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.

Wheels Turning in Sarnath

Each of the pilgrimage places associated with the life of the Buddha has its own atmosphere. Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha gained enlightenment, is a vibrant focus for practice and devotion for Buddhists from around the world; Vultures Peak, the site of many important discourses, remains a remote and beautiful spot; and Sarnath, where he first shared his teaching, has an atmosphere of quiet concentration. Several ancient stupas mark the spots where his former disciples first saw him approaching; where he gave his first discourse; and where he later taught others who had come from the nearby Hindu holy city of Varanasi.

Across the road from the main site and set back a little is land belonging to the FWBO/TBMSG. To date, only a small building has been erected on here, but it hasn’t been unused and plans are afoot to create an international study centre. There’s another, separately administered, plot of land in Bodh Gaya.

On February 3rd Vishvapani gave a talk on the land on ‘The Unity of Buddhism’, which was attended by around fifty people. Most were dalit followers of Dr Ambedkar, tens of thousand of whom became Buddhists in the 1960s. However, there has been little follow-up in the following years, despite the presence of many Buddhist teachers in Sarnath. Two years ago Dhammachari Shantighosha moved from Pune (in the TBMSG heartland, many miles to the south) to look after the land and work with local Buddhists. The people attending Vishvapani’s talk had gathered as a result of Shantighosha’s work, and over the next three days Vishvapani and Kamalagita led a retreat for ten local dhamma-mitras.

Vishvapani reports: ‘I was very impressed by their appreciation of Shantighosha and by their enthusiasm for he Dharma. Asit, one of the mitras on the retreat, collects scrap metal, and whenever he visits a locality he gathers people around and he tells them whatever he has just learned about Dr Ambedkar and Buddhism.’

The retreat came at the end of a pilgrimage in which Vishvapani, Kamalagita, Vidyadaka and Phil Daley were taken around the Buddhist holy places by Manidhamma and his wife, Samantha. Manidhamma has recently returned to India after six years study and training in the UK, and the pilgrimage benefited from his deep knowledge of the Buddha’s life and considerable experience of pilgrimages. He plans to lead many more in the coming years.

Manidhamma is working with Manidhamma is working with the Dhammaloka Trust, which intends to develop the Sarnath study centre. Their ambitious plans include a pilgrim’s guest house, a shrine room and an library and study centre that will host courses and retreats for people around the world. He also hopes to develop contacts between Sarnath’s cosmopolitan Buddhist community and the local Ambedkarite Buddhists.

The project has Sangharakshita’s blessing, but it will depend on donations from outside India. If you would like to learn more about the project or help support it, contact The Dhammaloka Trust.

Text by Vishvapani

Dispatch from Nagpur

FWBO News is happy to present the second dispatch from Saul Deason, a mitra from the FWBO's North London Centre, presently in India for an extended period with two projects teaching English. The first instalment saw him in Delhi with the Amida Trust, this comes from Nagpur and the many TBMSG projects there.

"Arriving by train at Nagpur I hit a seedy hotel mattress and stay on it three days recuperating. This is the lowest point: I begin to think I’ll give up and go home. At that instant things begin to happen. I am visited by two Indian Order Members and re-accommodated at Nagaloka, the out of town Buddhist training centre. I lay on another bed surrounded by a sea of Hindi voices. I venture out at what I think is mealtime and eat incredibly monastic food.

"Reflecting on the finiteness of my energies I start to work. Three days teacher training at Mitraloka, TBMSG’s language school in the city centre, goes well. I start speaking classes for advanced students at Aryaloka, a computer training centre also run by the TBMSG. Finally I start teaching speaking skills for basic level Dhamma trainees at Nagaloka. The enthusiasm of the learners is so great that I find myself forgetting my afflictions and work becomes an antidote to my sickness.

"Countless communication breakdowns at Nagaloka help me map out learner needs for speaking skills. I begin to get a fumbling cognizance of cultural sensitivities. Slowly my teaching strategies begin to become more cogent. In the Aryaloka class – in an all-Buddhist part of town - it goes from strength to strength. We start discussing personal development issues –how to meditate, how to kill fear - only to grind to an apathetic halt when we discuss political issues. At Nagaloka the programme is a more basic one for learners with less English: shopping, booking a rail ticket, describing a friend so somebody can meet them at a station, answering questions at job interviews, talking about qualifications and experience... Things threaten to break down under a vocabulary overload so I switch to carrying out numeracy operations (plus, minus, times, into, equals) with students going up to the board and calculating out loud (so their numeracy improves even if their English doesn’t!) Trying to break down boredom I get the karate experts showing basic blocks, kicks and punches at the front of the classroom. We even get round to doing Black nationalist poetry: “Play it cool and dig all jive”. After class trainees taunt another trainee for liking Kung Fu movies which are hardly non-violent, “I just dig Jackie Chan!” he exclaims. I begin to feel I’m getting somewhere.

"There are features of Hindi discourse that I know I haven’t mastered although I teach the functions of insisting, refusing, expressing failure to understand, requesting clarification. Many Indians were taught in English so they often have considerable passive knowledge of English but they all, basic or advanced, have an enormous need for actual speaking practice. I often meet someone who ploughs through a Sangharakshita text but does not understand elementary English requests and cannot tell when he is being told “No!” It strikes me that the more advanced the student the greater the scope for self delusion!

At dawn I walk towards the meditation shrine into the rising sun. In the evening a motorbike picks me up and takes me into town. We drive into the setting sun. My life is both monastic and worldly. From Amida’s Delhi Project the advice of Sahishnu echoes in my mind, “if you are not careful you’ll end up teaching advanced English to middle class students who can afford tuition anyway.” I turn my back on my classes and do walking and chanting invoking Vajrasattva to cleanse me of egotistical motives. I resolve to check out the classes being taught in the slum districts of Nagpur. I reflect on the prospect of recruiting English teachers and have them stay at Nagaloka before sending them on outreach classes that don’t burn them out as I had done in Delhi. Foreign funding flows into bricks and mortar but not into staffing so we’d have to train locals to help us run the outreach classes. The Ambedkar movement needs new initiatives and younger leaders say my students but how do we do that when we fail to educate the coming generation? I plant my meditation cushion on the shrine room floor and admit to myself that I just don’t know".

You can find a full introduction and background to Nagaloka and many of TBMSG's projects on TBMSG's Jambudvipa website.

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.

Jambudvipa team visits America

Jambudvipa is an FWBO/TBMSG project based in Pune, India, which - among other things - aims to internationalise the plight of India's vast ex-untouchable 'Dalit' community, from which come most of India's new Buddhists. Besides this they play a crucial role in disaster relief work with this community (see for example the report on their work after the Tsunami) - at such times India's age-old caste system rears its head with full force.

Mangesh Dahiwale, Jambudvipa's publicity officer, recently sent us this report on their recent - and ground-breaking - trip to the USA:

"As a part of Jambudvipa's vision to reach out to the world community and transcend barriers, and to generate international support for peaceful social revolution that Dr. Ambedkar launched, a visit to US was planned.

"Maitreyanath and Mangesh Dahiwale visited US during April 19-May 28, 2007. In the span of over 35 days, they moved from one city to another to give talks on evils of caste system in India, Dr. Ambedkar, revival of Buddhism in India and work of TBMSG. This visit was aimed at dissemination of information, raise support for the revival of Buddhism in India and develop alliances.

"During this visit, people from all different background co-operated, which included followers of Dr. Ambedkar living in US, social activists, academicians, black activists and Order Members of FWBO/TBMSG."

In the short time they were there they managed to meet a remarkable range of individuals and groups - from Tricycle Buddhist magazine and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship to the US State Department and five different universities and colleges, plus of course several FWBO centres, criss-crossing the country beween San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Cincinnati, San Diego, Washington, Indianapolis and elsewhere.

There are encouraging signs that caste prejudice and discrimination is increasingly being seen internationally not simply as an Indian social issue but a gross violation of human rights - see, for instance, recent references to this both in the UK's House of Commons and House of Lords where the UK Government minister is quoted as saying "My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord and with the Prime Minister of India —[Untouchability] is indeed a blot on humanity. Discrimination on the basis of caste identity constrains the human rights, livelihoods and life chances of millions of men, women and children. It is a systematic injustice and a routine violation of the most basic human rights..."

We are proud that the FWBO and TBMSG is able to play a part in making this more widely known and indeed in eradicating it.

Vimalasara and her forthcoming book Broken Voices

Vimalasara has sent us this report and request for help. We're pleased to pass it on in case there's anyone out there...

She says "Earlier this year I was in India for four months, writing a book on the situation of Dalit women for the FWBO/TBMSG’s ‘Arya Tara Mahila Trust’ - a Buddhist organization working for the empowerment of Dalit women. Initially we’d thought ATMT would try to raise the money to publish it, but after doing the research and writing it up, I felt strongly the book was so important it deserved to be published by an established publisher. Hence my hunt began for the publication of 'Broken Voices - Ex-Untouchable Women Speak Out’.

"Of course I went to Windhorse first as everyone in the Sangha seemed to think they were the appropriate publisher, but alas they are focusing on purely Buddhist books, and felt unable to market the book. I then tried some mainstream publishers, and the following is typical of the letters I got back,

`Dear Valerie,
We discussed your proposal at our editorial meeting on Wednesday and my colleagues were very impressed both by the depth of your research into the normally overlooked lives of ex-Untouchable women in India and by the strength of these stories. This is a really important topic and it's wonderful that people outside the immediate community are beginning to examine these women's lives. But although it's interesting and worthwhile I'm concerned about how we could publish it effectively here. I agree that there is a growing awareness of the Dalit experience and very much admire your attempt to let the women whom you have interviewed speak in their own voice as far as possible but I am concerned that the audience for a general book of this kind would be very limited and with regret we have decided to pass. I'm sorry and wish you every success on publication elsewhere.’

"Four publishers said almost the same thing, so what to do? We tried the FWBO Growth Fund who felt that Windhorse were the people we should be approaching, and some even felt a charity like Karuna should be the ones to publish. But they too were unable to help us. So we are back to square one. The book is with a couple of publishers in India- but if they go ahead this will only be for India, and so we still need to raise the money to publish in the UK.

"This is where self-publishing is a brilliant resource but of course we still need the funds to do this. Everyone who has worked on the manuscript has done it for nothing – which has been an inspiration – and Bhante Sangharakshita has also read it, and agreed to give his endorsement.

"So I’m trying to find away to finance the actual printing of the book, then ways of distributing it. I have some big news which I’m unable to announce till December and therefore in terms of a media campaign that would be a great time to bring the book out."

Please contact her if you think you can help at vimalasara [at] gmail.com

Death in India

FWBO News is sad to report that an Indian Order Member, Ansulkumar, died in India yesterday, after a serious accident on a motorbike. He is survived by a wife and young daughter. He was 38 years old and worked at Bor Dharan retreat centre near Nagpur, where he was much loved by those who knew him.

Below is a brief account of his remarkable life story, as told to Lokabandhu in the year 2000.

“I was born in Bihar on December 12th, 1969. My people were from the tribal Adiwasi caste, and were Hindus, not followers of Dr. Ambedkar. I had three brothers and a baby sister. Economic conditions were very bad. There was no food and I had no clothes. I was thirteen years old and began to steal and pickpocket. When I was fourteen I was working in a shop, then a hotel, then an iron factory and then a circus, but I was paid only 70 rupees per month. I fell in love when I was still fourteen, but was fearful because there might be violence and even killing if it was discovered. At fifteen I left home, with sadness and no wish to live. I went to the city, planning to die, and the police caught me walking on the railway. They gave me food and I worked in the police quarters washing pots.

For six months I wandered in Bihar, no longer a pickpocket as I was afraid of the police. Then I went to Nagpur on the train, without a ticket. At this time I was very weak, with long hair and dressed in rags. I nearly had a fatal accident jumping on a train. The police took me to hospital, and later ordered me to leave town. Again, I felt I did not want to live. Finally I arrived in Nagpur, where a girl gave me two bananas. I felt very good. I did not want to beg. Later I went into a boy's hostel. The boys in the hostel were very naughty, and we became a violent gang, doing fighting, beating, and robbery. My uncle and aunt took me to another hostel, this time run by Bahujan Hitay. I was eighteen years old.

This was very different - there was discipline, and puja, and no violence. I felt very nervous and thought it was boring. I saw Order Members for the first time, Vivekaprabha and Vimalakirti, and was very impressed. Other people helped me here, and I decided to become a good man like them. I therefore joined TBMSG and attended Dhamma lectures and meditation classes. People still thought of me as a criminal, but I wasn't. I thought of the Buddha gaining Enlightenment, and decided to go into the jungle. I took yellow cloth, and went to stay in the jungle. I had no water or food, and after four days I thought I would not get enlightened there.

At this time there was the opening ceremony for Bor Dharan retreat centre, and Bhante Sangharakshita came on the Maharastra Express. There were huge crowds at the train station, but I pushed my way to the front and gave Bhante a rose. I felt that he saw me and that we were in contact. Still my aunt and uncle were against me practising Buddhism. My aunt brought a 'Tantric Baba' or 'magic man' to cure me. She promised me a wife, a child, and so on, if I would leave it. He used power that came from his eyes, but it did not affect me.

In 1992 I went to live at Bor Dharan community, and there I met Dhammacharis Varaprabha and Nagabhadra, who were anagarikas and wearing robes. I was very impressed and wanted to be one too. Community life there was hard - there was no electricity, no water, no fans, and many mosquitoes. It was very very hot, sometimes as much as 45 degrees. I was working there as a cook, and also doing building work, sometimes for twelve hours a day. In 1993 I became a mitra. I was ordained in 1998 by Subhuti, and took the Padmasambhava practice. My name means "Radiant Prince, the young spiritual hero who shines with spiritual vision." I was ordained with my two friends Kumarayogin and Adityakumar. Now I live in Bhaja village with my wife, and the three of us work at Bhaja retreat centre.

Dhammakranti team begin 2007 season

In India, the Dhammakranti team are starting their 2007 season with an ambitious event in Delhi.. Subhuti, Suvajra, and Lokamitra will all be participating in a seminar aiming to spread awareness of Dr. Ambedkar and his vision for a casteless society.

This is part of a determined strategy to spread our activities beyond the geographical borders of Maharastra, heartland of Buddhism in India and home to 60 million people – but a fragment of the whole of India. It is also part of their effort to highlight the abuse of fundamental human rights implicit in the widespread caste discrimination still practiced in India. See http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/ for some of their work.

In this respect we are delighted to note the recent comments made in the UK’s House of Commons and House of Lords – both have recently seen debates in which members have strongly condemned the practice of casteism and the plight of the Dalits.

The event will be held on 25,26,27, May, 2007 at the Ladakh Buddhist Monastery - near ISBT, Bela Road , New Delhi, India. All are welcome and entry is by donation.

launch of new TBMSG magazine

On 14th April, the anniversary of the birthday of Dr. Ambedkar, Lokamitra presided over the launch of a new TBMSG magazine "Samagra Buddhawani", or ' Song of Buddha'. This will be published in Hindi every three months and distributed via a network of supporters all over central and northern India.

Aryaketu, its editor, says "I am glad to say that the new Hindi tri-monthly "Samagra Buddhawani" Magazine was published and inaugurated on 14th April-07 by the hands of Dhammachari Lokamitra. We have printed 10000 copies and up to now have distributed nearly 7000 copies all over India, nearly half going in Nagpur. We hope the copies will increase up to 20,000 in October at the big Dhammakranti retreat in Buddhagaya. We have got enough support and backing from most of our centres but we are not dependent on TBMSG centres or chairmen."

The new magazine will fill a major gap as for some years now there has been no Movement-wide publication in India. It has been in the planning stages for many months and has been launched with no subsidy from foreign funds. Aryaketu goes on to say htat such is the enthusiasm for the new publication that two people in Nagpur have been thinking to create their own right livelihood just by selling it door-to-door. He sees selling it as a possible opportunity for poor people to raise their income - perhaps to raise the funds for retreats.

At the same time the Dhammakranti project's plans are taking shape for the next season, starting immediately after the rainy season. Central to this will be their second large retreat at Bodh Gaya, and Nagaketu reports that its dates are now set at 11th Nov. to 17th Nov. 2007. Westerners are warmly invited and are asked to make contact via info@dhammakranti.com.

Dhamma Night College, Mumbai

The Dhamma Night College in Mumbai is celebrating one year of actitivites - a report by Dhamamcari Amritdeep.

Dhammachari Anomdassi with the help of Amritdeep & Adityabodhi started a Dhamma Night College in Dombivali Mumbai to benefit the working people who can’t attend classes due to their jobs. For nearly a year now they have been running classes for three different categories. There is a class for people who have asked for ordination), one for the Mitras, and a class for general people. So far many people have prarticipated in these classes. People from other backgrounds also attend the classes.

The class’s main aim is to provide Dhamma teaching to those who don't have good and easy access to Dhamma due to the life in Mumbai so busy, rushing and tense. People have really appreciated the effort Anomdassi Adityabodhi & amritdeep are putting in. Each class has about 30 to 40 people attending each week. A proper syllabus is planned to teach this people.

Anomadassi, Aditybodhi, and Amritdeep are very keen to carry on the activities of the night college in future although there are some difficulties of funds. Karuna initially supported it for six months, but classes are still going on. These Order members are committed to take this work forward. This is really very good initiative taken by this three people, and it is so far very successful.

Deepening links between TBMSG and Non-Violent Communication

Many readers of FWBO & TBMSG News will remember the reports a year ago on the 3,500-person ‘Dhammakranti Retreat’, led by Subhuti, which saw Marshall Rosenberg (right) leading many sessions on Non-Violent-Communication (NVC). One year on the event is still remembered with great emotion. Aniruddha, a senior Order Member from India, gives an update -

“It was such a joy to see so many thousands of people from different backgrounds, caste, creed, culture, region and continent, coming together; sitting in silence and practicing meditation to train their mind; learning the art of Nonviolent Communication to train their speech. This retreat was very rightly named “Communication for Change”. In the history of the Buddhist movement in India this Dhammakranti (Revolution of the Dharma) retreat was a big step forward towards creating a casteless society,. In the years to come this will bring about a big social change in India.

“There are only two certified NVC trainers in India, both Order Members. Kumarjeev and myself. We are both now working with NVC in India and internationally. Recently, we were invited by Marshall Rosenberg to his house in New Mexico to participate in a special session dedicated to social change. In this we were declared as assessors for the process of Nonviolent-communication certification in India. As a result we’ve been invited by many organizations to mediate and do conflict resolution and reconciliation. And as a result of that, NVC itself is spreading amongst significant numbers of people associated with our movement in India (TBMSG).

Aniruddha goes on to give an example of his work in India – “Once, I was offering a basic NVC Workshop to around 300 people, when all of a sudden a man stood up and said “I don’t believe that Nonviolent-communication works in present situation, because the place where we live people carry the pistol with them, and when the people standing in front of them know about it they automatically become Nonviolent”. He said to me, “You have to prove me that the Nonviolent-communication really works”. So I instantly did a small role play, where the person concerned came out with his violence and I was able to receive his anger non-violently, and after few transactions of dialogue, the person standing in front calmed down and said - yes now I am convinced that Nonviolent-communication works and gave me a hug. As he was hugging me, I felt as if something was pricking in my abdomen, so I asked the person what’s that? The person took out his pistol which he had tucked under his trousers! I was shocked to see that people come to Nonviolent-communication workshops with pistols tucked under their trousers. But, as soon as I came back from the U.S, the same person invited me to his city in north India to offer an NVC Workshop for his people, and when I went, around 350 people came to my Nonviolent-communication workshop”.

Aniruddha concludes – “One year on the links between the Nonviolent-communication organisation and our Sangha continue to strengthen and deepen. Marshal has been several times to India, and whilst there, has become increasingly aware of the phenomenon of caste and the enormous amount of human suffering and injustice caused by it – as well as increasingly determined to use the resources of NVC to contribute to its abolition. In the recent special session on social change in the U.S. it was decided to set up a NVC project in India, which will support and help to bring equality, self respect and dignity to the oppressed class of India and to eradicate and abolish the caste system from India.

“It is interesting to note that how NVC began as a simple 'language of the heart' to facilitate non-violent communication between individuals, but recently has been employed more and more to work with very difficult conflicts between different communities, tribes, and even countries – and now, the caste system in India.

TBMSG Youth-work

Dharmacari Satyadeep sends this report from Maharastra:

The picture shows a workshop held on 11 February for the youth in Solapur, Southern Maharastra. This is new initiative to help youth to develop their personality, positive attitude and confidence. Eighty girls and Boys were present from all the backgrounds. this activity seems very helpful to attract youth to the movement. So far we have offered four workshops since January 2007, which have been attended by 350 to 400 young boys & girls. We have formed a group of 20 people who are now being trained for youth work. These people will take responsibility to work among the youth in different part of Maharashtra.

TBMSG Activities

Manjuvir sends us this report of his Dhamma work in India for which he has received funding from the FWBO Growth Fund.

It was quite inspiring work for me as well for others. I developed a good contact with some of the Ambedkarite groups. Many people have a great faith in Dr Ambedkars work but very few knew how to follow the great man's footsteps. I paid visits to some groups in Andhra Pradesh , Orissa, and Pondicherry where I found people associated with the work of Dr Ambedkar mainly through his political vision, but with no vision of the Dharma, in fact many of them are Christians. Constantly telling them about the Dharma some change is taking place and they appreciated my spiritual contact .

I was able to convince them to embrace the Dharma and to come and see Buddhism in Maharashtra, particularly Nagpur on Vijayadashmi Day [a holiday in India] since lakhs people do gather at Nagpur every year. Nearly 100 people visited Nagpur in the last couple of years, and due to this my contact with them is strengthened. At Visakhapatnam in Andra Pradesh the vihara is under construction. Another district place Kakinada there is also a new vihara and of the locals have embraced Buddhism in participating the mass conversion programme at the capital of the state.

In Orissa they organied mass conversion programme on 14th of October [the anniversary of Dr Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism] and nearly 5000 people embraced the Dharma. Some groups helped to organize the programme of Subhuti recently. I found if we worked properly there is a response to the Dharma and despite difficulty people loves us.

Another aspect of my work was to see people who accepted the Shivdharma in 2005. [Ed. - This is a militant secular all-caste group which honours Shivaji who founded the Maratha Empire in 1675. They favour direct action againt Brahmins.] It was a great shock to them when next year they found the tribals accepting the Dhamma. In the aftermath of the Khairlanji episode [the murder of a Dalit family] it's clear that the Shivdharmis, like Hindus, do not understand what they lack. If we persist in our approach we can make difference. I organized a few meetings of different tribal people, visiting many villages telling them about the Dharma. Few people were aware that their leaders have become Buddhist. Here our work is just paying visits, giving them news papers reports, or a copy of Buddhayan, Dharmamegha or the other free books we get from Taiwan. The only necessity is a contact as they seem receptive and ready for the Dhamma. Dhamma can end all the ills of the society, they can think and understand.

with metta
Manjuvir.

FWBO Karuna Trust Partners' Conference

February 14th – 16th saw the first Karuna partner conference at Nagaloka in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

Almost all of the Karuna Trust's 45 project partners attended- one hundred delegates in all- NGOs and projects from all over India and beyond, working in a very wide range of fields. The title of the conference was “Towards a shared vision of Social change”. Our aim was to bring people together to share experiences and to establish a sense of working together towards a common vision.

Introducing the event, Karuna Director Suddhaka said “This conference is the realization of a long held dream for us. For many years we have been developing links with groups doing effective and inspiring grass roots work in many different parts of India. Now our hope is that by bringing these groups together we can play a small part in building a movement for social change.”

The three day program included talks on such themes as education, caste and Buddhism; presentations on Karuna and the way it raises money; and lastly skill sharing on subjects such as IT, management and planning, and dealing effectively with government.

The key points that emerged were that India is changing very rapidly and is no longer seen by donors as a very poor country. At the same time the issues facing poor communities are as serious as ever. As a result Karuna sees the need to make a shift from funding service provision; to a mixture of service provision, capacity building, advocacy and network building.

The final session looked at specific strengths and suggestions for improvement for both Karuna and its partners; a number of useful points were made in an atmosphere of considerable mutual appreciation. There was a tangible sense of a ‘family’ of partners emerging, all the more pleasing as many had not met one another before – and it was very much hoped that all sorts of ‘cross-fertilisation’ and mutually beneficial contacts would be developed over the months to come.

All three nights saw cultural programs, by Ashvaghosa, children from a local TBMSG community centre and kindergarten, and a group of drummers, dancers and actors from Tamil Nadu.

Karuna would like to thank everyone involved in organizing and co-ordinating the conference. Thanks especially to the Nagaloka and Jambudvipa teams who worked hard to make the event run smoothly- to Jane Goldsmith who facilitated the event and brought many creative ideas - to all our speakers and workshop leaders and to all our partners who came and participated in a wholehearted way.

Work Begins on Buddha for Nagaloka, India.

As mentioned last month in FWBO & TBMSG News, the Nagarjuna Training Institute has commissions an enormous Buddha statue. Work has now started on the in Taiwan on the walking Buddha, which will be a remarkable 10.8m high. It will be positioned on top of a visitors' centre and lotus that will add a further 4m to the height - making it by some way the tallest structure on their extensive campus, and a feature for miles around. The image shows a large poster of the Buddha errected on site.

The statue is being created by Wen Kwei, one of Taiwan's leading Buddhist sculptors who is famous for an equally large ten-headed Samantabhadra. Wen Kwei is also managing the difficult process of transportation and erection of the statue, and even some of the fundraising, which is all being done in Taiwan. Vivekaratna, chairman of NTI, told FWBO & TBMSG News that Wen Kwei has said he wants this to be the best of all his works, and famous throughout the world. Conscious of the fact that Indian aesthetics are very different to Chinese, he has already made an extended visit to the site and discussed the details of the figure with local Indian Order Members. The date of inauguration has been planned for 27 December 2007, with work starting on the foundations on 14 April - both dates, and the exact location of the statue, having been chosen using fengshui.

Story by Lokabandhu