On-Line Buddhafield Dharma: Series 1 now available

Lokabandhu writes from Glastonbury to say - “I’m delighted to let you know we’ve just published “Buddhafield Dharma - Series I. This is a collection of essays by Buddhafield teachers in which they begin to articulate Buddhafield’s special approach to the Dharma; developed over 15 years and more of Dharma teaching.

"Buddhafield’s special approach comes from its close contact with the elements - all their retreats being held under canvas - and the annual Buddhafield Festival, which brings together an unprecedented breadth people active all across the alternative-eco-social-political spectrum in the UK”.

The nine essays are published in an easy-to-read interactive format at http://issuu.com/buddhafield; we’ll be featuring three weekly for the next three Sundays.

 First off this week is ‘On Retreat with Buddhafield’ by Paramananda, well-known for his best-selling books on meditation, in which he skilfully evokes the transformative power of meditating and practicing outdoors.  (click here for the PDF version)

Akasati, the original driving force behind this project, and for many years a key organiser within Buddhafield, follows with ‘Ecology, Buddhism and Buddhafield’, laying out the raison-d-etre of the project: which she defines as the “fertile ground between urgent contemporary issues and timeless Buddhist wisdom”, a dialogue that was able to grow out of the ‘Untamed Dharma’ of the early Buddhafield experiments.  (click here for the PDF version)

Maitrisara rounds off this week’s selection with a beautiful essay entitled ‘Gracing the Earth: Buddhist Reflections on a Damaged Planet’, drawing out the crucial importance of Awareness, deepening into Equanimity - which she characterises as ‘Sustaining the Gaze’, then Simplicity, Energy, Effectiveness, Strength – and finally even Anger. She closes with four possible actions in response to what we see around us: Intervene, Exemplify, Ignore, and Make Magic...  (click here for the PDF version)

Enjoy!