Invitation to participate in on-line research study for meditators

FWBO News is pleased to pass on this request for volunteers to take part in an on-line project looking at some of the effects of meditation. "Hi there,I'm Rebecca, a Mitra with the Letchworth FWBO group. "I'm currently doing some research for my MSc project that involves looking at some of the effects of meditation. "I'm looking for volunteers who meditate regularly and who would like to take part in the study. It will be available online in the next few weeks, and will consist of some questionnaires (about 20 mins) and two very short experiments (less than 5 minutes each). "In total, participation should take around 40-45 minutes, and can be done wherever you have an internet connection and a Flash plug-in (most computers have this already). "We are going to submit this research to an academic journal so that it can be published, and the results will be available to anyone who is interested. If are interested in taking part, please click the links below. Do pass it on to anyone you know who might be interested, or please feel free to contact me if you would like more information, with no obligation to take part at any stage.Thanks for your time! "With Metta, "Rebecca MSc Student (Research Methods in Cognitive Neuropsychology) BPS Transpersonal Psychology PsyPAG representative Division of Teacher and Researchers in Psychology PsyPAG representative Below are the 'instructions' and link for the study. There are four sections, which should take around 30-40 minutes to complete. Please click here to take part!

Wildmind on Purification

Wildmind has recently released their latest Newsletter, on the theme of Purification. Highly recommended – but so is the rest of the Wildmind site. Although they are basically in the business of teaching meditation on-line to all who wish to learn, their site has, over the years, grown to include contributins on many subjects from many people.

While researching this article, FWBO News’ eye was caught by their recently revamped guest column ‘Ask Auntie Suvanna’ – a unique, on-line, opportuniity to put your burning questions to a wise and kindly Buddhist auntie… In her own words, she says, “Ever despair at how to cultivate lovingkindness for Dick Cheney, or ponder the effect of anti-depressants on Buddha Nature? If so, check out Auntie Suvanna, who applies her unique wisdom and wit to your queries about life, meditation, Dharma, family and relationship issues, or anything else that comes up…” Just in case you’re wondering, she goes on to say “They don’t have to be Buddhist troubles - any kind will do!”.

They’re also pretty good at keeping up with meditation in the news.

If you are pretty new to Buddhism and want to learn basic Buddhist meditations as practiced in the FWBO, and if you’re not near a Buddhist Centre, Wildmind is the place for you. It’s all here – mindfulness, loving-kindness, posture, mantra, and walking meditations.

Getting even more interactive, their new Open Circle is a discussion forum, currently looking at Buddhism: Tools for Living Your Life, by Vajragupta. To quote Wildmind’s own introduction, “Open Circle is part on-line book club, part Buddhism course. It provides an opportunity to explore key Buddhist concepts and be guided through reflections and activities designed to integrate them into your life. The emphasis of Open Circle goes beyond understanding Buddhist principles, and we do much more than just discussing the concepts presented. Each week the facilitator suggests specific reflections and activities to make the material for the week relevant and applicable. There is ample opportunity to ask questions, receive guidance, and share your ideas and experiences”.

Enjoy!

Wildmind: Waking Up...

Wildmind's on-line meditation newsletter has a new edition out. The theme is

'Waking Up'.

It's what practising the Dharma is all about!

There's articles by Sunada, one of Wildmind's principal teachers; Vimalasara, currently on tour in India; Vajradaka, long-time chairman of Vajraloka (the FWBO's meditation retreat centre in Wales); the multi-facetted Parami; and Suvarnaprabha, Director of the San Franscisco Buddhist Centre - as well as Bodhipaksa himself, Wildmind's founder and director.

Besides their on-line teaching courses and free meditation instruction, Wildmind's site hosts a variety of different blogs - you might like to try Ask Auntie Suvanna for some less serious but still deeply profound advice on meditation and much, much more...

Big changes for two Dakas

Vajradaka may well hold the record for the longest resident in any FWBO Centre or retreat centre. But now all that has changed...

After twenty one years living and leading retreats at Vajraloka retreat centre in Wales Vajradaka had a years 'sabbatical' to have unstructured time and do some writing.

While staying in southern Italy for six months he decided to leave the retreat centre. He is now living in London and offering workshops to help people communicate the essential spirit and principles of meditation.

Information about these is available on his new website Communicating Meditation.


Big changes also for Karunadaka, until recently the Chair of the FWBO’s Dublin Buddhist Centre and a big part of their ongoing new Centre project. He has been offered and has accepted the post of Fund-raising Coordinator for Oxfam in Ireland.

He writes –

“It’s a kind of dream job for me. I will be in charge of the Fund-raising team of six here in Dublin; I feel incredibly fortunate to have found a job like this.

“I'll be handing the Buddhist centre over to a team of three, the centre is in good shape and is run pretty collectively, so it all feels very smooth. Despite the new job I’ll be carrying on the building project with Dayananda, and hope to hand over the keys to a fab place to a new team in the Spring. I feel I have learned so much from working together. I only wish we had more money and I could have moved on to an FWBO position in Ireland. Maybe one day in the future…

“In the meantime, if you'd like to log on to http://www.oxfam.ie/ you'll be able to make a real difference in halting the global arms trade, ensuring primary education for all, and helping sustainable long-term development for some of the most marginalised of our global citizens: just click to donate to the campaign of your choice.....! Go an ya good thing! ;-)”

Celebrating Wildmind

We'd like to celebrate Wildmind. It describes itself as “online guide to meditation”. That sounds very simple – but actually, it’s much more than that...

If you dig a bit deeper into their extensive website you’ll find they go on to say “Our mission is to benefit the world by promoting awareness and compassion through the practice of Buddhist meditation”. Wildmind is a huge resource for anyone with an interest in contemporary Buddhist meditation, specifically as practiced and taught by the FWBO. Created by Bodhipaksa, a member of the Western Buddhist Order, in the year 2000, it is run by him and a small team out of their offices in Newmarket, New Hampshire.

There’s jewels scattered throughout their site, and FWBO News would like to highlight just three of these – as well as let you know one way you can support them.

First is their wonderful series of ‘Quotes of the Month’ – this month’s being Esther Lederer’s “Hanging onto resentment is letting someone you despise live rent-free in your head.”

Second is the Wildmind Newsletter, just reaching its fifth anniversary - a treasure trove of insight, teaching, and tit-bits…! You can subscribe and have it delivered monthly to your inbox, or browse their extensive archives.

Third is their archive of over 2000 meditation-related news stories from around the world – fully searchable of course. A one-stop-shop which, in effect, catalogues how meditation is influencing more and more people’s lives across the Westen world.

If you’d like to get involved, besides the obvious possibility of taking one of their courses, they have an active translation program, and already have most of the site available in five languages besides English – Chinese, Spanish, French, Russian, and Polish.

Next comes Portuguese, already part-completed - but they would welcome your donations to assist them in this, and also extending the Chinese section of the site.

Enjoy!

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.

Mindfulness for everything?

Click here to read Vishvapani’s survey of the growing field of mindfulness-based therapies and the place of the FWBO therein.

He sets the scene by saying “The faculty of mindfulness—broadly defined as non-judgmental present-moment awareness—has always been a key element of the Buddhist path; and in recent years psychologists and healthcare professionals have been recognizing its value for people experiencing conditions ranging from stress and depression to addiction, chronic pain and ill health. A natural crossover exists between this growing medical interest in mindfulness and the skills that FWBO meditators and teachers have developed in their years of practice.”

And he asks – “So how are people from the FWBO engaging with MBTs, and what issues are emerging as they do so?”

A fascinating and inspiring read – one of the many facets of the great adventure that is the Dharma coming to the West.

London Buddhist Centre reviewed on CNN

The London Buddhist Centre's meditation classes have been favourably reviewed on CNN, under the heading 'Meditation - the key to calm', with the reviewer, Brigid Delaney, concuding it was a "surprisingly effective exercise". Click for details...