New map of FWBO/TBMSG in India

A new map is available on-line of all FWBO/TBMSG groups in India. Click here to see it and/or download it from the FWBO Photos site on flickr.

This is probably the first time all of our many centres and groups in India have been collected and made visible in this way. Comments and corrections welcome. For contact details for the centres go to the TBMSG website; for contact details for the smaller groups the best is to try Nagaloka, Dhammakranti outreach project, or the Jambudvipa in Pune

There are also maps on the flickr site for the FWBO's centres and groups in Europe, the UK, and around the world.

You might also like to try exploring Google maps and searching for 'FWBO' or 'TBMSG' - in many cases, incuding in Inda, it is possible to zoom in to a street-level view of our actual centres. Check the Mahavihara in Pune for intance.

EIGHT NEW DHARMACHARINIS IN AUSTRALASIA

At the Public Ordinations held at 3pm on Friday May 25th at Shambhala in Golden Bay, New Zealand, the following Dharmacharinis were born -

PUBLIC PRECEPTOR VARADEVI

Robyn Blackman becomes KAMALADEVI - pali and skt. "(She who is a) lotus goddess" (long final i) so Kamaladevii

Serena Ann becomes GAMBHIRAJA - skt. "(She who is) born of the depths" (long i and long final a) so Gambhiirajaa

Alison Mann becomes HRDAYAJA - skt "(She who is) heart born" ( dot under r and long final a) so Hrdayajaa

PUBLIC PRECEPTOR DHARMANANDI

Sue Johnson becomes VIRYADANA - skt "(She who) gives energy in pursuit of the good" (long i and long second a and final a ) so Viiryadaanaa.

Victoria Bel becomes BUDDHANKAPALI - skt "(She who is) embraced by the Buddha" (long first a, long final a and dot over the n) so Buddhaankapaali.

Anita Hirshhorn becomes VIDYATARA - skt "(She who is) a protector of spiritual knowledge ( long first, second and final a) so Vidyaataaraa

Jane Beck becomes PADMADASI (She who is a) "Servant of the Lotus" (long final i) so Padmadasii

Maureen Nicholls becomes SARADARSHINI "She who sees/understands/knows the pith or substance or heart (of things) (long first a and long final i) so Saaradarshinii.

SADHU SADHU SADHU!

Mass conversions to Buddhism in India

Reports are coming in from India of a new wave of mass conversions to Buddhism, this time in Mumbai. On Sunday over 100,000 people, mostly from the Adivasis or Tribal communities, converted in a massive ceremony at the Mahalaxmi ground. They were mostly followers of Dalit writer Laxman Mane, who has been touring the State after converting to Buddhism in Nagpur in October 2006.

Readers of FWBO News will remember Vishvapani’s reports of that period, with an account of Mane’s conversion and their meeting. He wrote then -

“In a special ceremony at Dikshabhumi in Nagpur yesterday morning, Mane took the three Buddhist refuges along with 140 leaders of tribal communities from across Maharashtra. Following the ceremony they held a planning session in which they agreed to extend the conversion programme to the other members of their communities, who number at least 500,000. …

When I met him just before he left Nagpur, Mane - a short, solidly built man with an air of sturdy determination – told me of the inspiration he and his fellow converts had gained through the ceremony. ‘My companions left the ceremony different people from the ones who had started it. They were filled with a new inspiration and confidence. We held a planning meeting straight away, and the atmosphere was different from any we had experienced before, full of hope and determination. It was a sudden, dramatic shift. For myself, I felt a new sense of freedom.’”

The conversions in Mumbai are a direct fruit of last October’s events in Nagpur, hopefully one of many. They are being hailed as one of the biggest mass conversions in modern Indian history.

Read the reports from India from The Hindu or the Times of India. More pictures are in the Mangalorean Times.

Valencia's prison program

The FWBO's Valencia Buddhist Centre, in Spain, recently celebrated the start of the third year of their prison visiting program, dubbed the ‘Wheel of Life’ project. By all accounts it has been a ground-breaking success, both for the Buddhist centre, the inmates, and the Spanish prison authorities. They teach meditation and Dharma in Picassent prison, where they are the first to be permitted to work with the Basque prisoners from ETA.

Saddhakara, the Centre’s chairwoman, has written an account of the project’s history which you can find on the FWBO Prison Dharma website. Here you can find reports from most of the FWBO’s prison visiting programs, especially those in the US.

Free Buddhist Audio News - Launch of 免费 佛教 录音

Welcome to the news update from Free Buddhist Audio, the free download and streaming service from the Dharmachakra sound and text archives. To receive more regular update information on the site, you can always subscribe to our own blog.

Following on from last week's launch of the site in German - Audio Buddhismus Kostenlos - we are delighted today to announce that we're able to extend our service further with the launch of our new Chinese language site - 免费 佛教 录音.

This is the product of many hours of effort by various folk connected with Free Buddhist Audio, but none so much as Ruan Yinhua, our extraordinarily generous, talented and patient Chinese translator. Yinhua's unflagging commitment to the project has been inspiring from the very start, and we are doubly happy to be able to mark the successful launch of the Chinese service by posting his thoughtful essay My Perspective on the Revival of Buddhism and Spirituality in China. Sadhu, Yinhua!

Watch this space for imminent announcements regarding the site in French and Spanish!

Three remarkable women...

The last few months have seen three remarkable women from the FWBO taking their practice way off the cushion and out into the world. FWBO News hopes to do short reports on each over the next couple of weeks.

First is Zee-Zee Heine, a mitra (and long-time peace activist) from the North London Buddhist Centre. She was active in the North London centre's 'ESA'(Environmental and Social Action) group and before that in the FWBO's 'P.S... ecopractice network'. For the past two months she's been in Palestine working with EAPPI, the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. Her work has been a varied mixture of personal training, checkpoint watches, accompanying children to school past violent Israeli settlers, interviewing victims of military or settler violence, and sending news of what is happening to friends and contacts in the West.

Here is an excerpt from her latest report -

"...we went to a two-day conference on Popular Resistance in a village called Bil'in. On the third day was to be a peaceful demo, however it is a village which has a demonstrations every week about the fact that the wall goes through the land of the village and denies them access. The organisers said the demo was always peaceful but sometimes youths of the village when they saw Israeli soldiers on their families land would feel they had a right to throw stones at them, and the soldiers would respond violently.

Part of the conference included what in Britain is called pre action training. For example we were told that if the youths were seen to be collecting stones one could go over and talk to them, if the soldiers started firing rubber bullets the safest thing to do is to sit down, allow things to calm down and then slowly get up and drift forward whereas if they fire tear gas it is better to disperse up-wind and then regroup. But because of the big conference there would be many extra people including many internationals, so the organisers thought it unlikely that the demo would become violent the next day.

In the event we gathered in the centre of the village and walked down the road towards the separation barrier. Just as we reached the outskirts of the village, when we were still about half a mile from the barrier and still all on the public highway, the Israeli solders started firing tear gas without any provocation. I was amazed. Some of the other EAPPI volunteers and I went back to the house where we had gathered and watched from the roof. Two others ran over the pastures and got up wind of the tear gas and stayed much closer and took lots of photos. The solders followed the tear gas with plastic coated metal bullets and water cannon. Very different from any British demo I have been on."

She will be back in early July and concludes her report by saying "When I return I want to do speaking engagements to let people know about the conditions in Palestine." If you can help arrange any in the UK (or beyond!) please let her know directly on zeezeeh [at] googlemail.com

Next in this series - Loren Treisman from Cambridge/Buddhafield. Suggestions for other entries welcome...

Brighton Fringe Festival

The Brighton Buddhist Centre is playing an active part in the 2007 Brighton Fringe Festival.

At the beginning of the month they hosted an Open Day entitled "Looking After Our World", followed by an evening of music with international pianists Glen Capra and mitra Joss Peach.

'Zen in the Afternoon', last weekend, brought Japan to the Buddhist Centre, with meditation, poetry readings, Haiku Writing Workshops, a slide show of Japanese temples, tea ceremony, Origami, mini Zen garden making, and even child-friendly sushi-making.

Alongside these all these was 'Emerging', an art installation by Ingrid Plum, which explored the connection between sky and earth using devotional texts, a mirror, origami leaves and lotus blossoms. The fragile beauty of the lotus flowers emerges as if from murky water into knowledge in this installation which changes through time, according to the sky.

Here then, form is no other than emptiness
Emptiness no other than form
Form is only emptiness
Emptiness only form…

the future of “team-based right livelihood” in the FWBO...

A weekend looking at the future of team based right livelihood (TBRL) in the FWBO will take place early this autumn. Organised by the European Chairs Assembly the weekend is aimed at all those Order Members and mitras interested in the subject. As Vajragupta, who is overseeing the event, explains:

“ Our aim is to have a weekend ‘re-visioning’ what TBRL is and how to make it work – economically and spiritually – in today’s FWBO. Anyone who is interested in TBRL is welcome whether you’re currently working in it or not. It is for people working in both “new styles” of right livelihood, and those working with the “old models” too. We welcome people working at centres and retreat centres, those doing TBRL whilst living in communities, or living on their own, or with families and partners – all varieties are welcome! We want to explore what ‘Team-Based Right Livelihood’ actually means in today’s FWBO and how we can help projects both old and new.”

The weekend will start with a process known as “appreciative enquiry”, in which participants will look at what they’ve gained and valued from working together as Buddhists in the past. As Vajragupta says, “Through this process we can connect with our vision, identify where we’d like to go and the steps we need to take to get there. The aim is to generate energy and inspiration, and also start to find solutions to the practical and spiritual issues currently facing TBRLs.”

The event takes place from Friday 7th September to Sunday 9th September at Bilberry Hill in Birmingham. The cost is £35 per person for the weekend, including accommodation and food. Bilberry Hill has dormitory style accommodation, and is located near the Lickey Hills on the southern edge of Birmingham. It is easily accessible by car and by public transport. The food will be cooked by a quality Buddhist cook. Bookings on a first-come, first-served basis. Please book by sending a non-refundable cheque payable to “FWBO” for £35 to: Vajragupta, c/o 31 Sandhills Road, Barnt Green, Birmingham B45 8NP. Phone 0121-447-7427 for more details.

Ordination at the London Buddhist Centre

On Sunday 13th May 2007, Margaret Wilson became

Stavarha (sanskrit, with a long middle a), meaning "(She who is) worthy of praise".

Muditasri was the private preceptor and Mallika the public.

The private ordination took place on Friday evening at the LBC and was attended by order members. The public Ordination took place at the LBC on Sunday afternoon and was attended by around 70 people including Stavarha's partner and members of her family.

Sadhu!

from Parami on behalf of Mallika

New pilgrimage website launched

Parayana is the new name for a long-established FWBO pilgrimage service – it’s led 12 pilgrimages since 2003. Parayana is Pali for ‘The Way Beyond’ and by extension ‘The True Refuge’.


Ratnaketu, the founder, gave TBMSG News a short account of what led him to start leading pilgrimages.

“Originally from New Zealand, I joined the Western Buddhist Order in 1979, a year that also saw my first visit to India, where I accompanied Sangharakshita from Auckland in New Zealand to the LBC in London via Bombay, Pune and Ahmedabad. Travelling with Sangharakshita in India when I was twenty was a life-changing experience; I discovered I had brothers and sisters in the Dharma whose lives were radically different to my own; I realised how remarkably fortunate I was; and I fell under the spell of India.

In 1985, I went on my first real pilgrimage, a magical amble amongst the clouds and into the Eastern Himalayas to visit Dhardo Rinpoche. Since then pilgrimage has become an important part of my own practice. In 1999, after more than twenty years of community living and team-based right-livelihood, I chose to explore the homeless life. After eighteen months at the Guhyaloka Vihara in Spain, I hit the road.

My intention was threefold; to live and enable others to live lives of radical freedom and simplicity; to create a new team-based right-livelihood business that would support our renunciants; and to help others experience the delights of true pilgrimage.

And - slowly slowly - we're getting there. Pilgrimage is becoming another sparkling facet of our Movement, linking East and West. We enable pilgrims to enter the path and experience the life of pilgrimage, to gain experiences of India, of the holy places, and of the Refuges that would scarcely otherwise be possible. Not only that - Parayana provides employment, community, and skill training to a growing team of Indians and Nepalese.

We have adopted the name Parayana because our pilgrimages lead us beyond, not just into strange new worlds but beyond ourselves and towards transcendence.

And now we have a website.

Check out also our next Sakyamuni:Heartland pilgrimage 8th – 31st November 2007.

Dhammakranti team begin 2007 season

In India, the Dhammakranti team are starting their 2007 season with an ambitious event in Delhi.. Subhuti, Suvajra, and Lokamitra will all be participating in a seminar aiming to spread awareness of Dr. Ambedkar and his vision for a casteless society.

This is part of a determined strategy to spread our activities beyond the geographical borders of Maharastra, heartland of Buddhism in India and home to 60 million people – but a fragment of the whole of India. It is also part of their effort to highlight the abuse of fundamental human rights implicit in the widespread caste discrimination still practiced in India. See http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/ for some of their work.

In this respect we are delighted to note the recent comments made in the UK’s House of Commons and House of Lords – both have recently seen debates in which members have strongly condemned the practice of casteism and the plight of the Dalits.

The event will be held on 25,26,27, May, 2007 at the Ladakh Buddhist Monastery - near ISBT, Bela Road , New Delhi, India. All are welcome and entry is by donation.

launch of new TBMSG magazine

On 14th April, the anniversary of the birthday of Dr. Ambedkar, Lokamitra presided over the launch of a new TBMSG magazine "Samagra Buddhawani", or ' Song of Buddha'. This will be published in Hindi every three months and distributed via a network of supporters all over central and northern India.

Aryaketu, its editor, says "I am glad to say that the new Hindi tri-monthly "Samagra Buddhawani" Magazine was published and inaugurated on 14th April-07 by the hands of Dhammachari Lokamitra. We have printed 10000 copies and up to now have distributed nearly 7000 copies all over India, nearly half going in Nagpur. We hope the copies will increase up to 20,000 in October at the big Dhammakranti retreat in Buddhagaya. We have got enough support and backing from most of our centres but we are not dependent on TBMSG centres or chairmen."

The new magazine will fill a major gap as for some years now there has been no Movement-wide publication in India. It has been in the planning stages for many months and has been launched with no subsidy from foreign funds. Aryaketu goes on to say htat such is the enthusiasm for the new publication that two people in Nagpur have been thinking to create their own right livelihood just by selling it door-to-door. He sees selling it as a possible opportunity for poor people to raise their income - perhaps to raise the funds for retreats.

At the same time the Dhammakranti project's plans are taking shape for the next season, starting immediately after the rainy season. Central to this will be their second large retreat at Bodh Gaya, and Nagaketu reports that its dates are now set at 11th Nov. to 17th Nov. 2007. Westerners are warmly invited and are asked to make contact via info@dhammakranti.com.

FWBO Authors

You might want to read the Summer 2007 edition of Tricycle magazine which features three FWBO Authors. Bodhipaksa's exposition on the six-element practice is an "editors pick" and therefore on the website. He introduces the practice which he describes as both highly analytical, and intensely poetic. Vishvapani who is becoming a regular in Tricycle wonders whether our new Buddhists in India hold the key to ending Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war. And finally Montreal based mitra Vanessa Sasson writes about conflict and the images we have of foreigners. The articles by Vanessa and Vishvapani are only available online to subscribers.

The issue also includes an article about Michael Dillon who was possibly the first person in the UK to have gender reassignment surgey from female to male. He studied medicine and became a medical doctor. Seeking to escape the glare of publicity Michael fled to India with the intention of becoming a Buddhist Monk. He headed for a monastery in Kalimpong run by an Englishman known as Sangharakshita who gave him the Buddhist name Jivaka. Jivaka lived with Sangharakshita for a time and acted as his secretary. He actively opposed Dillon's ordination on the basis that he was born female and was therefore not eligible. Jivaka died in India in 1962.

New Private Preceptor

In April we over-looked noting that Viryabodhi had completed his consultation process and has been appointed as a private preceptor. Sadhu!

Some of Viryabodhi's talks in Swedish are available on Free Buddhist Audio, and he has a blog, also in Swedish.

New Private Preceptors

Following consultation with the order three new private preceptors have been appointed. They are: Dayapakshini, Viradhamma, and Bodhimitra. Sadhu!

Don't forget that the public preceptors now have a blog - very 21st century!

Free Buddhist Audio News - Launch of Audio Buddhismus Kostenlos

Welcome to the news update from Free Buddhist Audio, the free download and streaming service from the Dharmachakra sound and text archives. To receive more regular update information on the site, you can always subscribe to our own blog.

Hello. Little update this week. Small but perfectly formed...

Today we are officially launching the site in German - Audio Buddhismus Kostenlos. It's been a bit of a wait, but we are now ready and delighted to welcome all our German-speaking friends on board. As it happens, we have relatively few talks in German itself, so any ideas for contributions to the archive would be gratefully received! Meanwhile, our heartfelt thanks go out to Harald Eckhoff, who has worked away at this with us in a most heroic and generous-spirited way for several months. May the merit be yours, Harald!

Watch this space for imminent announcements regarding the site in Chinese, French and Spanish!

Sangharakshita FWBO Day DVD

On FWBO Day this year Sangharakshita gave a talk titled "Looking back, looking forward". This talk was filmed by Clear Vision and is now available on DVD from their website. Clear Vision have more than 20 DVD's of Sangharakshita speaking in a variety of settings on a broad range of topics.