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!”

Retreats of all shapes and sizes on offer in 2008

Following Friday’s post on the FWBO International Retreat, FWBO News is pleased to present a short roundup of some of the more unusual retreats on offer this year around the FWBO and TBMSG. If you want to highlight others, send us a comment on this post…!

First to catch our eye was Dhanakosa’s ‘Clowning and Insight’ retreat, led by Tejananda (chairman of Vajraloka meditation centre) and Jayacitta, founder of Red Noses Unlimited. The connection between clowning and insight, once explained, is surprisingly obvious. As the Red Noses website puts it:

“A Clown is a being that steps into the world afresh. He or she is open to new experiences, meeting things, people, events with wonder, curiosity and a sense of pleasure. Quite different from our pragmatic and often routine way of being, a clown is forever discovering the new. She enjoys being just herself however she is - so being shy, awkward, grumpy, afraid, bossy, falling in love or falling over - all those have a place and can be experienced, seen and celebrated…”

Dhanakosa, in Scotland, have in many ways led the way in developing ‘Buddhism and…’ themes – this year they are offering Photography & Meditation, Hillwalking & Meditation, and Dance and Meditation, plus the more predictable yoga and shiatsu...

Buddhafield, in the South-West of England, focus more on Buddhism and the natural world: their retreats include Tree-Planting, the much-loved and very child-friendly “Germinal Eco-Arts Dharma School” on their land in Devon, and a green retreat where retreatants will “cook with fire, harvest food from the land and eat and drink only local produce”. A taste of things to come? They have also developed retreats on the 'Work that Reconnects', using practices and exercises from the American Buddhist teacher Joanna Macy. A close connection is developing between Buddhafield and Guhyapati’s new Eco-Dharma mountain retreat centre in Spain, where, they say, towards the end of the year, “Immersed in the teachings of wild nature, we will explore interconnectedness…”

Rivendell, the Croydon Buddhist centre’s well-loved retreat centre, runs a wide range of arts and creativity retreats, including the ‘Magic Heart Crucible’ and ‘Wolf at the Door Creative Writing retreats’. And if hill-walking on a Scottish mountain is too much, they offer Rambling - with Taravajra and Dharmavasita!

In Spain, Amitavati, another small and privately-owned retreat centre run by Suratna and Vidyasri, is also focussing on the elements with their ‘Deep Peace of the Quiet Earth: Meditating with the Elements’ retreat at the end of May. Over in the US, at Aryaloka Retreat Centre there’s a retreat coming up that “explores major world issues and how we might engage with them in ways that are informed by Buddhist wisdom and practice”, and if you’re in Australia, check Vijayaloka for its intensive meditation or Qi Gong retreats.

All these retreats are open to newcomers; but there are many more intensive retreats on offer as well. In the UK Padmaloka and Tiratanaloka specialise in retreats for either men or women who have requested Ordination into the Western Buddhist Order. Both have resident communities who worked for many years with candidates for ordination, and many of the Order’s Public Preceptors live at either one or the other. Back in Spain, Guhyaloka and Akasavana host annual long Ordination retreats; these have just started for the men and will begin soon for the women. Once they are complete, more open retreats are generally on offer.

If this seems a bit bewildering, it’s not surprising – the FWBO is a large and diverse community. In the UK the Going on Retreat will hopefully help cut through the many options and help you find the one you want.

FWBO International Retreat update

The FWBO's first International Retreat is now just six weeks away, and to date we have 200 bookings from people in 9 countries. It looks set to be an inspiring and important date in the FWBO year. The dates are 22nd to 26th May, it will be held at Taraloka, the FWBO's beautiful retreat centre in Shropshire UK (a panorama of the grounds is shown in the photo).

The programme is shaping up: so far we have talks from Ratnaguna, Kamalasila, and Parami, meditation workshops with Vessantara, Tejananda, Kamalasila, Vidyamala and Sona, study groups with Padmavajra, Ratnadharini, Dhammarati, and Maitreyi, and ritual and storytelling with Ratnaprabha, Padmavajra, Dhiramati, and Parami. More to be announced in a few weeks time!

Centres are being asked to make special offerings for the puja on the Sunday evening. If you’re reading this and you go to an FWBO Centre – go ask them what they’re doing and if you can help! We’re assuming most offerings will be a physical object that someone has made, but if you want to do something different – like a musical or dramatic offering – do let us know, so we can incorporate it into the ritual.

The organisers have asked FWBO News to say they are looking for a few more team members to help run the event. You’d need to be available from around Sunday 18th to help with the set-up and you’d get a free place on the event. Interested? - contact Vajragupta, the event's main organiser. More details of volunteering are on FWBO Jobs.

You can book until the deadline of Thursday 15th May, but please note that there are now only camping spaces available, plus a few spaces in simple "canvas dormitories" (about 6 people sharing a big tent that we provide if you don't have your own tent).

Please book by using the brochure available at FWBO Centres, or by downloading the postal booking form (in five languages) on the website http://www.internationalretreat.org.uk. You can also book on-line, but we've been having some technical problems with this. It should be fixed by mid-April; in the meantime book by post if you can. The website contains full details of the retreat - transport, childcare, translation facilities, and much more...

And if you’ve not already done so, please think about arranging collective transport to the event, so that a group from your sangha can travel together. To make it easier for lifts offered and needed to find each other, we’ve created a special page on the Freewheelers international lift-sharing site.

See you there!

Boeddha Natuur experiment with ‘primitive’ camping retreats in Holland

Every year the FWBO Growth Fund is able to give money to a selection of new FWBO and TBMSG projects around the world. Last year the fund had UK £30,000 to give away - but applications totalling nearly £200,000! This year, so far, it has only £15,000 in the kitty- and is looking to make its work more widely known.


This is the time of year when reports are coming in from last year's projects - and, of course, applications for the coming year. FWBO News is pleased to be able to present a few of these; on a wet Spring day (in the UK, at least) it seems appropraite to start with the FWBO 'Boeddha Natuur' group in Holland, who are exploring creating 'Buddhafield-style' camping retreats. In their first couple of years they used 'proper' camp sites and facilites (which in Holland are very nice!), in 2007 they took the plunge and went "primitive"! Read on...

"Thank you very much for your gift in 2007 of 700 euros. It helped us to make the transition to ‘primitive’ camping and buying the gear for that. It helped us become a low budget camping retreat centre. We want to attract young people to come in contact with the dharma in the Netherlands and Belgium. We camp in cheap, primitive forest areas, without electricity and running water. We want to reach people who are not connected to a FWBO centre.

"In 2007 we had 2 retreats over a long and a short weekend. At our second one in September we had 18 people , there were 7 young people. Many people came from Belgium, because we advertised more in Belgium. In 2007 we started to camp primitive, so we could keep the costs low. It wasn’t always as wet as the photo shows! In comparison to 2005 and 2006 we have got more new people coming on our retreats. We have started to invite people to help with the building-up days for the retreat, to get more people involved in our retreats.

"Our aim for next year is to spent more time and money to advertise more in magazines and on universities in the big cities.

"Thanks again from the Boeddha Natuur team: Hanske, Dennis, Mireille, Chris, and Vajramayi"

Plans afoot at Sarnath, India

Vishvapani has recently returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Places of the Buddha, part of his research for writing a full-length biography of the Buddha. He reports -

"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".

As well as conducting research for his book, Vishvapani was in Sarnath to support his friend Manidhamma, recently returned to India after six years in UK, and about to begin establishing an international study centre at Sarnath. While there Vishvapani gave a talk on the land on ‘The Unity of Buddhism’, which was attended by around fifty people, mostly local Dalit followers of Dr Ambedkar, tens of thousands of whom became Buddhists in the 1960s. Sadly however, they have seen 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 hundreds of 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's report continues: "I was very impressed by their appreciation of Shantighosha and by their enthusiasm for the Dhamma. 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."

Manidhamma will be working with the Dhammaloka Trust, which intends to develop the Sarnath site into an international study centre. Their ambitious plans include a pilgrim’s guest house, a shrine room, library and study centre that will host courses and retreats for people visiting from 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 - or if you have an interest in Buddhist pilgrimage - you can email Dhammaloka.

FWBO International Retreat - update; special offerings needed

The first FWBO International Retreat is coming up at the end of May. Vajragupta, the main organiser, sent FWBO News this update – and a couple of requests –

“The bookings are coming in steadily and it looks like it will be a big event. We’ve got groups coming from FWBO Centres in Germany, Belgium, Eire, Holland, France, Spain, and two people from New York, even we hope, some from India - so it’s looking sure to live up to its name as an “International FWBO Retreat”. Groups from Berlin and Essen are hiring a bus that will travel across Europe, picking up people from Amsterdam and Gent on the way, and meeting up with the Parisians on the ferry! They will then drive the last leg of their journey up to Taraloka. Bookings are coming in fast with only a few dormitory places left - book soon! - though still plenty of room for campers.

“On the retreat we’re going to be exploring some of the themes and stories of the Buddha in the period immediately after his Enlightenment. This will culminate on the last evening with a puja, on the theme of compassion / responding to the cries of the world / beating the drum of the Dharma, which will be lead by Parami.

“One element that we'd like to have in this puja is offerings from as many FWBO projects (Centres, businesses, communities, family groups, outreach groups etc. etc.) as possible. The offerings would symbolise how each offers the Dharma to the world in some way, in the puja they'd build up all together into a inspiring evocation of the work and vision of the FWBO. We're envisaging that perhaps most of the offerings will be "physical" offerings that can be placed on the shrine, but we are also open to other suggestions and ideas - e.g. musical offerings, dramatic offerings... let people's imaginations fly!! Please talk about this at your centre or community and promote and co-ordinate the making of offerings. If you could let me know if and how you’d like to participate this would also be appreciated.

“Lastly, just a reminder of the post on FWBO Jobs about volunteers for the event. If you know anyone who might be interested in being on the team for 10 days, and having a free place on the retreat, do encourage them to contact me.

And if you’ve not already done so, please think about arranging collective transport to the event, so that a group from your sangha can travel together. To make it easier for lifts offered and needed to find each other, we’ve created a special page on the Freewheelers international lift-sharing site.

The FWBO in Finland have recently been given ownership of Abhayaloka, their much-loved retreat centre about an hour or so north of Helsinki. It is a very beautiful place, set in archetypal Finnish countryside, in a pine and birch forest and next to a lake - which is complete with traditional wood-fired sauna, rowing boat and more.

At this time of year, Finland is in the depths of winter and the light is dark and magical, the land covered in snow and the lakes frozen over. There is a natural imperative to reflect and turn one's energies restfully inward. The retreat centre is an old wooden school house which is a delightfully quiet, contained and warm practice space.

To cover the running costs they need to hire out the place a few times a year. They would be very keen to see FWBO groups or teachers from outside of Finland make use of the place and can offer very reasonable rates for hire. If you're interested contact FWBO Helsinki.

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.

FWBO International Retreat update

The FWBO’s first International Retreat is taking place in May, at Taraloka, in Shropshire, UK. Vajragupta is the overall organiser and recently sent FWBO News this update – including a request for help!

“The bookings are now starting to flow in - I'm optimistic it is going to be a big event. After some hitches, the International Retreat website can now take on-line bookings in no less than five languages – English, German, Spanish, French, and Dutch. Of course people can also download the postal booking form or use the brochures which should be available at all FWBO Centres.

The programme is coming together, based round the themes of Wisdom, Absorption, and Compassion, with talks, pujas, and groups led by some of the FWBO’s best teachers - Padmavajra, Ratnaguna, Parami, Ratnadharini, Sona, Vidyamala, Maitreyi, Kamalasila, Vessantara - with more to be arranged!

Capacity is 500 people, so book soon…

A team of volunteers is needed to set-up, run, and set-down the event. Volunteers will need to be available from Sunday 18th May and, after the event, until 28th May. Anyone interested would need to be willing to camp and work hard, including physical work – however work duties won't be so heavy as to stop you taking part and enjoying it too. There will be a retreat-like programme and teaching during the set-up. See FWBO Jobs for more details.

Newcomers and children welcome
The programme and teaching for the adults will be aimed predominantly at those who have been meditating and attending an FWBO Centre for at least a few months. However, anyone who’d like to bring a family member who is new to the FWBO, or who does not meditate, is welcome to, and there will be some basic meditation instruction available.

Children are welcome on the retreat. There’ll be a talented and experienced crew on hand to help parents make the most of the retreat. We are not providing a crèche, but there are a variety of facilities available for children - a toddler’s tent where you can take your young one to play in a safe environment, with toys and games provided; for older children there’ll be arts, craft, sports, bushcraft and other activities laid-on for a couple of two-hour slots each day (one slot in the morning and one in the afternoon). In the evenings there will be storytelling and ritual suitable for both children and adults.
The retreat is free for under-3’s and 3–16 year olds can attend for half-price. Check the children's page on the website for updates.

Two new Spanish retreat venues

Two new retreat venues run by members of the Western Buddhist Order are emerging in the Spanish mountains.

Amitavati, which means 'full of boundless possibilities', is the home and rural retreat centre of Suratna and Vidyasri, two ordained members of the Western Buddhist Order. They ‘retired’ there from the UK a year ago and now offer a range of retreats in their working smallholding up in the hills near the small town of Villar-del-Arzobispo in the hinterland of Valencia, Spain.

Reflecting the special interests of Suratna and Vidyasri, their retreats include meditation retreats, shamanic journeying, drumming, painting and sculpture and working retreats. Above all, however, their retreats are designed to bring visitors into intimate contact with the land and its resources.

December saw their first working retreat, which they were delighted with – and which is bearing fruit with others thinking of buying land nearby. In addition their newest urban FWBO Centre, in Valencia, use the facilities for some weekends and for Order gatherings, and links with local people are developing with plans made for teaching meditation classes in the village when their Spanish is good enough.

Check their very beautiful website at www.amitavati.com which contains full details of events and travel information.


Ecodharma retreat facilities in the mountains
More remote, in altogether more wild and mountainous country, Guhyapati has been developing an ‘eco-Dharma retreat centre in the hills behind Isona, some three hours from Barcelona. His work as a professional mountain guide (see www.climbcatalunya.com) has given him an intimate knowledge of the mountains; he has used this as a base to develop facilities for an ‘ecodharma’ retreat centre, which now offers long solitary retreats and has for the past two years hosted the ‘Redwoods’, a group of Order Members who meet annually to practice together in the context of a shared commitment to and love of the environment .

The small whitish dot on the tip of the plateau beneath the middle mountain is the retreat venue...

Retreat in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu

Ashvajit, currently on a Dharma-teaching tour of South India, led a day retreat in Pondicherry on 25 December. Most of the thirty retreatants worked for ADECOM, an organisation that co-ordinates the activities of various Dalit NGOs in Tamil Nadu, and which has for some years been one of Karuna's partners in India. All were from Dalit (ex-untouchable or other low-caste) backgrounds, most of them young and thirsty to find out more about how Buddhism might relate to the their plight – caste discrimination is still very strong in southern India, as was graphically illustrated in the caste-based rescue operation after the 2004 Tsunami.

As is customary, the retreat began with songs expressing devotion to Dr Ambedkar, the universally acknowledged hero of the Dalit peoples, and the chanting of the Refuges and Precepts in Tamil, followed by an introduction to meditation and meditation sessions led by Ashvajit. During the question-and-answers following there were also pointed remarks made about the unfavourable impression given by Sri Lankan bhikkhus in the ongoing difficulties between the Singhalese majority and the Tamils in the North and East of Sri Lanka.

After the day, Ashvajit commented that there is evidently a burgeoning of interest in Dr Ambedkar and the Buddha-dharma in Tamil Nadu, where one can see ample architectural, archaeological and literary evidence bearing witness to the fact that Buddhism once flourished in the area. He concluded by saying “If there is to be an early renaissance of Buddhism here, however, many more properly-qualified Buddhist teachers are needed in this southern Indian state of 70 million people”. By happy coincidence, January sees a week-long India-wide Convention of our Order in India that will be devoted to exploring ways of providing more training to respond to the vast need for Dhamma teachers across the length and breadth of India.

An Urban Retreat in Malaysia

Dhammaloka, a German Order Member, has for many years been visiting both China and Malaysia, in both places slowly creating groups interested in the FWBO. He has recently left on anther tour, and sends us this report from Malaysia –

“Two days ago some 15 or 18 friends from Malacca, ranging in age from the late 20s to the 60s, embarked on an "Urban Retreat", probably the first ever to be held in Malaysia. Most of these friends have been practising in various contexts, and often for a good number of years. There are some experienced meditators amongst them, while others have done little sitting practice. We did a weekend retreat to introduce the practice, and then began the urban retreat proper. I'll be curious to see how they respond...

Since most of them do their reports to one another in Chinese, its a little difficult for me to see how well they are getting on. They certainly seem to enjoy it so far...!

My impressions so far are that most of them found the idea of daily check-ins with a "Dharma buddy" a little threatening, all the more so when I suggested they did it with another member of the group rather than their spouses! Over the next few days, in the evenings, we will be meeting up for Dharma discussion and study, exploring aspects of the 'unity of Buddhism'.!"

Click here for background information about Urban Retreats, as compiled by the Sheffield Buddhist Centre.

Dhammaloka will soon be visiting China, and we hope to bring you news from there as well.