A reminder that our usual Wednesday night gathering will not be happening this week — Instead, please join us Tuesday evening June 9th at 7pm for a special evening with visiting Dharmachari Kamalashila. Kamalashila is a senior member of the Triratna Buddhist Order with many years of teaching experience, particularly in the realm of meditation practice. He’ll be speaking on the topic of “mindfulness in action.” By donation.
I’m very glad to let you know that the following ordinations took place at Akashavana on Saturday 6th June 2015:
Public Preceptor Maitreyi:
Kia Almegard becomes Vimaladhi, a Sanskrit name meaning ‘She whose Wisdom is Pure’ (long final ‘i’) Westernised spelling: Vimaladhi Private preceptor: Sridevi
Bente Kjonstad becomes Muditadevi, a Sanskrit name meaning ‘Goddess of Sympathetic Joy’ (long final ‘i’) Westernised spelling: Muditadevi Private preceptor: Sridevi
I am sad to inform you that Dhammachari Shilashrestha from Amaravati (India) passed away on 1sth June at his home in a very peaceful atmosphere; at the time of death his family members and Dhammachari Mahastham were around him.Two months ago the doctor found a brain tumour and it was in very critical position and could not be operated on.
Dhammachari Shilashrestha was a very energetic person and observed discipline in his life. He worked for the Indian military service and after...
I would like to let you know of the funeral arrangements for Dharmachari Dipankara.
The funeral will be held at Sydney Buddhist Centre at 11 a.m. (AEST) on Tuesday, 9th June. Dipankara’s body will be at the centre from Monday afternoon. We will greet our brother with a meditation and Sevenfold puja, followed by an overnight vigil.
We hope that many will be able to join us in whatever way during the course of the vigil and funeral ceremony.
The following info is from a book called ‘How Bad are Bananas?‘; by Mike Berners-Lee. This book compares the relative amount of the carbon impact of a wide range of daily products and activities and gives an estimate of the actual carbon produced from each to help us make more informed choices. The carbon footprint figures for each product are estimates - but the book makes it very obvious and easy to see where we can make choices that would significantly...
Vaddhaka joined us last week to kick off Buddhist Action Month for us by launching his new book in duscussion with Manjusiha. The conversation was wide ranging and relavent, covering the problems of political views both left & right, Slavoj Žižek’s criticisms of Western Buddhism and Ayan Rand’s influence on neoliberalism. And, most importantly, what we can and are doing to improve things!
In this talk Mahamani introduces the Mandala of the female Buddhas or Prajans focusing on what they have to offer us as practitioners in the 21st Century.
This talk was given at the LBC in the context of the monthly Womens Class on 28.3.15
In this talk Mahamani gives a brief introduction to the red female Buddha Pandaravsini, outlining her qualities and how she can help us in our practice.
This talk was given at the LBC in the context of the monthly Womens Class on 31.5.15.
Eastbourne and Brighton (UK) sangha members joined up for a walk over some of the Seven Sisters, hilly cliffs on the Sussex coastal path. It was a beautiful day with a brilliant blue sky, which only helped us open up to appreciation and gratitude for the beauty of our natural environment. We started the walk with some minutes sitting in silence taking in our surroundings. and then continued on a fabulous walk enjoying each other’s company, as wwell as sharing some...
Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote in an article called ‘A Challenge to Buddhists’ from Buddhadharma magazine (Fall 2007 issue):
‘I know we engage in lofty meditations on kindness and compassion and espouse beautiful ideas of love and peace. But note that we pursue them largely as inward, subjective experiences, geared towards personal transformation. Too seldom does this type of compassion roll up its sleeves and step into the field. Too rarely does it translate into pragmatic programs of effective action realistically designed to...
