– report of July 2006 meeting at
Taraloka by Lokabandhu
This is a short report of what happened on the July 2006 meeting at Taraloka of the Chairmen/women of European FWBO centres. Since it was the first one I had attended I can’t give much of a historical perspective, on the other hand everything was new and therefore fresh to me.
24 Chairs came for the full 10 days, plus a further 6 for part of it. There were 2 apologies and a further 6 non-Chairs present for various reasons. Altogether, it was a substantial gathering of folk seriously involved in the institutions of the FWBO. Taraloka hosted us warmly and well, the weather helping with brilliant sunshine pretty much every day.
The meeting started with a series of welcomes to newcomers – 3 were there for the first time. The tradition is for newcomers to be ‘introduced’ to the meeting by a friend already present; in my case I was introduced by Ratnarashi. Ratnabodhi and Amaraketu were also there for the first time, from Croydon and Bristol respectively. A parallel tradition is the goodbyes; these were spread through the meeting as some chairmen who were stepping down had to leave before the end. In due course we therefore rejoiced in the merits of Jnanagarbha, Satyadaka, and Manjudeva, from Croydon, Norwich , and North London .
The first day was a day of practice, sessions of meditation interspersed with small groups for people to say hello and ‘report in’ to one another. This felt a spacious and appropriate way to get going. Day Two saw the start of more serious talking, with an extended period dedicated to collecting a list of ‘issues’ on the minds of those present. Jnanamitra led us in a process of brainstorming, collating, and prioritising these – a useful way of seeing how the land lay, from a Chairs’ point of view at least. There was a slight sense of déjà vu at the end of this process, leading to speculation that some of the issues (eg, depth vs. responding to objective issues) were perennial and we could take their presence for granted in future –thus, freeing us to use the same time to go into them deeper.
Day Three saw Vajragupta and Lokabandhu begin a series of presentations about their work and plans so far for the ‘FWBO Development Team’. They began with a series of 20 or more ‘Bright Ideas’ they had picked up from an extended series of visits to UK Centres over the Spring. Each of which was in use at at least one centre and potentially transferable to others. Not surprisingly this seemed to go down very well and many of the postcards on which they were printed were collected by interested parties – some taking just one or two, some the whole set. Satyadarshin, also part of the Development Team, arrived about this time and began a series of web surgeries. Vajragupta introduced ideas for replacing FWBO Day with a summer ‘FWBO Retreat’ starting in 2008 at Taraloka, this was adopted with enthusiasm – watch this space for further details... Lokabandhu outlined his ideas for a ‘Survey’ of those most involved in the Order and Movement - their interests, lifestyles, and views, and after discussion it was agreed, a little cautiously, that he continue to work on this and make a further presentation before launching it. Ideas for a web-based FWBO/TBMSG Newsletter were also discussed and it was agreed to support someone, probably Jayarava, part-time to work on this.
The last major discussion covered the proposed post of ‘Dharma Teaching Coordinator’, a job that had always been seen as being part of the Development Team but been delayed pending further discussion. It was agreed to try to fund two part-time posts, one to research, collate, and disseminate good teaching material across the Movement; one more specifically to develop a detailed syllabus for the Mitra Mandala Course. The proposal now goes to the men’s and women’s Mitra Convenors meetings and, providing they are agreeable, into a recruitment process. Hopefully someone will be found to start work early next year.
All along there was a program of morning and afternoon meditation, evening puja, plenty of free time in the afternoons, good internet access for those so inclined, and enthusiastic sessions of volleyball after supper. Giant ‘Graffiti Boards’ in the dining area allowed people to make comments on anything to do with the meeting as we went along, by the end they had build up into a fascinating mosaic and I found myself photographing them all for future reference. One comment early on read “Wednesday – the most effective Chairs meeting I’ve ever attended”, another read “I ' m impressed: people able to hold and express strong differences of opinion and stay in harmony”. Another just read “Kool!”! Behind the scenes the Chairs’ Executive – six of us – met every evening to review how things were going and make any adjustments to the program. Towards the end of the week Samayasri, a professional fundraiser based in Croydon, came to give us a day’s training. For me this was one of the most exciting parts of the whole week – I was immediately inspired by her definition of fundraising as ‘a conversation about unfulfilled ambition’ and the fundraiser as ‘the link between someone’s aspirations for the world and the possible means of making them come true’. Fascinating stuff.
On the last day we held what’s known as the ‘Business Meeting’, a tightly-structured affair where formal decisions are taken covering many of the discussions of the previous week. Generally money is involved and it’s therefore necessary to consider all the items together and see how much money is available. Most European centres have a long-standing tradition of pooling some of their income into what is known as the ‘Central Dana System’, this produces a ‘pot’ of about £77,000/year which the Chairs’ meeting distributes. The total available has been slowly shrinking over the past few years, however somewhat to our surprise this year the requests were all fundable and so the discussion went fairly simply and smoothly, skilfully chaired by a slightly-nervous-but-you’d-never-have-guessed Karunadaka.
The penultimate evening saw Adiccabandhu and Amaraketu making presentations about their centres, Blackburn and Bristol – two very different places at very different stages in their evolution. This is also a traditional part of the event, it’s a fascinating and intimate glimpse into the workings of different Sanghas. Before that, one evening saw a series of ten-minute talks on any subject dear to the heart of anyone present – a rich collection indeed.
And finally, on the last morning Padmavajra and Vajradarshini came to visit, to talk about the current state of the ordination processes for men and women, Padmaloka and Tiratanaloka. This had been specially requested by the Chairs, who had felt rather out of touch with - but very affected by - the changes in both those places. And then it ended, a ten-day meeting-cum-retreat-cum-holiday for thirty of the busiest people in the FWBO – who came looking for a holiday as well as a retreat as well as being willing to address the necessary business. The meeting tried to do all those things and did it well, or at least as well as was humanly possible. The next meeting is in January, at Vimaladhatu retreat centre in Germany , despite the necessary travel I suspect most of us are looking forwards to it already.
The Dhammakranti Retreat at Bodh Gaya ended yesterday, with many now making their way 1000 miles south to Nagpur in Maharastra, where Dr. Ambedkar converted to Buddhism on 14th October 1956. Due to Indians following a lunar calendar, the anniversary is to be celebrated principally on 2nd – when a great gathering of Buddhists are expected there for mass conversions. Watch this space for news.
The retreat had a difficult start due to bad weather, however this did nothing to dampen the spirits of those who attended. Almost every participant was Indian and most Indian states were represented on the retreat, despite the distances many had to travel, plus the difficulties of the journey. Santosh, one of the main organisers from the Dhammakranti Team, says “Every morning and evening around 500 people walked to the Bodhitree for Meditation and Pooja, even in heavy rain no one cared - people were so inspired and ready to cross every difficulty to reach the Tree.”
Lokeshvara (from UK, in India for the first time) says “Flying into Patna at night, in low cloud and heavy rain the landing was aborted twice at the last moment. The third time we broke through the cloud a few seconds before landing with the pilot thumping the plane onto to the ground and getting a well deserved round of applause. Bihar is the poorest and wildest state of India. Armed guards travelled on the train to Gaya, though in Bodh Gaya I felt safe. Every day morning and night the retreat processed to the Bodhi Tree, the seat of the Buddha's enlightenment, a 30 minute walk past shops, hawkers, cafes and temples. The first night the electricity was out so we walked in the dark and rain, and sat in the Maha Bodhi temple grounds in front of the Bodhi tree and recited puja together.”
As well as the immediate effects on the retreatants, the event marked significant cooperation among the Buddhist groups in Bodh Gaya, many of whom had had little contact with Ambedkarite Buddhists before – even though many live in Bodh Gaya, in a poor district behind the Chinese Temple known as ‘Siddharth Nagar’. Santosh says “Most of the Monasteries were impressed by our Presentation and the hard work of the team. They appreciated us a lot, and the Secretary to the Mahabodhi Society of India asked us to arrange again every year. He is willing to provide us free accommodation and to arrange sponsorship of the food each day from different Monasteries of Bodhgaya. All these are in discussion but still we are happy to at least float the Idea of Brotherhood among all the Buddhist sects which are settled at Bodh Gaya.”
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