G8 meeting leads to Sheffield - Vancouver twinning proposal

In Sheffield yesterday (Saturday) there was a march / procession of assorted Peace and anti-capitalism groups protesting at the visit this week to Sheffield of the G8 ministers for Home Security and Justice.  The Amida Sheffield group had a day retreat already arranged so we used our gathering to join the events.  We were joined by Brenna and Saille from Vancouver and by Joy from Chesterfield.  In total there were 10 of us.  After some preparation we walked chanting the Nembutsu to join up with a group of some 500 people, including a few other Buddhists.  We walked behind a banner saying "Sheffield Buddhists for Security through Friendship" and handed out leaflets offering a Buddhist perspective on poverty, greed, international development, security and friendship.  There was a large police presence, because of the impending G8 visit and several E.G.s (evidence gatherers) who were keen to film our leaflet, all giving ample opportunities for demonstrating friendliness, mostly well received.  Towards the end of the march we resumed chanting the Nembutsu with bell.  This attracted friendly attention as it had earlier.  We learned that in the outdoors we need to chant much louder, and from a deeper place, to have a presence in open space.

The march processed to an annual event 'Peace in the Park', and gathering of a multitude of local groups.  We left to complete our day retreat - lunch then debriefing, metta and tonglen meditations, followed by tea.  In the evening some of us returned to Peace in the Park and saw a performance by an inspiring troup of clowns 'The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army' (www.labofii.net) whose show included a social theory analysis of the historical role and future potential of disobedience from a stance of love - all done in a highly engaging and interactive way, for children of all ages.

Although we wouldn't want to support everything they did - there was for instance a strong notion of 'the enemy' as 'they' - the performance set us thinking about discussions during the recent Activists week at Amida France about a Buddhist Social Theory.  We left feeling inspired to develop a form of social engagement using clowning and street theatre based on Buddhist social theory.  Saille and Brenna are already experienced in street actions, it being Saille's main work in Vancouver, so we plan to continue with these ideas when Saille returns to the UK in the fall.

A further piece of the jigsaw, that arose during our debriefing session, was to propose that the Sheffield and Vancouver Amida groups together form a group that over time can become an Amida Order convocation.  This will clearly require futher dicussions at both ends, but the meeting between Vancouver members and the existing Sheffield group feels like a fertile relationship. It was good that Ray was there, who, we hope, will soon take refuges and thus formal membership. In addition Saille, Gina and Mike plan to take part in the Ministry training and anticipate that the 'Amida Foolish Beings' might develop some clown action as part of the training - Dharma for Dunces, Dharma for Disobedience, Dharma for Dignity (the noble path).

mike & gina

Comments

[gina]

See Ray's longer account on his personal blog, The Long Dark Shadow. I like it a lot.
Love, Gina

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