Amida News

Dharmavidya & Jnanamati are in India working for emancipation of the oppressed

Dharmavidya is paying a visit to Amida Delhi where Sahishnu is working with Suvidya and other Indian Amida members leading English teaching and Buddhism classes for children from some of the poorest areas. The establishment of an Amida sangha here led by people from impoverished groups is a big step forward. This visit by the head of the order helps to build morale for this group working very much at the coal face of the "Buddhist revolution". 

Buddhism in India is a socio-economic and political force as well as a religious one. Dr Bimrao Ambedkar who died in 1956 was the leader of the untouchables at the time of Indian independence. He fought hard to end the caste system and led his followers into conversion to Buddhism as part of this movement. We are continuing the work of this great bodhisattva of the modern age.

Amida Buddhists work in India without salaries, helping the poorest of the poor. Because of the respect that this work has gained among the deprived people, a number have themselves become Amida Buddhists. This development is a big step forward as it means that the work in India can be more self-sustaining. It also means that the Amida sangha internationally has the benefit of the voices of these people who know from hard life experience why the principles established by Shakyamuni are of such importance to the future of the world. 

 

News from India

on Friends of Amida, our volunteer in Delhi writes:

It is cooler today; the erratic electricity at the flat is charging up the laptop and powering the television and mosquito repellents, but not the ceiling fans. It is about midday, and loud bangs reverberate around the buildings, but are not as startling to us as they were a few days ago. Sahishnu and I have been in India for two weeks now.

Read more on Friends of Amida

Sahishnu Returns from India

Rev. Sahishnu, Amida chaplain and project leader at Amida Delhi, has returned to UK after a very successful five month tour of duty in India.

Dispatch from Delhi

Saul reports on FWBO news, his recent trip to Amida Delhi

I’ve recently finished two weeks teaching very large classes of children from slum areas in Shahadhara in east Delhi. At first I couldn’t cope with it, or I felt I couldn’t cope with it. Then I became rather accustomed to it and I've missed it on leaving. more

Amida Delhi: Visit and school admission ceremonies

Just got back from a week in Delhi visiting our project there. The project is in its fourth year and offers English classes to some of the poorer communities in the East of the city. This year Amida chaplain, Sahishnu has two volunteers with her. Kaspalita and I travelled out on Monday a week ago. We spent most of our time visiting the different classes, held in different Buddhist temples around the area. Some were for children, some for young women, and others for mixed adults. They tended to be very interactive with lots of word games and singing. On Sunday the visit culminated with a school admission ceremony for ten people in Shanti Nagar, a district just over the border in Uttar Pradesh. This group has been meeting with Sahishnu for a couple years to practice Buddhism and its members have become particularly interested in our form of Pureland and wanted to become part of our group. You can see photos of our visit on my facebook site

Among those joining the school was Shiv Kumar Gautam who has been a very active supporter of the project in his local community. At the ceremony he also received the Buddhist name Suvidya. The community from Shanti Nagar presented us with a lovely picture of the Buddha teaching the five ascetics. In this picture you see Kaspar and I seated with Suvidya in his home. 

Prasada and Kaspa return from India

Rev. Prasada, assisted by Rev. Kaspalita, has just returned from ten days in Delhi where she went to support the Amida Trust project which provides English teaching to children and young people from poor areas and also to conduct ceremonies to admit ten new members to the Amida-shu.

Prasada and Kaspalita to India

Rev. Prasada will fly to India tomorrow to visit our community in Delhi who are all excitedly awaiting her. She will be assisted by Rev. Kaspalita on what will be his first Amida mission overseas.

Volunteer News: Touch down in Delihi

James reports on the volunteer blog:

Hi, my name is James and I'm volunteering this year (2007) with Amida's English teaching project in India. This is just a quick update on how things have gone so far.

We touched down in Delhi about 6 weeks ago. All those hours at the Buddhist house talking about the project, India and the many facets of Indian culture had come to an end and I was here. more

Prasada India Visit Plan Finalised

Rev. Prasada Caroline Brazier, deputy head of the Amida Order, will be traveling to India on 10th December for a one week visit to conduct refuge ceremonies. She will be accompanied by Gareth Thompson as jisha. This visit will support the Amida Delhi Project and help establish the Amida-shu sangha in India.