Buddhafield Festival 2008 - new site, new line-up - coming soon!

The FWBO’s largest event outside India is the annual Buddhafield Festival, now in its 13th year and going strong. From 350 in 1996 it’s grown to around 2,500 people – small enough to retain the intimacy that’s one of its hallmarks, yet large enough to contain an extraordinary diversity of, well, everything!!!

This year they’re moving to a beautiful new site just a few miles from the old one on the Devon-Somerset border. They’ve written to FWBO News to say –“The new site is secluded and peaceful, away from roads, with coppice woodland, and plenty of space. We’ve been hard at work preparing for this year’s Festival – and it’s coming up soon! We warmly invite you to join us – and please do tell your friends. It’s a great way for them to meet a bunch of Buddhists and get a taste of what we’re about”.

Here is a sneak preview of some of this year's programme (all included in the ticket price!!):

Kids Area: AMAZING and varied range of activities for kids - trampolines, dressing up, carnival processing, crafts, bushcraft and nature awareness, storytelling, toddlers' space, daily theatre extravaganza; Teens Space.

Bands: Gadjo Club (superb Gypsy Balkan Jazz); Seize the Day (protest folk stalwarts); Green Angels (upbeat Breton dance); Vogue Gyratory (Brighton faves, 7 piece funk-reggae); Manjinga 7; Toggy Mess (upbeat Irish folk); Manos Puestas (super-spicy flamenco jazz); a variety of fantastic DJs, including Matt Black of Coldcut (Thurs pm), followed by Cinema

Poetry and art: Inter-Ference; open mike poetry evening; Poetry Slam; 'The Big Q' play written specially for Buddhafield!; The Buddhafield 'Artery'; carnival costume-making from found natural materials; creativity and poetry-writing; Mr Be, mime, clown and family show; Stilted butterfly walkabout; Marionettas giant puppets.

.Dharma Parlour and meditation: talks and discussions on Buddhism, speakers from the Western Buddhist Order and other traditions, including Christopher Titmuss. Meditation teaching from FWBO teachers and others. Ceremonies and devotional practice. Network of Engaged Buddhists; Amida Trust, and others.

Workshops: MASSES of all-day yoga, Tai Chi and Chi Gung. Healing Area, great range of alternative therapies, pay by donation. Dozens of workshops to die for, including Ecstatic Dance with Jewls; 5 Rhythms with Jo Hardy; Brazilian Forro; Indian Classical Dance with yoga/visualisation; Shamanic Trance Dance with Zilia; many more dance workshops; 'Soulful Singing' with Mahasukha; 'Voice as Sacred Instrument'; Tibetan singing bowls; tin whistle, bodhran, drumming; daily Buddhafield Community Rhythm event; 'Work that Reconnects'; Transition Towns; big debate on Climate; Palestine Peace Campaign; Non-violent Communication; Skilful Flirting; Heart-to-Heart tantric workshops; Green babycare on a budget; Shamanic Journeying from Northern Drum….

Special Spaces: the 12 Step Dome; Women's Space; Land and Permaculture; Radical Midwives Space for pregnant women and new mothers; Queer Spirit Space; Crafts Area; Wildheart Medicine Wheel Space; Dzogchen and Big Mind teachings; bushcraft; tracking; fire making; sky-gazing meditation.

Saunas including Lost Horizon, featuring chillout space and cabaret; cafes including the Buddhafield Café with strolling musicians. And last but not least, wood-fired showers and compost toilets; all power on site from the sun and wind.

The 2008 Festival runs from Weds 16th to Sun 20th July. The site has good public transport links; nearest train and coach station is Taunton (direct trains from many towns); there are a couple of local buses each day from Taunton direct to the site. There's also special festival mini-buses going direct to the site and back from Bristol, Brighton and London. See the Buddhafield Festival website for details. Don't be put off by the rather severe website by the way - look at the pictures to get a sense of what it's really like!


But PS - don't forget to book soon! See you there! ;-)

The Buddhafield Team

FWBO International Retreat over, feedback invited...

Over at Taraloka, site of the FWBO's International Retreat last week, the clear-up has just about finished and they are well into their next event, the UK Women's National Order Weekend. All 400 retreatants have gone their many ways - home to Belgium, Holland, Germany, France, Spain, all over the UK - and even further perhaps - there were people there from India, New York, Australia.

Sangharakshita came on Sunday morning, and spoke at length, choosing as his theme the Buddha's advice to his monks, the 'Conditions for the Stability of the Sangha' from the Mahaparanibbana Sutta, no.16 in the Digha Nikaya. Thanks to Videosangha, you can catch his talk here, look for 'The Growth and Prosperity of the Sangha' though it's also known as 'Growing the Spiritual Community'.

We'd like to invite any one who was there to add a comment to this post saying how it was for them - just click on 'have your say' below... In this way we'll build up a scrapbook of reflections and memories.

Meanwhile a slideshow of some images from the retreat is available on FWBO Photos, or just click on the photos below. They include quite a lot of Sangharakshita - many thanks to Dhammarati for these.




Click on 'have your say' to add your comment. Thanks...!

And by the way if youre reading this by email and don't have that option immediately available, just visit this post on FWBO News: fwbo-news.org/2008/06/fwbo-international-retreat-over.html

FWBO International Retreat in full swing; 400 attending

The FWBO’s first International Retreat is in full swing at Taraloka, with over 400 people attending, many camping in the bumpy fields surrounding the Retreat Centre. It is a rich and diverse Sangha gathering - those present are of many nationalities and countries, many ages (83 to just 6 months), and many levels of experience, not least of camping!

Lokabandhu reports from the retreat- “The theme is ‘Beating the Drum of the Dharma’, and we’re exploring it from many different angles – meditation, talks, story-telling (in the evenings, with the children present), ritual, and study – and, of course, in the many meetings happening between people every moment. In the mornings there have been talks – on the first day the theme was ‘Wisdom’, and Ratnaguna explored with us some of the Buddha’s very earliest teachings, the ‘pre-Buddhist Buddhism’ from chapters four and five of the Sutta Nipata. Yesterday’s theme was ‘Absorption’; Kamalashila led us through what may have happened in the Buddha’s mind immediately after his Enlightenment, as he sat beneath the trees around Bodh Gaya. Today the theme is ‘Compassion’; Sangharakshita is expected to arrive shortly, and will be giving a short talk and no doubt meeting people.

“It’s going very well indeed, it’s real meeting between people and a real coming-together of our Sangha. In the evenings we have chanting and puja; circumambulating a rather wonderful papeier-mache stupa as we go. For those who can receive it, there's a video clip of this on Youtube or embedded below”.



Meanwhile FWBO News has heard that the Buddha Festival in India also went very well, with some 500 attending. We will be publishing a full report once we have some photos of the event – expected shortly.

FWBO International Retreat setup under way at Taraloka

In two days time the first FWBO International Retreat begins at Taraloka, the FWBO’s women's retreat centre in Shropshire, UK. Setup is well under way, with over 50 people on site and new marquees, tents, and domes springing up by the hour. FWBO News went to have a look, and brings you this small videoclip that hopes to bring a little of the magic of the situation to you, wherever you may be... If it's not visible belo, it's also available on Youtube.

The setup is itself a mini-retreat, with walking and sitting meditations in the morning, short meditations before lunch and supper, and pujas and other ceremony in the evenings. And yesterday, two birthdays were added to the mix! This may sound a bit of a luxury given the amount of work to be done, but actually it’s crucial – it creates the atmosphere into which newcomers arrive. And Buddhafield has discovered that if this embodies a sense of Sangha, an event can grow and grow and grow to an almost unlimited size while preserving the same friendliness and sense of welcome as there was when only half a dozen people first showed up in an empty field in a couple of vans…

Over 400 people are expected from across Europe and beyond; there will be simultaneous translation into four languages for the main talks, a children’s area, a selection of accommodation (including bedrooms, dormitories, camping, and even the local village hall), and food provided by the Buddhafield café. Multiple meditation spaces include meditation outdoors in Taraloka’s grounds around their very beautiful Prajna-Paramita rupa. In a few days time, Taraloka and Buddhafield will play host to four hundred retreatants - for now though, there’s much to be done – from filling in the rabbit holes in the carpark to setting up the compost toilets to digging down to discover and tee off the deeply-buried water main. Who said it was simple leading the simple life…?!

In search of a meaningful way of life...

‘Earth Rising, Heaven Descending’ is the name given by Order Member Suryaprabha to his latest series of five films charting the evolution of the FWBO – and, more generally, of Sangha in the West - over the past 40 years. His ‘Lights in the Sky’ imprint has already given the FWBO some of its evocative images of its’ past, especially through the much-loved ‘History’ series - or click here for some trailers.

Suryaprabha sees his films as a “search for a meaningful way of life” and, on the eve of the release of the third in the series, he has sent FWBO News this summary of what he's trying to do in the present series. He says –

“THE IDEA was to collect stories from around the world of people who have some connection to the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order and, with some reflection, to come to appreciate this hard to describe ‘spirit’. A five part series has evolved, with Part 5 becoming that original film with four preceding films setting the scene. So the series, after a statement of the ideals and principles goes, in the middle films, fairly deeply into messy worldly existence and (it is predicted) end calmly and contemplatively. People were chosen for variety of lifestyle and environment and only secondarily for their level of ‘practice’. In parts 2 to 4 the social context of their lives is explored, including the balance between personal and public concerns. In the words of Vishvapani, the series maintains a ‘sideways look’ by ‘sitting in’ on conversations rather than employing an ‘authoritarian’ narrator-interviewer approach.

"Part 1 BACKGROUND (42 mins, August ’08 release) recalls an earlier era of the Buddhist transmission to the West when FWBO founder Sangharakshita was befriended and taught in Kalimpong by Indian and Tibetan Buddhist teachers.

Now, three of his disciples undertake a pilgrimage to the Himalayas to connect with their and his spiritual roots.


"Part 2 ONCE FREE (63 mins, now released) is an ironic, tender portrait set in a place (USA) where the ratio of personal persona to public persona is perhaps 9:1. And in a place where bounty or impoverishment are seen as just rewards for an individual’s effort, a handful of Buddhists find ways of ameliorating institutional harshness through work in health, education and prisons: an example of quiet, hopeful lives within a dominant culture.

"Part 3 RECURRING DREAM (64 mins) Set in India, where the ratio of personal persona to public concern is perhaps 1:9. The iconic Dr Ambedkar ensured the Constitution outlawed caste-based discrimination and dreamt of further changes coming through the adoption of Buddhism. 50 years after he and millions of his caste-based followers converted, Hindus still see ‘Old Untouchables’ rather than ‘New Buddhists’. Why? The gains in social welfare and self confidence are indisputable. But prejudice and distrust flare up easily on all sides, amongst even Buddhists. And caste-based marriage, Subhuti argues, ensures the scope of the Dhamma Revolution remains limited. Amongst the many stories, dreams come true at one inter-caste wedding. (June 08 release)

"Part 4 UNTITLED - Set in the middle ground, in societies with a social contract. Here the FWBO is involved in many aspects of mundane life involving a range of folk. But how well can it combine going ‘outwards’ to work with culture / environment / society with the ‘inner’ work on the self? Is it easier or harder to reconcile these given that a cushy life may be spiritually impoverished one?? Stories are set in UK, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Catalonia, Ukraine, Germany and France – many filmed in the speakers’ native languages. (Dec. 08 release)

"Part 5 UNTITLED - an open-minded focus, which hopes to capture that elusive quality of 'spiritual communication'. It's not yet been made; watch this space…"

Any of the above, including the original ‘History’ movies, are available from Suryaprabha’s shop in DVD format.

International Retreat: last update, Sangharakshita attending

Vajragupta writes with the latest news of the FWBO International Retreat, due to start in just over three weeks.

He says -

“There is now just three and a half weeks to go to the FWBO International Retreat and it’s getting exciting. In fact it looks set to be the largest FWBO retreat we’ve ever held outside India. Over 250 people have already booked, including a busload coming from Germany and Northern Europe, and another from Spain. The family-friendly facilities mean that quite a few people are bringing their children along and more are welcome of course.

Sangharakshita attending

“Many details of the program have been settled since my last update, and there has been one major new development: Sangharakshita is planning to attend, and will be giving a talk on the Sunday morning. It’s not often that he speaks in public these days; this is therefore a rare opportunity for contact with him.

“The overall theme for the retreat is of course ‘Beating the Drum of the Dharma’. Other speakers include Ratnaguna talking on ‘the Early Teachings of the Buddha’, Kamalasila on ‘the Meditating Buddha’, Parami on ‘Ethics in the 21st Century’ – plus lots more workshops and groups led by some the FWBO’s best teachers. Click here for a full list of the speakers and teachers.

For visitors from outside UK there will be simultaneous translation into Spanish, French, German, and Dutch. And many of the facilities are being provided by Buddhafield, so things should have that extra flavour of ‘Buddhafield magic’…

Book soon!

“It's not to late to book, although there are now only camping spaces available. After May 15th postal and Internet bookings will close - people wishing to book after then are requested to phone Taraloka on +44 (0) 1948-710646.

Weekend tickets available

One other change is that weekend tickets are now available, from Friday to Monday. So if you really can’t get Thursday off work, come anyway! And when you arrive, simply give that bit less. See the website for suggested details.

“If you are thinking to come, please do book soon – and let your friends know too. That’ll make it much easier for us to get in the necessary supplies and make sure everyone can be properly catered for.

“The Buddha said that if the sangha met in large numbers it was sure to prosper. I think this retreat will give many people a wonderful sense of being part of a big, international community of Dharma practitioners. That sense of connection can be so inspiring and important to people at Centres.

"See you there!”

The FWBO 'Legacy Fund' - new projects for 2008

Vajragupta has sent FWBO News a report on how the Sangharakshita Legacy Fund allocated its money in 2008. The Legacy Fund is perhaps one of the less-well-known funds within the FWBO mandala, but one that’s doing important work.

Vajragupta, it's secretary, writes -

“The fund exists to help projects that are doing the following:

1) Preserving Sangharakshita's legacy: physically preserving and protecting archive materials, such as correspondence, personal effects, photos, videos, and seminars.
2) Dissemination: making accessible Sangharakshita's books, lectures, seminars, poetry, etc. to an ever-broadening audience
3) Translation: funding translations of Sangharakshita's Dharma teaching into many languages. See FWBO Translations for the current list.

In 2008 we had £32K worth of applications and £15K available to allocate, all given to us by Windhorse:Evolution. Our funds were less than last year because Windhorse:Evolution are undertaking a period of substantial re-investment in their business, in the hope of increasing profit (and therefore dana) in years to come. So, although we would have liked to fund all the applications we received to the full, it obviously wasn't possible.

We were able to give grants as follows:

* AOBO Paris: £500 towards the cost of publishing software for producing translations of Sangharakshita’s books.

* Clear Vision: £2000 towards filming Sangharakshita, making the archive of Sangharakshita photos available on the web, and preserving DVD footage of Sangharakshita and the FWBO on hard-drives.

* FreeBuddhistAudio: £3000 towards running costs and specific projects in connection with Sangharakshita material on the website.

* Lokamitra: £400 towards a translation of the TBMSG puja book.

* Manidhamma: £1100 towards the translation and publication of three Sangharakshita books (The Three Jewels, Religion of Art, and Selected Poetry) into Marathi.

* Shantavira: £1000 towards office and other costs to make pdf files of Sangharakshita’s books available on the web. See the Bookshelf on Sangharakshita’s website for titles already available.

* Vidyadevi: £2000 towards supporting her to do editorial and Spoken Word work for Sangharakshita.

* Windhorse Publications: £5000 towards converting Sangharakshita’s books into pdf’s and also reprinting some titles.

"Many thanks to Windhorse:Evolution for their generosity in funding these projects and making them possible. Like the FWBO Growth Fund, to date the Legacy Fund has been funded entirely by dana from Windhorse:Evolution - SADHU! once again to Windhorse!"

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.

Getting the Dharma to Work…

Last year some 45 people from around the FWBO came together and held an exploratory weekend looking very broadly at “how to make ‘Team-Based Right Livelihood’ more attractive”. Team-Based Right Livelihood (TBRL for short) has always been a core component of the FWBO’s system of practice, being part of its practice of Right Livelihood, which is of course central in the Buddha’s own Noble Eightfold Path.

Vajragupta has recently written to FWBO News to give us an update -

"We considered all sorts of topics: support, training, spiritual practice, and possible new ventures. All sorts of people came, from old-timers who’d always worked in TBRL, to new people who’d never done so. It was a unique, enjoyable, and effective combination of sangha. It seemed to touch on something people were interested in and wanted to explore more deeply.

“At the same time, one issue that became apparent – for people in all forms of work, not just TBRL – was that “work as a spiritual practice” seemed to have gone somewhat off the boil. In the past we’ve been very strong on the general idea that spiritual transformation will only work if you keep practising all day, and it won’t if your practice only means an hour on the cushion. But perhaps we’ve not developed more specific teachings and practice in this area as much as we might. This is surprising, especially given there are some really talented people involved in our Sangha and working in all sorts of areas (both in Buddhist and non-Buddhist contexts).

“So, this year, in September, we will have another weekend. This time we will look more specifically on “getting the Dharma to work”, and it is open to anyone – Order member or mitra, those working in “traditional” TBRL, those in new Buddhist projects, those working in non-Buddhist contexts. The weekend will include talks and workshops led by a variety of talented and inspired folk, including Saddharaja, Shakyakumara, Subhadramati, and myself. If you know of someone who might be fired-up by this topic, please pass this information onto them".

The dates are Friday 12 to Sunday 14 September; the venue is just outside Birmingham (UK); the cost is £45; and to book, or for more information, contact Vajragupta or phone him on +44 (0)121-447-7427.

Hridayavani - the Song or Voice of the Heart - calling all women...

FWBO News is happy to pass on an announcement and request from Helen, Siobhan, & Sue, three women who’ve requested ordination into the Western Buddhist Order and who together produce one of the FWBO’s lesser-known publications – Hridayavani, meaning the Song or Voice of the Heart. They’re looking to make it more widely known and also for new contributors. They say -

“Hridayavani is a monthly e-mail magazine for women who have requested ordination into the Western Buddhist Order. Members can report in, express views and generally get to know other women who are similarly seeking to deepen the effectiveness of their Going for Refuge. It helps them get a wider perspective of the movement and keep in touch with women who might never normally meet, except perhaps on retreat.

"If you want to get involved, its easy – just write something for us. It could be just a brief introduction about you and your local situation, or about how you got involved and what inspired you to ask for ordination. You could report-in on anything you’d like to share with. Then send your document preferably as an email with an attached Word document to hridayavani@hotmail.co.uk

"As soon as your first contribution has been received you’ll start to receive Hridayavani each month and become part of the e-sangha. Apart from contributors, the only people who receive the journal currently are Sangharakshita and the Retreat Team at Tiratanaloka. In order to do what we can to maintain confidentiality, we ask that members don’t circulate their copy. Finally, receipt of the journal is conditional on active participation; please aim to write in at least every 3 months. – you’ll continue to receive the journal for as long as you continue to write in. And if you’re writing for the first time, please let us know your postal address, email address + date you asked for ordination.

"We look forward to hearing from you and hope that you'll join us".

FWBO International Retreat update

Here's a short update on arrangements for the upcoming FWBO International Retreat - May 22-26th, at Taraloka, in Shropshire, UK. Vajragupta, the main organiser, has sent FWBO News this report -

"The bookings for the FWBO International Retreat are now flowing in. We’ve just booked the local village hall in order to be able to provide more accomodation, and we’ve also heard that one group are going to arrive by barge, and moor it on the canalside near to Taraloka!

The programme is continuing to come together with talks, groups, workshops, and rituals led by Dhammarati, Kamalasila, Padmavajra, Parami, Maitreyi, Ratnadharini, Ratnaguna, Sona, Vessantara, and Vidyamala - with more to be announced nearer the time…

Children most welcome!
There will also be facilities for children and families, and special facilities for those travelling from beyond the UK.

The event is sure to be an inspiration for someone on his or her first retreat. Likewise, for those who’ve already been on many retreats, this will be a great opportunity to experience the magic of practising together in large numbers and to experience the greater FWBO Sangha.

Translations and non-UK Visitors
We’ll be able to provide some simple translation facilities for those who don’t speak English. During the big talks we will have headphones on which people will be able to listen to simultaneous translations in Dutch, German, Spanish, and possibly other European languages (depending on the numbers in each language group).

Some of the study groups and workshops will also be run in two languages e.g. English and German, or English and Spanish. So, although this means that non-English speakers will have less of a choice of groups and activities to attend, there will always be at least be one group in their language.

Rituals will mainly be in English, but we will be bearing non-English speakers in mind, and will sometimes have sections in other languages. Hearing the Dharma in many languages during rituals can actually be very inspiring!

Lastly, we can also offer first priority for dormitory accommodation to those who’ve travelled from abroad, provided they book before 22nd April. If you could book even earlier, this will help us with planning.

For more details of what’s on offer, please contact your local Centre or check the FWBO International Retreat website.

Parinirvana Day

Today, February 15th, FWBO Centres across the world will be observing Parinirvana Day, the anniversary of the Buddha’s entry into final ‘Parinirvana’.

FWBO News is pleased to reproduce some excerpts from ‘Between Twin Sala Trees’, a talk given by Sangharakshita in 1983, in which he outlines the significance of the day and suggests some ways in which it might be observed.

Sangharakshita says –

“The first of my suggestions is that, if at all possible, we should observe the Parinirvana Day as a whole day’s celebration. We should read the Mahaparinibbana Sutta and chant the Vajrasattva mantra. The Mahaparinibbana Sutta is part of the Pali Canon, the sixteenth sutta of the Digha-Nikaya, and it gives an account of the last few months of the Buddha’s life, and especially it gives an account of the last day, or rather, the last night of the Buddha’s earthly existence.

“Perhaps it’s not necessary in the course of our celebration of Parinirvana Day to read through the whole of the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. We can perhaps make a selection and read only those parts, only those sections which have a direct bearing on the Parinirvana itself or on the events leading up to the Parinirvana itself.

“The Mahaparinibbana Sutta could be read aloud in the shrine room, perhaps people could take it in turns to read, perhaps Order Members could take it in turns to read. And of course one must remember to read slowly, by which I don’t mean very, very slowly - I simply mean don’t rush it. And mindfully, paying attention to what one is reading and to the meaning of what one is reading, and also loudly, and clearly, and distinctly, so that everybody can hear you.

“The second of my suggestions for observing Parinirvana Day is that in the evening, during the performance of the Sevenfold Puja, we should make our observance of the Parinirvana Day also an occasion for remembering other deceased persons - not just the Buddha’s Parinirvana all those centuries ago, but also other deceased persons, especially Order Members, Mitras and Friends, who’ve died in the course of the previous year or so. We can place, perhaps, their photographs on the shrine, below images or pictures of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and gurus.

“And their full names, and the dates of their death should be read out either during or before the Sevenfold Puja. We can not only remember, not only commemorate Order Members, Mitras and Friends, in this way, but also the friends and relations of such if anybody wants to bring along the photograph or the name of anybody, near and dear to him or her, who has died, especially in the course of the last year. All should be remembered, on that occasion with metta”.

Sangharakshita goes on to highlight some of the more significant episodes in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta: the Episode of the Mirror of the Dhamma; the Episode, or Teaching, of Subjective and Objective Refuges; the Episode of the Untimely Flowers; and the Episode of the Last Disciple. There are also some very interesting reflections on the different characteristics and ‘moods’ of the Buddhist Holy Places: Bodh Gaya, Kusinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath.

‘Between Twin Sala Trees’ is available on FreeBuddhistAudio as either audio or text.

FWBO News would be very pleased to hear from readers around the world how they chose to mark this anniversary, either individually or in company of others at Buddhist centres. Simply click the ‘Comment’ link below and send us your comments.

Report from Chairs meeting at Dhanakosa, January 2008

Last month some 40 Chairmen and Chairwomen from most of the FWBO’s European Centres gathered at Dhanakosa for the twice-yearly week-long meeting of the European Chairs Assembly. The meeting is a place where those taking responsibility for our Buddhist centres can come together for practice and friendship, besides discussing a very wide range of topics. This report, by Lokabandhu of the FWBO Development Team, aims to give a flavour of the meeting and to note some of the topics discussed.

To begin with, there were a good number of people to say farewell to, and an equal number of ‘hellos’. It’s a tradition of the meeting to give both these a good deal of time so that people can be properly welcomed when they arrive and properly rejoiced-in when they leave. It was noteworthy that six of the seven new faces at the meeting were women; the present overall ratio among the Chairs is approx 2:1 men:women. As usual, most of the FWBO Development Team, who are employed by the European Chairs Assembly, were also there.

The meeting got off to an adventurous start due to snowstorms: the coach from Glasgow was not willing to risk the last few miles along the lochside in the dark and we had to be ferried into Dhanakosa in a series of cars.

The topics covered in the many discussions included –

A thought-provoking paper by Dhammarati with his thoughts on how to ensure coherence across the many facets of the F/WBO. He has posted this on his blog.

The need for us to find ways of telling our ‘story’ in ways that were open and did justice to the multi-facetted nature of our history. As part of this it was agreed to commission a fairly short pamphlet covering the main areas, specifically including links to other sources for those who wanted more detail. Many of these are already on-line at FWBO Discussion.

A progress report on the FWBO International Retreat, coming up this May 22-26th. This is an ambitious new venture to replace FWBO Day, its looking good so far.

The proposed ‘Virtual Buddhist Centre’ was mentioned but not discussed in much detail, it was agreed instead to conduct a more wide-ranging review of our main websites and how they could be better coordinated – there are now over 300 different FWBO sites! Click here for an early (and now discarded) prototype, it does however illustrate some of the breadth of sites available.

A workshop on Team-Based Right Livelihood, highlighting in particular people’s expressed needs for (i) adequate support and long-term financial security, (ii) ongoing training and learning, and (iii) work as practice; as part of it we were led through a much-appreciated self-assessment of our own training needs. See the excellent resources on the FWBO Centre Support website here.

The lack of youth at our centres was discussed: according to the Order Address List,) there are now only 4 Order Members outside of India under 30! Click here for some graphic charts from the Order Survey illustrating this. In November we will host a weekend of ‘interested parties’ later in the year to explore ideas to address this; please contact FWBO News if you would like to be kept informed of this.

Results from the Order Survey itself were made available, click here to access them.

Last but not least there were centre presentations by Glasgow and Newcastle; these are a regular feature of the meeting and are always fascinating glimpses into the past and into the nitty-gritty heroism involved in taking the Dharma to a new city. Glasgow’s was particularly interesting due to the long history of the Glasgow Buddhist Centre – we were, among other things, treated to a rare slide of an Upasikaa’s red kesa!

New opportunities on FWBO Jobs; other changes to FWBO News' website

Several new jobs have been posted recently on FWBO Jobs; readers are invited to visit the FWBO Jobs site to check. These include posts at Windhorse:Evolution, the FWBO's largest and most successful Right Livelihood business, as well as volunteers needed for the upcoming FWBO International Retreat. In the past three months the site has had over 1,000 visitors from over 30 countries.

There have been significant changes recently to the FWBO News website; regular readers who use our Feedblitz news-feed service are invited to take time to visit the site itself.

Among other things three separate search facilities have been added to make it possible to easily find any reference to specific people or events across the FWBO’s extensive and somewhat sprawling network of websites. You will find these on the Resources page; they cover, respectively, the FWBO News archive; or all FWBO centre websites (over 100 to date); or the 170+ personal websites listed on FWBO People. A rich and, now, very accessible resource!

A tag listing facility has also been added giving one-click access to all stories on particular themes: clicking (for instance) the ‘Engaged Buddhism’ tag brings up all previous FWBO News stories on that theme.

We have added two ‘volumes’ of previous stories from FWBO News, each covering a two-month period and arranged in an easily-printable PDF document form. Taken together they reflect the remarkable diversity of events and projects going on around our Sangha. You can find these too on the Resources section of the site; we envisage adding further volumes every couple of months.

Finally, by visiting the site itself you'll also be able to admire our visit counter, which shows the number of visitors and which country they come from – we have had over 10,000 visitors from 99 countries since November…!

Suggestions for further enhancements are of course welcome.

Thanks...

FWBO News was so delighted to get this unsolicited compliment from a satisfied reader, we couldn't resist reproducing it here! "Hi FWBO News, just a very brief note to say thanks for all the effort you put into producing the FWBO TBMSG blog throughout the year. Before I start work each morning I check my mail for a new blog and feel inspired by the sheer volume and diversity of work being carried out world-wide by the movement I am part of. It is very easy to take on a narrow, parochial outlook, becoming mired in local events and difficulties. The blog you put so much effort into maintaining is the perfect antidote.

FWBO News in 2007 - the best and the rest...

During 2007, FWBO News published a total of 204 news pieces covering a wide range of events across the FWBO and TBMSG (as we’re known in India). On this, the last day of the year, it seemed appropriate to celebrate that – well done us! We also wanted to mention just some of the best stories we never managed to cover over the year. Sometimes these simply didn’t get a mention at all, and sometimes they did, but not the emphasis they deserved. It was a rich year for us in many ways. Read on…!

July saw nine women being ordained at our Hsuan Tsang retreat centre in India, five by Jnanasuri, an Indian woman Dharmacharini. It was reported at the time, but its proper significance hardly drawn out - we believe this marks the first ordination of Indian women by Indian women in India for very many years, possibly the first time ever. Sadhu Jnanasuri!

There are thriving FWBO centres in Mexico, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, and San Francisco – among other places – but we were unable to extract any actual ‘news’ from any of them. Perhaps we’ll be more lucky in 2008! Likewise our smaller centres in Estonia and Norway. We’d have included FWBO Poland as well, but we now have a report from them that’s planned to be the first or second news pieces of the new year. Watch this space! And check our links page for all their websites.

As well as running our city centres and retreat centres, the 1,500 members of the Western Buddhist Order are active in a great many different fields. Most, if not all, have chosen livelihoods that directly express their ideals in one way or another. We’d have liked to present more features on Order Members doing prison work, also those working with NVC (non-violent communication), mediation, and the very successful carers’ retreats, plus recent developments in the areas of meditation and chronic pain, depression, addiction, and relapse prevention. Also, a number of Order Members are on, or are preparing to undertake, long retreats – and a far larger number are getting married and having children. Both very fertile areas for Dharma practice, of course! Perhaps related to the latter is a renewed interest in community living, but specifically in exploring new patterns to the traditional FWBO single-sex community. Ty Brethyn in Wales, a family community founded by Order Members from Buddhafield North, is the first to actually come into existence, but several others are on the drawing board – the most advanced probably being the Bodhi Eco-Project in Scotland.

2007 also saw the first major survey of the Order for many years, something which illustrated very graphically the increasing diversity of the Order. Results are still being digested, but we hope to present some of them here in due course. Among many other things the survey showed the continued move away from communal living and cooperative working, which were both such a feature of the early FWBO. Indeed, the survey estimated that today only some 20% of the Order are employed by FWBO institutions and only about 30% living in FWBO communities. Both Windhorse Publications and Windhorse:Evolution have undergone major changes over the past year, we’d have liked to tell you more about these too. Happily, the Order as a whole continues to grow almost exponentially, with some 1,500 members and well over 1,000 men and women preparing for ordination in many countries.

Sangharakshita, founder of the FWBO, also seemed underrepresented during the year, although he was mentioned in six stories. 2007 was his most active year for some years, and sadly we were unable to report on many of his travels – for instance, his first visit to the Buddhafield Festival.

Looking ahead to 2008, high on the list must be the FWBO’s International Retreat, to be held at Taraloka in late May. Check the latest details or in other languages. We’re also developing plans for a ‘virtual buddhist centre’, an on-line version of what you’d hope to find at a ‘real’ Buddhist centre. In fact, we’d like to hear from people who’d be interested in helping us develop this – please email us if you’re interested. Readership of FWBO News also seemed to go up and up, though there’s still plenty of people across the F/WBO who don’t read it regularly. Spread the word! In the past two months it has attracted visitors from 77 countries – welcome to you all.

And finally - best wishes for the New Year, may it be happy and peaceful for you all.

FWBO news around the world

FWBO News does its best to present a selection of news from across the Movement. Given that the FWBO and TBMSG have some 80 Buddhist centres around the world plus many other Dharma and social projects, this is not an easy job and it’s impossible here to let you know everything happening across the Movement. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to present some of the other, more local, web-based newsletters produced by different centres and FWBO projects.

Aryaloka, our retreat centre in New Hampshire, USA, produces an online newsletter Vajra Bell, while on the other side of the country the San Francisco FWBO centre publishes their on-line bulletin.

Further afield, ‘down under’ (as we Brits say!), in Australia, the Sydney Buddhist Centre has long published a newsletter as have their associated Right Livelihood Windhorse Books.

Back in UK, there are also newsletters from the Bristol, Cambridge, and Manchester Buddhist Centres in the UK, plus a weblog from the London Buddhist Centre.

Taraloka is a much-loved women’s retreat centre in Shropshire - where, among their own news, you’ll find links to two BBC videos of Taraloka - 'Inside a Buddhist retreat centre' and 'Take a Tour of a Buddhist Retreat'.

The FWBO’s Karuna Trust, our largest fundraising project, based in London, has many of its past annual reports and newsletters available on their website. Karuna fundraises and sends over UK £1,000,000 per year to India funding both Dhamma and Social projects by the TBMSG (as the FWBO is known in India) and other project partners.


Up in Scotland, the Glasgow Buddhist Centre has long produced Gist, their much-loved and very rich centre newsletter.

Free Buddhist Audio is a truly global FWBO website, hosting many hundreds of Dharma talks in several languages. Their collection is constantly growing, and as well as podcasts they offer a blog where you can read their latest news.

All these are newsletters and bulletins from our centres or projects; many of the individuals who make up our Sangha have their own websites, blogs, or photo collections. The best place to find these is probably FWBO People or to look at the links offered in the right-hand column below.

Finally, less well-known is probably the WBO’s College of Public Preceptors, the body of senior Order Members who are responsible for all ordinations into the Western Buddhist Order. Click here to read their occasional blog.

If all this were not enough, there are budding FWBO presences on MySpace and Facebook – but we’ll leave you to find them!

Happy reading!

New search facility for FWBO People

FWBO People is a sister-site to FWBO News, carrying links to over 180 websites run by people associated with the FWBO and the Western Buddhist Order.

We have now added a specialised search facility to this which searches all the content of all the sites listed. Click here to use it. It is hoped that in time this will broaden out to become a searchable on-line directory of our Sangha’s skills, interests, and Dharma practice.

FWBO International Retreat 2008 - bookings opening soon

The publicity and booking information for the FWBO International Retreat is being launched in the next few weeks. The retreat is a new venture, organised by the European FWBO Chairs Assembly, and is taking place from 22nd to 26th May next year. The format will be a long weekend retreat, and it will be held at Taraloka in the UK, with some of the FWBO's best and most experienced teachers.

So far, the list of confirmed teachers includes Dayanandi, Dhammarati, Kamalasila, Kulaprabha, Padmavajra, Parami, Maitreyi, Ratnadharini, Ratnaguna, Tejananda, Vessantara, and Vidyamala, plus members of Buddhafield leading ritual and storytelling, and members of Buddhafield North running activities for children.

The weekend takes place just a few days after Wesak, the full moon day of May, on which Buddhists all over the world celebrate the Buddha's attainment of Enlightenment. On the retreat we'll be hearing about what it was the Buddha had discovered, how he then spent many days reflecting and meditating on its significance, before finally deciding to share his experience and “beat the drum of the Dharma”.

We are envisaging an unfolding theme over the weekend - looking at the stories and incidents from the tradition, but also their meaning, relevance, and "equivalents" in our own lives. There will be a day looking at the Buddha's Enlightenment and the topic of insight and understanding, a day exploring absorption, depth, assimilation... and a day looking at going back into the world with the message of the Dharma...

On 12th October the English language version of new website www.internationalretreat.fwbo.org went live, with full information about the event. There will soon be facilities to book on-line, or download a postal booking form. Also coming are versions of the website in various other European languages. Brochures about the event (also with booking forms) will be available at UK Centres in the next couple of weeks.

FWBO News back in action…

There’s been very little activity on FWBO News these past few weeks. That’s not been through lack of news to publish – in fact we have a queue of nearly 40 items! - but a changeover of editors plus personnel absences during the summer retreat season. But now we’re back and eager to get going again. Expect to see reports soon on –

The Jai Bhim Community in Hungary
The Mitraloka School of Languages in Nagpur, India
Ethical Investment opportunities in Valencia, Spain
The recent Preceptors College meeting in Wales
News from Order Members active in the world of Non-Violent Communication (NVC)
The Golden Rainbow Appeal
Poetry and Art in New Hampshire
An Ordination in Berlin
Progress towards an FWBO Centre in Beijing
Glasgow Buddhists ‘Sitting in Peace’ at the Faslane nuclear submarine base, others at the DSEI arms fair in London
The Western Buddhist Order Convention – celebrating ‘What is Alive in the Order’
The recent Team-Based Right Livelihood weekend in Birmingham
Indian Mitra presents paper at United Nations conference
The 9th Buddhafield ‘Child-Friendly’ retreat on their new land in Dartmoor, UK (from which comes the pink heart above!)
An update on the 2008 Dr. Ambedkar Conference planned in San Francisco
New websites at FWBO Discussion and FWBO Developments

There’s plenty more but hopefully that’s enough to whet your appetites…

In addition we hope to be bringing you more in the way of in-depth features (click the Features tab above) and an FWBO-wide Jobs advertising service for those interested in working or volunteering for the FWBO in one way or another.

Suggestions and contributions for news items are always welcome – please email us at

email:
news@fwbo-news.org

FWBO News summer recess

The next six weeks will see fewer news items on FWBO News due to the 'summer season' of retreats for the main editors and contributors. There will of course be some news posted, so please keep visiting regularly. Contributions of pre-written news stories are especially welcome as they can be uploaded very easily.

Full service will resume in mid-September - at which time we hope to offer readers much more in the way of comment and in-depth features; both of which were requested in the recent FWBO News readership survey.

FWBO Discussion website launched

A new website, 'FWBO Discussion' (www.discussion.fwbo.org), has recently been launched. Building on work done by Vishvapani, it’s a collection of articles by members of the Order, with the aim of presenting some of its more internal reflections and discussions, plus various accounts of the main changes in the FWBO and Order over the past decade or so. Vishvapani introduces the site by saying "The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order is a diverse and thoughtful community, whose members frequently debate matters of teaching and issues affecting the FWBO, its history and its future. This debate has often been invisible to non-members, and this site aims to open that debate and reflection to a wider audience."

The site is divided into various sections – ‘The Order’, ‘Changes’, ‘Controversy’, ‘Sangharakshita’, ‘Gender’, and ‘Academic’ (a bibliography of academic articles on us).

Lokabandhu, the current editor of the site, says "I'm very pleased with it, I think it’d be impossible to read it and not conclude that we (the FWBO) is a serious, open-minded, self-aware buddhist community with genuine independence of mind and interest in the truth. Comments welcome of course! I'd like to add to it, so if you have any suggestions please let me know."

FWBO News readership survey report

At the beginning of June we conducted our first ever survey of FWBO News' readership. We invited readers to complete a short on-line questionnaire telling us a little about how often they visited the site, what they liked about it, and so on - and of course inviting any comments. We linked this up with the basic internet statistics we get and are pleased to present our first readership report. Click here for the full report, or here if you'd like to add yourself to the Survey.

VideoSangha is a new website set up to enable people within the FWBO mandala to share what they are doing, what they are inspired by, and just to see what we look like - through the medium of video. Upeksapriya, its creator, who works for ClearVision in Manchester, says "Feel free to submit any video related to your involvement with Buddhism and the FWBO - and to rate the ones currently hosted there".

The FWBO International Retreat 2008 - “Beating the Drum of the Dharma”

A big marquee has been hired, the first publicity printed, the website is launched, the list of invited teachers is growing… preparations are well underway for the FWBO International Retreat...

Next year, FWBO Buddhist Centres from all over Europe are joining forces in a new venture.
From 22nd to 26th May at Taraloka in the UK, in conjunction with Buddhafield, there is going to be a big retreat. The idea is to bring together people in large numbers to practice, learn about, and celebrate the Dharma of the FWBO. Many of our best and most experienced teachers will be there to teach meditation, give talks, or lead puja and ritual.

Vajragupta, who is one of the main organisers of the event, says: “Everyone from the FWBO is welcome, whether it is your first retreat, or you’ve been on retreat many times before. Come and experience the magic and inspiration of practising together in large numbers!”

The weekend takes place just a few days after Wesak, the full moon day of May on which Buddhists all over the world celebrate the Buddha’s attainment of Enlightenment. So the theme will be “Beating the Drum of the Dharma” – exploring what the Buddha did next, how he took the Dharma out into the world, how he lived-out his newly discovered Wisdom and Compassion.

More details about the event will be available in the autumn. Look out for brochures at your Buddhist Centre and for the website www.internationalretreat.fwbo.org