Amida-shu is a Buddhist sangha practising socially engaged Amida Pureland Buddhism. At its core is the Amida Order.
Origin: The Amida Order came into being in the summer of 1998 when three people took bodhisattva vows with Dharmavidya. Initially the intention was not so much to create a new sangha as to allow those who wished to do so to affirm their commitment to full time Buddhist training in a socially engaged context. Over the intervening years the sangha has developed, the Order has clarified its orientation and structure and given birth to Amida-shu.
Fetures: The position now, therefore, is that a religious order exists at the core of Amida-shu and this order has a number of distinctive features.
• The order embodies complete equality between men and women
• There are two ordination tracks permitting alternative lifestyles
• Both celibate individuals and married couples can take full ordination
• The Order is politically aware and socially engaged
• It develops individuals and teams
• It is deeply respectful of its Asian origins, yet as a new foundation has organisational flexibility
• It has a written constitution
• It has achieved a distinctive synergy between spiritual authority and participative decision making
Orientation: Three Fundamentals: The Order affirms the trikaya nature of Buddha, the bombu nature of the adherent and the primacy of nembutsu amongst religious practices for its own celebrations. These points place it firmly within the Pureland tradition of Mahayana Buddhism. From this position of clarity, the Order reaches out in friendship to all branches of Buddhism and beyond to other faith communities in the cause of inter-religious harmony. The religious vision of Dharmavidya, the Head of the Order, is in accord with the spiritual instinct of people of many faiths - that there are absolute, spiritual and practical levels to the religious vision that work in harmony together )trikaya); that ordinary people are acceptable as they are )bombu); and that the core religious activity is the heart calling out to the beyond and receiving a response )nembutsu).
Structure: The Order has lay and ordained members. Entry is by invitation. New members are people who are aligned to the Amida-shu vision and whose life accords with basic Buddhist ethics, though it is not a requirement that lay members formally take particular precepts. Rather they will be people of Pureland Buddhist faith who assume responsibilities for the life of the sangha. The Amida Order thus has lay and ordained members. The ordained members live according to a religious rule. There are two categories of ordination or tracks. Those following the ministry track tend to live settled lives developing Dharma activities in their area, performing religious services for and getting socially engaged amidst their local population. Those following the amitarya track live mobile lives in community more like the traditional Buddhist friar (bhikshu). Ministers can be married or single and their is no restriction on them entering into relationships so long as they do so in an ethical way. Married persons can only follow the amitarya track, however, if both members of the couple do so together. Single persons commiting to the amitarya life are commiting to a celibate lifestyle. These arrangements, which are a distinctive feature of this order, mean that there are ordination routes for all three categories - celibates, married people practising together, and persons married to non-participants.
Training: Ordained members of the Order engage in on-going religious formation. This is a training that equips them to carry out the work of the Order, and which, more generally, brings out the best in people, equips them with enhanced life-skills, promotes social sensitivity, brings out leadership potential, deepens fellow-feeling and compassion, and enables the members of the Order to work together in creative teams on a great diversity of activities.
The annual spring meeting of the Amida Order this year took place at Bolsover in Derbyshire at the home of Joy Marston. Twelve of the 14 members were present. It was a happy gathering with discussion ranging over the current and prospective situation of the Amida-shu and its work. No major decisions were taken but there was a general sense of strengthening of relationships and valuable sharing of experience. This meeting is now part of an annual cycle of meetings that review the life of the religious community and its work in many spheres. New order members Mudita and Tony were attending for the first time. Modgala (in France) and Sudana (travelling back from Zambia) were not present this time, but a phone link kept Modgala in the loop for most things.
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