EcoDharma launch the Sila Network

Last week Triratna News posted a story from Guhyapati outlining the EcoDharma Centre’s five-year vision and current opportunities.  They've just launched a new initiative, The Sila Network, and are looking for people to join them.  He explains -

“The Sila Network aims to help Buddhist Centres across Triratna bring the transformative power of the Dharma into effective relationship with society.  It also seeks to support the application of Buddhist ethics to the 21st century.  A number of Order Members, friends and mitras have been working together over the last year to create it”.  “Central to our thinking was a conviction that as students of the Dharma, and in a time of planetary crisis, it’s essential we engage with the social context in which we find ourselves,” explains Alex Swain, who is taking on an administrative role in the network. “In Triratna,” she continues, “we speak of this in terms of ‘transformation of self and world’, and this initiative seeks to help make that a reality.”

The Sila Network team, which includes Guhyapati from the EcoDharma Centre, Lokabandhu from the Triratna Development Team, and Ben Jackson who is currently based in Berlin, has drafted the following mission statement:

“The Sila Network seeks to support institutions throughout the Triratna Community to exemplify ethical ideals, as applied to ecological sustainability and social justice issues. We want to help Buddhist Centres, businesses and communities to address ethical consumption, energy descent and radical simplicity, and to communicate about these choices in a way that inspires and encourages similar change in others. Applying Buddhist ethics to a 21st century context, we are seeking to support institutions within Triratna (including: Urban Buddhist Centres, Rural Retreat Centres, communities, Right-Livelihood initiatives and businesses) to embrace and exceed the best practice already evident in society at large. The network emphasises the “power of community” to address our shared ecological and social problems in the belief that, together, we can work towards a transition from non-sustainability and social injustice to a sustainable future and culture of compassion”.

“Dharma practitioners are aware that our ethical precepts need to be upheld consistently through all aspects of our lives,” says Lokabandhu. “It’s increasingly evident that the choices we make in how we consume, where we bank, who our energy supplier is, and so on, really do matter, especially when we stand together in bigger numbers.”  With this in mind the Sila Network team feel that the Triratna Community has great potential to set an inspiring example for a culture which is too often preoccupied with individualism and consumption. It aims to assist our Triratna Centres to become beacons of ethical practice contributing meaningful solutions. “We hope,” explains Guhyapati, “ to support our shared aspirations of compassion and concern for the world, so that the power of the Dharma can continue to transform society, helping our Centres and institutions become exemplars and sources of inspiration.”

How can you help?

The team have already written to Triratna Centres in the UK and mainland Europe (where the initiative will focus for the time being), looking for one or two people within each local sangha to become ‘Sila Network Contacts’.  They’re hoping to find,  within local Triratna Sanghas, people with expressed concerns about sustainability and other social issues who might be drawn to work with the Network. Or people in local Buddhist Centre teams who’re interested in the help the Network could offer. Some Centres are already doing excellent work in these areas. So, there may be someone in your local centre team already engaged in this kind of work, and if there is, the Sila Network team would love to speak to them!  They might also be able to help share their experience around the movement.

Can you recommend someone, or would you like to get involved?  If so, please put yourself or them in touch with us, through our email address silanetwork@ecodharma.com

There will also be a meeting in the EcoDharma space at the Buddhafield Festival in mid-July. If you’re planning to attend, look out for it on the program and come and meet the team there.

EcoDharma Centre announces Five Year Plan and New Opportunities

Last month the steering group for Triratna’s EcoDharma Centre gathered in Catalunya in the mountains of Spain to give shape to the project’s five year plan. The group of ten people including Order Members and others closely associated with Triratna came together to take an important step in the development of the EcoDharma project.

“We have been carefully bringing this project to fruition for many years now,” explains the project’s founder Guhyapati. “We have taken an organic and patient approach, enabling the project to take root and mature gradually. That has felt like a wise approach for a land-based project. Now we are entering into a new and exciting phase, and our 5-year plan gives a clear and achievable focus to our shared vision.”

While organic and carefully paced, the project is an ambitious one with a number of different strands. It includes the continued development of the EcoDharma Centre as a centre of excellence in hosting retreats and educational courses. There will be a focus on Dharma and meditation, and especially on bringing the Dharma into relationship with socially engaged and ecological concerns. There is an important land-based dimension to the project, with intentions to develop and implement long-term sustainable land use including organic and permaculture-based agriculture and forest gardening.  All of this rests on the foundation of a commitment to collective living and working, in an effort to exemplify the power and creativity of community.

The EcoDharma Centre is blessed with a stunning area of 50 hectares of woodland, fields, and rugged mountain land, flanked by Spanish national park and other common lands - shown in the photograph. The centre itself is just visible as the tiny white dot just to the left of the centre. This situates it in one of the wildest and most secluded settings in Triratna – ideal for the development of long-term retreat facilities and solitary retreat cabins. There are negotiations in process to purchase more adjacent land, with a vision seeking to preserve supportive conditions for the project for many generations to come.

Several opportunities have arisen out of the visioning process, and EcoDharma is currently keen to attract some additional long-term community members plus shorter-term interns and volunteers.

Long Term Land-Based Opportunity

For longer-term involvement, they are particularly interested in people who are passionate about land-based sustainability, permaculture, forest gardening, land and woodland management, ideally already with experience in these areas, or an especially keen capacity to learn! They are interested in individuals who want to contribute to the long term planning and implementation of these areas of the vision.

Internships for Younger People

The centre and community are also keen to support internships aimed at people keen to become acquainted with living in a practice-based community and exploring how the Dharma can interface creatively with the ecological and social issues of our times. These internships are aimed to support younger people to gain skills and experience in value-based collective and community project development.

During the next year or so the Centre will also be interested to hear from people with building skills and experience (especially sustainable building techniques and interests, although conventional experience is also a great asset) to take part in some forthcoming building projects.

If you, or anyone you know, would like to learn more about these opportunities, contact Guhyapati at info@ecodharma.com

Big Lottery grant for Buddhafield for Forest Garden project

Hannah Phillips, part of the core team at Triratna’s Buddhafield project, writes with news of their latest project - creating a Forest Garden on their land at Broadhembury in Devon UK. She says -

“I'm very happy to announce that Buddhafield has been awarded £10,000 by the Big Lottery Fund Awards For All and I'm not ashamed to admit to shedding a tear (or two!) when I opened the offer letter.

approaching Buddhafield's land at Broiadhembury

“The grant is specifically to create and develop a woodland walkway and a forest garden project at Broadhembury, one of the two pieces of land that Buddhafield owns in Devon. More details on the land are on the Buddhafield website.

"A Forest Garden is a way of planting that mimics young natural woodland. It is developing as an alternative means for producing food and as a method to restore bio diversity. The plants in a forest garden are all of use, directly for food, medicine, basketry, dye and indirectly for bees and nitrogen fixing. A forest garden requires very little upkeep, with the plants and shrubs working together to create the need for minimal human intervention. The woodland walkway will provide access through mature woodland that is best left unmanaged for nature conservation. It will create a nature trail through otherwise impenetrable, marshy land. Rupadarshin, Buddhafield's craftsman extraordinaire will design and build a simple, low impact pathway, using alder and oak, relying on a method used on the Somerset levels 3,000 years ago.

“The grant is based on us holding an event on the land next winter, for a week, with anyone who would like to come and help us very welcome. We are approaching the event from the angle of the 'Green Gym' movement where good mental health has been proven to be supported and encouraged by exercising and working outside. It will be free for volunteers and we're currently researching warm and snuggly places to stay nearby for those who don't fancy sleeping in tents. The funding covers things such as buying two hundred trees, erecting a deer fence, hiring a tractor driver for a few days and buying materials and tools. There is also funding for a few weeks work before the event starts to prepare the land so that volunteers get to do as many of the 'nice' activities such as tree planting , as possible!

deep in the woods - the shrine tent...

“Buddhafield functions on a shoe string, with our retreats run on a dana system to ensure that as many people who want to are able to participate. It means that we don't have any reserves for positive projects outside of our retreats/festival/cafe programme. This grant gives us the opportunity to put creative energy into a really meaningful project and to encourage all those who want to join in to come and be a part of it. Particularly during this time of economic hardship, it feels great to get funding for such a forward thinking and sustainable project. I hope the forest garden project will encourage lots of people to get involved and will be an inspiration for many years to come”.

Hannah Phillips (Buddhafield retreats/fundraising)

Click here for more details of Buddhafield's retreats.

EcoDharma Centre launches ‘Nature-Based Practice’ Series of retreats

Eagles soar on the cliffs above EcoDharma

 The task of translating the Dharma into the world of the 21st century is crucial to the practice of Western Buddhism. One Triratna retreat centre engaging whole-heartedly in this creative process is the EcoDharma Centre in the Catalan Pyrenees. Their latest initiative is the new ‘Nature Based Practice Series’, which take meditation retreats into the heart of wild nature.

“Perhaps the defining feature of this moment in history is the need for civilization to change course from its destructive path of industrial growth and consumption,” says centre director Guhyapati. “Contemporary Buddhism,” he continues, “is by definition Buddhism amidst ecological crisis. Buddhism has much to offer in facing that crisis, but to be truly relevant today Buddhism needs to take its potential role very seriously.” In their attempt to step up to this challenge, the EcoDharma Centre team has been addressing important questions - how their practice of meditation and Dharma can really support the development of an ecological sensibility and contribute towards a life-affirming future; what relevance ecological issues have to the practice of Dharma today; and more.

solar panels at EcoDharma

Their answers range from attempts to embed the Centre and community in sustainable ways of living which draw out the ecological implications of Buddhist ethics, to exploring the theoretical interface between the Dharma and ecology.

The “Nature Based Practice” series, which is launched this autumn, is another outcome of this exploration. This consists of a series of retreats, crafted by the EcoDharma team, which bring Dharma and meditation together with the transformative power of wilderness immersion. “Living as we often do today, entirely enveloped in the urban environment, it is easy to find ourselves cut off from our deeper nature,” points out Rob, one of the team involved in putting on the events. He explains that “these events support people to take their meditation practice out into wild nature, helping to heal alienating splits both in themselves and between themselves and the natural world we depend on.” The landscape around the centre is both awesome and intimate, and the team has spent many years getting to know it well. “For me,” adds Rob, “just wandering, living and meditating in these woods, meadows and caves is a deeply empowering and transformative experience.”

Contact with nature is being increasingly recognized as a key to opening people up to the importance of ecological concerns and empowering them to act to resolve the issues we face. But how does that tie in with dharma practice? “The foundational steps of Dharma practice are found in the process of healthy psychological integration,” explains Guhyapati. “The growing discipline of ecopsychology helps us see how crucial our connection with nature is in order to be healthy humans – especially living in such alienating times. ‘Nature Based Practice’ is a valuable tool in this process of integration. But it goes further than that. As we practice amidst the wild we begin to feel our embeddedness within nature in tangible ways. We begin to appreciate the profound interconnections which weave us into the rich web of life. Such insights and broadening of identity are core to the practice of Dharma.”

The team suggests that it is no coincidence that great yogis and sages have from time immemorial taken themselves off into the wilds to deepen their practice. “Taking mindful appreciation and meditation practice out into the wilds is a powerful and tested approach,” says Rob. The events in the series explore various ways to support people to test that out.

The first event in the series is “Meeting the Wild”, which runs in November. For more details of the events in the series or background to the “Nature Based Practice” approach, you can look at the centre´s website www.ecodharma.com.

Panorama showing EcoDharma in the distance - the small dot in the centre!

Forest Garden project in Devon, UK

Prajnaparamita in the Sanctuary

Back in 2008 Triratna News reported on the Prajnaparamita Sanctuary in Devon, created by Sagaravajra and friends. It’s adjacent to Buddhafield’s land at Broadhembury in Devon, UK. Now it’s been extended with the purchase of a second piece of land, this time to create a Forest Garden.

Sagaravajra writes to say -

“Karen, my partner, has recently bought three acres of land within walking distance from the Prajnaparamita Sanctuary which has been evolving over the past five years or so. The vision for Karen's land is to create an 'Edible Forest Garden'. The background and motivation for this project is not easy to explain. However one strand of this for us is finding a response to the pressures that we as humans are so clearly placing on the environment and the other living beings with which we share this world. Some of the issues are brilliantly explored in a Rebecca Hosking's BBC documentary film 'Farm for a Future'  .

“Put starkly, our current methods of food production are not sustainable – we currently use ten units of petroleum for every one unit of food that we eat! It has been said that we don't eat food so much as that we eat oil! The field next door to Karen’s land is intensively farmed, its surface two to three feet below Karen’s land (which has been pasture for many years.) This is an alarming demonstration of how present agricultural practices deplete the top soil – while it has taken many tens of thousands of years of natural processes to build it up , just a few short years can lose it! The methods by which we, Buddhists included, supply much of our food simply cannot be sustained in the long term.

showing the location of the Sanctuary and the new
Forest Garden land

“A system has been developed over the past few decades which we believe is a creative response to these problems: an edible forest garden. Any piece of land in this country will be in the process of becoming a forest, through a process of succession– so-called “weeds” being the first stage in this process. Rather than fighting against succession (constantly going back to 'ground zero', the state which much energy/work in conventional systems is devoted to reaching) in creating a forest garden we try instead 'to go with it' and fast-track towards a mid-succession forest. The resulting forest system has many benefits over conventional systems. By designing a forest of trees shrubs and perennial plants on multiple levels we can mimic the stable, complex, symbiotic, self-maintaining, abundant relationships of a natural forest. However in a forest garden we substitute non-edible/productive species with a high diversity of productive and useful ones: in addition to edible plants we design in other functional plants which work for us. Therefore some plants supply or recycle fertility, others attract beneficial insects, others repel pests, suppress weeds, and so on. Many plants of course can fulfil multiple functions.

“To give an example - a very interesting and little understood component of forest system is the role of mycorrhizal fungi. Mycorrhiza extend as a network throughout the forest soil where they become intimately linked with, and provide an extension to, plant roots. These mycorrhiza become conduits through which minerals and moisture are regulated and redistributed throughout the whole forest, demonstrating how a forest is an interconnected living system with a high degree of self regulation and arguably almost a degree of sentience. Conventional agricultural systems entirely lack these mycorrhiza.

“By designing all of these elements into a complex self-sustaining forest system we are at the same time designing out all external inputs. This translates into less work (and hydro carbons!) for you and me! The resulting effect is a massively efficient diverse and abundant system which is largely self maintaining. The resulting diversity and complexity it can create a very stable system which is resistant to environmental extremes and stresses such as drought and flooding (eg climate change!) pests and diseases - plus being beneficial to the environment as a whole, ie birds and other wildlife. A forest is the only system of agriculture that naturally creates top soil by the production and circulation of a huge amount organic matter. That’s the theory, the challenge is of course putting this theory in to practice

“Over and above these characteristics, for me a forest offers a striking metaphor for aspects of the Three Jewels revered by all Buddhists . A forest is literally a living whole comprising a collection of symbiotically interconnected and interdependent parts and processes – anyone who has ever tried to grow anything knows that we do not make plants, we simply create the best possible conditions and they will grow, as a natural response, of their own accord. Creating a forest garden invites us to engage with the processes of conditionality on a grand scale in a conscious and intentional way.

“I think the creation of a forest garden system mimics the Dharma's skilful attitude to change. Rather than trying to fight and resist change (which is simply another word for succession), with its associated dukkha, we co- operate with it to produce an augmentative complex, creative, dynamically stable, self-maintaining, efficient productive, symbiotic, system. I have known for a long time that for me, the principles of the Dharma need metaphorical as well as physical embodiments and grounding.

“What better way than creating an edible forest within which to interact with the nature of reality on so many levels? Its yummy too!

Sagaravajra

Opportunity at EcoDharma in Spain

Maitrisara writes with news of an opportunity for anyone over50 looking for a stay in the Pyrenees this autumn. She says -

“Grant funding enables us to offer 6 expenses paid places on a volunteering project at the EcoDharma centre between 1 and 2 months in September and October 2010. (www.ecodharma.com)

"EcoDharma is a Buddhist based community living in a remote valley in the Catalan Pyrenees. The wild beauty is incredible as are the ideas talked about over supper! The influences on the centre’s philosophy include radical ecology, The Work that Reconnects, engaged Buddhism, systems theory and holistic experiential learning.

“You need to be over 50 (yes we know that’s a bit strange but that is what the funding is for!) and reasonably fit. Living as part of the community, you will be involved in the garden and building projects. If you know a bit about permaculture, building or capentry, food preserving - this might particularly suit you. Get in touch with Maitrisara - maitrisara@tiscali.co.uk if you want to know more about it and are interested.

“Please pass on to anyone you think would be interested (in the right age bracket!!)

With warm wishes
Maitrisara

The retreat centre is just visible as the tiny white dot on the plateau in the centre-left of the photograph.

A Buddhist reports from Copenhagen

Today’s post is from Yogaratna, an Order Member and environmentalist from Cambridge UK, recently returned from the climate change conference in Copenhagen. We’re hoping to bring further reports later in the week from the FWBO’s EcoDharma centre in Spain, many of whose community also attended.

Yogaratna writes -
“From London it was £485 by rail, and about £18 to fly. Luckily I have the money, and I like train journeys.

“A blue sky, a big main square stuffed with thousands of people, clever banners, funny costumes, performances, dance music: a party atmosphere. I met up with some Gaia House Buddhists, and marched with their banner, which said: “what we do to the planet we do to ourselves”.

“I found it moving to be around thousands of people, all passionately wanting a positive response to climate change. A few hours later there were some angry speeches, lots of police started blocking off streets where I was; and I ran away to get my train home.

“Many people (including myself) think nowadays that it seems unlikely that we can avoid runaway climate change. So why did I bother doing 44 hours of train travel, to be in Copenhagen for 8 hours? And what has all this frankly very political stuff got to do with Buddhism?

non-harming, and not taking the not-given
“For me it comes down to the first 2 precepts. Non-harming; but in particular not taking the not-given. I think it is in principle unethical to deprive any human of the basic necessities of life, especially in terms of food, water and shelter - but also education and healthcare. Ethically speaking, I don't think that we in the West have a right to our higher standard of living, which depends on a greater share of the world's natural resources. Our relative wealth (in global terms) depends on economic and military power, not metta or wisdom.

“It's increasingly obvious that the world's resources are very limited, that we rich are maintaining our lifestyle at the expense of the poor - and that climate change will make this dynamic much worse. Reading about the Copenhagen climate negotiations, I'm struck by the extent to which the wealthy countries have given up humanist posturing, and got down to power politics. The rich countries seem to be saying to the developing countries: we accept that we are on course for runaway climate change (which was caused mainly by ourselves), we are prepared to do almost nothing to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, we believe you will die in very large numbers; here's a bit of money.

a time of great reality - and great surreality
“Copenhagen seems to have been a time of great reality, to the extent that people from all over the world did meet each other and talk on this issue, even (perhaps especially) at complete cross-purposes. But also a time of great surreality. The policing mirrored the talks, targeting official delegations inside the conference centre as well as demonstrators outside. At the same time, I would guess the politicians themselves are probably more genuinely concerned about (and knowledgeable about) climate change than the general public. They know that Copenhagen was probably the best chance of avoiding runaway climate change, and they don't dare to support measures which the science demands, but which would be unpopular.

Hopenhagen - or a corporate-sponsored narcotic?

“And in the streets of Copenhagen, the Hopenhagen posters. An advertising campaign instigated by the United Nations, essentially a positive idea (build hope for the Copenhagen conference) - but what about the corporate sponsors? One of them is Coca-Cola; a role model for doing virtually nothing on climate change. So the real message of Hopenhagen advertising is narcotic: we're nice people because we hope, it's OK to carry on sleeping and doing nothing; have a coke.

what would the Buddha say?
“So how about Buddhism? What would the Buddha say about all this? I'd love to know. I can't help thinking that he'd be surprised at the lifestyles and carbon footprints of most of his Western followers. Surely we'd seem incredibly wasteful and materialistic to him - and selfish too? Or would he say: don't bother your head with global politics, the best thing you can do is get on with your meditation and teaching at local level.

“I like to think that if the Buddha were alive today he would be concerned about global politics, because of their effect on human suffering - and even that maybe he'd be a figure somewhat like Dr Ambedkar. Of course, in his own lifetime, the Buddha talked to everyone; to beggars, but also to kings and their ministers. Arguably, the Buddha was very influential and probably wanted to be, both socially and politically.

“Of course, I'm neither the Buddha nor Dr Ambedkar; I'm just a pebble on the beach. But I want to live ethically; which is why I work to reduce my personal carbon footprint, and give some time to promoting awareness of this issue. Maybe we tend to underestimate the consequences of our actions. I think, or maybe feel, that our actions spread a long way into the future. Particularly at a time when so little is being done, every action against climate change now might be surprisingly and materially important to people in the future”.

“Overall, Copenhagen seems to me very poignant. It's as if the West would love to persuade itself that it does care, but knows it doesn't really. Like an alcoholic who thinks he should give up, but knows he won't. But even that's just one part of the story: personally I came home feeling very inspired by the people I'd met. And each year the anti-climate change movement is growing, all over the world. Within the FWBO there is much excellent work being done towards a more sustainable world; the EcoDharma retreat centre and living situation in Spain particularly stands out for me.

Yogaratna, December 2009

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”.

Buddhafield: tree-planting in the snow

As many of us will know, Britain has been shivering this week under a carpet of thick snow. It’s not been all misery though – there’s a real pleasure in curling up in bed with a book, or sitting by the fire as the cold wind whistles outside..

Spare a thought then, for the hardy folk of Buddhafield, nine of whom have been bravely proceeding with their planned Tree-Planting Retreat on the Buddhafield land down in Devon. Camping, of course.

Abhayajit, the retreat leader, told us –

“We’re still here, though its not been easy. A couple had to leave due to illness, but there’s still nine of us here now – and we have been managing to plant some trees! It was a bit mad one day, as there was a blizzard. To be honest I think we have felt hit by the weather. Probably the hardest thing has been vehicle problems, which of course we depend upon absolutely for bringing in supplies. We’ve had some bad luck there - two punctures and some flat batteries. But we’re in good spirits.”

The retreat is on their land at Broadhembury, which they are increasingly using as a showcase for permaculture techniques. Later this year (hopefully in better weather!) they’ll be returning to the land to offer a 72-hour permaculture Design Course, which will be co-led by the well-known permaculture teacher Steve Read and Dharmamrta, one of Buddhafields land managers and responsible for growing much of their vegetables through the year.

Transforming Self, Transforming World in Birmingham

The FWBO's Birmingham Buddhist Centre recently teamed up with local environmental-awareness groups to put on an event entitled ‘Transforming Self, Transforming World’.

The day included meditation, a workshop by Friends of the Earth on bio-fuels, composting for kids, lunch courtesy of the Birmingham chapter of ‘Food not Bombs’, recycled arts and crafts, Rob’s smoothie-bike, a showing of ‘The Power of Community’, a film & discussion based upon Cuba's creative response to having its oil imports cut. Padmakumara also led a workshop exploring Joanna Macy's ‘Work that Re-connects’.

As well as being a great opportunity for people who perhaps wouldn’t normally attend a Buddhist Centre to come along and get a feel for the place, it also helped to emphasise how Buddhist practice can give rise to a natural and spontaneous aspiration to contribute to the welfare of the world, an aspiration not characterised by fear and apathy but rooted in loving-kindness.

“It’s always so inspiring to meet people who work for our shared planet! A positive way to learn from one another and cooperate for a more peaceful and sustainable world!” Rianne Veen.

Environmental Audit and action plan at the London Buddhist Centre

In 2007 the FWBO's London Buddhist Centre celebrated the year of Amoghasiddhi, the Green Buddha of Action and Fearlessness.

As part of this they focussed attention on taking practical action to address environmental issues, exploring how Buddhism teaches us to lead a more simple and less wasteful life, more in harmony with the environment.

And as part of that, over the last few months a series of ‘environmental audits’ have
been carried out in and around the LBC’s ‘Buddhist Village’, covering many of the businesses and
communities that are linked to the LBC as well as the centre itself. They have now produced a report summarising the main findings of those environmental audits – all of which include commitments to action, whether reducing direct environmental impacts, working in partnership with others on environmental issues, or by raising awareness of why and how we can all take action on the environment.

The report can be read in full here. Thanks to the LBC for permission to reproduce

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.