008 Festival runs from Weds 16th to Sun 20th July. The site has good public transport links; nearest train and coach station is Taunton (direct trains from many towns); there are a couple of local buses each day from Taunton direct to the site. There's also special festival mini-buses going direct to the site and back from Bristol, Brighton and London. See the Buddhafield Festival website for details. Don't be put off by the rather severe website by the way - look at the pictures to get a sense of what it's really like!


But PS - don't forget to book soon! See you there! ;-)

The Buddhafield Team

The Adventures of Rijumati - part III

FWBO News is pleased to present part III of a series of excerpts from the travel diaries of Rijumati.

Six months ago Rijumati left his home town of 24 years and headed off on a freighter bound for Sri Lanka. These excerpts find him entering Kazakhstan en route for Russia.

He says "I now am on my way to Kyrgyzstan, which is probably the most unpronounceable sovereign state in the world. Try saying Keer-gish-stan but with a strong 'zzz' at the end of the 'gish' I hear you asking “How on earth have you ended up there, Rijumati...?"" Click here to find out...

Two lesser-known FWBO journals…

FWBO News is pleased to be able to mention two lesser-known journals published by members of the Western Buddhist Order – Urthona and the Western Buddhist Review.

Urthona
Urthona (www.urthona.com) is the fruit of a small but dedicated band of lovers of the arts; for them, Urthona is “a magazine for rousing the imagination”. It’s been published since 1992 and issue 25 is just out: Celtic Connections.

They say – “It’s an exploration of the myths of the Celtic world, their enduring appeal and their continued relevance. This issue is for those who are trying to make connections with the pagan roots of our culture, who want to make these wonderful old stories meaningful for their lives, and who want to make links with the pre-christian ways of spirituality which existed in the British Isles before the Roman invasion”.

Back issues are available here, and a generous selection of online articles cover such subjects as The Five Storied Palace (A journey around the symbolic cosmos in the company of Dante with some notes for twenty-first-century travellers); A Fountain Sealed (Reflecting on the tragic split in Coleridge’s poetic Imagination); and Experiments and Values: Sangharakshita talking about the arts in the twentieth century, his likes among its artists and writers, and his new collection of poetry.

Urthona is available from FWBO bookshops or by online ordering.

The Western Buddhist Review

Very different – but equally a product of the meeting of Buddhism and the West – is the FWBO’s ‘Western Buddhist Review’. The WBR takes a more academic approach, and in the latest issue, Issue 4, you'll find Abhaya reflecting on Letters of Gold: Imagery in the Dhammapada; Was the Buddha Omniscient? by Nagapriya, author of the well-known ‘Karma and Rebirth’ ; and the related article Kamma in Context: The Mahakammavibhangasutta and the Culakammavibhangasutta by Manishini (Alice Collett). Many other topics are covered, not least a thought-provoking inquiry into Suicide as A Response to Suffering and Jnanavira’s Reflections on the Feminine in Japanese Buddhism

Issue 5 is expected shortly and will be published on the WBR website.

Other on-line FWBO publications include many past issues of Dharma Life and Madhyamavani – at one time the journal of the Preceptors College.

Invitation to participate in on-line research study for meditators

FWBO News is pleased to pass on this request for volunteers to take part in an on-line project looking at some of the effects of meditation. "Hi there,I'm Rebecca, a Mitra with the Letchworth FWBO group. "I'm currently doing some research for my MSc project that involves looking at some of the effects of meditation. "I'm looking for volunteers who meditate regularly and who would like to take part in the study. It will be available online in the next few weeks, and will consist of some questionnaires (about 20 mins) and two very short experiments (less than 5 minutes each). "In total, participation should take around 40-45 minutes, and can be done wherever you have an internet connection and a Flash plug-in (most computers have this already). "We are going to submit this research to an academic journal so that it can be published, and the results will be available to anyone who is interested. If are interested in taking part, please click the links below. Do pass it on to anyone you know who might be interested, or please feel free to contact me if you would like more information, with no obligation to take part at any stage.Thanks for your time! "With Metta, "Rebecca MSc Student (Research Methods in Cognitive Neuropsychology) BPS Transpersonal Psychology PsyPAG representative Division of Teacher and Researchers in Psychology PsyPAG representative Below are the 'instructions' and link for the study. There are four sections, which should take around 30-40 minutes to complete. Please click here to take part!

India, Karuna, and advocacy work

The Karuna Trust is the FWBO’s largest and most successful fundraising charity, sending well over UK £1,000,000/year to a wide variety of projects in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Tibet. In recent years their focus has shifted from the approach of ‘Aid for India’ (their original name!) to encouraging projects that specialise in helping India’s disadvantaged peoples effectively and peacefully access their legal entitlements.

These naturally include India’s more than 200 million Dalits and Tribal people, from whom come the vast majority of India’s Buddhists, including of course members of the TBMSG. While India as a whole has become increasingly prosperous over the last decade, discrimination of all sorts is still rife, and especially discrimination based on the age-old and scripturally-sanctioned caste system.

Two such projects which have been funded by Karuna are the 'Dalit Rights Initiative' (a part of India’s ‘Human Rights Law Network') and ‘Social Jurist’. Both have hundreds, if not thousands, of stories to tell, and we have posted a few of these on the FWBO News Features page.

Ananta from Karuna comments “In spite of the harrowing content, the stories move towards a 'happy ending' which I found uplifting not least because our efforts are supporting this work. The full list of cases is available on their websites if you want to read more”.

There is a growing trend of ‘advocacy’ work that often uses the internet – Karuna’s attention was recently drawn to Meena Kandasamy’s blog, a 24-year–old Tamil woman who is self-confessedly “obsessed with revolutionary Dr.Ambedkar’s message of caste annihilation”. Her blog describes the punishments meted out to ‘dangerous Dalit women’ seen as witches by caste Hindus.

She ends with words that could almost have been written of the ‘witches’ and witchcraft trials of Briain and the US in earlier centuries: “…in witch-hunting, the victims are also single (read widowed/ deserted/ divorced) women of a certain age who are no longer burdened with reproductive duties. The word ‘witch’ is thrust on these ‘dangerous’ women who asserted their entitlement to rights and thus challenged patriarchal and caste supremacist diktats. Dalit or Adivasi (Tribal) women who dared to contest elections and directly challenged the political power of the landed caste-Hindus have been labeled hags. They have been accused of exercising black magic when in fact they have only been exercising their fundamental rights. Witchcraft, when used by brutal caste-Hindus in the modern context, has come to signify women’s resistance to oppression, and the price they have paid for it”.

Click here to read some of the full stories from the 'Dalit Rights Initiative' and ‘Social Jurist’ projects.

You can donate to Karuna via their website, www.karuna.org.

TBMSG Amaravati: youth, Dhamma tours, and an appeal

FWBO News has received this report from Amitayus, a leading Order Member in TBMSG’s Amaravati sangha, in central Maharastra, India. The Buddhist community in Amaravati has long has a reputation for innovation and dynamism, it looks like they’re not resting on their laurels! Their report concludes with an appeal, and we urge readers to log onto the Amaravati appeal website and also pass news of the appeal to their friends and others in the Sangha.

Amitayus says -

“The TBMSG-Bahujan Hitay Amaravati sangha (Maharashtra) has for many years been having regular dhamma and social activities including especially activities planned and designed for youths. We know well that youths should get attracted to the Dhamma as this is a very important part of forming the New Society. As well as this, we run many regular other activities which we feel should be known to the wider sangha , we request you to help us doing this effectively through publishing these events on FWBO TBMSG news.

Amaravati Youth Conference 2008
“At present we wish to inform you of two things. First is the Youth Conference 2008, organised by our Dr. Ambedkar Social and Youth Center in Amaravati. Our aim is to organise Indian youth for self development and to help them so that they can help their people, we have been working with the youth since 1993 and we have supported thousands of youth. Many are now regular practitioners of Dhamma and have become effective social activists.

“Our Youth conference 2008 was held from 26th to 30th May, we accepted 125 participants including men and women especially from slum and rural backgrounds. Dhammachari Amoghasiddhi and Aniruddha explored the various areas of self-development including teachings of Dr Ambedkar, basic Dhamma, and ‘secrets of success’ using NVC. The organisers are accepting the wishes from the broader sangha worldwide for the success of the event.

‘Jumbo Retreat’ in October 2008
“Second we wish to inform you that in October 2008 we are planning a big programme of public talks all around Amaravati, followed by our largest retreat. There will be 15 public talks before the retreat, we estimate more than 400 people will be present in small towns and 1000 people at the bigger towns. Those who are inspired may come forwards to participate in our ‘Jumbo’ retreat which will run from 24 October to 30 October. It will be led by a team of 25 Order Members from the Amaravati area including Chairwoman Dhammacharini Jayamani, Chief Organiser Dhammachari Nagabhadra, and also Dhammachari Ashvajit from the UK. We will be including youths, rural, tribal, and nonbuddhist people: in this way we begin to create the true casteless society.

“This is a very big task for us and our first step is to fundraise for it. We need Indian Rs. 6 lakhs, or UK £8,000 approx. We are planning to raise these funds through door knocking, sponsoring the events , publication and looking for contributions from our international sangha.

“To know more about our work please visit www.bahujanhitaya.org, to donate to our appeal please visit www.justgiving.com/ashvajit. Thank you”.

'National Network of Buddhist Youth' Conference in India

Ann Dennehy, a mitra from the FWBO’s San Francisco Sangha sends us this report of TBMSG’s ‘National Network of Buddhist Youth’ Conference in Dehra Dun, northern India, held June 1-7, 2008.

She writes -

“I have just returned from a week on retreat with India’s National Network of Buddhist Youth (NNBY) in the hill station of Dehra Dun, in northern India. I worked as part of a team of 4 Trainers - the Indian Order members Kumarjeev and Kamalasri from Nagpur, and Maitriveer Nagarjuna from Delhi, alongside the NNBY Student Leadership Team.

Altogether we were 35 people on the retreat, practicing in an old colonial school building, miraculously transformed for our use by the local Senior Dhammachari Bodhisagar (who had been ordained by Bhante in India in the 1980's) and his tireless wife Sumitra. They turned classrooms into dormitories, food pantries and shower facilities; hallways into kitchen prep stations and a dining area; and a meeting hall into a shrine room and central study space.

“Dehra Dun is green and peaceful, providing a cool break from city heat, and a chance to practice in a lush, serene environment. Our team worked harmoniously, providing opportunities for students to learn meditation, practice English, study the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar, chant, and do pujas. Students established new friendships, shared tasks, played cricket, sang songs, and even danced. Our last night was a diksha, where two students became Buddhists, followed by a cultural evening, which included comedy and a kirtan.

“The primary goal of the NNBY is to establish a network of Buddhist friendships across India, and train up the next generation of young Buddhist leaders. I am satisfied that such connections were created on this retreat.

“Most of the retreatants were first-timers, and as the week came to a close they told me how much they had learned, how their meditation practice had deepened, how they'd made new friendships, and how much more confidence they felt after a week of supported practice.

“Myself, I leave feeling grateful for my deepening friendships with the team, and inspired by the energy, creativity, and curiosity of all the students. May this Sangha continue to thrive”.

You can check the NNBY’s new website on www.nnby.org.

They've also got an internet fundraising appeal going, seeking funds for their India-wide youth leaders training programme - you'll find full details on the appeal site.

Meanwhile, a thousand miles south, in Maharastra, there's ambitious plans afoot among the Amaravati sangha for a major Dhamma tour of rural areas this autumn, building in part on their own recent successful Youth Conference - we hope to bring you news of this tomorrow.

Going on retreat... for three years!

Vessantara was ordained into the Western Buddhist Order in 1974, and is well-known as the author of ‘Meeting the Buddhas’ as well as a number of other books. He’s led a long and active life in the Order, travelling and speaking widely – see for instance his talks on Free Buddhist Audio for a sample…

But later this month, he’s off – on a three-year retreat! Most people involved in the FWBO have done at least some retreats – often planned using our website GoingOnRetreat.com – but not many have done one lasting three whole years – and it could be longer. Not surprisingly he’s been asked many questions about it – and some of his answers have just been published as a short article in the features section of FWBO News.

FWBO News wishes him, and his partner Vijayamala, all good wishes as they embark on this major undertaking.

Vessantara says -
I'm planning to do a long retreat, starting at the end of June. Here are answers to some of the questions I've often been asked about it:

Where are you going to do your retreat?
In southern-central France in the Auvergne. It's about 2,000 feet (700 metres) up in the Massif Central. From near where we're staying you can see the range of mountains that includes the Puy de Dome. You can also see the golden roof of the temple of the Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist centre founded by the late Gendun Rinpoche.

Why aren't you doing it at an FWBO place like Guhyaloka or Sudarshanaloka?
I would be very happy to do so, except for one factor: I really want regular access to someone experienced who can guide my retreat. I have done quite a bit of solitary retreat over the years, as well as living at Vajraloka and Guhyaloka. Whilst they've been very useful, I've come to the conclusion that I would make much better progress with regular access to someone to help me sharpen up my practice, point out my blind spots and bad habits, and generally help me to 'steer to the deep'. So when Lama Lhundrup offered to help Order members who wanted to do long meditation retreat, I decided to take him up on his offer.

Click here to continue reading…

Hearing The Cries Of The World

Coming up soon at Taraloka, the FWBO’s retreat centre in Shropshire, is a new retreat ‘Making A Difference’. It’s based on ‘The Work that Reconnects’ - a powerful set of exercises that enable us to look clearly at the state of world around us and our emotional responses to it. Doing this opens the way to us, in turn, taking our part in creating an ethical and sustainable future. It was developed by the American Buddhist Joanna Macy and has been taken up by a number of Order Members, several of whom have attended Joanna’s training retreats both in the US and Britain.
‘Making A Difference’ will be led by three of these: Parami, Akuppa and Maitrisara. It takes place on the 20th to 27th June and the following weekend, 27th to 29th June, will be specifically for people who may like to facilitate this work within the F/WBO, creating a working network within our movement.

Parami especially has had contact with Joanna Macy, and writes “What fires me and seems to be very inspiring to people is an increasing exploration and understanding of the links between the WTR and the Dharma and - perhaps especially - how the two can work together to form a community of people dedicated to working effectively in our troubled world but from a place of inner peace and meditative awareness. Applied Bodhisattva Ideal in other words. Conditionality in action”.

She goes on to say “In April I attended a weekend in Bath for people facilitating the WTR in the UK. Joanna and Fran Macy were there. Joanna had just been speaking in Findhorn and had asked a couple of the people that she has worked with for many years to organise a get-together of facilitators. I was able to go along and was able to catch up with Joanna and talk through a few things. She was, as always, very excited to hear about the developments of the WTR within the F/WBO. Although she is not coming on the retreat in June she wanted to reiterate her confidence in our working with the WTR and she wanted us to know that we have her "deepest blessings". She would love to hear from me how the retreat goes and also wants me to keep in touch with her more generally.

“On the topic of the retreat itself, I feel excited about what we might do and inspired to have the chance to go more deeply into the dharmic base of our working with the WTR as a community. I have a strong interest in using systems theory to explore how open a community our community is. I would greatly enjoy co-creating ways of being a more effective force for good.

“I think, as a community, we have such a lot going for us. Of course, there is much work to be done in the face of grave and dangerous challenges in the world today. I think forming community is a part of the creative response to those challenges and I hope this retreat can play a part in strengthening our community as a force for good in the world”.

Buddha Festival in India, 600 attending

Chandrabodhi has sent FWBO News this report of the first ‘Buddha Festival’ in India. Publishing it was delayed until we had received photographs of the day – however we are now pleased to present it to you. The event had an added significance in that it was the successful culmination of an ‘internet fundraising’ appeal by one of our Indian centres; they were delighted to be able to raise UK £733 for the event in little over a week! This was thanks to a new facility on the ‘justgiving ‘ website – see www.justgiving.com/chandrabodhi for details of the appeal.

Chandrabodhi writes -

"On 19th May 2008 we held the first ‘Buddha Festival’ in India, at the Urgyen Sangharakshita Meditation Retreat Centre near Nanded. We started with chanting – the Tiratana Vandana, Shakyamuni mantra, Metta Bhavana and Sabbe Satta Sukhi Hontu Mantra. Then we started to make the shrine, which was set up under the shade of a ‘pandal’, in this way we accommodated the 500 to 600 people who came.

"At 10am there was a ‘Dhamma Dhwaja’ (Flag Hoisting) by me. There were 100 people at that time, after it people began to arrive in larger numbers. As part of our welcome programme we garlanded local social workers who had done excellent work in our community. One, whose age is 78 years and who had been a freedom fighter working for the social movement since 40's, narrated to us some of the history of his work of the last 50 years.

"There was a full length talk, given by Dh. Surangam on the topic of “Buddhism and Buddhist Culture”. He was describing the present situation of the so-called Buddhists and what they are supposed to do in future to practice Buddhism and create a Buddhist Culture. His talk was so impressive that many people put the figures in their mouths in astonishment and appreciated the suggestions given by him..

"In the afternoon was a very appealing and heart touching programme - the conversion programme of a family coming from the ‘Matang community’. This is one of the Scheduled Castes, their traditional occupation is that of ‘plastic bag scavenger’, and they are very poor. During the ceremony I stressed that no one can become a real Buddhist until and unless he/she takes Diksha (conversion). Although the ceremony was organised just for one family other people joined it spontaneously – afterwards the ‘Diksharthis’ (the new Buddhists) said they felt as if they got a new birth by embracing Buddhism.

"Later there was a cultural programme presented by Amitayus and the Ashvaghosa Cultural team from Amaravati. We provided food to each and every one who were present. There were about 500 people who took the food.

"In the evening there was again a cultural programme, this time of local singers who sang songs spontaneously, some girls presented a dance programme on celebrating Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Buddha. Throughout the night a singing party from the nearby village (Patnur) continued, this went up to 6:00 in the morning of 20th May.

"This way the first Buddha Festival organised by TBMSG Nanded at the Urgyen Sangharakshita Meditation Centre became successful in all respects. Afterwards I heard the people were murmuring that this type of Buddha Festival should be arranged every year. I feel that this was the receipt given by the people for our excellent programme. I am sure that this festival will become a regular feature of our activities. Thank you to all who supported us.

"With metta, Chandrabodhi"

'Sangha without boundaries' in Scotland

Kevin McConnell from the Edinburgh Buddhist sangha has sent FWBO News this report of their inter-Buddhist activities - which have been quietly growing for the past four years...

“As the days get longer and the Scottish winter slides its way into spring, green shoots force their way through the warming earth, early lambs frisk in the strengthening sunshine - and the Buddhists of Edinburgh can be seen heading south to Wiston Lodge near Biggar (shown in photo). Why, we ask? - for their annual Inter-Sangha Weekend Retreats, is the reply.

“Inter-Buddhist events, where several of the local Buddhist groups come together on celebratory occasions such as Wesak, have long been a feature in Edinburgh. Usually, one group takes the lead with other members offering contributions from their own traditions.

“At first they were evening events rounded off by a shared meal. The popularity of these inspired the idea of an annual weekend retreat where groups could share and explore their various traditions’ differing perspectives on the Dharma. The initial idea, and the organisation of the inaugural gathering, was down to Kalyanavaca, chairwoman of the FWBO’s Edinburgh Buddhist centre. However they’ve been such a success (this year being the fourth year in succession) that now the role of organisation is taken up by a different group each year.

“This year the overall theme was impermanence, and each group led those present in a practice from their own tradition based on that theme. This produces an eclectic mix where, if you attend all the sessions, you could be experiencing body scan techniques, zazen, NVC workshops, Pali chants and Tibetan puja. In between the set events there is of course the opportunity to sit and drink tea or walk in the woods and compare notes on your experience of the Dharma. This celebrating the 'unity of variation' of the Dharma is what most appeals to the participants.

“Over the four years the retreats have been held, groups from the Community of Buddhist Contemplatives (Soto Zen), the Community of Interbeing, the Forest Sangha (Theravadin), FWBO, Samye Dzong (Kagyu) and Soka Gakkai have attended - but the invitation is open to any Buddhist groups in the Edinburgh area. Enthusiasm last year spilled over to a weekend visit to Samye Ling (the Kagyu centre and monastery in the Scottish Borders), and a tentative suggestion for future visits to other home centres has been made.

“Outside of these events the group collaborates on a newsletter ‘Sangha Without Boundaries’ and of course our website. We rejoice in our good fortune in having access to the Dharma in its many manifestations and in our commitment to put the Dharma into practise.

“As the verse in the three-fold puja so succinctly says,

We reverence the Sangha, and aspire to follow it:
The fellowship of those who tread the Way.
As, one by one, we make our own commitment,
An ever-widening circle, the Sangha grows.

New opportunities on FWBO Jobs...

Several new jobs have been posted recently on FWBO Jobs; readers are invited to visit the FWBO Jobs site to check.

These include opportunities at Taraloka, the FWBO’s retreat centre for women - and the UK’s ‘Retreat Centre of the Year’ (for the second time in three years!); for a finance worker at the North London Buddhist Centre, and for some of the Karuna Appeals later in the year.

The London Buddhist Centre is appealing for “men and women of vision” to take it forwards into its second thirty years of life – there are a variety of openings both in the Centre itself and in the various Right Livelihoods that surround it – and last but by no means least – there’s an opening in Jvalamalini’s dental practice in Bristol! This may sound incongruous but actually, it isn’t – it’s ethical, team-based work and she would prefer to work with people who share her values.

Since FWBO Jobs was launched in November last year it has had some 2,800 visitors; it’s become the easiest ‘one-stop’ shop to see what opportunities are available across the FWBO.

Other changes
There have been significant changes recently to the FWBO News website itself; regular readers who use our Feedblitz news-feed service are invited to take time to visit the site and its several sections.

Among other things three separate search facilities have been added to make it possible to easily find any specific people or events across the FWBO’s extensive and somewhat sprawling network of websites. You'll find these on the Resources page of the site; they search, respectively, the FWBO News archive; or all FWBO centre websites (over 100 to date); or the 170+ personal websites listed on FWBO People. A rich and, now, very accessible resource! The Order itself - now well over 1,500 men and women - can be seen co-creating the image of Avalokitesvara on the Order Mosaic section of the site, each little tile is clickable to reveal the whole person...

A tag listing facility has also been added giving one-click access to all stories on particular themes: clicking (for instance) the ‘Engaged Buddhism’ tag brings up all previous FWBO News stories on that theme.

We've added four ‘volumes’ of previous stories from FWBO News, each covering a two-month period and available in an easily-printable PDF document form. These are ideal for Centre reception rooms - taken together they reflect the remarkable diversity of events and projects going on around the FWBO and TBMSG Sanghas. You can find these too on the Resources section of the site; we envisage adding further volumes every couple of months.

Finally, by visiting the site itself you'll also be able to admire our visit counter, which shows the number of visitors and which country they come from – we have had over 33,000 visitors from nearly 150 countries since November last year…!

Suggestions for further enhancements are of course welcome.

Major exhibition of Western Buddhist art - June 27-29th

Coming up soon is the British Buddhist Landscape conference, already mentioned in FWBO News but now with more details confirmed – including a major exhibition of Western Buddhist artists.

Amitajyoti, who is organising the FWBO’s submissions, reports “We have a really good range of some excellent work to show - do let people know. The artists involved are really 'giving it something'/'doing the business' so to speak! We’ll have work by Aloka, Akasaka, Chintamani, Padmayogini and me.”

Aloka and Chintamani have both been practicing as Buddhist artists for over 30 years, Chintamani is chair of FWBO Arts and probably best-known for his rupas which take centre-stage in both the London Buddhist Centre’s shrine rooms. Aloka’s large-scale paintings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas grace many FWBO centre shrines – Brighton, Bristol, Nottingham, Norwich, Padmaloka, as well as dozens of personal shrines...

A rich line-up of speakers includes Sangharakshita, Stephen Batchelor, Dr John Peacock, Dr Helen Waterhouse, Ajahn Laow, Rev. Prof. Sato, Peggy Morgan, Colin Ash, Ven Sumana, Tony Kemmer, Phil Henry, Keith Munnings, Sharon Smith (aka Vijayatara), Yann Lovelock, and Munisha. It’s a unique opportunity to see and interact first-hand with major figures across the extraordinary diversity of British Buddhism.

Full details of the conference are available from the conference organisers, the UK's Network of Buddhist Organisations, this gives details of booking and each days programme; it’s possible though of course not ideal to attend only some of the events.

The dates are Friday-Sunday, June 27-29th.

The event is being generously hosted by the ‘Institute of Oriental Philosophy’, a branch of SGI-UK , at their headquarters, the very beautiful stately home of Taplow Court, set in 85 acres of grounds and overlooking the River Thames, between Slough and Maidenhead.

Transport is easy via regular trains from Paddington or Reading. Book soon as places are limited!

Public Ordinations at Akashvana

On Tuesday 10th June the following women were ordained at the FWBO's Akasavana retreat centre in the Spanish mountains.

public preceptor Parami:
Sandy Lacey becomes Dharmamrita (long second and last 'a's), 'she who
has the nectar of the Dharma' (private preceptor Maitreyi)

Sophia Young becomes Kuladharini (long last 'i'), 'she who supports or
sustains the spiritual community' (private preceptor Viryadevi)

Tracy McLoughlin becomes Taradakini (all vowels long except first 'i'),
'she who is a Dakini of Tara' (private preceptor Kalyanavaca)

Thea Wiersma becomes Amritapurna (long 'u' and last 'a'), 'she who is
full of nectar (of the Dharma)' (private preceptor Ratnadharini)

Nicky Edmonds becomes Satyajyoti (long 'i'), 'light of truth' (private
preceptor Punyamala)

Hazel Baker becomes Maitrimala (long second 'i', and second and last
'a's), 'garland of metta' (private preceptor Vajragita)

public preceptor Dhammadinna:
Aida Fernandez becomes Rochani (long 'i'), 'she who is bright, shining,
luminous' (private preceptor Parami)

public preceptor Maitreyi:
Teresa del Soldato becomes Lilamani (long 'i's and first 'a'), 'she who
has a jewel of playfulness' (private preceptor Dhammadinna)

Mireille van der Plas becomes Mokshagandhi (long 'i'), 'she who's
perfumed with liberation' or 'she who has the fragrance of emancipation'
(private preceptor Akasasuri)

Jaine Daley becomes Ajayashraddha (long last 'a'), 'she who has
invincible/unconquered faith' (private preceptor Kalyanasri)

public preceptor Padmasuri:
Sue Westbury becomes Viryajyoti (long 'i's and 'a'), 'she who has the
light/radiance of energy in pursuit of the good' (private preceptor
Kalyanasri)

Gail Abbott becomes Vilokini (long last 'i'), 'she who looks, sees,
considers, reflects, is aware' (private preceptor Vajrapushpa)

public preceptor Ratnadharini:
Chris Zakorchemney becomes Amaladevi (long 'i'), 'pure, stainless devi'
(private preceptor Maitreyi)

Julia Simnet becomes Karunavapi (long second and third 'a's and 'i'),
'she who is a lake of compassion' (private preceptor Padmasuri)

Hayley Morris becomes Karunavajri (long second 'a', and 'i'), 'she who
has a vajra of compassion' (private preceptor Dharmottara)

SADHU! SADHU! SADHU!

A Right-Livelihood Land Project in the North East (UK)

A group is forming in the FWBO's Newcastle Sangha to explore the development of a new land-based community and work project informed by the Dharma. The instigator of this group, Andy Parkes, writes:

“What do I mean by ‘A Right-Livelihood Land Project’? And he answers –

“A group of people brought together by specific common ideals, particularly:
• Dharma (movement towards an integrated lifestyle with more harmony between livelihood, community and Buddhist practice)
• Environmental Ethics (movement towards increased ecological sustainability)
• A wish to develop the above, by living and/or working on some land together

“A project like this is group-led and for that reason it is not possible to be specific about its nature. For example, we might buy, borrow or rent land. We might set up a charity, a co-operative or many varying businesses on the land. We may or may not live on the land, and we may each have different levels of input into this project. Personally, I would like to give my attention to the Dharma, growing trees, organic food, greenwood working, music, teaching, building a low-impact dwelling for myself and others, and being part of a community I can give to and receive from. We have different skills and will each bring our own emphasis.

Why ‘A Right-Livelihood Land Project’
“Dharma is precious! It feeds us, and points the way to spiritual freedom. Spiritual development and ecological sustainability require a sustained commitment that is often not understood and resisted by our society. Keeping our ethical precepts, preparing ourselves for practice is more challenging when the way in which we support ourselves is replete with subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) contradictions to our beliefs. Land is precious in as much as, it feeds us and unobstructed access to it can lead to a high degree of practical freedom, resulting in less consumerism, more sharing and a responsible relationship to the earth. With practical freedom comes the ability to develop an integrated lifestyle, in which all of our activities can be conducive to spiritual development (Dharma), supporting ourselves in an ecologically sustainable way, and supporting our Buddhist (Sangha) and local community.

“Initially the group will be about getting to know each other and our interests in light of this project, and to see if and how we want to work together as a group. The timescale for developing this project is over months and years. Consolidating the group may take a long time, so don’t be immediately discouraged if you are interested but feel unprepared.”

If you are interested in the project but live outside Newcastle, please feel free to contact Andy at: andrew.parkes@sunderland.ac.uk

The photograph shows Buddhafield's new land at Frog Mill, in the Dartmoor National Park.

Ordinations at Guhyaloka

ORDINATIONS AT GUHYALOKA 2008

The following men were privately ordained between 27th May and 9th June and publicly ordained at Guhyaloka on June 9th 2008:

Bob Harris becomes Akasamuni (Aakaashamuni):
'He who is a space/sky sage'.
(Private Preceptor: Khemadhamma, Public Preceptor: Mahamati).

Danus Blanchard becomes Jnanarakshita (Jnaanarakshita):
'He who protected by the highest knowledge/awareness'.
(Private Preceptor: Ashvajit, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

David Vasey becomes Swadipa (Swadiipa):
'He who is (or has) his own Light (of Bodhi)'.
(Private Preceptor: Mahamati, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

Edmund Hermes becomes Mokshasiddha (Mokshasiddha):
'He who is accomplished in liberation'.
(Private Preceptor: Ashvajit, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

Geoffrey Newman becomes Aranyaka (Aranyaka):
'He who dwells in the forest'.
(Private Preceptor: Prakasha, Public Preceptor: Mahamati).

Hakan Hermundstad becomes Guhyaraja (Guhyaraaja):
'Mysterious King, Hidden King'.
(Private Preceptor: Satyaraja, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

Jez Cox becomes Paraga (Paaraga):
'He who is crossing to the further shore'.
(Private Preceptor: Saddhaloka, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

Joakim Eneroth becomes Maitrin (Maitrin):
'He who is full of love and kindness'.
(Private Preceptor: Satyaraja, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

Juergen Titz becomes Pramodya (Praamodya):
'He who has joy and delight'.
(Private Preceptor: Bodhimitra, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

Leo Zeef becomes Saccacitta (Sachachitta):
'He whose mind is concerned with reality.
(Private Preceptor: Vajradaka, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

Marcus Dakini becomes Padmapriya (Padmapriya):
'Lover of the Lotus'.
(Private Preceptor: Dhammavijaya, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

Michael Lunts becomes Ratnadhya (Ratnaadhya):
'Abounding in Jewels'.
(Private Preceptor: Satyaraja, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

Santosh Kamble becomes Sanghanatha (Sanghanaatha):
'Protector of the Sangha'.
(Private Preceptor: Arthapriya, Public Preceptor: Mahamati).

Sean Smith becomes Silapiya (Siilapiya):
'He for whom good conduct/ethics is beloved'.
(Private Preceptor: Vajradaka, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

Tom Grant becomes Sthiramani (Sthiramaani):
'He who is an unwavering, resolute, trustworthy, steadfast jewel'.
(Private Preceptor: Saddhaloka, Public Preceptor: Saddhaloka).

Will Sullivan becomes Dharmashalin (Dharmashalin):
'He who abounds in the Dhamma'.
(Private Preceptor: Saddharaja, Public Preceptor: Mahamati).

SADHU! SADHU! SADHU!

Teaching meditation in Turkey - and in Turkish...

FWBO News is delighted to present this report from Vajracaksu, the WBO's only member teaching and practicing in Turkey.

"Greetings from Turkey, Istanbul to be more precise. Some of you will know that I’ve been living and working in Istanbul for a few years now, doing some meditation and Dharma teaching. In fact in August it will be 5 years! Time flies!

"Last November, for the first time ever I led a small meditation course in Turkish. Doing the course in Turkish was a very big thing for me, and successfully completing it gave me a big confidence boost. Actually, it went well - I gave practical homework each week and sent out 3 emails a week to remind and encourage us to practise, which I think worked well.

"At a small day event on meditation in January one woman showed great determination because she travelled from Bursa – by coach it was about a 10 hour round trip! Later in January and February I led a meditation and Buddhism course entitled, “Words are Powerful: Principles of Communication.” It was based on the speech precepts, in fact we studied Ratnaghosa’s excellent pamphlet, “Just a Word...” As usual, I gave ‘home tasks’ - for example, when studying ‘harmonising speech’ our daily practise was to be particularly mindful when people asked to have their greetings, their ‘salaams’, passed onto someone (this is a very common custom in Turkey). I also suggested we be particularly mindful when people speak well of others behind their backs and to make a special point of passing on these words to the person concerned.

"During the last class – this is something I typically do now – I got us all to reflect on what we’ve learnt during the course and to write ourselves a letter with our reflections; then one or two months after the end of the course I post these letters off to remind ourselves of some of the things we learnt. I think this is an appreciated and effective little exercise.

"In February after much resistance (and hard work actually), I managed to complete recording a meditation CD. I did this at home, it’s not brilliant quality but it’s OK, it’s good enough. The CD includes six meditations in English and six in Turkish, some being sessions of guided Alexander Position. Already its proving to be useful and helpful.

"Last month (in May) I was invited back to Bilgi University to give 3 presentations on meditation to their students. Bilgi University is one of the most prestigious private universities in Turkey. I'd been there last year as well. I spoke on “Meditation: The Natural Medicine”, and covered some of my own experiences of meditation plus summaries of some research into meditation providing evidence for the physiological and psychological benefits of meditation. We had time for questions and lastly an opportunity to practise a short meditation.

"And lastly - right now - I’m in the middle of leading a 5-Week Mindfulness Meditation Course in both English and Turkish. It the first time I’ve led something in both languages, it’s quite challenging actually but I manage. Actually, I typically find it a privilege guiding people into a sense of stillness. This is the first course that I’ve made full use of the Meditation CD and people seem to be finding it very useful. The homework for this week is in two parts: to practise a short meditation every day (with one day off!) and perhaps more challengingly, to take one or two deep breaths whenever we notice that we’re criticising ourselves or others in thought or word. An interesting exercise! I look forward to people’s report back next week.

"I won’t make any definite promises but now I’ve broken my silence in this website, I hope to write more regularly.

"Kind wishes to the reader.

"Vajracaksu (Istanbul) PS - you can contact me here.

"...just like a beautiful flower which has colour and also has
perfume are the beautiful fruitful words of the person who
speaks and does what they say."
The Buddha

Upcoming ordinations at Guhyaloka and Akashavana

On Monday June 9th, at 10am GMT (11am local time), 16 men will be publicly ordained at the FWBO’s Guhyaloka retreat centre in Spain

At exactly the same time, there will also be 15 women publicly ordained at Akashavana, also in Spain.

Coincidence? – who knows! Either way, we look forwards to bringing you the new names as soon as we hear them. Meanwhile, readers are invited to explore the 'Order Mosaic' by clicking on the image opposite, this leads to a webpage-mosaic of the Western Buddhist Order and most (though not quite all) of its 1,500 members worldwide...

Sangharakshita on 'The Growth and Prosperity of the Sangha'

Upekshapriya from the FWBO's 'Videosangha' project has contacted FWBO News to say -

"You might want to let your readers know that Bhante's latest talk 'The Growth and Prosperity of the Sangha' given at the FWBO International Retreat is now available on www.videosangha.net. The direct link is here".

Since Videosangha was launched in 2007, it has grown rapidly to become an extensive video resource for the FWBO worldwide, with well over 100 videos spanning 24 'categories'. There's everything there from answers to those awkward questions ("are buddhists allowed to have sex...?") to many individuals recounting their first meetings with Sangharakshita - to others reflecting on their own ordinations...

Adding new videos is easy - simply upload to YouTube or Google Video with an 'FWBO' tag...

de 3 juwelen.org: Dharma translations into Dutch

Bart Van den Berghe, from the FWBO's Dutch Sangha, has sent us this report on 'The 3 Jewels', their on-line Dharma translation project -

"The Three Jewels (de 3 juwelen.org) is a Dutch-Flemish translation project.

"Texts from Bhante Sangharakshita and other FWBO sources (and ocasionally a non-FWBO text) are being translated into Dutch by language-loving members of the FWBO's lowland sanghas. The aim of the '3 Jewels project' is to make Dharma texts accesible to Dutch non-english speaking readers and inspire them to practice the Dharma.

"The texts can be freely downloaded from the website or bought in printed format at production cost from the different buddhist centres in the Lowlands. Of course we encourage people to support or work and consider a donation to enable us to do more and better.

"Right now 14 texts have been translated from English, including 'the ten pillars', 'what is the Dharma', 'change your mind' and 'vision and transformation'.

"In the pipeline are texts like 'the guide to the Buddhist path' and 'what is the sangha' that will soon be available for download on the website.

"Recently all the texts have been restyled and look and read better than ever before. Enjoy..."

A PDF spreadsheet with all existing translations of all FWBO texts into all languages is available on the Resources tab of FWBO News.

Taraloka voted Retreat Centre of the Year - again!

The UK-based 'Good Retreat Guide' has voted Taraloka their Retreat Centre of the Year - again! They were Retreat Centre of the Year in 2006 and are again for 2008.

They say - "Taraloka is one of our most favourite places and where we would happily send our sisters, mother, aunts and any woman we know for a retreat whether they were Buddhist or not. A wonderful place! Highly Recommended".

Sadhu Taraloka!

Buddhafield Festival in the news

The Buddhafield Festival has for some years been the FWBO’s largest event outside India. It’s been held every year since 1996 and has gone from strength to strength, quietly building a loyal following almost entirely by word of mouth. This year they plan to move to a new site – the third since the Festival began – and increase the size slightly, to 3,000. By happy coincidence they’ve also hit the UK’s Sunday papers in a way they never have before, with top reviews in the Times’ list of ’12 best boutique festivals’; the Guardian’s ‘20 festivals you’ll never have heard of’; and the finally the Independent (not online so far as we know). As the Times eloquently puts it, “'Are you sure?’ you cry. ‘A festival without alcohol, or drugs, or even – whisper it – dogs?’ But yes, as its name might suggest, Buddhafield isn’t your normal bunch of loons, sorted for Es and whizz and standing in a field with 20,000 others.”

Or, as the Guardian says, "This couldn't be more different from your run-of-the-mill festival." Each year Buddhafield aims to learn that little bit better how to create a genuine festival that occupies a respected place in the calendar of UK alternative festivals and which genuinely follows the Buddhist precepts. This year, on their Festival Volunteers Page, they say - “Buddhafield 2008 is organised by practising Buddhists, attempting to exemplify the qualities of infinite Wisdom, Compassion and Positive Energy and to create an environment where others can experience a taste of these qualities. To help us we take on 5 training principles and as contributors to Buddhafield 2008 we ask you to join us in trying to make these training principles a way of life on the site. "The 5 principles are - "To Try Not to Take Life or Cause Harm Cafes on the site are Vegetarian/Vegan. Buddhafield has a strong ecological thread. "To Try Not to take the Not Given We try to be aware of what we take from others in all its aspects, goods, time, energy... "To Try Not to Indulge in Sexual Misconduct We try not to use sexuality to exploit or coerce others. "To Try Not to Lie We try to be honest in our communication. "To Try Not to Take Intoxicants We have a policy of discouraging the consumption of intoxicants on the site. We need clear minds to put these principles into practice! The Buddhafield Festival this year will be held near Taunton, from July 16-20th. Over 600 tickets are given away to the many crews and performers needed to run the Festival, if you’re interested in volunteering or contributing in any way please visit the Festival Volunteers Page of the Buddhafield website where you’ll find application forms and descriptions of what’s needed.

The Buddha at Bedtime...

'Buddha at Bedtime' is a new book written by Nagaraja, a member of the Western Buddhist Order living in Glasgow, Scotland. It's sub-titled "Tales of Love and Wisdom for You to Read with Your Child to Enchant, Enlighten, and Inspire".

Nagaraja goes on to say "Growing up in the modern world, our children have to cope with an ever-increasing amount of stress, which can have a negative impact on their development. The ancient wisdom of Buddhism, with its emphasis on peace, mindfulness and compassion, is the ideal basis for helping any child to face these challenges with inner confidence and calm. Building on the age-old art of storytelling, this beautiful book re-tells 20 ancient Buddhist tales in a way that is thoroughly fun and accessible to children.

"Featuring superb, full-page illustrations the stories will transport children into an imaginary world of enlightenment and discovery where they will meet delightful characters and discover an easy-to-understand Buddhist message, which will help them think about how they can apply values such as patience, perseverance, honesty and generosity to their own lives. Designed to either be read aloud by parents or by children on their own, these compelling narratives focus the mind and provide a soothing transition into sleep."

This is Nagaraja's first book - he's probably better-known to FWBO News' readers for his long-standing appearances on Terry Wogan's 'Pause for Thought' slots on BBC Radio Two.

FWBO International Retreat over, feedback invited...

Over at Taraloka, site of the FWBO's International Retreat last week, the clear-up has just about finished and they are well into their next event, the UK Women's National Order Weekend. All 400 retreatants have gone their many ways - home to Belgium, Holland, Germany, France, Spain, all over the UK - and even further perhaps - there were people there from India, New York, Australia.

Sangharakshita came on Sunday morning, and spoke at length, choosing as his theme the Buddha's advice to his monks, the 'Conditions for the Stability of the Sangha' from the Mahaparanibbana Sutta, no.16 in the Digha Nikaya. Thanks to Videosangha, you can catch his talk here, look for 'The Growth and Prosperity of the Sangha' though it's also known as 'Growing the Spiritual Community'.

We'd like to invite any one who was there to add a comment to this post saying how it was for them - just click on 'have your say' below... In this way we'll build up a scrapbook of reflections and memories.

Meanwhile a slideshow of some images from the retreat is available on FWBO Photos, or just click on the photos below. They include quite a lot of Sangharakshita - many thanks to Dhammarati for these.




Click on 'have your say' to add your comment. Thanks...!

And by the way if youre reading this by email and don't have that option immediately available, just visit this post on FWBO News: fwbo-news.org/2008/06/fwbo-international-retreat-over.html