Dhamma travels in India

Shakyajata is a woman Order Member from Manchester, turned India traveller and supporter of the many graduates of TBMSG’s Dhamma and Social training programme at Nagaloka in central India. Since the programme started 8 years ago some 400 young men and women from all over India have graduated; many have returned home to begin Dhamma groups where they live. She and Priyadaka, also from the UK, are currently on an extended tour visiting many of them in their home towns and villages. She’s fundraising as she goes, and FWBO News readers are warmly invited to contribute to her fundraising page www.justgiving.com/youngindianfutures.

She writes -

Dear all,

Here is an update of what I shall be doing in India this winter, all being well. The best news of the lot, is that I shall be travelling most of the time with Priyadaka, an old friend, India returnee, energetic idealist and very experienced fundraiser, to name but a few of his qualities....how auspicious is that?

Our plan, in roughly chronological order, is:

Nagpur, central India: Aryaloka Animation students, 2nd - 7th November
We hope to be able to assess the success of this experiment in giving this training to 10 ex-Nagaloka Training Institute trainees, 6 of whom are fully supported by our fundraising efforts.

Orissa, north-eastern India - Dhamma Work, 8th - 22nd Nov.
We shall be travelling round this state where there is a lot of poverty and very little in the way of specifically Buddhist activity; the ex-NTI trainees here are focusing on social work, and we hope to devise strategies to support them in future. and raise their profile. Jnanajyoti and Tejadhamma will be with us, plus Utpal, Trinath and Nagavajra and others, who are doing the work on the ground.

Hyderabad, south India - 23rd - 28th Nov.
We hope to be able to meet up with Padmavir, late of NTI. Also I hope to pick up on some of the women who were contacted on previous outreach projects to Hyderabad. And do a bit of chilling-out in fascinating places!

Thiruvanathapuram and Kollam, Kerala, south India - 30th Nov - 11th Dec.
A short, but rather full programme of activities in Trivandrum with Nagaratna and others, joined by Ratnasiddhi for some of the time. We hope to spend time at Abhayaloka in Kollam, with Binoj Babu and others, and give everyone help where we can, with fundraising and publicity, for example.

Nagaloka, Nagpur, 14th Dec. - 13th Jan.
This part of the programme is still under negotiation, but will definitely include the 'launch' of the Buddhist Comic produced by the Animation course students, which we hope will be a successful fundraiser and focus for their first self-supporting efforts. We hope to do some teaching, myself on the mainstream curriculum at Nagaloka, and Priyadaka probably teaching English at Aryaloka Computer Education (where the A.C. course is being taught.)

Wardha, 14th - 21st Jan
We will both be on the team of a BIG retreat, maybe 1000 people, for 'Dalit' (marginalised) people, led by Saddharaja. Two-thirds of the retreatants are expected to be women. Check their fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/kshitigarbha

Our aims
This rather diffuse-looking programme will be unified, we hope, by the following long-term aims; "to support young people from disadvantaged ('low-caste') communities throughout India, so that they will have the skills and confidence to bring about radical positive change for their communities: overcoming poverty, prejudice and ignorance by peaceful means."

Your support will be most welcome, financial but also encouragement, thank you. Our fundraising page is at www.justgiving.com/youngindianfutures.

Just to bring you up to date - I’m writing this from extremely hot and steamy Orissa. It actually rains from time to time, then it gets hotter and steamier - but I'm not complaining, Orissa is very beautiful, and we are doing things I love, with lovely people.

For example, this afternoon we visited the State Museum, Bhubaneswar, mainly to view local Buddhist artefacts; and maybe predictably, that section of the museum was closed for renovation. And in that Indian way, they let us look at the stuff anyway. There were some amazing images, - including a terrifying Tantric one of a kind of gruesome animated corpse holding a severed head - but many of them appeared to have been quite brutally defaced by some past holocaust. Orissa is strongly orthodox Hindu, and our friends here work against a lot of resistance to their Buddhist values. They are mostly young and inexperienced, and we are here to find out what sort of support network can be given to them.

In the museum, I wandered into the 'tribal section' with Trinath, who is our main organiser here, and it was absolutely delightful. He comes from a village family in Western Orissa, and was brought up in quite a traditional way; and many of the objects on display, were just like things used by his family. His grandfather made this sort of basket net to catch fish, he used to wear this sort of hat woven of leaves; and best of all, he is very interested in music, and a very good mimic, and he imitated the sounds of all the strange instruments we saw, and even knew how to make them; like a personal audio show, and it was so good to see how he came alive, in contact with his own history. I felt so privileged to share that.

Spending time with these young people who are so dedicated and kind, despite their struggles, is a sheer delight; and my Order member friends too. Tejadhamma (from Nagpur) is full of energy and enthusiasm, seems to be able to handle any situation, and is full of good ideas to support the mitras in future. Jnanjyoti (also from Nagpur) is a rock, a terrifically strong woman and a great role model for the girls and women we are meeting here. I shall miss them so much when we part (quite shortly), and I am so grateful that Priyadaka (from east London) will still be with me. He is so supportive and thoughtful, and gaining in confidence (eg in public speaking) all the time, and forming good friendships with the young guys here; they tease each other unmercifully, a very good sign.

There is so much I could write about, but this may have to do for now....we are all pretty well, I am fine, and just very happy to be here. At the weekend we will have a two-day retreat for the mitras, to try and give them some tools for their work here. Then we are off to Hyderabad, next Monday; more from there later.

best wishes to all,

Shakyajata and Priyadaka

PS - do check our  fundraising page www.justgiving.com/youngindianfutures!

FWBO Google calendars launched

Google Calendar is an easy-to-use way of keeping track of your appointments - and those of your friends. Now there’s two FWBO calendars publicly available - FWBO History and FWBO Festivals. One gives you significant dates in the history of the FWBO; the other, information on the Buddhist festivals celebrated through the year in the FWBO.

FWBO History is at
http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/l4849joc3bekrv20q1n82ker48@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics 

And FWBO Festivals at
http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/jeuhqvumqevoda6k86bb1gjtms@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

To use them, go to your Google calendar account and, under ‘Other Calendars’, click “add”, then “add by URL” and paste the above two links in one-by-one. Meanwhile the one above is fully-functional - and we'd love to be informed of other dates, eg the founding of FWBO Centres around the world...

Conversations with Sangharakshita

Sangharakshita, founder of the FWBO, has just released the transcript of a series of ‘Conversations’ held this summer with two of his senior disciples, Mahamati and Subhuti. They explore in considerable detail many aspects of his character, including his sexuality, plus a series of fascinating and previously unknown episodes in the very early years of the FWBO.

Mahamati, who participated in the sessions, writes in a short introductory message -

“In August this year Subhuti and I met with Bhante over three successive days and asked him some questions about his understanding of his own character and aspects of his personal history. Bhante had on an earlier occasion talked to us, together with Dhammarati, about some of these matters and we thought these conversations were of wider interest and significance. They fill in gaps in what is generally known and therefore help us to understand our Movement better, through understanding the circumstances in which it was created. Bhante agreed that our conversations be recorded and spoke to us for three or four hours each day, freely and generously answering whatever we asked him. The recordings were transcribed and then edited by Bhante for readability and clarity of meaning.

“For me personally it was a privilege to participate in such an intimate exchange with Bhante. It was much more like a series of conversations than an interview, and was always characterised by Bhante's warmth, humour and frankness”.

The conversations begin -

“Mahamati: Bhante, many of your disciples would like to know more about you. We know your teachings and we know quite a lot of the facts of your life, however many of us don't know so much about what makes you tick or how you tick – although, of course, there is a lot of speculation. Our sense of not knowing seems to come partly from the fact that you are a rather unusual man, but also because maybe you are by nature rather reserved, even reticent, for whatever reason. Could you say something about your own character, as you understand it?”

“Sangharakshita: I think perhaps you are right, I am rather reticent in certain respects...”

The Conversations are available in full on Sangharakshita’s website www.sangharakshita.org. There is also a new poem on the site, entitled ‘An Apology’.

News from Akasavana

Vijayasri writes with news from Akashavana - the FWBO women's ordination retreat centre high in the Spanish mountains near Teruel . She reports-

“Akshavana is now in its third year of providing ordination retreats for women from all over the world. The third three-month-long retreat took place earlier this year, and we’ve recently completed the second two-week retreat for women unable to manage a long retreat, in the course of which four new Dharmacharinis entered the Order: Jayakara, Aryashila, Candrika and Sanghamani.

“This autumn's retreat was blessed by glorious sunny weather and a series of spectacular sunsets. It was a small retreat, but all present felt the benefit of the beauty, wildness and elemental quality of the Spanish mountains where Akashavana is set.

OPEN DAY

“Following on from the retreat this autumn we held an Open Day for local people to visit. Six people from the Valencia Buddhist Centre came to help with the occasion, in addition to five Dharmacharinis - Vikasini who is coordinating retreat support at the moment, Padmadharini, who lives in the area, as well as myself, Vijayasri, Siddhimala and Siddhishvari who were there to support the ordination retreat.

“Akashavana is sited 8 kilometers up a rough and rocky track, so we were not sure how many people would actually make it to the retreat centre! We thought maybe 50 at the most? So it was with mounting delight we saw one 4x4 after another arrive, disgorging many people from the nearby village of Penarroya de Tastavins, who have long been curious about the Buddhist women on retreat up in the mountains.

“Various local friends and helpers - plumbers, builders, bakers, hairdressers, even the man who runs Valderrobres great pizzeria - in fact everyone we've had any help from or contact with over the last five years were all invited and most came. Also a local Spanish Tibetan monk called Vicente, or Ngawang, visited and expressed much admiration for the environment for practice we had created, being himself at the start of a project to renovate an old house as a meditation centre in a nearby village.

“When we realised that numbers were mounting to around 150 people there was a bit of worry that we had enough vegetarian tapas to feed them all, but Siddhishvari's and Siddhimala's great work in the kitchen proved to be plenty for all.

“Giuliana and Stephanie from the Valencia Sangha led sessions giving a brief introduction to the FWBO in the shrineroom, and then led everyone in a short taste of meditation. The shrine room was full for three consecutive sessions. I for one found it very moving to look around the room and see many people who have been helpful and hospitable to us enjoying and appreciating what we have created. It was great to be able to show them something of what our movement is about, directly by demonstration rather than just trying to explain.

“We had many favourable comments, about the beauty of the location, the quality of the work on the house, the well-thought-out solar electric and water pumping system, and our openness in inviting them into the retreat centre.

“Thanks to all who made it such a great day”.

Vijayasri

More photos of Akasavana are available on FWBO Photos.

Karuna Trust launches 2010 Fundraising Campaign

Andrea McCaghy writes from the FWBO's Karuna Trust, saying -

"We’re really excited here at Karuna to be able to launch the Karuna 2010 Fundraising Campaigns. Did you know there is a peaceful revolution happening in South Asia?

"There are about 250 million children, women and men in South Asia who have been born into the rigid caste system which inflicts severe restrictions on their lives creating a relentless cycle of suffering which has persisted for thousands of years.

"Karuna was formed in 1980, in response to the suffering of India’s Dalit population. For 30 years, Karuna has worked with some of South Asia’s most disadvantaged people, supporting low-caste and tribal communities, street children and refugees fulfill their potential through our social and Dharma projects.

"Karuna sends over £1 million each year to fund projects in South Asia which support hundreds of thousands of people by lifting them out of poverty, building dignity and challenging discrimination.

"You can help this peaceful revolution.

"How?

"By giving your time in 2010 in one of three ways:

1. Help out on a telephone fundraising campaign in London

2. Join a Karuna residential Door to Door Fundraising Appeal

3. Live in a pioneering Men’s fundraising community for a year

“Karuna door-to-door fundraising appeals are a very effective spiritual practice. Over the years I have seen many people change significantly as a result of taking part in them. I would therefore urge all those who have our work in India at heart to support Karuna in this way.” Sangharakshita

"To find out more:

"Contact Jo Goldsmid, Pete Hannah, Khemajala or Amalavajra
Phone 0207 697 3026
Email appeals@karuna.org
Web www.appeals.karuna.org

Check out the Booklets and posters which are due to arrive at FWBO Buddhist centres across the UK very soon. I attach the poster for those not able to get one - or who'd like a sneak preview!

Bye for now.

Andrea

On-line survey - your help please!

Maitrisara writes from Oxford with a reqeust for all FWBO News readers -

"The FWBO's Karuna Trust and Clear Vision are working together to develop a project
about Buddhist-inspired social action in Asia (eg Tibet, India, Cambodia,
Sri Lanka)

"The idea of the project is to support Buddhists in the UK to explore their
own practice in terms of the relationship between personal and social
transformation. Part of it will involve the development of online video
clips and study materials available through the Clear Vision website.

"It would help us if you would complete this survey - it only takes FIVE
MINUTES at most. Your answers will help us to design the project and give
evidence for any interest in what we are proposing to do. You don't have to
BE interested in the idea to do the survey - its all useful information to us.

www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=IhDzMWjc_2b0RirTpSJOBWlQ_3d_3d


"NOTE: The deadline is 24th November. This is because of the deadline of the fund we are applying for.

"Thanks!"

Taraloka launches Sustainable Energy Project

Kulaprabha writes from the FWBO's Taraloka Women's Retreat Centre with news of their sustainable energy project. On her Taraloka blog she says -

“So this is the third and last post about our sustainable energy project… well, last one for the moment.

“If you’ve read the first post, you’ll know that we’re in the middle of a project to move to wood pellet boiler and solar thermal heating for our space heating and hot water. I submitted two grants / loans proposals today. So either cross your fingers or chant mantras on our behalf - or both!

“If you’ve read the second post, you’ll know that even with our current very old and inefficient oil-fired boilers, our carbon footprint in the community is half the UK average. Which is great to know and what I was hoping would emerge from the carbon calculations I’ve been doing. Definitely a benefit from nine of us sharing our living space in a community together.

“What you don’t know yet is how much better our carbon footprint will be if we can get the funding to help cover a proportion of the wood pellet boiler and solar thermal system installation costs. So now I’ve used the footprint software to calculate what our footprint would have been in 2008 if we’d had had the renewable sources in place.

Read on here for her results...

She ends with a little story -

“I was on a seminar last month where the head of the Sustainable Energy Division of E-on UK Ltd was one of the speakers. One of his remarks has really stuck with me. He said - with regard to changing our behaviour in the UK :

“If everyone does a little …….

And then he paused. You’ve probably finished the sentence. But maybe not the way he finished it ….
“If everyone does a little, we’ll only achieve a little.


To minimise the impact of climate change, we need to reduce UK carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. And that means 80% from every one of us.”

Think about it”.

New Russian Dharma website launched

Suvannavira, a Russian-born Order Member writes with news of a major new Dharma resource for Russian speakers. He says -

“I do have one news item for you from Russia. There is a new Russian FWBO website - www.buddhayana.ru - which has just gone live. It is a stylish and substantial site with four complete books translated into Russian plus 300 or more pages of the first year of the new mitra study course.

The four books are:

"Vision and Transformation" - www.buddhayana.ru/путь-будды.html
"The Guide to the Buddhist Path" - soon to be available
"Who is the Buddha" - www.buddhayana.ru/кто-такой-будда.html by Bhante Sangharakshita
"Meditation" - www.buddhayana.ru/медитация.html by Kamalashila,

"The study material is at www.buddhayana.ru/учебный-курс.html; and there's samples of the artwork of Aloka and Chintamani at www.buddhayana.ru/изображения.html.

"Saddhaloka masterminded both the creation of Buddhayana.ru and the publishing project, with help with Russian from Nagadakini from Germany. The website itself was designed by Taivo Org from Estonia.

“The site joins two other FWBO websites in Russian - the main “fwbo.org” site introducing the FWBO, at http://russian.fwbo.org; and свободный дух, or the Russian version of Wildmind meditation teaching, at http://russian.wildmind.org.

"As well as making available a large number of Buddhist texts on the web for Russian speakers, Buddhayana.ru and the other sites will provide a valuable way for Order Members to make known their teaching activities in Russia. Saddhaloka, Nagadakini and Sarvamitra have all visited and taught in Russia, and early in 2010 I myself, Suvannavira, plan to live again in Moscow and start teaching activities.

“Much metta from snowy south Estonia,
Suvannavira".

Death of Dhammachari Silendrabodhi in India

Amrutdeep, one of the Indian Order Convenors, writes to say -

“I am very sorry to inform you that Dhammachari Silendrabodhi passed away at his home in Ulhasnagar, India, on Saturday 14th November at 11.30 a.m. His death was due to old age - he was 92 years old.

“Silendrabodhi was ordained in 1987. He contributed a lot to establishing the Ulhasnagar centre and was Kalyanamitra for so many Order members and well respected amongst the whole Order here.

“His funeral took place evening of 14th November 7.30 p.m. and before that his body was kept in the shrine hall at Ulhasnagar centre”.

“Yours in the Sangha, Amrutdeep”

An interview with Silendrabodhi about his remarkable life, including a meeting with Dr. Ambedkar, can be found on the Karuna Trust website. He begins -

"I was born in 1918 in Hyderabad, which at that time was a separate country with its own ruler. My mother died when I was very young and I was brought by my father to a village near Nagpur in what was then the British ruled part of Maharashtra. While I was growing up we suffered a lot because of untouchability. At primary school if we accidentally touched the food of other children we would be beaten up and the food would be thrown away. My father worked in the Brahmins' fields, but we couldn't drink from their wells or go into their houses..."

Click here to read more.

Sheffield launch 'Still Learning' schools project

The FWBO’s Sheffield Buddhist Centre have recently launched a new Right Livelihood business - their ‘Still Learning’ education service for schools. You’ll find it at www.fwbosheffield.org/schools.html.

The project is the brainchild of two Sheffield mitras, Allan Kirkman and Kate Arrowsmith, who’ve teamed up to create a complete spectrum of activities, tours and workshops for schools. Among their repertoire are introductions to -

• Stilling Exercises
• Artefacts and Shrines
• Story-telling
• Questions and Answer sessions
• Drama/role-play
• Information about Buddhism
• The Buddha’s life story
• Buddhist Ethics and Beliefs
• Buddhist Doctrine and Teachings
• Buddhist Statues and Images
• Talks about Buddhist Festivals

- everything a school teacher might want to pass on to their pupils about Buddhism!

In preparing themselves for this venture, they’ve drawn heavily on the FWBO’s ClearVision project’s experience in this field - they have a huge on-line resource library at www.clear-vision.org/Students - including the new on-line interactive ‘Life of the Buddha’ - check their demo at www.cvinteractive.org/lob.

Letting go of letting go: a report from Sudakini and Vajralila

11 months ago Sudakini and Vajralila, two women Order Members from the FWBO’s Norwich Buddhist Centre, sold all their possessions and went forth into the homeless life. Their travels have taken them across the UK, to India, back, and over to America - from where they’ve posted a last report on their blog ‘The Cosmic Adventure’ .

We reproduce below some excerpts, focusing on the reflections that have arisen for them as they contemplate leaving the homeless life (despite their love of it) and returning to a more ‘conventional’ existence. For the full story, check their blog…

They write -

Letting go of letting go!
“We are in the end phase of the homeless life as we have known it for the last year now.

“… So now the trip is nearly over and we look back and think: how did we have the courage to take such a risk in selling everything and thinking the money we got (only 12,000 pounds in total) could take us very far. We never could have imagined we would have such a generous response that has enabled us to do what we have done "and yet..."(as Khajit would say). We saw a card the other day that said: "Take the leap and the net will come" ... maybe that says it all: a leap of faith.

“… So, as it has been such a rich time and Bhante seemed so interested in what we are doing, pleased with us even, we thought maybe we can continue this way of life in the UK. But it soon became clear that this was not to be. There would be no way of creating Dana in the UK and so we are having to think...what now? It has highlighted how there is no system or structure in the WBO to help practitioners try the homeless life, even for slots of time.

“… How does one deeply go forth, continuing to be a renunciant in the world? We are faced with the practice of letting go of being homeless wanderers, experimenting with a modern western version of the outer renunciant, and now considering what work and living situation will next best support practice... moving back to a life where the inner renunciant becomes more of the practice. Amongst other things, we have a wish to start FWBO activities where there aren't currently any, and Cornwall is a possibility. We also want to develop a livelihood doing workshops for women”

“… An area of contemplation here is how useful is it to call ourselves "teachers". We have heard the term used quite often here in the States to describe people offering classes in meditation and Buddhism... also the phrase "teachings" used quite a lot... there are a number of experienced and senior practitioners of Buddhism here, within a variety of traditions, who are leading retreats and offering courses and classes. But we have both felt uncomfortable with calling ourselves "teachers" in the Buddhist context, feeling it's a bit grandiose when applied to ourselves, and that "sharing practice" is a better term for describing our experience of leading events at Buddhist centres... but then again, if one has things to teach isn't it a fact that to share this with others is teaching! Semantics or stepping into what one does with authenticity?

Contact them (if you wish to) via the Comments feature on this site.

Report from International Dhammakranti Retreat at Buddhagaya

Rohan from India’s ‘Dhammakranti’ project sends us this report of their recent retreat at Bodh Gaya, place of the Buddha’s Enlightenment and pivot of the Buddhist world.

‘Dhammakranti’ means ‘Dhamma Revolution’; their vision is a revival of the Buddha’s teaching across the length and breadth of India, and thus, the establishment of a truly caste-free society in India and an end to the appalling suffering this system still causes. He says-

“We have been organizing the Dhammakranti retreat for last seven years; this is the eight one in a series. Over last seven retreats nearly 8,500 people from 15 different states and from 20 different caste backgrounds have participated, we have tried to give to each an experience of a casteless society based on Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. This is one of our main aims.

"This was the fourth Dhammakranti retreat we have organized at the most holy and auspicious place Buddhagaya in Bihar, India.  It took place 18 Oct to 23 Oct 2009.

Our aim

A. We wanted to set up a model for a casteless society. This would work as an inspiration for people in India who are working to annihilate the caste system as per the vision of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

B. We wanted to give an experience of a compassionate community of a wide variety of people coming from all many different parts of India and around the world.

C. We wanted to create an opportunity for people to interact with each other from different caste backgrounds and meet one another deeply enough to experience the unity and harmony between each other so that the habit of seeing people as higher or lower vanishes.

D. We decided to use Buddhist teachings as the major components of the retreat.

E. We wanted to revive a Buddhist culture in India

We brought together people from 7 different states in India - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, and 4 Countries in the world - India, Britain, Thailand, New Zealand. This allowed us to have a real international flavor on the retreat.

We allowed 75 people to come free on the retreat, they were from various poor backgrounds specially from Bihar and Orissa. This helped them to build their confident and have the chance to interact with other Buddhists.

"All together 200 people participated in this retreat.  Dhammachari Subhuti was the leader of the retreat.

Talks and events

"We had an inauguration program on 18th evening where people from different countries and states introduced themselves in a group with their cultural background and won the hearts of many people.

"The main theme on the retreat was The Buddha Mind and the Five-Buddha mandala. Subhuti gave talks every morning. We explored the Buddhas by visiting the Maha Bodhi Temple everyday and reflecting on the five Buddhas, meditation, group discussion and communication exercises. Walking meditations also helped us to go deeper in to the theme.

"At the end of the retreat we had a mitra diksha (mitra ceremony) under the Bodhi tree. In this, seven brothers and sisters from four different states and two different nations expressed their strong commitment to the three jewels. As part of this, Dhammapali is the first Thai mitra we have in our movement.

Coming up - and our request to you
"Our next retreat we are going to have is in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, in December. We would like to get your generous help for this great cause.

"Please visit www.justgiving.com/bodhgaya or www.dhammakranti.com; your support will help us to do the Buddhist uplift in India.

"Namo Buddhay and  Jai Bhim to all!"

An invitation - to Windhorse Publications' first day-long book-launch party...

Sarah from Windhorse Publications, the FWBO’s publishing house, writes with some news - and an invitation… She says -

“We're very excited... about our brand new series, ‘A Buddhist View’!

“This series examines key issues in life from a Buddhist perspective, offering practical points on living in the 21st century. The first three books, by Akuppa, Bodhipaksa and Sarvananda, deal with our relationships with the environment, food and our perception of life respectively”.

To celebrate, we’d like to invite you to our first day-long book-launch party - on-line! It's TOMORROW FRIDAY 13th.

Whether you're Buddhist or not, vegetarian or not, feel free to drop in on Bodhipaksa, who’ll be online all day, on Facebook, Twitter (@bodhipaksa), and on his blog www.bodhipaksa.com, talking about the second edition of his book, which explains why he thinks Buddhists should be vegetarian.

“Come join the conversation! You can just drop by and say "hi" if that's all you have time for. Or read an article, enjoy the quotes he’ll be posting, watch a video, or join a conversation…

“To get you started, check Bodhipaksa’s video invitation to the event...

"Oh, and don’t forget to buy the book(s)! Available from your Centre bookshop, our website www.windhorsepublications.com, or your local High Street.

Much metta,
Sarah

Windhorse Publications: Books on Buddhism, Dharma, meditation from an FWBO Right Livelihood business

Karuna Trust patron dies

Andrea McCaghy writes from the FWBO’s Karuna Trust to say -

“We have just learned that one of our patrons, Professor David Morley, has died aged 86. He was a doctor specialising in Tropical Child Health and saved the lives of many thousands of children in developing countries, making huge contributions to improving their health and development.

“Virabhadra, a Karuna Trustee and doctor, explains Karuna's connection with Professor Morley: “My connection with David Morley started when I did the Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene course in London in 1981. At that time Prof Morley headed the Tropical Child Health Unit at the Institute of Child Health and during the course we had the opportunity to visit his unit to learn about the community oriented approach to child health that he very actively advocated.

"At that time the UK Government's ‘teaching aids at low cost’ programme was up and running, and I remember obtaining many of those materials that I subsequently used when establishing our health activities for slum dwellers in Pune. I particularly remember his strong views against the building of what he called ‘disease palaces’ (hospitals!) in the developing world, and his advocacy of community-based child health strategies that really reached those in need. That is still a very live issue in many parts of the developing world, where curative services tend to consume the lion’s share of health budgets.

“He took a keen interest in the education programmes as well as our slum health work, and I think that reflected his insight that the key to health lay ultimately in education, and especially access to education for the poor. I recall a detailed list of very interested queries and comments that he sent us in 1994 after we produced the first formal evaluation of the hostels project and the quality of educational support being provided.”

Karuna was formed in 1980, as the FWBO’s principal response to the suffering of India’s Dalit population. For 30 years Karuna has worked with some of India’s most disadvantaged people, sending over £1million every year to support low-caste and tribal communities, street children and refugees fulfill their potential through the wide range of social and Dharma projects. Karuna now works with hundreds of thousands of people across South Asia supporting projects that are building dignity, challenging discrimination, and supporting people’s practice of Buddhism.

80% of Karuna’s work is supported by thousands of individuals across the UK who, having met with a Karuna volunteer fundraiser (usually via one of Karuna’s legendary door-knocking appeals!) have decided to contribute money to Karuna on a regular basis.

There is still much work to do, so in 2010 Karuna are launching new fundraising campaigns to support our ongoing efforts to help uplift the Dalit people of South Asia out of poverty and discrimination towards lives of hope and choice. You can contribute in one of three ways -

• Help out on a telephone fundraising campaign
• Join a door-to-door fundraising Appeal
• Live in a pioneering men’s fundraising community for a year

If you’re feeling inspired, or simply curious to find out more, click on the Karuna ad! You can contact one of us direct - the Karuna fundraising team is Jo Goldsmid, Pete Hannah, Khemajala or Amalavajra, phone 0207 697 3026 or email us on appeals@karuna.org. Karuna’s appeals website is www.appeals.karuna.org.uk

Thanks, Andrea

Second FWBO International Retreat planned for May 2010

Here’s an early heads-up for FWBO News’ readers on a major FWBO retreat coming up next year - the second FWBO International Retreat.

Dates are Friday 28th May to Tuesday 1st June 2010, the place is Taraloka, the FWBO’s retreat centre long-established on the English-Welsh border (and twice winner of the Good Retreat Guide’s ‘Retreat Centre of the Year’!

More details on the special retreat website www.internationalretreat.fwbo.org.

Vajragupta, one of the main organizers, says “The International Retreat is a collaboration between the FWBO Chairs Assembly, Buddhafield, and Taraloka. We aim to have 500 people from all over the FWBO in Europe practicing together over the Wesak weekend.

“The Friday the event starts is actually the full-moon of Wesak. This gives us the opportunity to have a large, collective celebration of Wesak in 2010. “he theme is going to be "turning arrows into flowers".

“ We'll begin with the story of the Buddha's overcoming of Mara, and then explore the spiritual transformation of our own lives and the world we live in. This will involve a mixture of talks, meditation teaching, story-telling and ritual, as well as activities for children. We'll be welcoming people from all over Europe, and providing priority booking and translation facilities for those from overseas.

“The feedback from the last event was overwhelmingly positive - it gave people a great experience of practicing with the wider FWBO.

“Please get involved to make the 2010 event even more of a success”.

Vajragupta
Director, FWBO Development Team

The photos are from the 2007 International Retreat: inside and outside the main shrine marquee.

Guardian interviews Maitreyabandhu on poetry prize win

FWBO News can’t resist passing on this article from the UK’s Guardian newspaper, in which journalist Alison Flood interviews Maitreyabandhu, member of the Western Buddhist Order and winner of this year’s £3,000 Keats-Shelley poetry prize.

 It’s the first year the prestigious prize has gone to an explicitly Buddhist poet.

You’ll find her interview on-line at www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/oct/28/keats-shelley-buddhist-poet.  To quote one paragraph -

"Maitreyabandhu, who has been ordained into the Western Buddhist Order for 19 years, says his love of poetry began when a friend read him the first five verses of Shelley's Mask of Anarchy. 'It was one of those moments when one discovers a new ecstasy, even a new calling. After that I read and re-read Shelley and Keats obsessively and used their poetry to explore ancient Buddhist themes,' he said. 'WH Auden says, "The primary function of poetry, as of all the arts, is to make us more aware of ourselves and the world around us". The same could be said of Buddhism. I approach poetry, in one sense as a distillation of peak experience, in another as finding meaning in the everyday – as such, poetry has become another strand of my spiritual practice.'"

Videosangha celebrates 360 videos

Videosangha is a relatively new addition to the FWBO’s stable of websites, it’s been set up to enable people within the FWBO mandala to share what they are doing, what they are inspired by and even just what they look like - through the medium of video.

They’re just celebrating their first 360 videos - allowing you to watch (if you choose) not quite one/day for a year, but close!

Among the most recent uploads are a series of talks by Subhuti, entitled the “Seven Trees of Enlightenment”, referring to the legend that the Buddha, immediately after his Enlightenment, spent seven weeks at Bodh Gaya, a week under each of seven trees.

Fittingly, his talks were given at Bodh Gaya - Subhuti himself, of course, lifts the talks out of the realm of legend and plants them firmly in the realm of our own daily practice. On the theme of India, Amitasuri’s another new addition to the site with an introduction to the plans for the FWBO/TBMSG’s land at Bodh Gaya, filmed at a fundraising evening in Manchester.

The site is divided into subject areas, ranging from Arts to Questions to Sport - under Questions, for instance, you’ll find a thought-provoking series of clips of young Buddhists offering answers to all those difficult questions Buddhists get asked.- vegetarianism, life after death, Enlightenment and more...

Contributing to the site is easy - you’ll find the very simple instructions on their home page www.videosangha.net

Windhorse Publications launch new book series 'A Buddhist View'

Sarah Ryan from the FWBO’s publishing house ‘Windhorse Publications’ (www.windhorsepublications.com) writes -

“I’ve got some news from WP for you!

“First of all, the first three books in our new series ‘A Buddhist View’ are now available – we’re really thrilled with how they’ve turned out. They are -

Meaning in Life by Sarvananda
Saving the Earth by Akuppa and
Vegetarianism by Bodhipaksa.

This brand new series from Windhorse Publications examines key issues in life from a Buddhist perspective, offering practical points on living in the 21st Century. The three books available so far deal with our relationships with the environment, food and our perception of life.

There’s various book launches going on - Sarvananda has been to the Cambridge and Ipswich Buddhist Centres.

Less conventionally Bodhipaksa is going to be launching Vegetarianism online on Friday 13th with a marathon 12-hour drop in discussion on his blog , Twitter and Facebook. We’re hoping FWBO News readers will drop in - I’ll write again with more details nearer the time.

Thank you very much for all of your help,
Best wishes,
Sarah Ryan
Windhorse Publications Ltd
t: 01223 911997

Berlin Buddhist Centre celebrates finding new premises

Amogharatna, chair of the FWBO’s Berlin centre, reports -

“On 31st of October 2009 at our Sangha day celebrations, we launched the fundraising campaign for our new Buddhist Centre, “The NEW Buddhist Gate Berlin“ (German: „das neue Buddhistische Tor Berlin“).

“Cornelia and I started preparing the fundraising as early as June. Since August, a fundraising committee has been meeting on a regular basis. Our goal is to get everybody in the Sangha involved in fundraising activities, and many more besides.

“We have produced a beautiful flyer in German and English, as well as a bi-lingual fundraising website www.buddha-berlin.de.There are facilities for making on-line donations and a long list of ideas about how everybody can get involved.

“Of the estimated costs for the new Centre of €890,000, we already have €400,000 from donations and assets. Our aim is to collect €490.000 during the next 18 months so that we are not burdened by debts when we move into the new centre around the beginning of 2011.

“After a four-year long search, we finally signed the contract in July 2009. Our new premises are part of a local initiative involving the redevelopment of a former hospital consisting of fourteen buildings into apartments and business premises. They are situated in Berlin-Kreuzberg, a central, lively area of the city, well served by public transport and close to the attractive Landwehr canal. The space is in many ways perfectly suited to our needs and will be a suitable home for the prospering Sangha for many years to come.

“After meditating together, singer Johanna Fassbender and her band gave us a short sample of their work. Amogharatna introduced us to his vision for the new Centre and the FWBO in Berlin, and Karunada told us about the efforts of the brave team of volunteers, responsible for turning the former hospital kitchen into a radiant brand new Buddhist Centre.

“Of course the tea break was another good opportunity to enjoy a great assortment of cakes, donated for the occasion by members of the Sangha!

“After the tea break, Cornelia and Amogharatna launched the Fundraising campaign.  In the photo you can see the rest of our team.

“The afternoon was concluded with a sevenfold Puja during which Mitras had the opportunity to re-affirm their commitment to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

“And that's how we spent Sangha day.

“If you want to contribute or help us fundraise, or just have some ideas that would be helpful for us, please don't hesitate to get into contact: fundraising@buddha-berlin.de

“For online-donations, you can go to (UK) www.justgiving.com/buddhistgateberlin

“Or when you live in Germany go to www.spendenportal.de

Sadhu!

MBE for London Order Member

FWBO News has just received a tipoff from our Taraloka mole, who says -

“Just discovered that Sraddhapushpa has just collected her MBE at Buckingham Palace!”

Thanks, mole…! It’s true - Debrett’s says so, where we learn that the Queen has been graciously pleased, on the occasion of the Celebration of Her Majesty's Birthday, to give orders for the following appointments to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire...

Sraddhapushpa (whose English name is Suzy Powesland) is a 79-year-old Order Member living in an FWBO women’s community around the London Buddhist Centre, and was for many years a teacher in some of East London’s roughest schools. She was nominated for the award (a Member of the British Empire)by her community, which was awarded for “voluntary service to Black and Minority Ethnic People in East London”.

Sraddhapushpa featured prominently in Ed Husain's 2008 book ‘The Islamist: Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw Inside and Why I Left’, shortlisted for both the Book Prize and Orwell Prize 2008.

To quote from Chapter 1, Ed Husain says  - “Sir William Burrough primary school in Limehouse was almost an extension of my home. The teachers would often visit my parents and I remember going to Ms Powlesland’s house to pick cherries in her garden. She loved her pupils so much that even her social life revolved around us. At weekends she often took us to theatres in the West End, where many of the stories we read in class came alive on stage. My particular favourite was Peter Pan. I liked his ability to do the undoable: to fly.

“Growing up in Britain in the 1980s was not easy. Looking back, I think Ms Powlesland was trying to create her own little world of goodwill and kindness for the children in her care. We grew up oblivious of the fact that large numbers of us were somehow different – we were ‘Asian’.

"‘Pakis! Pakis! F— off back home!’ the hoodlums would shout. The National Front was at its peak in the 1980s. I can still see a gang of shaven-headed tattooed thugs standing tall above us, hurling abuse as we walked to the local library to return our books. Ms Powlesland and the other teachers raced to us, held our hands firmly, and roared at the hate-filled bigots.

"‘Go away! Leave us alone,’ they would bellow to taunts of ‘Paki lovers’ from the thugs. Little did I know then that one day I, too, would be filled with abhorrence of others..."   (click here to read the rest of the first chapter online).

Sadhu Sraddhapushpa!

Inspiring Young People in the Dharma

Following last week's posts on the NNBY (Buddhist Youth) retreat in India, it seems appropriate to report on how things are going with young Buddhists in the West. A top priority identified last year by the FWBO’s European Chairs Assembly was the need to attract more young people to the Dharma. In the 40 years since the Order was founded, the average age of its members has risen by some 25 years, a trend which shows no signs of stopping. It seems this is not only an issue for the F/WBO: in 2009 both the Network of Buddhist Organisations in the UK and the European Buddhist Union (in Europe!) have devoted their main annual forums to this theme.

In the UK a variety of initiatives have begun, most recently a weekend for 35 young FWBO Buddhists held in a farm outside Sheffield - attended by young Buddhists from as far away as Germany. Here Lindsay Hannah from Taraloka gives an overview of what’s happened to date - there’s links to some on-line talks for anyone who wants to learn more, and to Facebook if you want to get involved. She says -

Background
In November 2008 the FWBO Development Team ran the first “inspiring young people in the Dharma” weekend which 25 people of all ages attended. In January 2009 I was invited to talk to the FWBO Centre Chairs Assembly meeting about how to inspire more young people to come to our centres and the Chairs voted this as a priority for our centres this year. Over the last year individuals at various centres have run activities for young people and the momentum has started to build amongst young people in the FWBO. There’s a ‘Young FWBO Buddhists’ Facebook group which now has nearly 200 members (they may not all be young though!) Its’ the best place to find out what’s going on.

We recently ran the second young person’s weekend outside Sheffield where 35 people in their late teens, 20s and 30s came together for highly successful weekend where we explored how to inspire more young people in the Dharma. A write-up of the main issues is available by emailing Lokabandhu.

Resources
There’s loads I could say about my vision for inspiring more young people in the Dharma and I have said loads in the talks I have given in the last year! The talk I gave at the October 09 weekend gives a good overview of the project so far and a vision for the future and is only 15 minutes long! They are available here -
• October 09 Three short talks from the young Buddhists weekend - by Lindsay Hannah, Kate Arrowsmith and Vidyaruci.
• Sept 09 Lindsay’s talk to the European Buddhist Union
• January 09 Lindsay’s talk to the FWBO Chairs Assembly

Key points
• There are dwindling numbers of young people at our centres (and joining the WBO) and we need to put energy in to inspiring more young people to practice the Dharma with us.
• Like attracts like so it is essential to have young Buddhists visible at our centres supporting courses.
• We’d like to encourage 1 or 2 committed young people at each centre to become a “young person’s facilitator” for the centre. They would act as a point of reference for new young people into the centre and would help co-ordinate events for young people at the centre.
• Young people need to be supported and encouraged to run events for young people. It’s good to have a range of events available from intensive formal practice (TBRL, communities, study) to informal activities (walks, films)
• While young people are supported by other young people they are often inspired by older, more experienced practitioners - people who have energy about them and who exemplify the Dharma. So if you are an older experienced practitioner remember your role in inspiring young people!
• Run events on a dana (donations) system where possible and have some “drop in” activities
• Young people are interested in receiving training in teaching the Dharma to others – how this might happen needs further consideration

Summary
On the weekend retreat there was a real sense of energy and enthusiasm from those present to go back to their centres and run events for young people. Some individuals were interested in becoming young person’s facilitators at their centres and I hope we can identify a named young person’s facilitator for every FWBO centre or region in the UK in the coming months.

In 2010 there is a weekend retreat for young women at Taraloka (January 29 -31st), we hope to establish activities for young people on the FWBO international sangha gathering in May and there will be another mixed retreat in October (details tbc). I hope events will also be run at individual centres.

We need to inspire young people in the Dharma to ensure we pass the Dharma and the WBO onto the next generation! There’s energy building amongst the young Buddhists in the FWBO to try and inspire more young people to join us – it is important and exciting!

We’re keen to help young mitras get in contact with other young people around the movement - they can contact me on lindsayannehannah@yahoo.co.uk or check out the FWBO young Buddhists facebook group.