International Buddhist Youth Exchange program in Malaysia

Today’s story on FWBO News comes from India’s National Network of Buddhist Youth (NNBY) - just back from participating in the 2010 International Buddhist Youth Exchange program, held in Malaysia.

Chetan Meshram from Nagpur, central India, attended along with Vasitkumar from Pune. They say-

“Last week we have been in the Asean Youth Exchange at Malaysia. The WORLD FELLOWSHIP OF BUDDHIST YOUTH  (WFBY) organized the ASEAN INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST YOUTH EXCHANGE (IBYE) 2010 which was hosted by the YOUNG BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA (YBAM).

"We were representing the National Network of Buddhist Youth (NNBY) from India. Other countries which participated included Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and South Korea.

"The main object of the programme was to promote development of leadership qualities among Buddhist Youth and also to strengthen Buddhist Networking across South East Asia.  The program was held in the Fo Guang Shan monastery. The theme of the event was “Joy, Fellowship and friendship.

"The 10 day programme was divided into four parts:

1) Home Stay Program
"International delegates were staying with Buddhist foster families for the first three days of the programme. Coinciding with the New Year and weekends, they had the opportunity to start 2010 in Malaysia, and also to feel and experience Malaysian lifestyle of living culture, food, sights and sound.

2) ASEAN IBYE leadership and Training Workshops:
"A series of sessions catering for the learning, contributing and tackling of current situations faced among youths in the Buddhist society, both local and international.

3) Malacca and Kuala Lumpur tour
4) ASEAN IBYE JFL Concert 2010

"We were able to make the other delegates aware about the concerns of Buddhist youth in India. Their social, economic and educational situations were discussed. Most importantly we communicated the revival of Buddhism and dynamics of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s movement. We both explained the aims, objectives, and mission of NNBY - www.nnby.org

"The event created strong connections between those who attended. We hope these connections will contribute to the betterment of the youths in ASEAN and especially more widely in India.

"For more information and picture follow ASEAN IBYE 2010 in facebook.

"Thanking you".

Two stories from Malaysia

Today and tomorrow we've two stories from Malaysia - independent visits by FWBO members from the UK and India, to different Buddhist groups.

Dhammaloka, a regular visitor to China, Singapore, and Malaysia, writes to say -

"I've just finished a series of talks followed by a practice weekend on karma for the Than Hsiang Foundation in Penang, Northern Malaysia.

“As things turned out, I was the first person to teach at their newly established centre for English speaking Sangha members. Located in a very spacious ex-residential house in central Penang, the new place is at daytime used as a Buddhist kindergarten.

“As in my experience has often been the case with an ethnically Chinese audience, in the first meeting it was difficult for me to assess what the group made of the input. Yet, with numbers of participants rising from day to day and there being increasingly lively discussions, I guess they found it interesting and fruitful. Furthermore, at the end of the practice weekend, even those who in the beginning had been rather solitary and perhaps somewhat distant, were happily engaged in our various group explorations and discussions.

“It was a pleasure to see a sense of Sangha grow between all of us. Our explorations covered a vast ground - from the religiously Brahminical and Shramaneric background at the Buddha's time right down to the turning of karma into a commodity owing to the historical emphasis on karmic results, merit-making and to the notion of collective karma which are so prominent in Asian societies. Again and again, we came back to the Buddha's revolutionary insight into intention (cetana) as the essence of karma, and accordingly we explored both skilful and unskilful mental states and the path to move beyond karma in quite some detail.

“Meanwhile, I've moved on to Melaka in the South of Malaysia where Samamati will be joining me shortly. Another series of 5 talks with a weekend preceding them lies ahead of us. Already, more than thirty people have booked ... which seems a pretty sure sign that more are likely to participate. Great to be here --- and away from the European winter!"

“Take care and good wishes,
“Dhammaloka

Interview with Subhuti: Ambedkar, Buddhism, and the world today

Insight Young Voices is an on-line Dalit Youth Magazine currently featuring an interview with Subhuti, a long-standing member of the Western Buddhist Order and leading light in TBMSG’s Dhamma work in India.

Anoop Kumar, the interviewer, explores with Subhuti the specific difficulties - and opportunities - faced by Buddhism in the world today - in fact in the ‘three worlds’ of the old Buddhist world, the new Buddhist world of the West, and the revived Buddhist world of India.

The interview can be found online at http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=1155

To quote two of their exchanges -

Buddhism being reduced just to a new caste is indeed a great danger and we clearly witness this happening around us. How do we overcome this?

Subhuti: "We must overcome this danger of the marginalisation of Buddhism, referring back to Dr Ambedkar’s thoughts on conversion: Why did he choose Buddha Dhamma? According to him, liberty, equality and fraternity can only be attained when there is a completely different set of ethical attitudes in Indian society. In a caste-based society one does not see another person in terms of duties towards him or her as a human being, but as a member of a particular caste that stands in a particular relation to one’s own caste. Babasaheb says that this is not really ethics at all. Dr Ambedkar’s great insight was that society has to be based on some genuine ethical principles, not the pseudo-ethics of caste duty".

Buddhism is one of the world’s major religious traditions and therefore building linkages with wider Buddhist world was one of the main concerns of Babasaheb Ambedkar. As a practising Buddhist who is deeply involved with Buddhism as defined by Babasaheb, what are your observations on the wider Buddhist world?

Subhuti: "Buddhism generally covers three worlds today: the old Buddhist world, the new Buddhist world of the West, and the revived Buddhist world of India.

"The old Buddhist world of the East is not in good shape. There are signs of revival here and there, but it is severely battered by modernity and is often not impressive today as an example of a living faith, related to the modern situation. There are impressive people and impressive movements, but Buddhism overall is not that impressive in its old heartlands. The example before us at present is, of course, Sri Lankan Buddhism, a significant and leading proportion of whose followers are, frankly speaking, racists and have used Buddhism as a weapon of cultural dominance.

"Then, you have got the new Buddhist world of the West that has emerged from what has been called the ‘Me generation’, which I myself in fact came from – spoilt children of the post-colonial west who have lived with silver spoons in their mouths and face quite different sets of problems from their brothers and sisters elsewhere in the world, problems more of personal meaning and happiness. There is a strong tendency to individualism among western Buddhists and the Dhamma is often interpreted in quite narrow personal terms.

"Then you have got Buddhist India, which I think is a very interesting intersection of the other two. For me, India is the key to the revival of Buddhism worldwide, because here the Buddhist movement is uncompromisingly modern and has a social conscience, as well.

"This happened because Babasaheb, at least from one side, was the child of the European enlightenment, with its critical intellectual tradition, and at the same time he was also the child of the best of Indian culture: of the whole non-brahmanical shramanic traditions, of the Sant traditions represented by such as Kabir and so on, and above all of the Buddha.

"So the movement initiated by him has the intellectually critical approach - if you like, the scientific approach - that is a principal feature of the modern world. Indian Buddhism is modern in this sense; on the other hand it is functioning in a traditional society with intact family structures, which we have lost to a considerable extent in much of the west, and it has a very strong commitment to social transformation.

"In some ways, our Western Buddhist world shares more in common with India than the old Buddhist world of the East, because in our case we also started from a critical perspective. We in the west feel ourselves very much Buddhist, very much part of the Buddhist tradition, but we are not going to accept all aspects of it uncritically, and that is the position you take in India, following Babasaheb.

"However, although there are similarities between Indian Buddhism today and western Buddhism, there are also discontinuities and some of these we should be careful to maintain. I don’t want to see western individualistic attitudes imported into India – although that is already happening, of course".

There's other introductions to Ambedkar and Buddhism in India in the writing of Vishvapani and Lokamitra

The FWBO and the 'New Monasticism'

Munisha, Director of ClearVision - the FWBO's audio-visual centre - writes to say:

"I was on the BBC Radio Four programme 'Beyond Belief' on Monday, in a programme looking at something called The New Monasticism.

"This is a movement within modern Christianity to set up residential quasi-monastic communities, very much like those we are used to in the FWBO.

"I wasn't very happy with the way it went in the studio but it's been well edited and I think the result is pretty good. Judge for yourself if you wish; listen to it online here
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00qbw64" - it'll be available to listen to until Sunday".

Community living seems to be somewhat out of fashion in the FWBO these days, but there are still over 40 residential communities listed in the official FWBO Address List, mostly single-sex ie just men or just women in residence.

Another exploration of FWBO experience in this area can be found in 'Living Together', by Sanghadevi - you'll find this reviewed on the Windhorse Publications website.

First Mitra ceremonies for East Kent Buddhist Group

Danapriya writes from the FWBO’s ‘East Kent Buddhist Group’ with news of their first Mitra Ceremonies - perhaps, he says, even the first in the Triratna Buddhist Order! He says -

“The East Kent Buddhist Group has just had Mitra Ceremonies for Hannah Youngs and Sally Birch. Hannah is 18yrs old and is daughter of Karunajala - and has been going on retreat since she was 4 yrs old! Sally has been on the LBC's winter retreat the last 2 yrs and hardly misses a class.

“27 people attended - we just about packed them into our shrineroom which is only 11 x 13 feet! It was a wonderful evening and Sally and Hannah may even be the first Mitras of the Triratna Buddhist Order! We had three visiting Order Members Subhadramati, Karunajala and Vajrashraddha among the guests.

“Love from Danapriya

Founded in Deal, Kent, in 2007, the group found it attracted people from all over East Kent, and changed its name to suit. For more information check their website.

Copenhagen hosts joint first Danish-Swedish day retreat

Advayasiddhi writes from the FWBO’s small Danish Sangha with news of the first joint Danish -Swedish day retreat. She says -

“This Sunday saw the first event for people from both sides of Øresund - the small stretch of sea that divides Denmark and Southern Sweden. The day was held in Copenhagen where the (very small) Danish Sangha had invited people from Skåne to come and join them for a day of practice.

“Even if the numbers ended up low, the quality was high and we had a great day led by Advayasiddhi, meditating together and talking about the three jewels and about how we are part of a long lineage and a much bigger community.

"We ended the day with a small ritual offering our aspirations to the Buddha and sharing our merits with all beings.

“We hope to do another day soon, so let us know if you want to join”.

Check their Facebook group Buddhistisk Meditation to stay in touch.  There’s a more general introduction to Buddhism and meditation in Danish on their website www.buddhistmeditation.dk

Karuna and ClearVision collaborate to promote awareness of Buddhist-led development work and social action in Asia

Maitrisara, a member of the Western Buddhist Order based in Oxford, UK, writes with news of a major survey of UK Buddhists’ interest in and knowledge about Buddhist-inspired and Buddhist-led development work and social action in Asia.

The initiative came from a shared realisation that although there is a great deal of such work, spread across Asia and involving many different Buddhist Sanghas, much of it is hardly known about.

She says -

“A recent online survey completed by 295 Buddhists (77% from the FWBO!) aimed to find out more about UK Buddhists' interest in and knowledge about Buddhist-inspired and Buddhist-led development work and social action in Asia; also to find out how they understood the relationship between personal and social transformation.

“To see a summary of the results, and respondents’ reflections on the question "Personal and social transformation are indivisible - do you agree?” – click here. The reflections especially are extremely interesting!

“The outcome of this process is that a project application has been submitted to the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) by Karuna www.karuna.org in partnership with Clear Vision www.clear-vision.org.

“Original study materials will be created including video footage of projects in the global South. This will be accessed on an online learning hub. There will also be exchange and networking spaces such as inter-group meetings, retreats and conferences. We wait to see if the application has been successful.

“We would like to thank all those who contributed to the survey. We were impressed with the responses, both in the thought given to them and the number completed in such a short time. The information will have value beyond this project as we think it's the biggest survey ever completed on Engaged Buddhism and certainly the most current”.

Maitrisara (Oxford, UK)

Little Buddha Children's Club attracts over 1000 members in India

Rohan Chahande, a mitra from Nagpur, writes with news of the second annual Children’s Retreat run by TBMSG’s ‘Little Buddha Children Club’ - plus an update on their plans for 2010.

He says - “I am sending report of Little Buddha Children’s Club for publishing on FWBO/TBMSG news site.

“Over the Xmas period we held our second annual retreat for children from all over Nagpur. Over a hundred participated in this three-day event held at Nagaloka. They enjoyed Puja, meditation, play, songs, yoga, Karate, painting & games. On the last day children performed in groups and individually. We showed a movie on the life of the Buddha, which the children enjoyed very much - and wished to watch similar movies in future. We also conducted a workshop for parents; they wished to help LBCC and asked to have more programmes for children and parents this year.

“We ended with a resolution to develop more Friendship in 2010 - this was voted to be the main theme for Little Buddha Children’s Club activities in this New Year. This will inspire us therefore to reach more children in Nagpur’s rural areas and slum areas in other cities.

“We have been organizing activities for children throughout the year and now we have centres in Pune (Western India) and Varodaya in Gujarat (North India). In fact more than a thousand children are members of LBCC and we are still growing.

“With metta, Rohan Chahande

For contact details and updates check the Little Buddha Children’s Club website.

Charlie Chaplain teaches Metta Bhavana in India

Varaprabha is an Indian Order Member who has for some years now been training as a mime artist, with his chosen character being the late great Charlie Chaplain.

He has been active in using his new-found skills to communicate with a wide range of Indians on topics such as debt, alcoholism, craving, and domestic violence. He also conducts workshops teaching mime to children living in TBMSG’s hostels and elsewhere.

Recently FWBO News came across this report of one of his recent workshops in the Indian Express, a major Indian newspaper, under the heading of ‘Charlie regales orphan kids’; and we’re pleased to share it with you. They say -

“The Mukta-Avishkar cultural unit, which works under the auspices of Trailokya Baudhya Maha Sangha (TBMSG), conducted a programme at its orphanage at Pimple Gurav, in Pune, recently. ‘The Change of Mind of Thief Charlie & Arley,’ a mime in which the role of Charlie Chaplin was played by Dhammachari Varaprabha regaled the children.

“The orphanage which has 64 children, is run by a group including Dr. Dinesh Metallu, Prakash Pagnis, and Arun Ovhal. ‘The effort was to create awareness among these children about the vices corrupting the society and how to stay away from them,’ said Dr Metallu.

"‘We teach them Buddha’s way of loving-kindness meditation, maitri bhavana, which means friendship in three stages — self- friendship, friendship towards unknown and friendship towards enemy, and finally on the lines of universal brotherhood, friendship towards the whole world’".

Sadhu Varaprabha!

He is fundraising to continue with his training; if you would like to make a donation please visit his fundraising site www.justgiving.com/varaprabha - where you can also see a video of one of his performances at TBMSG's Bor Dharan retreat centre.

FWBO and Western Buddhist Order discussing name change; likely to become Triratna

The FWBO and the Western Buddhist Order worldwide are discussing a change of name. If the proposed changes go ahead, later this year the Order would become the Triratna Buddhist Order and the FWBO (Friends of the Western Buddhist Order) the Triratna Buddhist Community. In India the Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha (as the Order is known there) would become the Triratna Bauddha Mahasangha.

Triratna simply means ‘Three Jewels’, specifically the Three Jewels of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, to which all Buddhists commit themselves in the simple but definitive act of ‘Going for Refuge’. The Three Jewels have long been used as emblems in many F/WBO situations, for instance the logo of FWBO News and on the Kesas worn by Order Members.

If the proposed change is accepted, it’s likely that a Movement-wide ceremony will be held on or around Wesak this year, a date which happens to coincide with the FWBO International Retreat at Taraloka: see http://internationalretreat.fwbo.org for more details.

The suggestion to change the name was made on January 6th in a letter from Sangharakshita to all members of the Western Buddhist Order. His letter was itself a response to one from a group of Indian Order Members gathered in Pune, in which they requested him to change the Indian name of the Order from the present ‘Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha’ and also to give a new and unified name to the whole Order world-wide.

Both ‘Western’ and ‘Trailokya’ had become increasingly problematic for some over the past decade - ‘Western’ because the Order is increasingly international, with members active in India, Russia, Turkey and China, as well as other non-Western countries; and ‘Trailokya’ because Indians outside Maharastra find it difficult to relate as a Buddhist name - and the Order is increasingly active in many States all across India.

Discussions about changing the name had continued in the Order on and off for many years - in fact, from 1979, when TBMSG  was founded in India. However, partly due to the increasing size of the Order, it proved impossible to obtain consensus and the matter was dropped until Sangharakshita’s recent intervention.

Sangharakshita’s letter says in part -

“... I hope that Western Order members will be as moved as I was by the request I received [from India], and that they will join with me in wanting to meet the wish of the Indian Order members for a change of their own name and for a name for the whole Order. Having one name for the whole Order will make it clear to the world not only that we all go for Refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, but that whether in the East or the West, the North or the South, we are one united Order, with a single vision and a single heart and mind.


“After much deliberation, the new name for the Order that has come to me is the Triratna Buddhist Order (in Hindi, Triratna Bauddha Mahasangha), and I suggest that all Order members adopt it straight away”.

Rather than follow his suggestion to adopt the new name immediately, a process of discussion opened up among both Order Members and those running the many branches of the FWBO about how best to proceed, and when. Sangharakshita’s letter ended by proposing that the FWBO became the Friends of the Triratna Buddhist Order, which was immediately shortened by many to FTBO.

However the European Chairs Assembly, which happened to be in session at Dhanakosa in Scotland at the time, saw an opportunity to take the Movement’s unification a step further, by making it easier to translate the name into different languages - and by moving away from the many sets of initials presently used to identify it. In France and Spain, for instance, the FWBO is the AOBO, in Holland the VWBO - and in Turkey, the BBBD!

After some discussion they chose to reply to Sangharakshita suggesting that the FWBO instead became the Triratna Buddhist Community, a suggestion he accepted. They wrote -

“We like ‘Triratna’. Not only does it encapsulate our central values, it also provides a positive identifying marker for the Order and the movement. We have chosen ‘Buddhist Community’ to replace ‘Friends of’ as an expression of the relationship between the movement and the Order and our emphasis on spiritual community and friendship. We have considered this in some depth, bringing to bear our collective experience and care for our movement internationally, and we would be grateful if you would seriously consider our proposal. At the same time we want you to know that we will be happy with whatever decision you make.”

The European Chairs are currently in dialogue with other Centre chairs internationally, and once these are complete further announcements will be made regarding the change and the best way to mark it. Parallel discussions are going on in the Order and again we’ll announce the details as soon as they are available.

Windhorse:Evolution begin month-long working retreat

Windhorse: Evolution is the FWBO’s largest and most successful business, trading ethically in giftware, supplying shops all over the UK and beyond. It is the largest Buddhist team-based right livelihood business in the UK and probably Europe, employing approximately 250 people in total. About 100 people work in Cambridge and a further 150 in the 18 Evolution shops that form part of the Windhorse family.

There are three teams in the Windhorse warehouse, totalling about 25 Buddhist men, and they are currently entering into a more intense period of a month-long ‘working retreat’. Specifically they are exploring how work can be a potent spiritual practice.

They write to say - “We are going to make a video diary of our retreat in the workplace which will be posted on FWBO News. Please click on the link to watch our introductory video www.vimeo.com/8778332 - or click on the screenshot opposite. And look out for follow-ups!”

Windhorse occasionally have vacancies for both men and women. These are often advertised on FWBO Jobs, or you can contact Windhorse direct on 01223 868600..

‘Poetry East’ at the London Buddhist Centre

Maitreyabandhu writes from the LBC with news of a new Buddhist poetry venue in East London. He says -

“I'm creating a new poetry venue at the London Buddhist Centre. It’s called Poetry East. I plan to invite very good contemporary poets every 6 weeks or so - so far I have Mimi Khalvati (founder of The Poetry School) on 30th January and Fiona Sampson (editor of Poetry Review) on 24th April... also I've asked Bhante to do one and he seems willing!

“I say this about it in the publicity:

“Each poet will be asked to provide two or three poems from the canon that have influenced their poetry; these poems will be read at the beginning of the evening. There will be a short interview with the poet, asking them about their creative life and work with emphasis on their influences, and poets they admire. This will be followed by a poetry reading and questions and answers from the floor. The evening will be preceded by a short led meditation in order to provide the best listening conditions externally and internally. We’ll meet in one of the LBC’s shrinerooms.

“It has a website www.poetryeast.net - please do have a look.

“Love Maitreyabandhu

True stories from the Karuna Trust: Sanjivani Pawar

The FWBO’s Karuna Trust sends over £1million/year to a wide range of Dharma and social projects across India, most (but not all) to the new Buddhists, also known as the Dalits, or ‘Oppressed’. India as a whole may be industrialising fast, but life remains very raw indeed for the vast numbers of Indian poor and ‘low-caste’ people.

Andrea McCaghy, Karuna's press officer, sends us this account of one of Karuna's beneficiaries - one of hundreds of true stories heard by Karuna staff during the course of their work. She says -

Sanjivani Pawar’s story: A widow breaks free from the prisons of caste and gender prejudice to become a role model for others.

“Others should not suffer as I did and I want to help as many people as possible. I’m not going to fear anyone ever again.”

Today, Sanjivani Pawar is a leader of Ghodkar Rajouri village in Maharastra, but 16 years ago things were very different. When her husband died she was left with two small children, Jyoti and Rakesh, and little means of raising them.

Traditionally, an Indian woman loses her power as a wife and mother if her husband dies. This is one way that Indian caste society subdues women to maintain the caste status quo. A widow must stay at home and rely on the goodwill of her husband’s family. Her home, often nothing more than a mud hut ,can become a prison.

But Sanjivani wanted to work her land to get her children educated. ‘Land is important; it is more than growing food to raise my family. It takes me forward, to own something.’

But my community, and my family, said, “You are a widow, why are you going to farm, why are you trying to educate your children?”

And there was worse. ‘As I was a young widow there was pressure from men, demanding sex. They said: “We will make your life easier if you do this. “ That was horrible. I could not go out and work my land.’

Sanjivani made a friend who would change her life. Manisha Tokale and her husband Ashok run Savitribai Phule Mahila Mandal (SPMM), sponsored by Karuna. The project trains and supports community leaders in villages around the town of Beed in central Maharastra, raising awareness of rights, setting up self help savings groups, and empowering women to take charge of their lives.

Could you tell Sanjivani’s story to a Karuna supporter?

You can help give her and the many millions of Dalits in South Asia who suffer from caste-based discrimination a voice by giving your time and helping out on a Karuna telephone fundraising campaign.

Karuna Telephone Fundraising Campaigns
Led by Jo Goldsmid, an experienced and skilled fundraising trainer.

Telephone fundraisers are needed for our Spring 2010 campaign 19th April – 28th May

Phone campaigns run for 6 weeks and are non-residential. You will be working as part of a Buddhist team based in the Karuna office in London. Financial support is offered. We will be phoning existing supporters to communicate the benefits of Karuna’s work in South Asia with a view to them increasing their regular donation.

To find out more:

Contact Jo Goldsmid
Phone 0207 697 3026
Email appeals@karuna.org
Web www.appeals.karuna.org

Ground-Breaking Ceremony for Berlin’s new Buddhist Centre

The FWBO’s Berlin Buddhist Centre is moving to new and larger premises. They have a substantial building project ahead of them, during the course of which they plan five rituals marking the various stages of the work.

Amogharatna, the Centre’s Chairman, writes with a report of their first ritual.  He says -

“On Sunday, 17th January 2010 around 35 members of the Berlin Buddhist Sangha celebrated our very first event in our new premises in Berlin-Kreuzberg. This was a “building site ritual”, “Erster Spatenstich” in German - which would be translated as “The Ground-Breaking Ceremony”.

“We dedicated the event to the Buddha Ratnasambhava, the yellow Buddha of the South, whose element is earth. The event lasted three hours and included walking meditation, mantra-chanting and making offerings to three shrines (check the video here!) , as well as chanting the Ratana Sutta and making offerings to the spirits of this 120-year-old historic site.

“The ceremony concluded with a seven fold puja and finally we had the traditional hot chocolate and cake in a coffee shop nearby. There will be more videos available soon.

“We are still fundraising. If you would like to support our New Buddhist Gate Berlin project, please find more information about the fundraising and on the progress of our project on our fundraising website www.buddha-berlin.de, now also available in English!

“For online-donations, you can go to (UK) www.justgiving.com/buddhistgateberlin- or if you live in Germany go to www.spendenportal.de

“With metta,Amogharatna

The Lama's Pyjamas: now for sale at the London Buddhist Centre!

Claudine Edwards writes from the LBC to say -

“Padmalila and I are very excited to announce the start of a new Team Based Right Livelihood business in Bethnal Green, just along the road from the FWBO's London Buddhist Centre. It's a charity shop called Lama's Pyjamas which is located at 83 Roman Road, in the premises previously occupied by Friends Organic.

“We opened our doors a week ago and plan to have a Grand Opening next month. In the mean time do visit our website www.lamaspyjamas.com.

“We're still very much 'work-in-progress' (with quite a lot still to do!) but already we've had a very positive response from the local community and great support from everyone at the LBC. We did the shop fitting ourselves (with lots of help from the wonderful Ibon) using recycled materials donated by members of the sangha - our only major new purchases were a steamer and a till!

“Our vision is for the business to be more than simply a charity shop - we hope, in time, to run training workshops, for instance teaching people the skills they’d need to turn old clothes into new - but for now we're both trying to get the shop up and running as a viable business as well as a place for spiritual practice.

“We're looking for volunteers, so if anybody has a regular amount of time they could spare please do get in touch with us - claudine@lamaspyjamas.com.

Jyotivana Women's Community in Manchester Unveils Beautiful New Shrine Cabin

Dayanandi writes from Manchester with news of the women community's new shrine cabin. She says -

“15 months ago it was the dream of the Jyotivana women's community here in Manchester to have a shrineroom where the community could meditate together. Our previous meditation space was an unheated attic accessible only via a loft ladder which ruled out Vidyamala from joining the others due to her back injuries and was unsuitable for Amitasuri in cold weather due to her kidney condition. (In fact several of the rest of us found it rather gruelling in the winter months!) The dripping & splashing from the water tanks in the roofspace was another issue - arguably a spur to deeper concentration but one I wouldn't be sorry to leave behind!

“The house was being used to maximum capacity with 7 in the community so the only solution seemed to be an outdoor shrine room in some sort of log cabin - probably too expensive for us to afford we thought.... But enthusiasm grew for the cabin and we decided to go for it, enlisting the help of the Sangha through fundraising. Munisha had the idea to hold Fundraising Buddhist Film Nights for the Women's Sangha .....and the rest is history... as they say! The first night we ate a delicious curry, dhal & rice and settled down to watch what turned out to be the first of many inspiring and enjoyable films. The majority of the £6500 that we raised to pay for the cabin came via these film evenings through the small and large donations that were received. But as a community we gained far more than the money for the shrineroom as the evenings were so enjoyable and the sense of support for us and our project so dynamic. We enjoyed welcoming everyone to our community and the ensuing 'explosion' of Sangha was quite amazing with between 20 - 30 women chatting away over dinner and settling down on our sofas for the film. The rumour had got about that we had a big screen for the films - which we did - a large white sheet pinned to the curtains, with a PowerPoint projector! It's amazing how we all fitted into the lounge.

“There were a worrying few months when, with the credit crunch, cabin prices soared but as Autumn came the cabins we'd been looking at on the Internet went on Sale and we decided to buy then even though we hadn't raised the whole amount. We picked the fully insulated version of a timber cabin, with double doors and a window....looking very like a Swiss chalet! (see photo!) Sona and Moksapriya quoted us for installing it. They had a free week in December - and up it went! They both worked long, hard and well as did various members of the community & friends in preparing the site and applying stain and varnish to the finished shed. Amitasuri provided the workers with coffee and bagels. She & Dayanandi also took photos from which Vidyamala has made a great film - soon to be available on You Tube!

“I should mention that we received a great boost to our fundraising when Vidyamala and Amitasuri were granted £750 between them from the Abhayaratna Trust to help fund their use of the cabin. This is a new Charity, set up to support Order Members to live a full life in the Sangha in the face of difficulty due to old age, disability and sickness.

“And so, on the 3rd January, four of us, including Vidyamala, set up a simple shrine and meditated in the cabin for the first time. It was such a lovely, clear space to meditate in, just bare wooden floors and walls with views out across the snowy garden to the woods of the Kersal Dale Nature Reserve. It was pretty quiet; a woodpecker knocking loudly on braches above us, some birdsong, a few cars on the road nearby. Later that day, with six of the seven community members able to be present, we performed a dedication ceremony to ritually inaugurate this beautiful new cabin and with it, I think, a new era in the life of Jyotivana Community!”

Sub-30 retreat at the London Buddhist Centre

SuYen Tan writes from the FWBO’s London Buddhist Centre with news of their new ‘sub-30’ group. He says-

“Dear Friends,

“Young people at the London Buddhist Centre are getting ready for an under-30s retreat. The ‘Sub-30’ weekend retreat will take place at Vajrasana, the LBC's retreat centre in Suffolk, from the 29th to the 31st of January. The retreat provides an opportunity for men and women under the age of 30 to make connections with other young Buddhists, discuss the Dharma, and practice together in a retreat environment. The focus of the weekend will be on meditation and communication.

“The retreat is open to everyone under the age of 30, and who know both the mindfulness and metta bhavana meditation practices as taught within the FWBO. The retreat will be co-led by Knut Wilmott and SuYen Tan.

“There are still a couple of places left on this retreat - please contact the LBC at 0845 458 4716 for bookings. More information can be found at www.lbc.org.uk/Sub30.htm”

The LBC’s Sub-30 group is one of a number of young Buddhists’ groups (eg Birmingham, Brighton, Sheffield) that have sprung up around the FWBO in the past year, many in response to a realisation that action needed to be taken to make sure the Dharma in the West was handed on to the coming generation.

There’s a Young FWBO Facebook group that aims to be a one-stop shop summarising what’s events are coming up - it’s also of course a way to connect with other young Buddhists.  You’ll find this at www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49821059114 .  Looking beyond the FWBO for young Buddhist resources, try the American-based Buddhist Geeks site at www.buddhistgeeks.com/.

Meanwhile ClearVision are hard at work on new video material specifically aimed at communicating Buddhist teachings to a younger generation.  A central component of their work is a forthcoming DVD on Buddhism and Citizenship .  Already available is the wonderful  ‘Ask a Buddhist’ service for students (one-minute answers to all those difficult questions!); plus material for children and young people of all ages - 

ages 5-11 (with some wonderful stores from the Jataka tales), 

11-14 (with an interactive Wheel of Life), 

15-16 (with sections on religious authority, and citizenship, and finally 

17-18 A-level students (where there's sections on human rights and responsibilities, also sex and relationships).

Karuna Mexico acts in response to Haiti emergency

Upeksamati, chairman of the FWBO’s Mexico City Buddhist Centre, writes with news of Mexican Buddhists response to the recent tragic earthquake in Haiti. He says -

“Haiti needs help. And Karuna Mexico, along with other Mexican Buddhist Centres, are responding.

“After a quick appeal by Karuna Mexico a lot of people delivered all sort of goods to them: bottled water, medicines and foods.

“Two days later, the Mexico City Buddhist Centre van went twice fully loaded to the Cruz Roja (the Red Cross) to deliver what they had collected. The MCBC van had to queue for 15 minutes before it could enter the plaza where donations were being received. There we found hundreds of volunteers, from all quarters, hard at work. When the van arrived it was surrounded by 5 Boy Scouts who took no longer than 7 minutes to unload the van carefully and effectively. After we were gone our space was taken by yet a different car delivering.

“At the moment we are in the second phase of the appeal gathering more things. The boxes at the reception of our Buddhist centres are quickly filling up again.

“In this moment there is no difference between people, nations, or anything. Here is where we experience the true meaning of "Karuna": a force that drives us to help without expecting anything in return.

“That is why the people of Mexico in general, and the Buddhists at our Centres, are creating support networks to reach as soon as possible the people of Haiti and to ease the suffering and problems that have arisen.

“This assistance has been channelled to the Cruz Roja from Mexico who are in charge of sending the appeals to Haiti. The Collection at the Buddhist centres will continue a few weeks, We hope residents in Haiti will get better.

“Sabbe Satta Sukhi Hontu - May All Beings be Well

Karuna Appeal Mexico www.karuna.mx

Turning Arrows into Flowers: an invitation to the second FWBO International Retreat 2010

Vajragupta, from the FWBO's Development Team, writes with news of the second International FWBO retreat - and an invitation to you all...

He says -

"Dear Friends,

"I'm being cheeky and writing to everyone I can think of, to invite you to take part in the second FWBO International Retreat. It'll run from Friday 28th May to Tuesday 1st June 2010.

"400 of you attended the first retreat in 2008 and the feedback from the event was tremendously positive: people loved the opportunity to hear talks and be taught by some of our most experienced teachers, they loved taking part in large, magical rituals, and they loved taking part in the teamwork organised by Buddhafield to help keep the event running smoothly.

"This year the retreat will again be held at Taraloka, it will be suitable for people of all levels of involvement in the FWBO, it will be family-friendly, and there will be groups of people coming from FWBO Centres across Europe. It will be another great opportunity to be inspired by the sangha gathering in large numbers.

"We learnt a lot about the practicalities of running the event last time - we are teaming up with Buddhafield and Taraloka again - and this time and it will be even better!

"The retreat starts on the full-moon night of Wesak; so this is our chance for a big, collective celebration of the Buddha’s Enlightenment in the FWBO this year. The theme will be “Turning Arrows into Flowers” – looking at the story of the Buddha’s transformation of Mara’s arrows into flowers. We’ll also be exploring the equivalent of that for us today – the transformation of our own selves and our world.

"More details can also be found on the website, which is now live.

"If you want to book (and we'd encourage you to book early), there are three ways to book: posting us the booking form in the brochure (which you should find at all FWBO Centres), or by downloading it from the website and sending it by post, or by booking directly on-line using pay-pal.

"If you need more information, check the website at www.internationalretreat.fwbo.org;or contact us at: internationalretreat@fwbo.com.

"With thanks and best wishes for 2010... and hoping to see you there!

"Vajragupta

Sangharakshita's talk to the 2008 retreat, 'The Growth and Prosperity of the Sangha', can be viewed here thanks to VideoSangha -

Soulful Spirit - new CD from Mahasukha

Mahasukha writes from Brighton, UK, with news of his new double CD, ‘Soulful Spirit’. He says -

“I've recently completed a CD, 'Soulful Spirit'. It's of largely African songs (my workshop repertoire) and includes 2 mantras and part of the Karaniya Metta Sutta, and has a couple of recordings from my Buddhafield Festival workshops.

“It consists of 24 tracks of uplifting, African, sacred, soulful songs and mantras imbued with a spirit of devotion. After nearly 10 years of leading singing workshops it’s my 1st CD. I recorded Soulful Spirit in my flat on my computer using one microphone and multi-tracking. All the songs are recorded using only voice and percussion. It took me 6 months to complete (working 24/7!)

The first CD is the songs, the second one includes all the main vocal parts which can be used as a learning and teaching resource. If you'd like to order a copy, check my website at http://soulfulsinging.co.uk"

Mahasukha is one of a growing number of artists and musicians of all sorts  within the FWBO; you'll find many of them and more on the inter-Buddhist 'Dharma Arts Network' site at http://dharmaarts.ning.com.

Finding 10,000 rupees in Poland - an update from Sanghaloka

Two years ago Nityabandhu and others set up Sanghaloka, a new FWBO centre in Poland. Now he writes to tell us what it's like running it on a day-to-day basis...

He says -

“Rather than bore you with details of day-to-day events at Sanghaloka in Krakow I thought I'd tell you how it is for me to be running this place (with Sassirika, Santaka and others of course).

“It’s like finding a large banknote on the street (say 50 pounds, or 100 euro or 10,000 rupees). Suddenly one feels strangely and unexpectedly fortunate - owning a little fortune. The difference is that with Sanghaloka I feel like that almost daily.

“The greatest pleasure is meeting the people that come and getting to know those that stay and come regularly. Sometimes I don't feel like doing the admin or updating the website, or even teaching meditation or co-leading courses with Santaka. But once I start these things are so incredibly rewarding that it does feel like finding whole bags of money on the street.

“I can't think of doing anything better with my life - I can only think how to do better what I - what we here - are already doing.

“Nityabandhu

The Sanghaloka website, www.buddyzm.info.pl is actually a substantial Polish Dharma resource - and there’s more, on meditation, on the Polish edition of the Wildmind site, polski.wildmind.org.

The photographs are from recent Sanghaloka retreats in Poland.  Nityabandhu is in the centre of the top photo.

Sadhu! - and “Przyjaciele Zachodniej Wspólnoty Buddyjskiej” (as they say in Krakov!)

Manchester Buddhist Centre receives Marque of Excellence

The Manchester Buddhist Centre has been awarded the North West Multi-Faith Tourism Association's Marque of Excellence for its outstanding welcome to visitors, tourists, and people new to the MBC

The Centre was thoroughly assessed on various criteria, and was seen to be an outstanding example of excellence - in fact the assessor said that she had 'never written a report with quite so many overall category ratings of Excellent' !

An extract from the MBC's website quotes the Tourist Association's report as saying that -

"Manchester Buddhist Centre is an outstanding example of a sacred site that not only offers the visitor a genuinely holistic experience that touches the mind, the body and the spirit in equal measure, but also offers a vision of work as a spiritual practice. All are welcomed to visit and to engage with the site at whatever level they wish. Everything about the site is a reflection of the ethos and philosophy of Buddhism

“It is located in a Victorian warehouse, part of the city’s industrial heritage, which has been sensitively renovated, honouring the history and character of the original building, and with regard to making it as environmentally sustainable as possible

“It is known as an ‘urban oasis’ – part of its attraction is the sense of peace, calm and reflection that visitors feel when they visit the building. Visitors are welcome to sit in the reception area or tea area and relax from the stresses of the busy city outside its doors. The Buddhist Centre is very much a place of spiritual practice and there is a clear path of development and commitment to Buddhist practice for those who wish to know more"

The MBC joins four other faith sites in Greater Manchester who have been awarded the Marque of Excellence -

* Manchester Cathedral
* The Jewish Museum
* Cross Street Unitarian Church
* The Parish Church of St. Peter, Bolton

The MBC itself comments -

“There are other major faith sites across the North West we also join, including both Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral and Anglican Cathedral, and also Manjushri, the NKT’s headquarters at Conishead Priory in Cumbria.

“The award means that the MBC will receive a lovely plaque saying 'Visitors Welcome' on the outside of the building, and we will be promoted as a 'must see' attraction by the tourist board. We are also planning a big presentation ceremony of the award in spring / early summer - watch this space!

Read more on the MBC website here, or about the Multi-Faith Tourism Association at www.multi-faith.org/

Google Alerts lead to three little-known FWBO bloggers

Thanks to Google Alerts, we’re able to bring you a couple of little-known references to the FWBO from across the wide world of the Internet.

The Holistic Knitter, somewhere in Wales, posts photos of her retreat at Taraloka - the teardrop-shaped pond and the beautiful Prajna-Paramita, among many others.  You'll find her (we're guessing it's a her) at holisticknitter.blogspot.com

Up in Scotland, the mysterious ‘m0ok’, who lives with "a cat who struggles to take me seriously", writes of his first puja in his blog “Adventures of a Dharma n00b”.

Meanwhile the blogger known only as ‘Fireworks with Sound Effects‘ writes “I lost my center somewhere. I've looked everywhere. In my closet. Under the bed...” - and decided to pick up a written Dharma talk entitled "The Taste Of Freedom" by Sangharakshita. Which seemed to do the trick, at least to help matters.  More at fireworkswithsoundeffects.blogspot.com.

Thanks to our three contributors.  We’ll bring you more as and when we discover them!

Meanwhile you might like to check FWBO People for over 200 personal sites by people associated with the FWBO.  Just go to www.people.fwbo.org...

An invitation - and a challenge - from the Karuna Trust fundraising team

Khemajala, a fundraiser at the Karuna Trust, writes with an invitation - and a challenge - for all men reading FWBO News. He says -

"Would you like to live a truly meaningful and memorable year as part of a Karuna Men's Fundraising Community?

"On 29 September 2006, in Khairlanji village, central India, Surekha Bhotmange, her daughter Priyanka and her two sons, Roshan and Sudhir were dragged from their home by a mob, stripped naked, paraded through their village, beaten to death, and their bodied dumped in a nearby canal.

 Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, the father of the family (photo opposite), escaped by lucky chance. The details of this caste-based crime are sickening, and the hatred behind it is difficult to comprehend but the viciousness is typical of many crimes committed against lower caste people in India every day.

"Most of these crimes are invisible, but this atrocity came to light through Dalit campaigns and became an international news story. The Manuski project, led by members of TBMSG (the Indian equivalent of the FWBO), and supported by Karuna, played an important part in making that happen.

"Could you tell Bhaiyyalal’s story? You could give Dalit people such as Bhaiyyalal a voice and help them escape the suffering caused by caste discrimination.

"How? Live a truly meaningful and memorable year as part of a Karuna Men’s Fundraising Community

"From September 2010 to August 2011, Karuna will be pioneering the first team of Karuna Appeal fundraisers who will come together for a year to live and work together as a community of fundraisers.

"We need a team of four or more men.

"What we’re offering:

• Community living based in London
• Blocks of 6 weeks fundraising followed by at least one week off
• A total of 10 weeks leaves including a trip to India and time for retreats
• Training in Fundraising as a spiritual practice
• A comprehensive support package
• Led by Jayaraja

"For more information -
Contact Khemajala
Phone 0207 697 3004
Email khemajala@karuna.org
Web www.appeals.karuna.org

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.

News from FreeBuddhistAudio - new Dharma training resources

FreeBuddhistAudio have written celebrating the completion of the new FWBO “Dharma Training Course for Mitras” - a substantial four-year course in Buddhism and meditation, designed primarily for Mitras ('friends') involved with the FWBO Buddhist community.

They say - “After two years of work by many people throughout the FWBO, led by Saccanama, the new Dharma training course is finally ready online!

“We think it's pretty marvellous – a consistent, fully referenced, fully indexed, professionally produced web publishing project to lend a new coherence to the study we do together as an international community of practising Buddhists. The course aims to give people in the FWBO a thorough grounding in Dharma study and practice. It also makes an excellent general course for anyone interested in putting Buddhist teaching into practice in their life.

“We hope you'll enjoy using it as part of your own Dharma adventures. Please let us know how you get on! You can view the full course here, download the official Guide, or listen to the launch talk and other special course resources now!”

There’s also news of two companions to the main course -

The Way of Mindfulness – a companion website
Kamalashila's wonderful audio and video meditation instruction site to accompany his module on the Satipatthana Sutta from Year Two of the Course. A labour of love in progress, featuring material not available anywhere else.

Towards Insight – Contemplations of the Buddha
This is another matching set of excellent guided meditations from Dayanandi and Ratnaguna. Here we are introduced to the practice of Buddhanussati – recollecting the Buddha by dwelling on his great qualities. The reflections are based on epithets for the Buddha from the Tiratana Vandana ('Salutation to the Buddha') and is one of the earliest of Buddhist practices.  Listen to the talk here.


Free Buddhist Audio is committed to providing free access for all. Your financial support is essential for building a strong community. Help us spread the Dharma throughout the world!

News from Windhorse Publications

Sagaraghosa, one of the Trustees of Windhorse Publications, the FWBO's publishing house, writes with some of their news.  She says -

"There are several changes afoot at present with Windhorse Publications, so it seems like an appropriate time to write with news. First, I am very pleased to be able to announce that Priyananda has been appointed as Publishing Director. He has already started and is working three days a week. His work includes developing the publishing strategy, commissioning new books and liaising with the rest of the movement. I am delighted that we have managed to find someone so experienced and skilled to do this work.

I shall be continuing in an advisory role, and Vidyadevi will be continuing to help with books by Bhante and some of the other books for the movement. Caroline and Sarah will be continuing to manage the office, production, marketing and sales. In addition, Lee Walford now works one day a week looking after the finances. So we are well placed with staffing for 2010 and have a strong team to take us forward.

"By the time you read this, Windhorse will have moved offices out of the Cambridge Buddhist Centre and into rented office accommodation in nearby Mill Road. The Buddhist Centre did not have enough room for the additional staff and needed more space themselves. The new office has much more space and is conveniently situated quite close to the station (and a rather good cafe!) The telephone number and email address stay the same.

"You may have noticed that we have recently published a batch of books for newcomers to Buddhism:

Life with Full Attention by Maitreyabandhu,
Meaning in Life by Sarvananda,
Vegetarianism by Bodhipaksa and
Saving the Earth by Akuppa.

"These books have made a promising start and have been received enthusiastically by book shops during sales visits.

"Bhante's new book, Living Ethically, needs a reprint shortly, which is also very pleasing. Our other recent title is 'Visions of Mahayana Buddhism' by Nagapriya which is a great introduction to this inspiring tradition. You should find it in most FWBO Centre bookshops - or you can order it direct from us.

"Looking forward to 2010, we shall be publishing 'The Story of the FWBO' by Vajragupta, starting to publish books to use with the new FWBO-wide Dharma Study Course for mitras, and reissuing some of Bhante's books with new introductions in a new 'Sangharakshita Classics' series, as well as hopefully some other new titles. Also we shall be revamping the web site.

"Our main challenge is still money. It takes a lot of juggling to pay the bills. So we shall be exploring ways to increase our sales and funding. Of course donations are always welcome, but you can also help by buying books from your Centre book shop or directly from us at www.windhorsepublications.com . Also if you have ideas for new books, please get in touch.

"With your help we can thrive in 2010 and beyond.

Sagaraghosa

Karuna Mexico is born

For FWBO News' first story of the New Year, we're pleased to report from Mexico. Mario Peña from the AOBO’s Mexico Buddhist Centre writes...

“We have a new project at the Buddhist Centre - "Karuna". I am happy to report that it is growing up even more and more. We are running activities to help groups of disadvantaged people - children without parents, children that live in the street, old people, people with troubled psychology, etc.

“Since 2007 we have been organising collections of different goods. After we make an appeal, people bring and leave things in the Buddhist Centre; and we find that after some months of collecting we have enough to leave them to institutions that help people. So far we’ve done 4 appeals, all with good results - the most recent have been toys in April and food in December. With these we have helped 22 different institutions and more than 1500 people.

“We are very excited, we have finished our collections for the year 2009 and we are glad. With these activities we’ve been able to help people who come to the Buddhist Centre to practice compassion and kindness, (Karuna, Metta) - and of course the donations have had benefits in their own right.

“It could be the response of Mexicans to the work of TBMSG and the Karuna Trust in India.

“We think that when we engage an activity like this we can help change the attitude of people, the tendency towards discrimination against people on another economic level, or old people, or with some incapacity or another - we can help to break the barriers that exist between Mexicans.

“Our web page in Spanish is www.karuna.mx.

“Thank you.”

Mario Peña
Coordinator Colecta Karuna México.
Centro Budista de la Ciudad de Mexico
Tel.: 001 55 5525 4023
contacto@karuna.mx
Colecta Karuna

Agradecemos el apoyo a todas las personas que participaron con entusiasmo en la colecta. Se logro reunir suficientes víveres para llegar a las 5 instituciones que teniamos pensado. La entrega se realizó el día Lunes, martes, y miércoles. ...

FWBO People gets a makeover

FWBO People is a website listing over 200 personal websites of Order Members, Mitras, and Friends up and down the FWBO - and the AOBO, VWBO, BBBD, and TBMSG - as the Movement is known in various countries worldwide.

It was created some three years ago by Jayarava and during 20009 has been managed by Lokabandhu of the FWBO Development Team.

Now, thanks to the technical expertise of Dridhamati, it’s had a makeover, and we’re proud to present the new improved version. There’s more people, fewer screens to scroll through, and - most importantly - a ‘snap’ function that lets you preview each site before clicking on it...

You’ll find it at www.people.fwbo.org.

If you’re an Order Member, Mitra, or Friend, have a personal website, and would like it to be included, please write to us at people@fwbo.org. It doesn’t have to be a ‘Buddhist’ site - blogs, photo collections, YouTube videos - all are welcome...

Resignations from the Western Buddhist Order

The past six months have seen seven resignations from the Western Buddhist Order:

Achalavajra from Abingdon, near Oxford UK, and ordained in 1989;
Amaradeva from Somerville Massachusetts in the US, ordained in 2003.
Karunadrishti from Berlin, ordained in 2005;
Kuladeva from London, ordained in 1977;
Manjudaaka from Finland, ordained in 1998;
Prajnacitta from the Netherlands, ordained in 2005; and finally
Vipassi from Liverpool, ordained in 1989;

After some discussion, it has been decided the best way to report resignations from the Order is in a similar way to ordinations, ie in batches, and without giving details of individual circumstances.

FWBO News wishes all of them well as they continue their spiritual journeys in other contexts.

The Buddha walks at Nagaloka

Readers of FWBO News will know of the remarkable ‘Big Buddha’ statue recently unveiled at the Nagarjuna Institute, TBMSG’s main training centre in Nagpur, Central India.

Mangesh Dahiwale writes with further news of the unveiling ceremony, an inauguration message from Sangharakshita, and a translation of a beautiful poem by Daya Pawar, the well-known Marathi women's poet.  He says -

"Nagaloka is located in Nagpur, which is the nerve centre of revival of Buddhism in India after the Great Conversion movement that Dr. Ambedkar initiated in 1956. The aim of the Nagarjuna Institute based in Nagaloka is to train people from all over India in Buddhism and social transformation through peaceful means. The training comprises Buddhist teachings, meditation and community life, besides responses to social situation in India which is largely dominated by caste attitudes. So far, Nagarjuna Institute trained over 500 people from 20 states, and they are actively working in all over India. Their work involves teaching the Buddha Dhamma, and some of them do extensive social work in terms of running hostels and schools.

"Nagarjuna Institute is also emerging as an important centre for interaction of Buddhists from all over the world. It hosted the International Network of Engaged Buddhist (INEB) conference in 2005, and International conference on "Buddhism in Modern World" in 2006. Buddhists from various denominations and nationalities have visited Nagarjuna Institute, notable amongst them are teacher and monks from both the east and west, which also includes Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh and Sulak Sivaraksa.

"To add to the serene atmosphere of the Nagaloka, an open shrine was envisioned with an unique image of the Buddha that will inspire people to follow in the footsteps of the Buddha as the teacher of the humanity. This vision was actualised when on 12th and 13th December 2009 a 32 foot high brass statue of the Buddha walking (on a 28 foot mound and base) was inaugurated at Nagaloka. It is estimated that between 40,000 and over 100,000 visited the Nagaloka campus that day.

"For many years we have wanted to have such a statue at the centre of Nagaloka but until recently that wish remained a mere dream; now it has been actualised. Lokamitra says that it has been one of the most difficult project he has been involved with in during the 31 years he has been living in India, but at the same time the most personally inspiring.

"Urgyen Sangharakshita sent the following message for the inauguration.

After his Enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rest of his life walking from town to town and village to village. Wherever he went he taught people the truth he had discovered. He taught them regardless of caste, education, or social position. By his inspiring presence he also encouraged people to live without fear.

Years ago, the revered Dr Ambedkar, the inaugurator of the Dhamma revolution, expressed a wish that there should be a Walking Buddha, instead of the usual image of the seated, meditating Buddha.

I am therefore overjoyed to learn that a 32 foot high statue of the walking Buddha in abhaya [fearlessness] mudra has been erected at Nagaloka and I heartily congratulate all who have been involved in this historic project.

In particular I congratulate Dhammachari Lokamitra, who originated the project, Wen Kwei Chan, the gifted artist who constructed the image, Ven Kuang Shin, the main donor, Ci Xiong Li, the second main donor, and the other generous donors.

The Nagaloka Walking Buddha will, I am sure, draw visitors and pilgrims from all over India, and indeed from all parts of the world. It will serve to remind us not only of the Buddha and his life but also of the fact that his teaching is a practical one, and one that is to be implemented for the benefit of all.

"The vision of Dr. Ambedkar’s was immortalised in the Marathi poem by Daya Pawar:

Buddha
“I never see you sitting in
Jeta’s garden
sitting with eyes closed
in meditation, in the lotus position,
or
in the caves of Ajanta and Ellora
with stone lips sewn shut
sleeping the last sleep of your life.


I see you
walking, talking,
softly, healingly,
on the sorrow of the poor, the weak,
going from hut to hut
in the life-destroying darkness,
torch in hand,
giving the sorrow
that drains the blood
like a contagious disease
a new meaning.”


SADHU!

They are still appealing for funds to complete the landscaping works - please visit www.justgiving.com/nagalokabuddha if you would like to donate.

New UK Dharma groups

Suddhacitta writes to FWBO News with news of growing interest in Dharma classes from the small town of Bridport, in Dorset on the south coast of the UK. He says -

“We have just done our first day retreat in Bridport. Alayasri and I were really happy that 10 people came for the morning, 7 stayed for lunch and 6 stayed for the whole day. It felt like a meaningful and enjoyable time. We did four lots of meditation, a couple of talks on Mindfulness and Samadhi and a little interactive session on the four levels of awareness. Generally we meet up bi-monthly on Sat mornings for a drop- in class.

“Hope all is going well for you. Keep up the good work. Suddhacitta"

Alayasri and Suddhacitta join a growing number of local FWBO groups around the UK - currently over 25 and growing.  You can find their full contact details on the main UK FWBO contacts page.

That special Xmas gift - a Sangharakshita ringtone!

Just in case there’s anyone out there still wondering what to get their nearest and dearest Buddhist friends for Christmas; FWBO News is pleased to bring you this year’s most unlikely gift: a Sangharakshita ringtone! Specifically, it's a ringtone of Sangharakshita speaking on one of his teachers, the Tibetan Rimpoche Chetul Sangye Dorje...

We discovered it courtesy of Google Alerts, it comes to you from an outfit called "Bomb MP3" who offer a multitude of ‘free’ downloads and ringtones - once you’ve created an account, started a subscription, given your mobile phone number, and so on...

The original is one section of a longer talk by Sangharakshita called ‘On Tara’, given to a gathering of women at the FWBO's Taraloka Retreat Centre and posted on the FreeBuddhistAudio website - from which you really can download it for free by clicking here.

Happy Christmas!

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

Subhuti in India December 2009

Following yesterday’s report of Shakyajata’s Indian travels and Dhamma work, today FWBO News brings you an update on another Order Member's work there. Subhuti is one of the Order’s most active Dharma teachers; he is currently in India on a six-month teaching visit, criss-crossing it North South East and West... FWBO News has recently stumbled across his Facebook page and brings you a digest of some of the stories there.

They’re posted on the FWBO Features page at www.fwbo-news.org/features/SB_Facebook_09d: click to read...

For more news of Subhuti, we’d recommend you become a ‘fan’ of his Facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/Dharmachari-Subhuti

The reports were written by Dharmashalin, Subhuti’s secretary and travelling companion.

December in South India: news from a Dharma tour

As Christmas approaches, spare a thought for Shakyajata and Priyadaka,  two Order Members from the UK, both currently touring India and visiting many of TBMSG’s most remote ‘Dhamma outposts’, small projects in remote areas, mostly initiated by gradates from Nagaloka.

She says -

“Well, where to begin? We have been travelling for nearly five weeks now, and every day is packed with impressions, a rollercoaster of unfamiliar experiences. Both of us are showing symptoms of overload (poor sleep, strange dreams, loss of short-term memory etc) so have decided to spend a few days here in Kerala, meditating and chilling out - we have just spent an entire day at the beach!

Before that we were in Hyderabad, where we arrived having survived a rather trying train journey from Bhubaneshwar in Orissa... there were MICE! The situation in Hyderabad could not be more different from Orissa, a remote place where there are a bunch of young mitras full of enthusiasm and inspiration; here TBMSG is much more established.

Hyderabad
We visited a very famous site, Nagarjunakonda, an amazing place. Up to about the 5th century CE, this remote, peaceful valley of the ancient river Krishna, was a huge Buddhist monastic settlement, with many monasteries, stupas, viharas etc; then as everywhere in India, Buddhism became overlaid by Brahmanism and eventually disappeared. Then in the 1950s it was decided to build a huge dam, for much-needed irrigation for the peasant farmers of a huge area of Andhra Pradesh. The whole valley was set to be drowned; but a remarkable Indian archaeologist completed an excavation of the whole huge area, in just 6 years. Now the site is a vast lake (the dam is staggeringly huge) with an island where all the artefacts are displayed in a museum, among beautiful gardens and a setting like a Japanese ink-painting.

The Buddhist artefacts are amazing, not quite like anything I have seen before; including large standing and sitting Buddhas with strong faces of a different ethnic appearance from northern Buddhas, and unusual mudras (hand gestures). The site finds go back to the Old Stone Age, so much to take in...and we only had an hour!

The heroine of this stage of our journey is Jnanajyoti, who is making great efforts to connect and reconnect with women she knows in the Sangha here. I do hope they will continue to be supported in future, by TBMSG and the FWBO as a whole. Also great thanks are due to Padmavir who is trying to organise good things for us and, it seems, lots of other visitors at the same time! It's great to witness a revival of the ancient Buddhist traditions in Hyderabad, in a new form which will transform the lives of people here.

Kerala
Kerala, on the western coast of South India, is hot and humid, quite tropical, and very beautiful, generally cleaner and more sorted than other parts of India.

Today, meditating on the beach, it came clear that there are women here I especially want to help.
In fact we have lots of ideas for projects we want to pursue. We have had a number of successful (if rather stressful) 'programmes' and there is so much interest in people, in what we have to offer. Spending a day or 2 as a 'tourist' has made me realise what it is I love about being here - it is a sort of glow on people's faces when they realise what their potential is for a different way of looking at their lives - that brilliant gleam of human potential, it's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

And people are so friendly and responsive - a few days ago I found myself talking (to about 100 people) about my brother Asangasila's death (it was the anniversary) in just a natural way...they are so open and uninhibited. In Kerala we have spent a lot of the time with Ratnasiddhi, an Indian Order Member from Nagpur who is very impressive. He connects with people in a way we never could - I said something that inadvertently offended someone very politically militant at a meeting, and he fielded it so expertly. We are learning so much - Priyadaka is revealing a particular talent for teaching meditation, making it simple and appealing and very effective - to a group of 150 people including lots of babies, on one occasion!

Return to Nagpur
On Saturday morning we are going about 150 km north to stay with one of the Indian Dhammamitras in Kerala, who is going to show us some historic sites and put us on the train on Monday morning, to go back to Nagpur in central India, where we shall be based for most of the rest of the time here. This is a bit of a cliff-hanger as we do not have a confirmed reservation yet....our previous experience of this was not positive, we had no space to sleep...the journey takes 2 days and a night, so wish us luck...but it should be an exciting journey, through half of India....time to go now.

Any support you can give will be most welcome, on www.justgiving.com/youngindianfutures ... and thanks to you all.

love to all,
Shakyajata and Priyadaka

The map above shows most of TBMSG's groups across India; their website is at http://tbmsg.org

Maitreyabandhu wins second poetry award

In November we carried news of Maitreyabandhu’s winning of the 2009 Keats-Shelley poetry prize. We're delighted to say he’s done it again! He writes with the news -

“Dear Friends, hope this finds you well.

“Just to let you know that I won the Basil Bunting Poetry Award (it is the first time they had run the award). Which means I won £1,000 and the editor of Bloodaxe (a poetry publisher) will look at my work. I went up to Newcastle to receive the award. I'll probably spend the money on some more poetry mentoring!

“You can look at the results - and find out about Basil Bunting - on their website www.basilbuntingaward.co.uk

“Love, Maitreyabandhu

PS - here is the poem:

The Coat Cupboard

Once you close the door, once you’re in, you’re small
like you’ve shrunk – no window, no view of sycamores,
cattle or an aqueduct – a stand-alone place
big enough for one. The walls and the back of the door
are lined with coats, two or three deep, hanging
on high brass hooks: gabardines, parkas, macks –
the smart black coat your father never liked, the knitted
afternoon jacket that might’ve belonged to your aunt,
and shoes unevenly stacked, so that you almost stumble
and twist your ankle on the heel of a brogue.
You don’t push your way through to discover a landscape
where beavers can talk; you’re not reunited with your lover
coming around the headland in a ship – your face
is pressed against lambswool, which smells of camphor,
ink and dogs. Some of the pockets are torn; you have to
fish inside pearl-coloured linings yellowed with age.
Some of the cuffs are frayed. Your fingers,
which have become unaccountably small and white,
ferret inside the pockets of a waxed raincoat, among coins
and balled-up silver paper, folded receipts and pencil shavings.
And there are shadows between the coats, long scarves
of shadow that disappear when you touch them
like crows flying up from a field. You find a set of keys
without their brightness or warmth of handling –
the leather keyring almost worn through at the hoop,
an aluminium badge with a profile of a swan –
and a lipstick your grandma must have used, the 50’s pink
when you wind it out, still shaped to the curve of her lip.

New Turkish Dharma website launched

Order Member Vajracaksu has been living and working in Istanbul for the past 6 years, slowly establishing Dharma and meditation classes there, plus offering sessions in “Living Well with Pain, Illness & Stress” courses via Breathworks.

He’s recently launched a new dual-language website ‘Farkindalik Meditasyon’ (meaning, ‘Mindfulness Meditation’), plus a couple of videos of him leading simple meditation-based breathing exercises. You'll findhis videos on Videosangha or just click below…

.

‘Farkindalik Meditasyon’is at www.farkindalikmeditasyon.com/tr (Turkish) or www.farkindalikmeditasyon.com in English.

He writes to say "By the way, I’m sure this’ll interest you: I’ve broken out of Istanbul! About a month ago I led a 3.5 hour meditation workshop in Ankara that went very well, 7 women came and left peaceful & happy. I plan to return in 2 or 3 months time and this time attract 1 or 2 more people. Whenever I write to FWBO news again of course I’ll mention it! Kind wishes, Vajracaksu"

Children’s activities in Amaravati and Nagpur; India

FWBO News brings you two stories today from India, both about children.

Prompted by our September story of the London Buddhist Centre’s ‘Buddhist Sunday School’, Amitayus writes from Amaravati telling of their long-standing children's activities there ; and in the larger central India city of Nagpur Tejadhamma has been bringing together children and animated Dharma: surely a winning combination!

He says - “I recently showed the animated movie on Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha’s life to 50-60 children at Nagpur. Many children and parents appreciated the movie and some of the children expressed that they have watched the animated movie of Krishna, Hanuman, Ganesh and other Hindu god/goddesses on TV or cable channels but this was their first opportunity to see a Buddhist animated movie which was so inspiring and they liked it to watch and practice like the Buddhist great people.

“I have seen in many cities in India that the children are spending lots of time watching TV channels but they are not getting any Buddhist culture through the animated movies shown on TV. I realised they need to be shown attractive ways to learn some Buddhist teaching, which is very valuable for human life. I have found that if we talk about what Buddha said, children neglect to listen, so when I was discussing with my colleague  about children’s activities and the Buddhist culture for the next generation; we found that animated movies on Buddhism would be an easy way to communicate the teachings and this was our first attempt to show the movie on big screen by projector which was so appreciated and helpful .’

‘We would like this to show in every Buddha Vihar in Nagpur and the Buddhist centres in India. But this animated movie is in Chinese language; when we showed it, it was translated in Hindi by myself on microphone.

“Now we need to translate in Hindi and make more copies of it. To make this a success I am trying to get an expert translator and raising some funds for screen and projector, making/copying more DVDs with Hindi translation, voice experts to add the Hindi language, animation worker’s expenses, studio charges etc.’ I would be so delighted to see some interested people in this project who can help financially and through their personal contribution. They can contact me on my email tejadhamma@gmail.com

Over in Amaravati, Amitayus writes with news of their Buddhist children’s activities. He says -

“To the editor FWBO-TBMSG news, Jaibhim!

“We are happy to know that the London Buddhist Centre has started a Buddhist Sunday school focusing on children and their development. I heartily appreciate the activities the LBC team are arranging especially the stories and crafts which are the very effective way of nurturing the child’s mind. Also it is great to have the Little Buddha Children’s Club at Nagpur.

“We want to let you know that we at TBMSG Amravati in central India have a history of running successful children’s classes since 1994. The outcome of these are that we had many young men and women from that becoming Dhammamitras and many are now working for TBMSG in various places. They strongly appreciate how these children’s activities have helped them to understand Buddhism and meditation, and how the ethical practices of Buddhism have helped them to develop their personality.

"It is also prideful for us that we have regular Children’s classes in many slums around Amaravati, places like Mahadeo Khori, Panchashil Nagar, and the village Anjangao Bari.

"This class especially has become known to many people in India because the villagers boycotted the local school when it admitted 22 HIV positive children. At that time our Sukhavati women’s and children empowerment project (funded by Karuna Trust UK) successfully intervened in the issue and initiated a children’s class in this village too.

"Altogether it is clear to us that in all the FWBO –TBMSG there are INCREASING children’s projects which are not known to all Sangha members. We are happy to inform you of our activities in Amaravati. I hope you will publish the same through FWBO –TBMSG NEWS , all the news on FWBO-TBMSG is inspiring and experience the sangha success.

"Many thanks, Amitayus"

International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) celebrates 20th anniversary

The International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) recently celebrated its 20th anniversary at Chiang Mai, Thailand, in the course of which Lokamitra led a retreat for over 100 participants from all over the Buddhist world. Priyadarshi Telang, from TBMSG's Jambudvipa project, sends us his report. He says -

"The International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) celebrated its 20th anniversary November 9th-17th at the at Chiang Mai, Thailand, November 9th-16th with a variety of activities. Over the last few years links with INEB have grown; Lokamitra is at present a member of their advisory committee, while Mangesh Dahiwale is a member of their executive committee. INEB was founded by Sulak Sivaraksa, who at the age of 76, is beginning to withdraw from the front line of INEB activities.

"The conference therefore also marked this period of transition with the formation of larger and more diverse advisory and executive committees, as well as a secretariat more able to coordinate the fast growing network.

Sangha and Kalyanamitra

"The celebrations started with a three day retreat led by Dhammachari Lokamitra. This was attended by about 100 participants from 16 different countries. The participants included almost 30 bhikshus and bhikshunis from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Ladakh, and Bhutan. Indian participants included Maitrivir Nagarjuna from the New Delhi centre, Pradeep Bansode, Priyadarshi Telang and Mangesh Dahiwale from Jambudvipa Trust, Deepak and Manish from Nagarjuna Training Institute, Anand Shakya from Karuna Vihar Hostel, Gujarat, and Anurag Meshram and Sumedh Sthool, social activists connected with The Jambudvipa Trust. Ratnadharini, from Tiratanaloka, UK, also attended.

"The idea of the retreat was to provide a situation in which people could experience deeper communication on the basis of going for refuge to Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, as a prelude to the four days of discussions that followed. The theme was “Sangha and Kalyanamitra”. INEB is trying to operate according to the principles of Sangha, while Sulak Sivaraksa has always emphasised that it is the spirit of kalyanamitrata that breathes life into the network. On the first day Jonathan Watts, Jill Jameson and Ven Kalupahana explored the question of Sangha in the modern world. On the second day, Ven Khenpo, and Tempel looked at the principle of Kalyanamitra. On the last day, Anchalee Kurutach, Dhammacharini Ratnadharini and Harsha Navaratne talked about work as spiritual practice from their own experience.

"Given the diverse traditions which the retreatants came from, Lokamitra tried to make it as inclusive as possible. Apart from the short talks and discussion groups following them, the day consisted of a number of periods of meditation, including special emphasis on the metta bhavana. The days started with traditional salutations from Theravada and Mahayana monks and nuns, as well as from the Japanese “priests”. It concluded with the Seven Fold Puja, or the Pali Puja led by Indian friends.

"The retreat was followed by the 3-day conference, the mornings of which included four sessions of talks and symposia, while the afternoon sessions were meant for group discussions based on country and general issues. On the first day Mangesh Dahiwale made a presentation on “Critical reflections on Engaged Buddhism” with Jonathan Watts. On the third Ratnadharini gave a presentation on the future of the Sangha, along with the Thai bhikshu, Ven Phaisan, who preceded her, and in calling for a thorough review of approach to Sangha, paved the way for her by indicating that more serious attention needs to be given to the approach the Western Buddhist Order. Ratnadharini approached the question by looking at her work and life as a preceptor based at Tiratanaloka, the women’s retreat centre in UK dedicated to helping women prepare for ordination. Later in the morning Lokamitra led a discussion on “Coming Home – the implications of the Revival of Buddhism in India” in which Dhammachari Viradhamma, Dhammachari Maitriveer Nagarjuna and Dr. H.C. Yo participated. The last day was taken up with a meeting of the advisory and executive bodies. The whole programme was interspersed with other talks and cultural events, some of them spontaneous.

"Most of us felt, at the end of the retreat and conference, that we had been able to communicate something of the enormous significance of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism, as well as of the relevance of the approach of the FWBO/TBMSG in the modern world.

"But we all went away inspired by the efforts of so many Buddhists to put apply their practice of Buddhism to the social issues confronting the modern world, by their receptivity, friendliness, and by the trans-cultural situation we found ourselves in.

"It is a great tribute Sulak Sivaraksa that he has been able to cultivate this network of very dedicated but diverse number of Buddhists. INEB has grown considerably in the last 20 years and hopefully will have an increasingly positive influence on the world over the next few years".

Bristol Skills Auction raises money for Dhamma work in India

A major FWBO-wide project scheduled for 2010 is fundraising for Dhamma work in India.

The newly-formed India Dhamma Trust (www.indiadhammatrust.com) is seeking to raise funds to support around 20 of the Movement’s most central Dhamma workers in India, both men and women.

Fundraising for money to support two part-time fundraisers has been going on in the Western Buddhist Order for some time now, and an appeal to the wider Sangha is scheduled to begin in the New Year.

The Bristol Buddhist Centre have been first to get on board with a very successful Skills Auction in aid of the new fund, and Silajala writes from Bristol to say -

“Hello, it's a little while now since we had our Skills Auction so this is a final update to let you know how it all went and to say thanks again to all of you who helped in one way or another.

“We raised over £700 including the gift aid. In fact the final figure is £756.32! I'm very pleased with this sum and it shows how much generosity there is within and for the Sangha. The atmosphere generated on the evening seemed to so strongly rub off on people that we ended up with extra skills being offered at the last minute, plus an extras like a one-off donation.

“To my mind the skills auction was a great way to build Sangha, in that it encouraged us all in our generosity, forged links with one another and brought us together in a lively and enjoyable way. Please come to the next one if you can!

“So a big final THANK YOU to everyone who offered skills and to those of you who came and bid for them too. I'd also like to thank Satyalila, Amaladevi, Achalavira, Adrian Bonds, Padmavyuha, Jnanarakshita, Karunavapi and MahaRatnajyoti for all their help in getting everything set up. And finally thanks to the auctioneer himself - Satyadarshin. With me as his assistant the two of us worked well together and along with everyone else we had a lot of FUN!

“Yours in the Sangha
Silajala

Please look out for the India Dhamma Trust as we move into 2010 - their website www.indiadhammatrust.com is just on-line but they’re planning a series of Centre visits and other events.

FWBO Dharma Training Course now complete and on-line

More breaking news just spotted on Facebook -

Dharmachari Candradasa Dharma Training Course now complete! Two years in the making, a lot of work by a lot of people... 'Evolutionary Buddhism' is the final module to go live. Enjoy!

The FWBO Dharma Training Course is a four-year Dharma study course which aims to give people in the FWBO a thorough grounding in Dharma study and practice. It also makes an excellent general course for anyone interested in putting Buddhist teaching into practice in their life.

Find it at www.freebuddhistaudio.com/study

The course was commissioned by the FWBO Chairs Assembly, and developed by Saccanama in conjunction with many Order Members who prepared individual modules under his guidance.

Windhorse Publications move to larger offices

Sarah Ryan, from Windhorse Publications, the FWBO’s publishing house, writes to say -

“Dear all,

"After lots of preparation we are finally moving office to a larger space on Mill Road here in Cambridge, UK. This will be great as we will have more space and light, which we definitely need. It’s also going to be wonderful to be located on one of the most vibrant and independent streets in Cambridge.

"Having said this, our time at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre has been wonderful and we will miss sharing the space with such cheerful and friendly people – thank you very much to everyone there.

"From Tuesday 15th December our new address is:

Windhorse Publications
169 Mill Road
Cambridge
CB1 3AN

"Our telephone numbers and email addresses will be staying the same, and of course our website www.windhorsepublications.com .

"Wishing you all a warm winter
Sarah”

Big Buddha inaugurated in India

Breaking news is just in from India (via Facebook): Yogesh Wanjari reports - 


"just back from inaugration ceremony of the 56 feet standing BUDDHA.  About 100,000 people were there [at TBMSG's Nagaloka campus in Nagpur] to attend that ceremony. everything was just so beautiful. hats off to all those BUDDHIST heroes who have been contributing their wealth, skill, time and whatever they have given, to accomplish this thing. with metta.
about an hour ago · Comment · 


We'll try to bring you a full report and more photos soon.  

Fund-raising for the finishing touches to the Buddha and landscape works is still going on; please visit www.justgiving.com/nagalokabuddha if you'd like to contribute.

Sadhu!

Christmas at Clear Vision...

 Christmas at Clear Vision

Following up their post of a few days ago introducing their new website, the Clear Vision team, Aparajita, Munisha and Upekshapriya, have written with some suggestions for where you could buy your Christmas prezzies - from them! And why not...?

They say -

• Children 4 to 8 years old are captivated by our Buddhist story DVD, The Monkey King.
• The DVD What is Buddhism? (adults and young people 12 years +) could be the answer for someone interested in your Buddhist practice but unlikely ever to read a book.
• Give someone a flavour of meditation with our DVD Meditation for Everyone.
• Buddhist friends might enjoy receiving our new poster of Aloka's Wheel of Life.

A Death in the Order

Maitreyaraja, Centre Manager at the London Buddhist Centre, writes with news of a death in the Order. He says -

“Dear Dharmachari/ini,

“I am writing to let you know that Aryamitra died on Wednesday morning the 9th of December at around 6am. Nityabodha led a ritual for him in the Breathing Space shrine room at the London Buddhist Centre the same evening at 9.45pm.

“Aryamitra was ordained in 1974 and was aged 61.

“Details about Aryamitra’s funeral will be sent around in due time.

“In the Dharma,
“Maitreyaraja.

FWBO News adds -

Aryamitra contributed to the life of the Order and the Movement in many ways. To mention
just a few things: in the late seventies he was involved in establishing the FWBO Printing
Service at Aryatara in Croydon with Mangala. In the eighties he left Glasgow and went alone
to set up the Leeds Buddhist Centre. In the nineties he was involved with the Ordination team
at Padmaloka for a while and became part of the process of helping men to prepare for
ordination. In 1995 it was discovered that he had a brain-tumour. The tumour was removed
and after recovering Aryamitra moved to London. At the London Buddhist Centre he led
meditation courses and retreats, and for many years regularly led lunchtime classes.

New image of the Western Buddhist Order's Refuge Tree

Saraha writes from Birmingham, UK, with news of an exciting project to paint a new version of the WBO’s 44-figure ‘Refuge Tree’.

He says -

“Hello from Saraha, I'm raising funds for a new and very special painting of the FWBO's Refuge Tree, to be painted by my friend Chintamani.

“The Refuge Tree of the FWBO was created by Urgyen Sangharakshita and shows the primary sources of inspiration we draw upon in the Western Buddhist Order and FWBO.

“Altogether there are 44 figures on the Tree, in the following arrangement -

Archetypal Buddhas - Vajrasattva

Amitabha, Ratnasambhava, Vairochana, Amoghasiddhi, Akshobhya

Teachers of the Past –

From India: Nagarjuna Asanga, Vasubandhu, Shantideva, Buddhaghosa

From Tibet: Milarepa Atisha, Padmasambhava, Tsong Khapa

From China: Huey Nung, Chih I, Hsuan Tsang

From Japan: Hakuin, Kukai, Dogen, Shinran

The Sutra-Treasure - All the scriptures of all the schools of Buddhism

The Bodhisattvas - Manjusri, Vajrapani, Avalokitesvara, Aryatara, Kshitigarbha

The Buddhas of the Three Times - SHAKYAMUNI, Dipankara, Maitreya

The Disciples of the Buddha - Maudgalyayana, Ananda, Sariputra, Dhammadinna, Kasyapa

Sangharakshita and his Teachers - Dudjom Rimpoche, Jamyang Khyentse Rimpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rimpoche, Chetul Sangye Dorje, Kachu Rimpoche, Dhardo Rimpoche, Yogi Chen, Urgyen Sangharakshita, Ven. Jagdish Kashyap

“The tree is unusual and even unique in the Buddhist world, in that it places the Buddha at the centre and includes figures from the whole Buddhist tradition.  It’s been painted before, but never on such a large scale.

"The project is going well. With some substantial help from Aloka, Chintamani has been researching all the figures, including discussing finer points of their iconography with Bhante. One intriguing issue has been deciding on the mudras (hand gestures) that would be appropriate for Bhante’s teachers.

“He has done most of the drawings although not yet started painting. Having started on a 6ft by 4ft canvas, he decided it was too small to give the figures the space that they deserved, and so now is working on a canvas measuring 8ft by just under 6ft. This allows room to keep the figures from overlapping, and gives each the space needed for conveying its own unique qualities. I'm really looking forward to seeing the image and prostrating to it.

“It’s clear from my conversations with Chintamani that he’s very keen to paint our refuge tree because of his love for our tradition, our Order and our connections with the wider Buddhist world. This is his motivation. He’s been an artist all his life and painting images for our Movement for 30 years now - his image of Padmasambhava (shown right) is known and loved by many of us.

“However he does need money to live, and our donations to him allow him to focus full time on this project. Currently he is living on a very tight budget, so I hope we can continue to raise money to ease the financial strain. Please click on my fundraising site www.justgiving.com/refugetree to see more photos of his work and to make a donation”.

Technology and Enlightenment: new Wildmind newsletters out

Wildmind is the FWBO’s US-based website dedicated to teaching meditation. Each month they publish a newsletter exploring one or another aspect of meditation or dharma practice. 

October 2009 looks at the interesting topic of ‘Technology and Enlightenment’, in which contributors explore whether immersing ourselves in a world of gadgets may also distance us from more authentic connections with teachers, family, and friends - or not. There’s reports too on recent scientific research disproving the notion, still common in the West, that Buddhists must be a miserable lot because their teachings dwell so much on suffering. The research in fact suggests what Buddhists have believed all along - that Buddhism -- or at least Buddhist meditation- leads to happiness.

November, by contrast, is on the theme of ‘ Making your meditation work’. One article sees Sunada explain how working with (as opposed to fighting against) our fears can point us toward our own place of freedom: she describes fearlessness not as the absence of fear, but the ability stay with one's fear and use its energy wisely. Meditation teacher and life coach Srimati offers a ten-stage guide to getting the most out of your meditation practice -and new contiributor Rev. Canon Renée Miller explores Buddhist practice from the perspective of her own Christian faith.

December, just out, is simply on the theme of ‘Practice’ - especially appropriate at a time of year which often seems dedicated to anything but! There’s a rich collection of articles here too - but we’ll leave you to find out more by clicking here...

If you want to keep in touch with Wildmind they’ve recently launched a new Wildmind Facebook page and Twitter feed, which will deliver ‘tweets’ right into your Twitter in-box each time they post an article - sign up at twitter.com/medit8.

Clear Vision launch new website

Clear Vision are the FWBO's experts in educational and media work, offering a wealth of  resources for school teachers, students, and young Buddhists, plus a huge photo and video library, much of it available or free on the internet.  

They've been working for a while on a whole new website to display their wealth, and have just written to FWBO News to announce it - and to appeal for a bit of financial support.  They say - 

Clear Vision launches new website!

Our new website contains a mass of information, DVD, online video and pictures, for adults and young people. Please give generously to support this work for the FWBO.

Five hundred video clips

       [yes, that really is 500! - ed]

Over 500 video clips, mainly of Bhante Sangharakshita, organised into themes such as

• Sangharakshita's life
• Buddhism in the Modern World
• and even The Buddha! 

Young people's section

                             There are a lot of teenagers out there surfing the net looking for the Dharma.

We've always had a section for schools but this new section is for young people following up an independent interest in Buddhism.

As well as quizzes and information, you'll find here our recently completed Life of the Buddha interactive materials for 8-14 year-olds, combining video, questions, information and activities, as well as notes for parents/Sunday school leaders.

We believe that online interactive Dharma materials are the future - especially ones featuring Bodhi, the help lion!

General improvements

• Better FWBO photo section
• Clearer navigation 

Please give money to support this work.

All this free material, for the FWBO and for young people, costs money. Previously supported by sales to schools (now dwindling in recessionary times), we have had to reduce the hours of one of our three workers simply to stay in the black. There is so much Clear Vision is uniquely qualified to do, especially encouraging more young people around the world to engage with the Dharma through modern media. (We're very grateful to the FWBO Chairs for money for materials for teenagers.)

Please make a one-off or monthly donation. It's very easy: check here for information about donations or go straight to our Just Giving page.

With many thanks from

Aparajita, Munisha and Upekshapriya

PS - coming soon - another message from them with suggestions for Christmas at Clear Vision

Watch this space - it's possible it'll be the first time Christmas has been mentioned on FWBO News!

Some statistics on the Western Buddhist Order...

In 2007 the first comprehensive Survey was carried out of the 1,400 members of the Western Buddhist Order.

 This has now been updated and a selection of charts are posted below, examining the growth of the Order (now 1,600 and counting); its gender balance and how this has changed over the past 30 years; its age profile; and finally the absolute numbers of men and women being ordained.

Noteworthy are the continuing decline in younger Order Members (ie those below 40) and the dramatic expansion of the over-60s, also the steady trend towards equality in the numbers of men and women in the Order.

The Western Buddhist Order has always offered the same ordination on equal terms to both men and women, and has always had a policy of women deciding on the ordinations of women (and men on the ordinations of men).  This has not however meant there have always been equal numbers of men and women in the Order: the second chart shows a striking progression in the gender ratio over the past 30 years, from a peak imbalance of  over 5 men to every women, to the present ratio of 1.5:1 (or three men to two women) - with a marked trend towards parity.

The full results from 2007 are on-line at www.freebuddhistaudio.com/ordersurvey

The age chart especially will be slightly inaccurate due to the facts that (a) it has not been possible to incorporate resigned Order Members; happily there have been relatively few of these over the years; and (b) a number of newly-ordained Order Members are not included in the age profile as we do not yet have their dates of birth.

 This means the numbers of younger Order Members is likely to be slightly understated - there are at least a couple in their twenties, while the chart says zero.

The final chart shows the absolute numbers per year of men and women's ordinations into the Order.  This naturally jumps about as individuals become ready, but the dotted lines show trendlines for each, and a clear growth in the numbers of women joining the Order each year.

Young FWBO Buddhists gather in Sheffield

Last month saw a gathering of 35 young Buddhists from FWBO Centres all over the UK. They met at Whirlow Hall Farm outside Sheffield, for a busy weekend connecting with one another, practicing together, sharing inspiration, and making plans for finding ways to inspire more young people with the Dharma. Demand for spaces was so high that eight participants ended up camping!

They explored a total of six specific questions, three near the beginning of the weekend and three near the end -

* What is it about the FWBO that inspires your practice?
* Where is your radical edge?
* What do you want to make happen in the FWBO?

* What are the DOMINANT THEMES that have emerged for you?
* What DISCOVERIES have you made?
* What would you like to EXPLORE FURTHER?

The last questions gave rise to a rich collection of ideas, available on the FWBO News Resources page.

Lindsay Hannah from Taraloka, one of the organisers of the weekend, commented afterwards -

“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 centre or region in the UK in the coming months. We have also set up a Kula of inspired young FWBO Buddhists on facebook, this is a closed group where we can get to know each other and inspire and support each other to run initiatives at our centres to inspire other young people; it’s in addition to the public group which is at www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49821059114 and now has over 200 members.

“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 from October 8-10th, again near Sheffield (details on Facebook) I also hope events will be run at individual centres (these have already been organised in Cambridge, London, and Sheffield).

“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!

“Young people at FWBO centres are very welcome to contact me or they can check out our facebook group at: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49821059114”

Three talks from the weekend are available on FreeBuddhistAudio at www.freebuddhistaudio.com/talks/details?num=LOC185

Ambedkar in Hungary - a report from India

Pardeep Jade, a journalist and blogger from TBMSG in India, writes with news of his recent fact-finding mission to the new Ambedkarite Buddhists of the Roma community in Hungary. His article has been published in The Hindu, one of India’s largest English-medium newspapers, plus Countercurrents, a major on-line alternative media site.

He tells the story of how he came into contact with two Roma leaders, Derdák Tibor and Orsós János, as they were discovering Buddhism and the inspiring example of Dr. Ambedkar, India’s great Buddhist leader - and how this led to his own visit to Hungary this Autumn. And how he discovered during his visit the deep parallels between the prejudice experienced over centuries by the Dalits, or Untouchables, of India, and the Roma, or Gypsies, of Europe.

He writes - “Jai Bhim, Namo Buddhay!  “Please read my article on "Ambedkar in Hungary" in The Hindu newspaper at www.hindu.com/mag/2009/11/22.

We quote an excerpt -

“After discovering Ambedkar, Tibor and János visited Maharashtra in 2005 and 2007. They felt a deep connection with the Dalits of India and with Dr. Ambedkar's emancipatory agenda. After returning to Hungary, in 2007, they founded the Jai Bhim Network, embraced Buddhism and opened three high schools named after Dr. Ambedkar in Sajókaza, Ózd and Hegymeg for Roma children. One of the activities of the Network is to invite young Dalit activists to Hungary and provide them with opportunities to interact with the Roma community. Recently, I was part of one such three-member delegation and lived with the Roma community in the village Sajókaza for almost a month…

Read more on The Hindu newspaper website or in Countercurrents.

You can contact Pardeep on pardeep.jade@gmail.com.

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...