Breathworks book to be published in six countries

‘Living well with pain and illness’ was first published last year by Vidyamala, founder of Breathworks - one of the FWBO’s most successful Right Livelihood businesses.

We’ve recently heard her book is now being translated and published in 6 countries and/or languages: German, the USA, Holland, Russia, Denmark, and Maharastra (where it will be translated into Marathi). Others are in the pipeline.

Meanwhile the Dutch version of the Breathworks website has just gone live at www.breathworks.nl- joining the Spanish version, Respiravida, launched last year.

Breathworks courses are now run to help people deal with any sort of stress or difficulty as well as physical pain.

At present Sona and Vidyamala are in Sweden at the moment running their first Training Retreat, which is being held at Dharmagiri, the FWBO’s Swedish retreat centre.

The FWBO in Canada - an update from Ontario...

There’s two FWBO groups in the big wide country of Canada - one to the west, in Vancouver, and one to the east, near Toronto. Harshaprabha sends us this report from the eastern side, specifically the city of Guelph, in Ontario, near Toronto.

He’s a UK-based member of the Western Buddhist Order who has for many years been visiting Canada and working with locals to build up their group.

Harshaprabha writes -

“I made another visit to Guelph in June this year. It was a joy to meet old and new friends both at the weekend event I led and at other times.

“The weekend involved five sessions of two and half hours each, all based on Subhuti’s book ‘Buddhism for Today’. Each session had an introduction to either the Metta Bhavana or Mindfulness of Breathing, a tea break, and then a short talk followed by discussion. The themes were - The Buddha; Going Forth; Buddhism and Life- Ethics, Buddhism and Death; Sangharakshita, Founder of the FWBO; and finally Ritual and Devotion in Buddhism. The most attending a session was 14 and the least 4 including myself.

“Guelph was blessed with beautiful weather that weekend which meant many were enjoying the warmth of the sun after a long cold winter.

“The biggest piece of news is that a week after I returned to UK, my Canadian friend Cameron Clark (Cam) came over from Guelph to Britain for a two-week stay. Cam was encouraged to come when I offered to pay for his retreat and some of his UK travel.

“This I could do from the funds donated on the FWBO Ontario fundraising website :- www.justgiving.com/harshaprabha.

“During his stay Cam visited our Ipswich and Colchester Buddhist Centres, was given tours of Suffolk and London by Bodhivamsa and Chris Petts, and attended the Padmaloka Summer Retreat. The latter really had a profound effect on his spiritual understanding, practice, and appreciation of the Three Jewels. The night before he left for Canada Cam attended the latter part of Dharma Day at the new Ipswich Buddhist Centre, which he had helped to renovate during his first days in the town”.

Sangharakshita celebrates 84th birthday: Happy Birthday Bhante!

Today August 26th sees Sangharakshita celebrating his 84th birthday and FWBO News would like to take this opportunity to wish him a very Happy Birthday! Most likely he will be celebrating it quietly in Moseley, Birmingham UK, where he lives.

At the same time, around the world, a number of FWBO Centres will be performing the seventh in a series of 108 annual pujas to celebrate Sangharakshita's life and work. This was launched at the 2003 Order Convention and we reproduce below extracts from the document introducing the vision and purpose of this event.

Moksapriya, then chairman of the FWBO’s Manchester Buddhist Centre, wrote -

“On Tuesday August 26th 2003 on Bhante's birthday Centres around
the world are invited to start on-going puja to celebrate the
life and work of Bhante. This could be seen as 108 year event or
it could simply be an annual festival.


“Before that day a special ceremony will take place in the
context of the final puja of the 2003 combined convention led by
Suvajra. On the special shrine will be stacked boxes each
containing fine cloths, 108 sticks of incense, candles which
will burn for 108 hours, a signed photograph of Bhante and a log
book with 108 pages to record those present each year. There
will be one box for every FWBO Centre (and group) and a few
extra boxes for future Centres. Bhante has agreed to bless the
items in the boxes and to sign a photograph for each box. Before
the ceremony Centre order members can place any further ritual
objects of their own into their Centre's box (such as a mala to
count each year of the puja).


“Then, on Bhante's birthday, each centre will arrange a special
shrine using the contents of their special puja box and perform
the first of the 108 or annual pujas. Afterwards the cloths,
candles, photo etc will be placed back in the box and safely
stored to await the next anniversary. The log book would be
filled in and any photographs recording the event added and this
too would be placed back in the box.


“The event will have particular significance using items blessed
by Bhante and only used on this one day each year. Each Centre
will have a precious supply of incense etcetera that has a
direct spiritual and physical connection with Bhante himself.
This particular living thread may well be increasingly treasured
by each Centre's sangha through the years. We should not
underestimate how important it is to find links between the
future members of the sangha and Bhante. It has been our great
fortune to live in his time and have had some direct connection
with him but perhaps we have a responsibility to think of those
to come who won't have any such direct connection and imagine
how we might enrich their spiritual lives through our
forethought and the establishment of such a special festival as
this one.


“This particular festival will also provide a thread of
continuity in each Centre's sangha whilst the log book, which
might list those that led elements of the puja (perhaps list all
the participants), when and where it took place and possibly
even a photographic record, will bear witness to impermanence
and change. Furthermore the event will encourage a sense of
unity being an event shared by many of our Centres and groups
around the world”.

Examples of the Centres currently participating in the 108 year puja are Dublin Buddhist Centre and the London Buddhist Centre.

Talks from the Order Convention now available on VideoSangha

Mahamati, International Order Convenor, writes to say -

“The talks from the European Combined Convention held earlier this month are now available on Videosangha. They will also be available on free buddhist audio soon.

“You will find a full-length talk by Bhante, given on the final morning of the convention, where he launches "The Essential Sangharakshita" and "Living Ethically" and along the way says much else besides. His talk is at -

 www.videosangha.net/video/Sangharakshita-launches-The-Ess

You will also find all the other main talks at the following link:

www.videosangha.net/playlist/Combined-convention

“These talks comprise a talk by Vishvapani - "Recollections of the Buddha" - and Srivati - "Coming Home: a Journey to India 2009", both given on the afternoon of the first day. Then there’s a total of 9 talks from three colloquia on the themes of "Discipleship", "Coherence and Experimentation", and "The Collective Life of the Order". These talks appear in the order in which they were given.

“I don't suppose that these videos can substitute for the actual experience of attending the convention, where along with these talks there were opportunities for discussion and communication in several contexts, and substantial collective practice in the shrine-room. However I hope that even so these recordings will give those of you who were not present some of the flavour of the event, and give those of you who were there an opportunity to see and hear these talks again.

“Thank you to all who gave these talks, and to Clear Vision for making the recordings.

With metta,
Mahamati

Two talks are featured below - Sangharakshita's book launches, and a rousing plea from Guhyapati, founder of the FWBO's EcoDharma retreat centre in the Catalunya mountains. A personal account of the Convention can be found on Nagapriya's blog, in his post entitled "The Order as Bodhisattva".

Right Livelihood in the USA: Tipu's Chai

Tipu’s Tiger was a much-loved Indian Restaurant in the small mid-Western town of Missoula, Montana - and the FWBO’s first Right Livelihood business in the States. Sadly the business closed as a Buddhist Right Livelihood some years ago - but the vision lives on and is just taking off in the form of a new business - Tipu’s Tiger Chai .

Buddhapalita, the business’ founder, says - “Our chai first came to life in our vegetarian café in Montana, where it grew in popularity until it was known throughout the region. Tipu’s Tiger Chai is a complex blend of sweet spices, complemented with a strong, organic, Indian black tea with a satisfying spicy finish. This is how real chai tastes! Made with non-radiated fresh spices, fresh ginger root, Montana-grown beet sugar and waters from the Mission Mountains”. And he concludes - “We are sure it will please your customers as much as it does ours!”

It’s not easy starting a business these days, but things look good - They’ve won two gold awards already at the 2008 World Tea Championships.

Buddhapalita, founder of Tipu’s Tiger and the driving force behind their new Chai range, was recently interviewed on Montana Public Radio, and you can listen to him here - www.mtpr.net/program_info/2009-08-21-132 . Scroll forwards to the 11-minute mark (unless you want to hear about Montana's recent problems with grizzly bears!)

And the spirit of Right Livelihood and dana (generosity) lives on - Tipu's Chai have already started to donate some of their profits. Their first choice, interestingly, was not an FWBO Buddhist Centre but to a mine detector program operating in Darfur. Somewhere in Darfur, they say, is a mine detector with our name on! The donation was made through a company called Schonstedt that Thiradhamma, another US Order Member, works for. Tipu’s have received letters of thanks from the State Dept and UN as well as Schonstedt.

Buddhafield East Summer Gathering - preparations underway with largest team ever!!!

On Thursday 27th August Buddhafield East will be opening its gates for its 6th year in a beautiful, remote field in Suffolk. The Summer Gathering is an intimate 5-day hybrid festival-retreat event which has a maximum of 130 people attending.

Buddhafield East is a team of FWBO practitioners from the Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and Cambridge Buddhist Centres, inspired by Buddhafield’s vision of creating community and spreading the Dharma in the beauty of the natural landscapes of East Anglia. They came together in October 2003 and have been hosting an increasing number of events, this year with an extremely successful week retreat in May and a café at the Buddhafield Festival. Their annual Summer Gathering has been called a ‘Dharma Party’ but over the years more people have experienced it as a retreat.

Next week Gathering-goers will be exploring daily themes of the Elements with talks from Lokabandhu, the event’s Dharma Teacher, Vajradaka, and smaller discussion groups with the wider Dharma Team.

Daily morning meditation, yoga classes, NVC workshops, Jayaraja’s energetic ‘Adult Games’, dancing, singing and music workshops are only part of what the event offers. An art area houses many materials for exploring creativity whilst connecting with the elements and for the second year, there will be a healing area, offering free half an hour treatments (the event has a policy of no monetary exchange). The children’s area will be running activities linked in with the daily elemental theme, e.g. sculpturing clay and making kites. Whilst in another corner of the field a ‘Wet Area’ houses a sauna, showers and hot tubs – which, after the busy days, are amazing to spend the evenings in, stargazing. Vegan food is included and at mealtimes everyone will eat together in the created community space, or if its raining, in the ‘Tara Tent’.

Highlights of the event include the dusk outdoor rituals followed by Puja in the beautiful Moroccan ‘Rainbow Tent’, homemade chai over the fire in the chilled-out Wet Area, chanting and Dharma discussions in the sauna and spontaneous acoustic delights around the campfire.

With the largest-ever team hosting the event; more activities to choose from, a more integrated approach linking all the talks, discussions, children’s activities and art, a great theme (the Elements) - this year is set to be another magical Summer Gathering.

For information or to book tickets call Sarah-Jane on 07976 378778. But you'd better be quick, when the tickets are gone they're gone...!

New on FWBO Features: TBMSG Thirty Years On, a talk by Lokamitra

Today we publish the first of a new series of Feature articles in FWBO News.

“TBMSG Thirty Years On” is a transcript from a talk by Lokamitra given to the International Order Convention held at Bodh Gaya, India, earlier this year. TBMSG - or the Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayaka Gana, the Friends of the Great Buddhist Community of the Triple World - is the name adopted by the FWBO in India.

Lokamitra’s talk is a wide-ranging review of TBMSG’s many achievements over the past 30 years; an analysis of the remarkable coincidence of vision that existed between Sangharakshita, founder of the FWBO/TBMSG and Dr. Ambedkar, leader of India’s Dalits; and a blueprint, or even vision, of the future.

He begins - “In October 1977 Surata and I visited Buddha Gaya, en route to Kalimpong and then to Pune. This was before our movement in India had started. While I had deep and satisfying experiences, I was very saddened to see the temple so dirty and full of people who regarded the Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu”.

And ends -

“Over the next generation or two the equation between the Indian and Western wings of our movement will change considerably. India will soon have most Order Members including many experienced teachers, and this in the midst of an enormous Buddhist community, which itself will have an increasingly positive impact on the social and political life of India.

“At the same time the world economy is changing, affecting the dynamics of world politics. India is in between West and China, geographically and culturally, and accessible to both.

“As more and more people in the West turn to Buddhism, as Buddhism continues to return to China and is reborn in India, Buddha Gaya is going to become even more significant. All this will open vast new horizons for our movement in ways we cannot imagine at present, while at same time presenting us, as individuals and as a spiritual community, with new demands and challenges...”

His article is available in full on FWBO Features here -

www.fwbo-news.org/features/Lokamitra_TBMSG_30_years_on.pdf

Death of Dharmachari Buddhapriya in India

Lokamitra writes from Pune with sad news of the death of Dhammachari Buddhapriya. He died on Sunday 16th August at 4.30. p.m. in Talegaon General Hospital. His funeral was held on 17th August.

Lokamitra says -

“ I have just heard the news of Buddhapriya’s death and am leaving shortly for his funeral at his home near Dehu Road.

“Buddhapriya was one of the first to be ordained by Sangharakshita in India, on 1st June 1979, at Sinhagad Fort and was given his name because of his obvious devotion to the Buddha. He was extremely loyal to Bhante from the word go.

"He was a head master but left his job to work for us with no security in those days. Without him we would not have got the land for Bhaja retreat centre nor our land in Buddha Gaya. At both places he spent months, if not more, living in the most primitive conditions. Buddha Gaya at that time was infested with dacoits and buying land was one of the most dangerous things one could be involved in. He had to be in hiding at times for fear of his life.

“He had a heart attack a few years ago, and went to the hospital by bus, standing for some of the way! Last night or this morning he had another heart attack and did not survive. Buddhapriya was born in February 1930, so this year was his 80th year.

“We have lost someone who made a very special contribution to the movement through both the way he lived, and what he did.

“With love,
Lokamitra”

A ‘punyanumodan‘ or memorial service will be held near where he lived at Chincholi, Dehu Road on 23rd August Sunday at 10.30.

Part I of Buddhapriya’s life story is published on FWBO Features, and you’ll find many mentions of him in ‘Jai Bhim’, Nagabodhi's excellent account of the ‘Dhamma Revolution’ - now available on Google Books. The second photogaph shows Buddhapriya and his companions on the day of their ordination in 1979, at Sinhagad Fort, near Bhaja.

Buddhafield Cafe win Greenpeace's 'Silver Trader' award

In the UK the alternative festival season is rapidly passing, with Buddhafield, Glastonbury, the Big Green Gathering, and Sunrise already memories - muddy or otherwise!

The FWBO’s Buddhafield Cafe has for many years been a prominent part of these events, and as time passes it prides itself more and more on it’s ethical approach to food and the sourcing of the food it uses.

This has been recognised with the news that they are the ‘Silver Award’ winners in the food category of the third Glastonbury Festival Green Trader Awards, awarded by Greenpeace. These awards aim to recognise those food and non-food traders who have done the most to give their businesses a low environmental impact.

Sadhu Buddhafield!

VideoSangha hosts new series of videos

VideoSangha, the FWBO’s video-sharing website, has begun hosting a new series of videos in which members of the Western Buddhist Order speak about the meaning of their names and how they use them as a path of personal practice.

The six uploaded so far were recorded on the recent Men’s Order Conventions and include Order Members from a wide spectrum of the Order - Vaddhaka, living and working in Estonia; Harshaprabha, mentor to the small FWBO Sangha in Ontario, Canada;  Aryaketu from Nagpur, in India;  Vajranatha, living and working in Spain;  Suvannavira, en route to Russia; and finally Lokabandhu from the UK.  Look out for more over the next few weeks...

Others are very welcome to create and submit similar videos: the Order today consists of over 1,600 men and women each with unique and very beautiful names; each potentially a personal ‘Dharma-door’ and path of practice for that person.

To add a video to VideoSangha simply record yourself, upload it to YouTube, and tag it with ‘FWBO’ and any other relevant tags. The VideoSangha moderators will find and add it if they find it’s appropriate...

Many other videos have recently been added to VideoSangha and we will be highlighting some of these over the next period: in particular, some of the many excellent talks from the recent Men's, Women's, and Combined Order Conventions held in Norfolk, UK.

Enjoy...

Walking Buddha statue arrives in Nagpur

For the past two years a remarkable sculpture has been taking shape in a Taiwanese foundry: a bronze walking Buddha, no less than 10.8m high. Its creator is Wen Kwei, one of Taiwan's leading Buddhist sculptors, who has also been managing the difficult process of transportation and erection of the statue.

It has now completed the long journey to its destination: Nagaloka, the FWBO/TBMSG’s training centre in Nagpur, central India. Here it will occupy the pride of place, facing the existing (but much smaller) statue of Dr. Ambedkar.

Vivekaratna, Nagaloka’s Director, brings us up to date with just a few of the many adventures and difficulties that have been faced and overcome along the way. He told FWBO News -

“Finally the walking Buddha statue arrived in Nagaloka out of generosity of Taiwanese Buddhists.

“They were transported from Mumbai by road in three containers. We had difficulty to get to Nagaloka as the railway bridge is at low height and container height was more. So we unloaded with the help of crane before the bridge and then brought to Nagaloka. Our Buddhist friends at Bombay port helped a lot to get the custom & excise clearance of Buddha statue containers.

“Foundation work is in progress and we expect to be completed before 18th August.

“A team of four Engineers from Taiwan will be arriving at Nagaloka on 18th August to erect the Lotus & Buddha statue (total 12 tons in weight and cast in Brass material) on the foundation made for that purpose. The Lotus is having a diameter of 6.7m and height of 2.1m. The statue itself is 10.8m. Another team of six from Taiwan, with the chief sculptor, are scheduled to arrive in the first week of Sept to do the painting and finishing.

“Their target date to complete the Statue is 28th Sept.: the anniversary day of Dr. Ambedkar’s Conversion to Buddhism.

“We have declared inauguration of the statue on 2nd Nov. 09, which is Sangha Day. All are heartily welcome".

with Metta.
Vivekaratna

An ordination - and a death in the Order

On Saturday 25 July, in a Public Ordination ceremony at the Bristol Buddhist Centre Kathryn Harriss became Vimalavajri, meaning 'she who possesses a stainless vajra / diamond / thunderbolt'.

She was privately ordained by Paramachitta during a small dedicated ordination retreat the previous week, and Ratnadharini conducted the public ceremony.

Sadhu!

And, sadly, we also have to report that on August 3rd Vimalashil, an Indian Order Member, died of heart failure. Vimalashil was ordained in the year 2000. He was one of a small team of Order Members who lived and worked in Modinagar, in Uttar Pradesh in north India.

Meditaton and yoga in Mauritania

Last October FWBO News posted a story from Kieran Barry, a mitra who has for many years lived at the FWBO’s Vajraloka Meditation Centre in Wales. He wrote -

"After six years in the Welsh hills, I have now left Vajraloka and am headed for very different climes. Next week I will be moving to Mauritania in West Africa..."

Nine months later he writes with an update - and an invitation to visit...

"Hello everyone. I have been living out here in Nouakchott, Mauritania for 9 months now and, on the eve of a long summer break to europe, i thought i would write to fwbo news to let you all know how things are going in this outpost of yoga and buddhism in the Sahara.

"I taught my last yoga class on saturday morning and that makes around 350 classes that i have now taught, to probably around 100 different people of all nationalities including: Mauritania, Ethiopea, Morocco, Syria, Israel, Argentina, Guatemala, Ireland, USA, Canada, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Algeria, Indonesia and most countries in europe...except for the UK. In fact, i have yet to meet another Brit out here!

"It has been a real pleasure to be able to help people become more aware of their bodies and minds through the practice of yoga. Most of my students are working in some very demanding situations, trying to bring democracy and aid to a country in great need of both and the opportunity to just stop and be aware for the duration of a yoga class seems to be crucial.

"I was particularly pleased to lead a yoga retreat out in the desert one weekend. We had the use of a fantastic auberge out in the dunes, about 100km east of the capital. Practising yoga twice a day, eating well and enjoying the inherent peace and beauty of the desert seemed to have a wonderful effect on all present and i am planning to repeat this when i get back...and when the temperatures out in the desert fall a bit! 

"Apart from yoga, life here is of a slow pace. In some ways, it really isn't so different from living at Vajraloka...if a little drier. Choices are limited, and there are few distractions to speak of. One thing i have been finding time for is learning to kitesurf, a particularly demanding yet thrilling sport that makes use of one of Mauritania's few natural resources: namely, over 700km of sandy beach with only about 50 people on it at any one time.

"I am still waiting for my first fwbo visitor! West Africa is a wonderful place and Mauritania a staging post on the trek down from Morocco to Senegal and Mali. If anyone is considering coming down this way, please do get in touch...especially any yogis!

"And now, my mind is beginning to turn towards North Wales and a trip to Vajraloka to spend a few weeks on retreat; just absorbing the colour green. Best wishes to all my friends in the fwbo and maybe i will see some of you on retreat?"

Kieran Barry

Sangharakshita opens new Ipswich Buddhist Centre

Amoghavajra, Chairman of the FWBO's Ipswich Buddhist Centre, writes with news of their new centre opening. He says -

"On Saturday 11th July Urgyen Sangharakshita opened the new Ipswich Buddhist Centre. Nearly ninety people attended the dedication ceremony.

"Sangharakshita arrived outside the new centre to hear us all chanting the Long Life Tara mantra of compassion. Sangharakshita cut the ribbon across our front door then led us upstairs to our cathedral-like shrine room where he saluted the shrine and then chanted the verses of blessing. After the dedication ceremony he talked for forty minutes, covering the ground of how his latest volume, The Essential Sangharakshita, came into being.

"He also introduced the legends around the discovery of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras by way of introducing his other new book: Living Ethically. His contribution was very simple and and very moving. It was a delight hearing him talk.

"We now feel that our centre is well and truly open".

More details available on their website, www.ipswichbuddhistcentre.org.uk