Amida Network

This Week: 19th September

Here at The Buddhist House we have seen many comings and goings, last week saw the arrival of all the ordained sangha within Amida-shu for the annual conclave, sequestering themselves in number 4 and becoming entirely self sufficient for the 3 days of meeting. Meanwhile the volunteer training began at number 12, Jo and James our two volunteers heading to India later this year were joined by Annie, visiting us from the south coast. (As I write this I can hear leaguer coming from  the group room, where the volunteers are enjoying learning all about teaching English as a foreign language, in India)

Following on from the Meet Amida Event (our wonderful meet and greet for local groups and neighbors, attended by 100 people all eager to find out just what exactly those people in red do) Dharmavidya and Prasada were at Waterstones, Leicester on the 15th signing copies of The Other Buddhism and Who Loves Dies Well - if you haven't got your signed copy yet, they'll be at BORDERS, (Triangle Grove) Leicester 5th October to to talk about Pureland and will be signing copies there.

We left Waterstones and headed down to London for the events there (see below) it's great to see the London Sangha pulling together and able to set up and promote events like this. We returned tired, but happy about 2am, this morning, after encountering viscous road works. Prasada's on the move again tomorrow, back to London for a Hospital Chaplaincy meeting, while Dharmavidya and Modgala head off for the Benelux retreat (22nd - 23rd).

This weekend we have one of our introductory retreats: The Other Buddhism, led by Prasada. For more information on this or any of our events please see our events weblog http://amidatrust.typepad.com/events or call 0116 2867476.

What a busy week or so in London ... Sangha members attended two anti Arms fair events (chanting at the peace demo and a candlelight vigil), an Islington peace event, put up a new sign outside Sukhavati - which had an immediate effect when a passerby joined us for the Wednesday practice, tidied-up and planted the front garden (well, four chrysanthemums anyway), had several conference calls to allot the final tasks for the Open Day and the book launch events, a Vow 22 meeting at Joan's, delivering leaflets to local venues, front doors, St James & various bookshops .... even as I type (Friday night) vegan pates and cakes are being made for Sunday. S*d's Law: the council have chosen this moment to dig up the pavement right outside Sukhavati and close off open access just in time for Sunday - if they haven't moved on by Sunday some creative and rather minor civic (sic) disobedience may be in order.
Later...
Both events were a great success. We had a constant stream of guests throughout the open day, talking to about 30 people in all, some old friends and some new. Services were presided over by Dharmavidya and Prasada who came along with Gareth from Narborough to support the Open Day, and for the Book Launch Tuesday night. The book launch was another good event, smaller numbers, but a much more intently interested audience - Cordelia introduced Prasada  and Dharmavidya who talked about the process of writing and then shared some extracts, which some lively discussion followed.

Amida Sheffield

In the last couple of weeks we have made some interesting visits. Sundari went with Willemien to Three Wheels temple in Action, and from there with Hirokosan, wife of Rev Sato of Three Wheels who is a patron of Amida Trust, to Brookwood cemetery, where Three Wheels have recently instituted a stupa. Here, ashes may be buried when people die. We tended the stupa area, removing debris and cutting the grass, and Sundari and Willemien discovered the versatility of chop sticks as cleaning tools. Brookwood, near Woking, is an amazing and huge cemetery - very beautiful - where there are areas designated for instance: Serbian Orthodox, Ahmadiyya, Zoroastrian, and more and more.

 

A short visit to Three Wheels was very delightful. The house looks like any other semi-detached house in North London, except there is some interesting stone in the front garden. But then inside, after the shoes and the children and the kitchen - all the features of ordinary domestic life - the huge carpeted lounge is a shrine room, and in the back garden is a peaceful stone and gravel garden of the Zen kind. It is truly a household life based on faith and a religious community.

 

Back in Sheffield, Bhaktika and Sundari visited the Jewish orthodox synagogue with members of the Faiths Forum and faith leaders. The importance of human connection was very evident, and of course the importance of scriptures.

 

A member of the Faiths Forum came to 118 for lunch, and found our lives and practice also very fascinating - so exchange is much in the air. This is being developed also now by Sally. A methodist minister had made it known that he would welcome the involvement of volunteers from other faiths in the city centre Sunday drop -in, and Sally has begun to volunteer there, giving time to people who probably don't get listened to enough.

 

City of Sanctuary is going well. Today is the press launch of Sheffield City Council's official endorsement of the idea, and we have been involved with Craig Barnett in getting support from Sheffield University for the consultation process that now needs to happen to make this a substantial change that affects people's lives.

 

It's not all sweetness and light here though. There have been some serious disturbances between ethnic groups in one part of Sheffield, and Bhaktika is very involved in supporting MESH to bring some dialogue and ease the situation. His work recently has also involved a lot of bringing dialogue in tough places. Due to the nature of it we cannot often write much in these updates, but we can let you know it's going on.

 

The group continues to meet on a Monday, and there have been quite a few new people coming to the lunchtime meditation at the Cathedral recently.

 

That's all!

Amida Sheffield

 

This Week: 03 September

    *News from Sheffield.*

It seems a while since we wrote from here - not since the floods in fact. The effects here for us in Broomspring Lane are now in the past, though not so for other people in the region as there are still people out of their homes and dealing with loss.

It is nearly three months since Sally moved here, and we are enjoying both the challenges and the 'joys and freedoms' of living as a community of three at 118.

Sue has taken over prime responsibility for the Monday evening meal, which is a really good development all round - and much appreciated by the inhabitants of 118.

We have changed the form of the Monday evening to have the meal first, then the service followed by cup of tea and chat for those that want to stay. This followed some conversations about our accessibility and the form of the evening. We have been joined by a couple of new people, and there is a gentle sense of development and growth.

We had a Saturday study morning open to all which we spent exploring our vision of sangha. What does it mean to live a religious life of truly simple faith as a householder? and together? Why is this a collective practice? What does it mean to take refuge in the sangha?

Our Sheffield vow 22 group has also met twice and had lively conversations.

The sudden death at Findhorn of Andrew Murray, known to a number of people in Sheffield, was a shock to Sundari and Bhaktika. Andrew was the sort of person who made a deep impression on everyone he met. He stayed with us when he came to Sheffield, and we counted him our friend, though we were not as close as many other people. We held a memorial service here for people who knew him, and we were very glad to be able to offer the container of Buddhist practice for a collective expression of grief. It was a very moving occasion. A friend who was very close to Andrew has just been staying with us for a couple of days, and that has been very good too.

A return of the sunshine has meant that we have been able to to much of our morning practice outdoors with our garden Buddha, which has been wonderful. Just sitting with the creatures and all the growing things has been a very sustaining way to start the day. Sally has just cleared round the garden Buddha who was beginning to disappear under foliage.

Sue made a crumble with the first blackberries of the year - and now we have started pcking the ones at the cottage......mmmmmore to come.

      News From London

The bitter-sweet nature of our lives has been very strongly felt by us at London in recent weeks as we have been facing some major life events. Joan's brother Alex died from CJD at a nursing home in Devon. Joan sends her love to all the Sangha and says how helped and supported she has felt by all of us in Amida at this difficult time. Tony got married and the day turned out just right (after several weeks of naked anxiety - not to say sheer terror - on behalf of the groom) with Sujatin doing a really wonderful job of bringing what was a first taste of Buddhism to most present.
Other good things have been going on as well - we've been working together to get lots done for when Dharmavidya & Prasada visit London for the book launch event and Sukhavati Open Day next month. There have been two visits from Modgala, who has been giving us her much appreciated support and guidance. We've been working in the garden clearing weeds and planting new things. Tony has a madcap scheme (Sangha willing) to plant mostly Japanese plants in the rear garden - you'd be surprised (perhaps) to know just how many Japanese plants there are available in Britain. Best plant so far: a beautiful Acer shirosawanum 'Aureum' tree - the Golden-Leaved Full Moon Maple - which will be planted in a shady spot in front of the retreat hut to be. The leaves flush bright Amida-shu yellow from pink buds in Spring and turn Amida red in the Autumn before falling.  Most evocative plant name so far: x Hibanobambusa tranquillans 'Shiroshima' (!) which means 'the Tranquil Bamboo from Mt. Hiba (in Japan), White Island variety'. We'll plant that behind the Maple in a shady corner, where it's fluttering white variegated leaves will bring light and movement to a dark spot.

     Narborough

The community at the Buddhist House is continually shifting and growing, we recently saw the return of the community that were based in France over the summer,  and said goodbye to the Bangaldeshi family that had been staying with us, hopefully only for a shortwhile, they hope to return soon. We look forward to the arrival of Prasada and Dharmavidya tomorrow.

As I write this, Suthama and our other new arrival Ha, a vistor from Korea are busy redecorating the kitchen at #6 ready for the new term, and Gareth and Modgala are preparing to head to the Ragged Egde Fair, in Cirencester. And Mudita and Ian are having thier final scan at the Hopsital, due date is less then seven weeks! A

Although the weather has turned cooler and clouder today, we had a wonderful bank holiday weekend, and went exploring for Blackberries, and came back with armfuls, the raberries in the garden are doing well aslo, so we are enjoying the fruits of summer.

     SolFest

Bank holiday weekend, Modgala went to a delightful music and fun festival in Cumbria. There, alongside Jane a fellow Amida student from the earliest days of Amida, she introduced Buddhism and Amida to a very new population. Midday walking nembutsu and sunset chanting in the sacred garden gave an alternative space amongst all the other music. The Amida tent, in the healing area offered a quietspace and room to chat for many festival goers. A chanting workshop was great fun too. There were often four generations of a family at the festival which offered a variety of music and events. And the sun shone too.....Namo Amida Bu

This Week: 22 August

Amida France
I left Amida France on a rainy day, leaving Susthama to finish her bamboo sculpture of Quan Yin, and, with the others, to tie up any loose ends, before returning home on Thursday.

We had a wonderful finish to the Arts period, Liz and Gemma were our guests in the final week, who transformed the old well into a thing of beauty. On the final day, Kate a neighbour, who works as a play therapist in the UK, came and led us through an art workshop in which we jointly created an amazing piece. You can see photo's of this, and of the other pieces of art on the French weblog: http://amidatrust.com/france We had spent the previous evening at Kate's house, for dinner and a twilight walk to an old abandoned water mill - spooky.

The weather has been mixed but te rain didn't dampen our spirits which were lifted, in the company of each other and by Amida.



The Buddhist House
Hello from The Buddhist House

Summer passes quickly this year. Only a few days of warm sun and fortunately the two days out we had with Catherine to Lincoln cathedral and Bradgate Park fell on two of the sunniest. What a wondeful cathedral and an excellent tour that introduced Sudhana to some of our history.

The wet weather has led to the juiciest plums I have seen from our tree, plump early raspberries and rapid growing courgette/marrows!

We had a very rewarding retreat studying the Four Noble Truths, facing our dukkha and finding new visions.

The retreat carried on into a day at Sukhavati where our own paths and the needs of the world came together in dharma discussions and focussed around Quan Shi Yin and the meaning of compassion.

The retreat also linked to an earlier intensive evening of practice with a question and answer session at Sukhavati.

We have enjoyed the company of our Bangladeshi friends, especially little Dip who has grown rapidly in her time here and joins in most of our sessions and delights our neighbours by waving at her window.  We look forward very much to Mudita and Ian's baby arriving.

Yesterday Modgala felt privileged to go to our Maitri project in Leicester where she met with visitors and volunteers in intense discussions over tea and biscuits. Fun ideas came up too, one was for a minibus trip to the seaside!

Modgala has also enjoyed travelling around with Sudhana. At the Buddhafield festival we gave many talks and workshops, linking up with FWBO and NEB friends and meeting new people interested in our courses, volunteering and Amida practice. We went to a lovely evening at a nature reserve in Brighton and met with our London friends at Sukhavati.  There was also time for a couple of days at Weymouth where Modgala's mother's family came from.

We have also had a number of visitors and today await  Ha Ok Ran from Korea who will be living with us for a few months.

In sutra study we have been reading about the early nuns and sharing their enlightenment poems in the Therigatha. They are wondefrully down to earth and inspiring.

This week: 12 July

The Buddhist House

Dharmavidya is on the road to recovery, and will be literally on the road tomorrow, on the way to the Summer Teachings, in France, slighty later than planned after he ""went to bed with a lump on his head and couldn't get up in the morning".
The population is changing almost daily here, Modgala and Sudhana are at Buddha-Field in Somerset, promoting the engaged work, and spirituality of the Trust, and we have recently been joined by a family from Thailand, whose young daughter Dip, at less than a year old, is eager to say Nembutsu, and by Craig Williams who joins us from Fo Guang Shan in South Africa.

Today we also welcome a new patron,  we are delighted to announce that Professor Paul Knitter, from Union Theological Seminary, has become our eleventh patron. See http://amidatrust.typepad.com/amidanet/2007/07/july-2007-paul-.html

After a successful Buddhist Christian dialogue, sponsored jointly by the Matri project, and Amida-kai, the kai series of events continues in the Autumn including an Archedrama workshop, an artistic approach to spirituality in which the traditional meets the personal. Presented by Dharmavidya David Brazier, Saturday October 27th.

Community in France

Susthama writes on the France Blog site:

We had a lovely informal sharing last night. We sat around in the loft space above the kitchen and talked about all the new developments in Amida, the project in India, where we are, or where we feel we are on the path, or not on the path and I gave a quick update on all the changes that we've seen back at the Buddhist House. The group consists of three men and three women. We can divide the group up another way, five school members and one lay resident. And again, we can look at it another way, one Dutch, two Canadians, and three English. And yet again, we could say that there are three pensioners and three non-pensioners. However, we label ourselves we are all foolish beings and we make up the community at Amida France. I'm reading Utopian Dreams: In search of a good life by Tobias Jones which is a book about his exploration/pilgrimage to different communities in the UK and Italy. He started this quest because he couldn't continue living the way that he was and needed to step outside of the 'real world' in order to understand the world better. He writes 'In an ideal community, the onus for you to take responsibilty for other people is borne out of a thankfulness that someone, here, has taken responsibilty for you. It's symbiotic, joyous because your relationship is based on love. In contemporary Western society, however, the instinctive mood is vindictiveness born out of years of being told one is a victim. Complaint becomes knee-jerk, litigation second nature. We can be spiteful to people because we'll probably never see them again. Reading this has put me in a reflective mood and as I sit here writing I realise that I am reflecting on the three questions that we do every morning in our service during our Nei Quan practice. What have I received/What blessings have come into my life? What have I done in return and What trouble has my existence caused. Casting our eyes over the past day and a half, we see that the four of us descended upon Leo and Saille in the middle of the night. Leo had stayed up and made a delicious batch of homemade tomato soup and Saille had baked a loaf of fresh bread. They had made up our beds and short of carrying us to our beds he did everything for us so all that we had to do climb in it and put our heads down.The following day was a very relaxing day. I slept most of it while the others spent time catching up and walking around the grounds. I have felt lots of love and joy in the way they have taken responsibility for us. And in return, we are grateful. Out of gratefulness we help each other. At the moment, Saille, Sudana, and Jorawal are working in the garden; doing some weeding and harvesting the beans. Meanwhile Leo is working on a panel to go behind the Buddha statue on one of the shrines and Joy is making supper. I am sitting above the kitchen and have the luxury of hearing her soft movements and smelling all the wonderful spices that she is using.

Amida France is basic and rustic. One feels the elements and the closeness to nature. We are surrounded by an orchestra of birds and insects. They are enveloping us with their love and saying 'look we are happy that you are here and sharing this space but remember that you are not alone. There is a family of bats living in the gap; a space which divides the main house from the annexe which we call the ecurie. And of course there are spiders everywhere you look. We are learning to overcome certain fears and learning to share a simple life completely with other sentient beings. Most of the activities here include growing fruits and vegetables in the garden and collecting firewood for the cold winter nights. There is a feeling of bliss and solace in living this kind of simple life; time is spent to meet the most simple and immediate needs. We have been blessed by Amida's grace and have so much to be grateful for, what a pity it would be to waste our time complaining.

SUSTHAMA WILL BE HOSTING ARTS IN FRANCE, AUGUST 1-21 this year. for more details see: http://www.buddhistpsychology.info/calartsweek.htm

We had a lovely informal sharing last night. We sat around in the loft space above the kitchen and talked about all the new developments in Amida, the project in India, where we are, or where we feel we are on the path, or not on the path and I gave a quick update on all the changes that we've seen back at the Buddhist House. The group consists of three men and three women. We can divide the group up another way, five school members and one lay resident. And again, we can look at it another way, one Dutch, two Canadians, and three English. And yet again, we could say that there are three pensioners and three non-pensioners. However, we label ourselves we are all foolish beings and we make up the community at Amida France. I'm reading Utopian Dreams: In search of a good life by Tobias Jones which is a book about his exploration/pilgrimage to different communities in the UK and Italy. He started this quest because he couldn't continue living the way that he was and needed to step outside of the 'real world' in order to understand the world better. He writes 'In an ideal community, the onus for you to take responsibilty for other people is borne out of a thankfulness that someone, here, has taken responsibilty for you. It's symbiotic, joyous because your relationship is based on love. In contemporary Western society, however, the instinctive mood is vindictiveness born out of years of being told one is a victim. Complaint becomes knee-jerk, litigation second nature. We can be spiteful to people because we'll probably never see them again. Reading this has put me in a reflective mood and as I sit here writing I realise that I am reflecting on the three questions that we do every morning in our service during our Nei Quan practice. What have I received/What blessings have come into my life? What have I done in return and What trouble has my existence caused. Casting our eyes over the past day and a half, we see that the four of us descended upon Leo and Saille in the middle of the night. Leo had stayed up and made a delicious batch of homemade tomato soup and Saille had baked a loaf of fresh bread. They had made up our beds and short of carrying us to our beds he did everything for us so all that we had to do climb in it and put our heads down.The following day was a very relaxing day. I slept most of it while the others spent time catching up and walking around the grounds. I have felt lots of love and joy in the way they have taken responsibility for us. And in return, we are grateful. Out of gratefulness we help each other. At the moment, Saille, Sudana, and Jorawal are working in the garden; doing some weeding and harvesting the beans. Meanwhile Leo is working on a panel to go behind the Buddha statue on one of the shrines and Joy is making supper. I am sitting above the kitchen and have the luxury of hearing her soft movements and smelling all the wonderful spices that she is using.

Amida France is basic and rustic. One feels the elements and the closeness to nature. We are surrounded by an orchestra of birds and insects. They are enveloping us with their love and saying 'look we are happy that you are here and sharing this space but remember that you are not alone. There is a family of bats living in the gap; a space which divides the main house from the annexe which we call the ecurie. And of course there are spiders everywhere you look. We are learning to overcome certain fears and learning to share a simple life completely with other sentient beings. Most of the activities here include growing fruits and vegetables in the garden and collecting firewood for the cold winter nights. There is a feeling of bliss and solace in living this kind of simple life; time is spent to meet the most simple and immediate needs. We have been blessed by Amida's grace and have so much to be grateful for, what a pity it would be to waste our time complaining.

SUSTHAMA WILL BE HOSTING ARTS IN FRANCE, AUGUST 1-21 this year. for more details see: http://www.buddhistpsychology.info/calartsweek.htm

This Week: 04 May

Dear Friends,

NARBOURGH

This week saw the welcome return of Dharmavidya from Japan, he arrived late Monday evening, just after a lively Sutra Study in which we have been studying some collected writings of Honen. All are welcome to the Study class, Monday at 7.30 at The Buddhist House. It's been wonderful to hear about Dharmavidya's trip, and on Wednesday evening we were treated to a slide show of photographs from the visit - all good community building stuff.

The Thursday evening meditation, chanting and relaxation class continues, and seems to be growing, with another two new members from the local community coming to join us this week. The daily life of running a temple continues, preparing rooms  and meals for guests, and making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. Although the work might at first seem mundane and chore like, when done in a spirit of faith, and love the sacred is revealed even in this.

Yesterday we heard that one of our order members, Joy Marston had suffered from a minor stroke. Susthama will be retuning from France shortly and travelling directly to Joy's in order to provide support. Also Rev. Sujatin from the Newcastle sangha recently broke a foot, we wish them both quick recoveries, and send much love.

LONDON

The London Sangha is preparing for an Introduction to Pureland Buddhism course which take place at Sukhavati, will be open to the public and will take place on four consecutive Wednesday evenings starting 30 May 07 at 1830. In addition we are continuing with the garden work, with the next stage being to take away the rubbish generated during the clearing work and tidying the front garden too. We are continuing to meet on Wednesday evenings for Pureland practice, and we were delighted to have welcomed Sundari and Bhaktika from Sheffield as guests recently!

SHEFFIELD

We are happy here that Sue's shoulder operation has gone well. Only a week after the operation we managed to have a study group, listening to Dharmavidya's talk on Ananda, a Pureland ancestor. We recently decided not to try to fit study into our regular Monday evening practice but to hold study groups on Saturday mornings at intervals, giving us time to digest and reflect. It was a good start, and a more relaxed and useful way to study. Our thinking also is that keeps the Monday evening welcoming and relaxed, rather than trying to cram too much in. It also keeps it more accessible. Having had recent attendance by people with limited English language we realised the importance of this, and the pleasure of having more time to savour our commonalities and differences around the dinner table. This has also given us the chance to have some time specifically for School members, to talk over any issues or plans.

At City of Sanctuary we have now appointed a development worker, which is very satisfying, and will put City of Sanctuary on a firm footing to continue its work of developing a climate of welcome in Sheffield for asylum seekers and refugees. Bhaktika as Buddhist rep on the Faiths Forum joined in a statement from the city's faith leaders encouraging a high turnout in the local election today to give a real voice and to show that fascism and racism are not supported in the city (a party many of whose candidates are known for racist statements is fielding an unprecedented eight candidates). It may well be the first time in Sheffield that Buddhists have appeared on the political scene at this level. Ray and Sundari have been accepted as members of the Centre for Radical Christianity, and the priest in charge of its church base is interested in meeting us.

The household at 118 has been augmented for the last few weeks by our friend Sudir who returned from India and is living with Bhatika and Sundari for a couple of months. We are much appreciating good mealtime conversation and good cooking!

This Week: 23rd April

AMDIA SHEFFIELD

March 22nd
Interfaith seems to be in the air here at the moment. There was an event
at Sheffield University just up the road from us last Tuesday, which we
didn't manage to get to (notification came from many people - thank
you!), but the following day was the official launch of the Sheffield
Faiths Forum at the Town Hall - a wonderful evening of networking and of
speeches.

The purpose of the forum was introduced - this is basically working
together. There are other groups and fora for Inter Faith dialogue on a
range of matters but this is about engaging with policy and action in
the city on matters of concern to all, so there is a focus on social issues.

Each forum member read a short piece of scripture from their tradition -
Bhaktika is the Buddhist rep and read the Metta Sutta as something that
would be familiar and have meaning for all the Buddhist groups - three
other Buddhist groups were represented as well as ourselves from Amida
- a good showing. As a side note a number of Sheffield Buddhists
are showing interest in coming together.

Bishop Jack of the Anglican Cathedral gave a rousing and inspiring short
speech which moved all us Amida people and probably most people there -
raising our common interest in being a force for change in social
conditions that sorely need it. The Trident vote was taking place at
that time, so all the MPs were of necessity absent. We thought of them
and what the vote means to us all.

The time for networking was enjoyable and well spent. It was moving and
exciting to meet faces from various parts of our lives and pasts and to
find us united in this new wave in Sheffield. And to know that we shall
relate differently in future and be working together in ways that we are
just beginning to discover. No doubt future This Weeks from Sheffield
will relate how these connections grow and blossom.

On the same theme, of growth and interfaith connection and
relationships: two of the Amida School in Sheffield have joined the
Centre for Radical Christianity - which turns out to be on our doorstep!
On our weekly practice evenings we have been joined by a Taiwanese
couple whom Bhaktika and Sundari met at the Conversation Club - who
turned out to be one Pureland and one Zen practitioner! How amazingly
suitable for our Pureland group with its regular Zen attender! For the
spring equinox we chanted the Heart Sutra and the Life of No Regret, and
brought the paramitas into our nei quan practice.

Bhaktika and Sundari have been engaged in the second of the groups on
conflict which we have initiated with process work colleagues. It's
exciting to be out in public putting some of our skills into practice
and it was wonderful to meet a member of the group at the Faiths Forum
evening.

The other good news is that City of Sanctuary has obtained funds from
the Allen Lane Foundation for a Development Worker - the most that they
ever award to any group. Sundari is involved in the appointment process.
The movement continues to develop exciting initiatives and this solid
base for growth is really encouraging. (see www.cityofsanctuary.com
<http://www.cityofsanctuary.com>)

April 12th
We have just had the third of our action learning groups on working with
conflict - and the team work is growing well. Sundari and Bhaktika are
working with three other students of process work and we are learning a
lot. Sundari has just returned from a socio-legal conference in
Canterbury, where she took part in some interesting discussions and
gave a paper on the need for new principles in immigration law. Sue's
shoulder operation was postponed for the second time, so she continues
in pain. The silver lining in this cloud was that all four Sheffield
Amida School members managed to travel to Narborough on Easter Saturday
for the day. The first time we have made it there together. It was
lovely to dip into the community life there even for a short time.
Just before all this we had two short visits from Prasada - it was good
to have her here dipping into our lives for a short while, and she was
able to join in our Friday morning meditation and visit the Monday
lunchtime meditation in the cathedral as well.

AMIDA FRANCE

The weather has been lovely and warm, breathing new life back into the
trees, shrubs and flowers. The blossoms on the cherry trees, blackthorn
and plum trees are full and glorious. Work in the garden has started,
seeds have been sown, onion sets are in and the first shoots started to
appear two days ago.

Leo and Modgala are now joined by Susthama who has been here since
Easter. Leo is away in The Netherlands until Monday and Modgala who has
been ill is slowly regaining her strength. She is due to go in to
hospital on the 19th to see whether she will need an
operation. We will keep you updated on her progress. Leo has been doing
a great job overall, tending to things, taking care of Modgala and
making wonderful meals out of a limited list of ingredients for her and
Susthama has been giving her reflexology and acupressure. The tranquil
surroundings, the splendid weather, and glorious beauty has enabled us
to appreciate nature, enjoy each others company and gain a sense of
something much greater at work.
Here's  a little poem by Susthama:

    Give my love to you

    to the walnut and oak trees
    and blachthorn trees with all its pretty flowers
    to the daisies, the cowslips, and violets
    the blue bells and the celandines

    I give my love to the cherry trees
    and to the strawberries plants

    and to the dandelions, nettles
    and all the green grass

    to the soil and the stones
    and all the while
    you give your love to me

Namo Amida Bu
Susthama

UPDATE - Since writing this Modgala has been into hospital and received
good news, she doesn't need to have an operation is is now on the road
to recovery, we wish her all the best.

THE BUDDHIST HOUSE.

We've all been under observation this week at the Buddhist House,
Samuel, a Religious Studies student from Bath Spa University, came to
experience life in a religious community - so we've all been on our best
behaviour.  The week began with a trip to the Maitri project in
Leicester http://amidatrust.typepad.com/maitri
our multifaith drop in, and part of our social engagement closer to
home.  During the work periods, we spent plenty of time enjoying the
sunshine in the garden, and Mudita has planted, and sprouted several
seeds. Colin from the Newcastle group has joined us for a few days, and
we hope to use his expertise in the garden to make even more progress
this week.

Both interfaith, and intrafaith are in the air here - on Friday, Gareth
Sudhana and Samuel visited the Sri Lankan Vihara - here in
Leicestershire, and had wonderful Dharma conversation with Ven. Amita.
In other intrafaith news, Dharmavidya is currently in away from the
house presenting papers at the Jodo-Shu Research Institute:
http://www.jsri.jp/index-e.htm and spending time with our friends in Japan.

On the interfaith front, Prasada has been invited to speak at Reading
Interfaith group at the end of May, on Pureland and it's realtionship to
other faiths. This is part of a longer visit to Reading, more details to
follow.

This Week: 11 March

News from Volunteers:

After a rather frustrating 5 weeks being stationary in Durban.....We experienced the most violent weather at night, we had 3 massive storms come over with fork lightening and thunder claps all around, we all felt a little vulnerable in the temporary shed they have placed there, but very exhilirating !!!! Especially when the lightening hits the ground about 10 yards away!!! I just love it there, James and I both said we could live there, if it wasn't so far from home and all of you.... and it helped us make a decision that we have been rather putting off for some time, in the hope that James' back injury will improve enough to allow him to work in Zambia. After much thought, talk and careful consideration, we have decided that James will come home (on monday) and I will move onto Zambia without him, and live up to our committment to those who are expecting us in Zambia. I was fine with this decision, but woke up with a panic of what am I doing? Yes, I am nervous about going on my own, and I will miss James muchly, but I am also very excited to be able to go and offer my help where needed, and set up some sustainability projects with the money we raised....I will see what the people want though, as its down to them and not me at all. No way am I going in there, saying the West knows Best. Cause that just ain't always true!!!

Its only for 6 weeks, and that will go so quick.....I will be very busy......and it will be important for me to go, and important for those in Zambia to have some help. So, with a deep breath, and a smile, I go on my way to beyond.......Zambia here I come......(and at the expense of the travel insurance company, who are paying for me to get there as I postponed my trip to help James....wow...travel insurance.com...that is who you want...they have been soooo helpful and good, hard to believe that an insurance company like that existed, but they do, hurrah!!!!

Anyway, I sign off now, as I need to go get my lift...Durban is so car
orientated....have to rely on lift.... Please, it would be great to hear from you, when I am in Zambia. Without James there with me, I gonna need all the support I can get, so emails, jokes, pictures, whatever contact from you would really be wonderful.....

Love you all very much. See you in May....
Clare
xxxxxx

This Week February 1 2007

Braziers to Vancouver, London Retreat, Flood in Sheffield

March 13

This Week in France

This Week 16 January 2007

Sudana to Zambia, Conflict Resolution in Sheffield, Dharmavidya and Prasada in Hawaii, More Gardening in France