Ongoing actions in support of Burma…

Events across the FWBO continue to be held to draw attention to the situation in Burma and build support for peaceful change there.

In Birmingham, around 70 people from the Birmingham Buddhist Centre – and others from Birmingham’s Inter-Faith Network - walked in a silent ‘yatra’ from the Town Hall along the main shopping street on a crowded Sunday. They gave out several hundred leaflets, explaining the situation in Burma and suggesting actions people could take in support of the Burmese people.

In Edinburgh, a group led by Kalyanavaca, the Centre’s Chairwoman, meditated in the City Centre, and gave out leaflets passing on Aung San Suu Kyi’s famous request to “use your liberty to promote ours”.

In Delhi, Maitriveer Nagarjun, an Indian Order Member, who is one of the core team for TBMSG’s Dhammakranti Project, helped organised a large public meeting at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University where he is a post-graduate student. This was attended by Burmese survivors of the last military crackdown in Burma, and a signature campaign was organised calling on the Indian Government (one of Burma’s chief supporters) to cease investment until democracy and human rights have been restored to Burma.

In Poona, India, the Jambudvipa Trust, an FWBO/TBMSG ‘outreach’ project is contributing to discussions with the aim of organising a visit to Burma by senior Buddhist peacemakers.

Finally, Dayaratna, in Cambridge UK, would like to hear from anyone wanting to continue to support Burma, specifically by putting pressure on China, via the 2008 Olympics, to change its ‘hands-off’ policy towards the regime in Burma. Contact him if you would like to be part of this.

As Cait, organiser of the Birmingham Yatra, said, “We cannot know the outcome of our actions, but we hope that we have helped to keep the issue alive in the minds of those who saw us.”

Sangharakshita - FWBO Day

It is a rare treat these days to be able to attend a talk by Sangharakshita and it was delightful to see him at his best celebrating the 40th annivesary of the founding of the FWBO at the Birmingham FWBO Centre on Saturday. While obviously quite frail of body these days there was no doubt as to the sharpness of his mind. In an hour long talk - with many digressions - he only consulted his notes towards the end in order to get a list "in the right order". For some people it was their first opportunity to see Sangharaskhita in person.

His talk began with the early days of the FWBO and the spirit of the times when he was starting out forty years ago. The first meeting were held in a small basement room in Monmouth St in central London, but soon things began to expand and after a few years the developments that we now associate with the FWBO - communities and right-livelihood businesses - began to come into existence. Had he tried to start a new Buddhist movement 10 years earlier he might not have found many receptive to his ecumenical teachings, and had he arrived 10 years later he would have missed the boat - the late 1960's seem to have been the best possible time to attempt what he did. Sangharakshita remarked that the present zeitgeist seemed to be more marked by materialism and individualism. One of the regretable changes he noted was the decline of interest in rightlivelihood, noting that Windhorse Trading had been not only a source of considerable funds, but an important training ground for order members. The talk would not have been complete without some "teaching" and so Sangharakshita, true to form, drew our attention to Francis Bacon (the 17th century philosopher) whose Theory of Idols he suggested might help us to see the errors which prevent us from understanding reality. He concluded by reminding us of the six distinctive emphases of the FWBO.

The people attending the event had come from as far afield as Southampton and the Outer Hebrides, and the Birmingham did an excellent job of accomodating and catering for the the crowds.

image by Roy Peters

FWBO Projects Receive Community Funding

The UK government recently announced the results of round 2 of the ‘Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund’, which attracted bids from over 1,200 UK faith-based organisations. The funding was given to “groups with practical solutions to build capacity among faith communities to support inter faith work”. The successful applicants were the Brighton, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, and Croydon FWBO Centres, the Clear Vision Trust, Dharmachakra (now known as Free Buddhist Audio), and the LBC’s Globe Community Project.

A full list of the 343 successful organisations is available online (pdf file). The fund is administered to the Community Development Foundation (CDF). FWBO News will be chasing up the recipients to find out how they will be using the money.

Story by Lokabandhu

FWBO Day in Birmingham

Sangharakshita will be giving a talk in Birmingham, UK for FWBO Day. This year is the 40th anniversary of the FWBO,the 50th anniversary of the publication of Sangharakshita's A Survey of Buddhism and the 60th anniversary of his going forth. Please contact your local centre to coordinate transport, and so that Birmingham are able to get some idea of numbers to cater for. The talk is titled "Looking back - and forward" and will begin at 4pm. A puja will follow.