‘Dharma Day’ on the FWBO/Triratna International Retreat, and Vajradarshini's talk

Yesterday was ‘Dharma Day’ on the FWBO/Triratna International Retreat, and saw a fine talk by Vajradarshini. Uploaded overnight, it’s now available on VideoSangha at www.videosangha.net/video/Everything-Matters-Turning-Cons, or directly in the embedded player below.



Under the title ‘Everything Matters - Turning Consumerism on its Head’, Vajradarshini looked at the strategies Westerners use to gauge their levels of wealth and happiness - which seem to result all too often in all too many of us feeling not-very-wealthy and not-very-happy. She suggested that we could, instead, turn around our obsession with ever-newer and ever-larger to value what is old, or what has been mended, or what has been handed down to us - radically different ideas of wealth and beauty drawn from traditional societies and the Japanese Buddhist ethos of Wabi-Sabi. There was much more, too - but you’ll have to watch the talk to find out more!

Yesterday also saw the launch of Vajragupta’s new book ‘The Triratna Story’, sub-titled ‘Behind the Scenes of a new Buddhist Movement’. Find it at your local Triratna Centre bookshop or on-line at Windhorse Publications (see www.windhorsepublications.com/CartV2/Details.asp?ProductID=743). Well over a year in the writing, but exceptionally timely, Vajragupta describes it as “the story of mistakes made, lessons learnt and how a Buddhist community was built”.

 Others seem to agree - David Brazier, author of The New Buddhism, says "An excellent synopsis of the history of an important Buddhist movement"; and Zoketsu Norman Fischer, founder of the Everyday Zen Foundation and author of Sailing Home, comments that it’s "...a courageous and important book...it defies all expectations."