Sangharakshita opens new Ipswich Buddhist Centre

Amoghavajra, Chairman of the FWBO's Ipswich Buddhist Centre, writes with news of their new centre opening. He says -

"On Saturday 11th July Urgyen Sangharakshita opened the new Ipswich Buddhist Centre. Nearly ninety people attended the dedication ceremony.

"Sangharakshita arrived outside the new centre to hear us all chanting the Long Life Tara mantra of compassion. Sangharakshita cut the ribbon across our front door then led us upstairs to our cathedral-like shrine room where he saluted the shrine and then chanted the verses of blessing. After the dedication ceremony he talked for forty minutes, covering the ground of how his latest volume, The Essential Sangharakshita, came into being.

"He also introduced the legends around the discovery of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras by way of introducing his other new book: Living Ethically. His contribution was very simple and and very moving. It was a delight hearing him talk.

"We now feel that our centre is well and truly open".

More details available on their website, www.ipswichbuddhistcentre.org.uk

Ipswich Buddhist Centre plans Grand Opening

The FWBO’s Ipswich Buddhist Centre is gearing up for a GRAND OPENING of their new Centre, scheduled for the Saturday 11th July. They say -

“Every Sangha member is welcome at what we hope will be a very special day, the Opening Ceremony and Dedication of the new Centre performed by the Order's founder, Urgyen Sangharakshita. The provisional programme is as follows:

10.00 Arrive - 10.30 Welcome, Introduction to the Day - 11.30 Short Meditation and Dedication ceremony - 1.00 Lunch - 1.45 Musical interlude - 2.30 Talk - 3.30 Tea and cake - 4.30 Finish

Advayamati gives a bit more detail of what’s going on behind the scenes on their Facebook group. He says–

“Of course, the main activity at the moment (well, the one most on my mind, anyway!), is the transformation of the new Centre. I'm pleased to say that things are really progressing now. After ages of delay getting Council approval, estimates, and those sorts of things, the work is really underway now. The builders have ripped out the lower flight of stairs and installed a new one, the shell of the disabled toilet is in place under them, the servery units have been assembled and are awaiting the plumbing before being fitted, the upgraded fire system has been wired in, and the lift space is in the process of being opened out. And around all this, of course, a small but valiant band of Sangha volunteers have been ploughing on with the decorating, with the result that the ground floor is virtually complete, and great strides are being made on the first floor. We had a great session upstairs over the weekend, including a very hardworking couple who had only come to the Centre for the first time the previous Tuesday. Still plenty to do, but I do now start to feel that it could be finished in time, just about!”

The address of the new Centre is 4 Friars Bridge Road, Ipswich, and their website is at www.ipswichbuddhistcentre.com.  

Ordination in Ipswich

On Saturday afternoon 11th April Dee Margerison of the Ipswich (UK) sangha became Acalavajri (long i): she who is the immovable vajra or diamond.

Acalavajri's private preceptor was Srivandana who gave a very moving account of how she had arrived at this name and rejoiced heartily in Acalavajri's many qualities. The ceremony took place in the Ipswich Buddhist Centre and was attended by over 70 people, among them Acalavajri's partner, family and friends.

The public preceptor was Parami.

SADHU!

Ordinations in Germany and Ipswich

At a Public Ordination Ceremony held on Friday 3rd April at the (very beautiful) Minden Buddhist Centre Charlotte Paulus became Saddhabodhi. Her name, which is in Pali, means „She who is realizing, or awakening, through faith“ or „She whose awakening arises through faith“. Her Private Preceptor was Prasadavati and her Public Preceptor was Dayanandi.

Sadhu!!!

Parami writes “I am delighted to inform you that Dee Margerison of the Ipswich sangha will be ordained next week. She is currently on retreat with Srivandana (her private preceptor) and a few close friends. I will join them later in the week. The private ordination will take place on Thursday the 9th April at 16.00h. This is the day of the full moon which is auspicious.

“The public ordination will take place at the FWBO's Ipswich Buddhist Centre on Saturday 11th April at 14.00. All are welcome to attend, but please let Swadipa know if you plan to come along. The then ex-Dee will attend the Akashavana spring 3-month women’s Ordination Retreat in Spain”.

New Centre for FWBO Ipswich

Hot on the heels of Monday's post comes news of new premises for the FWBO's Ipswich Buddhist Centre.

For some years they've been in rented premises; they have for some time been seeking permanent premises and contacted thier Facebook supporters last week to say "we completed on friday 16th january. So we have finally taken possession of our new "Centre to be", and stepped across the threshold. Now there is just the building and alteration work to be done to fit it to our needs, and then some decoration and furnishing, and "hey presto", we have our own beautiful Centre.

"The work we are embarking on is; to strip out some cement sheeting boards containing asbestos, and renewing the ceiling; to fit a disabled toilet and lift, and improve access; and to fit out a servery. So we hope those works will be commencing in the next week or so. If anyone would like to look around the building do email or speak to a member of the Council and we can arrange it, and I am sure there will be more organised visits arranged from time to time.

"We have a certain amount of money allocated for this work, but it will certainly cost more than we have to create the sort of Centre we really want, so we are going to have to embark on a Fundraising project to bring in the funds. To this end, a first step has been to set up a "Just Giving" site, which you can view on www.justgiving.com/fwboipswich".

FWBO News says SADHU!

Actually, they did more than simply announce their news - there's a series of three videos posted on YouTube giving a sense of the new Centre and the sort of work that'll be needed to turn the old light-industrial premises into a Buddhist Centre.

You can watch them here: part I - part II - part III.

New premises appeal for Ipswich Buddhist Centre

The FWBO's Ipswich Buddhist Centre has been seeking new premises - and it looks like they are well on the way to finding somewhere. We're happy to pass on this message from their Facebook site -

"Hello there all, in case you don't know we have found a new freehold building in a very prominent place in the town centre.

"We are the process of seeing who is interesting in helping us in a appeal to raise money to move and furnish to new centre to continue our work of creating a positive sphere of influence and help people to transform grow and develop.

If you have fundraising ideas, skills and would like to be involved please let us know. It is a very exciting development :-)

Check them out on Facebook.

FWBO News wishes them all the best!