Windhorse:Evolution launch 'Friends' network

Windhorse:Evolution are by far the largest of the FWBO’s various Right Livelihood businesses. With a turnover in excess of UK £10 million/year, they are able to contribute generously to many Dharma and social projects around the world of the FWBO and TBMSG. Headquartered in Cambridge, their warehouse, ‘Uddiyana’, employs over 100 people from XX countries, many either ordained or training for ordination. They must be the only warehouse in the UK with a 7m high stupa at its centre!

They’ve already been the subject of a book by Padmasuri, ‘Transforming Work: An Experiment in Right Livelihood’, which details some of the many twists and turns they’ve encountered along the way as they experimented with practicing ‘Team-Based Right Livelihood’ in the modern Western world.

At the same time it’s been hard for people outside the business to really share in that sense of ongoing discovery: what DOES it mean to practice Right Livelihood, especially team-based right livelihood, in the modern Western world?

With this in mind – and to make it easier for potential new workers to contact them – they’ve launched the new ‘windhorse:evolution friends network’. Anyone who’d like to stay in touch is invited to write to Dharmasiddhi; you’ll then be kept informed of developments in the business. It’s a two-way thing – they’d ask you it help be an ambassador for Windhorse, even to look out for people who might be interested in joining them.

After a period of consolidation and restructuring, Windhorse has ambitious plans for the future: it’s a good time to get on board. Increasingly, their ‘dana’, or generosity, extends beyond the Buddhist world to include working with their suppliers on local projects – see FWBO News’ recent feature on their social dana projects. And you can see some more photos of the warehouse on FWBO Photos here.

Snow White meets Seven Buddhist Dwarves - whatever next…!

Last summer Locana, the hard-working director of Life At Work, a Buddhist Right Livelihood business based in Cambridge, UK, was feeling stressed – and found herself scribbling the opening lines of a “very silly little play”.

Over the following months that seed took root, sprouted, grew, and bore fruit recently as the Cambridge Sangha Pantomime, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ – but with a difference… Without wishing to give away too much of the plot, FWBO News can report that Snow White, the beautiful heroine, finds herself knocking on the door of one of the FWBO’s men’s Buddhist communities – only to be turned away! Of course, that is but the beginning – once the residents of the community see how beautiful she is, she is welcomed in and made most welcome. And the plot unfolds…

The production brought together people from all sections of the extensive Cambridge Buddhist Centre’s sangha, and benefitted among many others from the talents of Yashodaka the jazz musician, Subhadra, consultant on the inner workings of men’s communities, and Visada, assistant director. Locana described it as “fabulous experience of sangha-building” and, reflecting on it afterwards, amazed herself to realised that throughout the many rehearsals she had not heard a cross word among the cast – who were worked hard! For Locana, it was, in her words, an opportunity “to poke fun at all things Buddhist”.

The FWBO’s Cambridge Buddhist Centre is blessed by having not only extensive centre premises close to the centre of town but, out back, an entire theatre! This, of course, was the venue for the two nights of performance, when the theatre was filled to capacity. The centre and theatre was purchased by Windhorse:Evolution, the FWBO’s largest and most successful Right Livelihood business, ten years ago, and it has been gradually renovated since. The theatre itself dates from 1814 and is one of only a handful of pre-Victorian theatres outside London, in its time playing host to W.B.Yeats and Charles Dickens among many others (and as it happens, home to the first ever panto performed). Most strikingly, it has a large curved screen or ‘cyclorama’ facing the steeply-banked galleries for the audience. Click here for something of its history.

So have Snow White and the Seven Dwarves disappeared so soon, after just two days of fame? Not quite – they live on on YouTube, where you can watch a trailer created by Rosie Spiegelhalter (aka Snow White!) for Cambridge’s upcoming film night, the movie of the pantomime. And, technology permitting, a version may appear on the Arts section of VideoSangha - watch this space!

New FWBO groups in Peterborough, UK - and beyond

The FWBO's Cambridge Buddhist Centre is about to extend its Buddhism and meditation outreach activities to the city of Peterborough, UK. The Cambridge Centre currently runs activities in the surrounding towns of Bedford, Letchworth and Milton Keynes.

The new Peterborough group is open to Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike and will offer drop in classes in Buddhist meditation followed by discussions around Buddhism and issues relevant to contemporary life.

Jayasiddhi who is involved in helping to set up the class said: “it’s very exciting starting a new group like this. You never know how it is going to develop. We have already received some strong interest and I’m looking forward to making new connections in the Peterborough area. Unfortunately the photo isn't of the new centre - it's Peterborough's marvellous cathedral. But one day - who knows?!”

The first meeting is on Monday 24th March at the Friends Meeting House, 21 Thorpe Road, Crescent Bridge in Peterborough and the group will meet on Monday nights thereafter. Classes start at 7pm. All welcome.

More details at the FWBO Peterborough group website . The FWBO groups in Brazil (Sao Paulo) , South London (Brixton) and South Bristol also have new websites - check them out at Sao Paulo, Brixton and South Bristol respectively.



As, one by one, we make our own committment,

An ever-widening circle, the Sangha grows...

NVC and Sociocracy in the FWBO

Shantigarbha is an Order Member living in Cambridge, UK, where he has founded a training business ‘Seed of Peace’. He specialises in ‘Non-Violent Communication’, or NVC, and has recently returned from a six week trip running NVC trainings in India and Sri Lanka, including a live interview introducing it on Sri Lankan TV. Several Order Members have qualified in NVC and are actively involved in training worldwide – Aniruddha and Kumarajiv in India, Locana in the UK, among others.

Next in his schedule is a weekend introduction to ‘Sociocracy’, which is a system for designing (or redesigning) organisations that he feels may be particularly suitable for groups such as the FWBO.

Shantigarbha writes -

“We've arranged for Philip Seligmann, a Sociocratic consultant from the Centre in the Netherlands, to come over to lead a weekend at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre. Philip is on the Board of the Sociocratic Centre, and has brought Sociocracy into several organizations, including the Dutch Buddhist Broadcasting Corporation. The dates are: February 22-24; the Friday evening will be a free Introduction, open to all, and will form the first part of the training for those who stay on for the Saturday and Sunday (10am to 5pm both days)”.

Sociocracy was first introduced to the Order last summer on the biannual Order Convention, after which this report appeared in the Order’s journal ‘Shabda’:

“Sociocracy is a structured way for groups to make decisions & interact with other groups. As such it may be relevant to many situations in the F/WBO and we were interested to hear the NVC community are considering adopting it for much of their internal organisation. It is particularly suitable in situations where everyone needs to be taken into account and where each person needs to be valued equally. More specifically, it is suitable for groups which are interacting regularly and united in aim.

Sociocracy started with an attempt to bring Quaker principles into a Dutch engineering laboratory. Hence the language is technical and the procedures fairly precisely structured. It is something which needs some effort to learn but which, once learned, becomes more and more fluent and flexible. It was noteworthy that Sociocracy can work alongside any conventional leadership system and can be introduced to only one part of an organization or for only one issue.

Some of the basic governing principles are –

• In meetings, some people are elected to temporary roles eg a facilitator
• All organizational processes are seen in terms of circles, with discussion proceeding in 'rounds' eg rounds for clarification/nominations/objections/consent
• All decision-making is by consent (with consent defined as the absence of 'paramount objections' ie no absolute "Nos", ie, a solution which is within everyone's “range of tolerance”)
• Different levels of the organisation are 'double-linked' to ensure smooth information flows up & down & across.

There’s lots more information available on the sociocracy website www.governancealive.com. Personally we were impressed with the clarity of the process and the care taken to ensure everyone has a chance to be heard. However everyone involved in a sociocratic meeting would need to make a significant investment to learn how it works, and while this is happening, meetings could seem slow or cumbersome. Since Shantigarbha wanted us to have some real experience of sociocracy in action, our session could be summarised, not unfairly, as nine Order Members taking an hour to discuss who was going to make a report into Shabda!

Anyone interested in the Cambridge weekend is asked to contact Shantigarbha as soon as possible.

Windhorse:Evolution supports new social projects

Windhorse:Evolution is the largest and most profitable of the FWBO’s many Right Livelihood businesses, with a turnover of some £10 million and employing over 200 people – 100 at their main warehouse, ‘Uddiyana’ in Cambridge UK, and another 100 in a chain of ‘Evolution’ shops around the UK and elsewhere.

Besides practicing Right Livelihood, as chronicled by Padmasuri in her book ‘Transforming Work’, they have always aimed to make a profit and to give that profit away as dana. At first they simply asked Sangharakshita for direction in this; in recent years they have donated it to the ‘Windhorse Trust’ which has in turn created five independent funds and distributes the available dana among them.

Initially all available dana was given to FWBO projects; but in a new departure, one of the new funds created was the Windhorse Social Fund. This aims to invest in social projects close to Windhorse’s main suppliers, and they now contribute around £20,000/year to this as part of their ‘Trade for Aid’ initiative.

In a new feature on FWBO News, Samata writes about two new social projects supported by Windhorse - The Wheatfield Plan in China and The Kupu-Kupu Foundation in Bali. Click here to read it.

Alongside this they have been taking active steps to ensure their goods come from ethical sources, so far as this is practicable. You can read more about this on their Evolution shops website here, which includes the reply given by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile when asked if Windhorse should be trading with China at all, given its poor human-rights record.

Is Jesus the answer?

Is Jesus the answer to Cambridge FWBO’s Buddhist Footballing success?

This was the question posed by Jayaraja after the FWBO’s little-known but much-loved annual football knockout competition. He told FWBO News -

“For the third year running, the Cambridge FWBO football team (led by none other than Jayaraja!) returned from London tired, hungry but satisfied with the success of retaining the FWBO’s 6-a-side football trophy. That ache deep in the muscles, the knocks and grazes, the weariness, is - I am sure - much easier for the victors.

"I don’t think we have the strongest team in terms of footballing know-how. For example the LBC had two players in the running for Player of the Tournament, and depth throughout their team including a very strong goalie. In contrast our goalie Mike had only played keeper before when wearing ice hockey skates – but what he lacked in knowledge he made up for in enthusiasm, application and focus. Other members of our team were equally new to football - Peter ‘s background is gymnastics and volleyball, Arthasiddhi’s rugby. To a trained eye it is only Pat, Mario and myself who look as if we have spent endless childhood hours scoring the winning goal in a world cup final in some distant dream.

"I think our success has been down to a willingness to learn, and plenty of practice and fun down at Jesus Green, a beautiful bit of Cambridge green space by the river where you’ll regularly find our guys playing amongst themselves or with the many keen footballers in the city. We know what we can do as individuals and as a team, and we like to play with each other. And friendship, affection and trust have built up over time.

"One of the hardest games we had was against ‘Live United’ a team made up of players from different FWBO centres including three of our own Cambridge lads who were perhaps extra-determined to show that maybe I had made an error of judgement in leaving them out of the first team. I felt and thought a lot on the journey back. A touch of shame at losing my composure in a couple of games. Pleased I didn’t lose it in others. Feeling delighted at a couple of my goals, chuffed with my guys, pleased with a couple of planned moves that came off and the turnaround after trailing to a strong Irish team at half-time – thanks to us keeping our cool and playing as a team.

"Yes, I thought - Jesus was the answer to our success. Long may the tournament continue. I would love it if someone else wins it next year, but we certainly aren’t going to give it away.

"To all who took part: the spirited and resolute guys from Ireland, the strong and determined men of Bristol, the free and talented men of Buddhafield, the energetic and passionate men of Live United, and the organised, fair and experienced
men of the LBC, a big thank you.
.
Metta Jayaraja

Burma...

Many around the FWBO have been following the unfolding events in Burma with great concern, and have wanted to demonstrate their concern by taking some sort of tangible action.

The Cambridge Buddhist Centre today organised a Yatra (meaning simply ‘walk’), followed by meditation, from the Buddhist Centre though the centre of town to the Guildhall. Some 70-100 people joined and the organisers expressed themselves as “delighted”. See a video clip on our Videosangha website.

Yatras have been used by Buddhists to help bring peace to several of the world’s most tense places, including Cambodia and Palestine.

Another Yatra is planned in Brighton for Sunday, and others are being organised in Birmingham and possibly London. Contact FWBO News for more information.

On Radio 4 Vishvapani presented today’s ‘Thought for the Day' on the Today programme, he spoke of how he’d returned from a retreat studying loving-kindness only to see words from the same ancient text emblazoned on the monks’ banners – and realised how loving-kindness leads naturally to action, even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child… You can listen to his broadcast here.

Meanwhile a number of petitions have been circulating around the FWBO Sangha, one addressed to Burmese embassies around the world and one to the UK prime minister

In the words of the Buddha, please “do what you think it is the time for”.

Whatever living beings there may be;
whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
the great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
the seen and the unseen,
those living near and far away,
those born and to-be-born,
may all beings be at ease.

Change and opportunity at Windhorse Publications

Windhorse Publications, the FWBO’s successful publishing company, is going in new directions. Jnanasiddhi, the present Director, says "As well as maintaining our current publishing of the FWBO tradition and bringing our movement’s evolving ideas into the world, we now have a new focus on flexibility and new sales."

This has led to TWO JOB OPPORTUNITIES - a Director/Commissioning Editor and a Sales and Marketing Manager. The salaries are negotiable and the jobs will be based in Cambridge.

Jnanasiddhi says "If you have an interest in books and publishing, good communications skills, ideas and commitment, IT and organisational skills and experience of business please contact, for further information, Sagaraghosa. The closing date is 30th September."

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