Amida Order

DISCONTINUATION

This weblog has now been superceded by
http://amidatrust.typepad.com/amidashu

Amida Hawaii Open

On 18th August 2006, Dharmavidya David Brazier, Head of the Order of Amida Buddha, officially opened Amida Hawaii Buddhist Temple as a religious community of Amida-shu in the natural paradise of north Kohala on the Big Island of Hawaii. The temple is situated upon land generously made available by the New Moon Foundation. The temple building is on the edge of an area of mature tropical forest. In addition to the temple building itself there is a residence and a guest accommodation. Full information about the Hawaii Centre can be found via the Amida Trust Home Page link and news of the temple is posted on the Amida Hawaii weblog

After France

July 9th to 29th was the summer teaching period in France. The advertised emphasis was Dharmavidya's teaching on the Larger Pureland Sutra. In the event, a significant proportion of those attending the retreat were on Amida's ministry training programme, and so training in conducting liturgy also became a focus for the three weeks. Both these strands of teaching were very rewarding.

For teaching on the sutra, we sat in the meditation hall, which is open on one side to the elements - fire and air being the main ones we were aware of as it was intensely hot. The resident team kindly provided each of us with our own copy of the sutra. Dharmavidya had a way of making this, to me, initially unpromising and remote material into a very human discourse. In particular I am left with a vision of how faith transforms vision, both at the physical and at the inspirational level. It was a good time.

In learning about liturgy, we had opportunities to conduct ceremonies formally and to experiment with new forms for different kinds of occasions and groups. Those of us that had not yet had an opportunity to learn the role of bell master did so, at least to a rudimentary level of what to do when. However we had a glimpse of what extraordinary possibilities there are beyond our efforts when some of us visited the Vietnamese temple at Noyant. Here a woman continuously chanting a sutra simultaneously sounded a huge bell and a huge mokujo with consummate skill and no apparent break for breath.

Other outstanding features of the retreat were community life - and the heat. We had a couple of trips to swim  - one in the Allier - a beautiful wide river broken up by gravel banks - and one in the nearest lake. Both much appreciated!

Reflections on  summer in France appear on other Amida weblogs, including Dharmavidya Web and http://pureland.wordpress.com/ (the newest version of the Amida Sheffield site). I won't repeat it all here. However, in terms of the Order - six of us were there, and it was a real joy to spend that time together, getting to know one another better, supporting and learning from one another in a whole range of actitivities from gardening, cooking and making incense offerings to sawing down dead trees, making woodpiles and understanding sutras.

Thank you everyone.

Namo Amida Bu.

Sundari

Congregations

On 20th July 2006 Dharmavidya, as Head of the Order, approved Narborough and Sheffield as Congregations of the Amida-shu in accordance with the Provisions for Continuity, Stucture and Governance of the School.

Dharmavidya to Dublin

News of Dharmavidya's forthcoming public dialogues in Dublin

Continue reading "Dharmavidya to Dublin"

May Pastoral Letter

Dharmavidya's Pastoral Letter of 15th May 2006

Continue reading "May Pastoral Letter"

Welcome to Amida France

Start of this year's French programme:

Continue reading "Welcome to Amida France"

Hello from modgala

Dear all,

I am just trying to get the hang of using blogs. So taking this opportunity to say hello and hopefully be able to communicate better when I am in France. I hope to go early next week along with Leo to start planting and get the place ready for visitors. I am now anticipating being in France for the longer term once we have trained some volunteers in September.

Love to all

Namo amida Bu

modgala

Buddhist House Breakfast

Sudana, Sujatin, Dharmavidya, Prasada, Susthama, Mieko, John, and Ray

Conference Success

The Order and most members of the School have been together over the last week participating in the 4th Living Buddhism Conference. This has been the best attended conference in this sequence and it was, in effect, spread over a longer period of time. Pre-Conference Events commenced on Saturday 22nd April. On 23rd there was a memorial service for Amrita Dhammika. Saturday to Monday were officially retreat days, and it proved joyous time for gathering and reflection together. Tuesday we visited temples of other religions in Leicester - Central Mosque, Hari Krishna, Synagogue, Jain Temple, Cathedral and Sikh Gurudwara. Wednesday there was an outing. Thursday evening those involved in Amida overseas projects led a public seminar and this marked the start of the conference proper. Friday, Saturday and Sunday there were workshops and plenary sessions. Order and School meetings also took place. On Sunday morning therewas a ceremony in which Cordelia Grimwood and John Zulu were admitted to membership of the Amida-shu. Monday and Tuesday there were special interest groups about organisations and Amida overseas work. The whole event seems to have been universally acknowledged as a great success.

Pre-Conference Visits to Other Faith Communities

Yesterday we went visiting Other Faith Communities in Leicester. Susthama had organised a great programme for us: Leicester Central Mosque, the Hare Krishna Centre, Leicester Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, the Jain Centre and the Guru Nanak Gurdwara. We were warmly welcomed wherever we went and pleased to be making friends with members of other faiths. A fascinating and enjoyable day. photos

Amrita's sangha and friends offering incense

At the conclusion of the Memorial Service we offered incense to show respect and love
photographs

Memorial Service for Amrita Dhammika

Thirty people gathered at The Buddhist House for a memorial service to honour Amrita Dhammika, member of the Amida Order, who died on 26th March in Zambia. The service also included an ordination. Amrita was a chapalin in the Order and it seemed fitting to complete her full ordiantion as a minister post-humously. Her spirit will continue to inspire the Order for as long as it continues.

Amida Hawaii on Track

The latest planning meeting of the Amida Island Project planning group was a happy affair ironing out many of the practicalities for the first on-going Amida presence on Big Island to commence in June this year.

Pre-Conference Retreat

This weekend is our Pre-Conference Retreat. The approach of the Conference is now the major pre-occupation here at The Buddhist House. Guests are starting to arrive and it is exciting to see old friends from afar.

Amrita Dhammika Funeral and Memorial Service

We, here at The Buddhist House, have just been communicating via Skype with our friends in Zambia. The funeral of Reverend Amrita Dhammika took place yesterday morning. She was buried with full ceremony. For two nights prior to the ceremony there was

Continue reading "Amrita Dhammika Funeral and Memorial Service"

Death of Amrita

Amrita Dhammika, chaplain of the Amida Order, died on 26th March 2006, from an acute asthma attack while on a humanitarian mission in Zambia

Continue reading "Death of Amrita"

School Admission Ceremony

A ceremony was held at The Buddhist House at midday today to admit Yaakov and Orna to the Amida-shu sangha.

We accept the membership of this School - the Amida-shu - with great joy, appreciation, and with a feeling of responsibility. We hope it will strengthen us in our way and that we will succeed to help others by making them acquainted with the ideas of the Pure Land. We want to thank you all for being such a supportive, accepting, inviting and loving sangha to us. We are leaving after this retreat much more enriched than when we came. Namo Amida Bu. - Orna & Yaakov Matri

New Special Interest Group

A new special interest group has been formed called Green Amida

Free Speech Debate

The Amida group played an active part in the debate on Free Speech that took place as part of Cultural Exchanges at De Montfort University. The panel included Alan Drury and Steven Lowe.

Life in The Buddhist House

A busy few weeks. Last week we held the spring psychotherapy course block. This week catching up with various pieces of work before the FEB block next week. Yesterday John Zulu arrived from Zambia, today it snowed. Poor John has never been to temperate regions before, and he's cold!

Today Sudana is visiting, and will stay for the FEB block. We had lectures in our Vow22 series. Tomorrow I go to Birmingham for a chaplaincy meeting and on Saturday to Amaravati for a meeting of Network of Buddhist Organisations. The ministry team meet on line tomorrow morning, and we have two house visitors arriving. Susthama and Lisa have gone to the training session for hospital chaplains tonight, and Susthama does her hospital visits tomorrow (they both went to the University group yesterday). Dharmavidya went to the Faith Leaders Forum yesterday. Tuesday I was at the Parish Council. Leo has been on retreat. I between we are making crafts for the stall at the conference, which will raise money for India (I'm making cushion covers, Susthama is making jam) and of course there's.... Life is certainly full, but we have some good fun too.

Family Day at Lotus Lake

During our weekend retreat at Lotus Lake we enjoyed the family service. Concentrating on the Chinese New Year, we began by inviting the children to find pebbles in the garden and to use them to  accompany our nembutsu chanting. After telling them about how we had chanted with mokujo in Chion-in before the service, we then talked about beginnings and the Chinese New Year, and the role of dragons as temple protectors. Making a dragon images with our stones, we played a circle game, passing the red "Amida" bird from person to person with the call and response chant Omito-Quan Shi Yim- Namo Fo, Nam Fo. One person starts, Omito, throwing the stuffed toy bird to another person who responds Quan Shi Yin, then we all chant Namo Fo. Finally all the children (with some adult help) made dragon masks out of boxes. We finished by calling the dragons with a lot of noise and letting them dance.   

Dharmavidya & Prasada in Tallahassee

This week Dharmavidya and Prasada are at Tallahassee, guests of the Lotus Lake Buddhist Community. Organised by Paul Normann, our visit has been an opportunity to meet lots of old friends. We have run one retreat already and have another scheduled next week end. Sadly today our visit coincides with an execution in Florida so tomorrow we will be joining the vigil which marks this occasion. Hard to believe a country that considers itself even half civilised can behave in this way. We will be participating in an interfaith discussion on Wednesday evening

Dharmavidya and Prasada in Vancouver

Dharmavidya and Prasada talking in Vancouver Public Library last Friday as part of their visit to Vancouver. 140 people attended this talk. They have also been running Pureland retreats and workshops.

And meeting with members of the Vancouver group

Willemien to Zambia

In two days, Willemien will be flying to Zambia to join Amrita in Tithandizane for five months. Tithandizane - the name of the centre- means 'we help each other'. .........

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Ordination Photographs

Here are photographs of the Ordination of Sundari and Bhaktika

Completion of Bodhi Retreat & Ordinations

Today the Bodhi Retreat came to its finale with the ordination of Michael Fitter and Georgina Clayton as chaplains in the Amida Order. They received the Dharma names Amita Bhaktika and Amita Sundari respectively. We wish them every success in their new role. The ceremony was a very joyous occasion crowning a particularly vibrant retreat which has, in effect, also functioned as the first full gathering of the Amida School since its inception. The new chaplains then hastened back to Sheffield where the local monthly meeting was about to take place. The Retreat ended with a community gathering and the traditional celebratory meal. A fitting conclusion to a fine week.

Growth in Amida School

Today, on day four of the annual Bodhi Retreat, we held an Admission Ceremony at The Buddhist House. Joan Court from Cambridge, Tony Danford from London, Patricia Obrgon from Hertfordshire, and Lisa Urbanic from Toronto became members of the Amida School.

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This brings the number of Amida-shu members to 25 in total including 12 Order members. Of these, 19 will have been present at the Bodhi Retreat this year. This gives this event a wonderful feeling.

Who's Where Now?

Right now: Dharmavidya, Prasada and Susthama are at TBH. Dharmavidya is much occupied with the ministry training programme, Prasada with the psychology programme, and Susthama with chaplaincy duties in Leicester. Sujatin is in Newcastle also much taken up with ministry work. Modgala and Joy are back in India where there are now once again a team of Amida folk including five young volunteers. They have taken on an additional house and already have even more students enrolled than last year. The volunteer training programme at The Buddhist House took much energy this autumn and there is much satisfaction that they are now in the field. Amrita is also out on the front line, back in Zambia after a longer break in UK this time. Now back in Africa, she has acquired a new and much needed vehicle for the Tithandizane Project and work is starting on a mortuary. Mike and Gina are in Sheffield. Earlier this month they started a Pureland Study group. Gina has been doing a lot of work in connection with visa applications as we have so many people going to and fro these days and migration restrictions become ever more complex. Madrakara and Joan continue to co-ordinate Amida activities in London. Leo has had an extended stay at Amida France and returns to TBH today. The Amida France web pages have, incidentally, been recently revamped.

Ministry Training

Amida Order offers training in Buddhist ministry. A programme is offered when there is a suitable cohort of appropriately prepared students. The latest programme commenced at the beginning of this term and is now well underway with 15 students who are all either full time trainees here at The Buddhist House or members of the Amida comunion around the world who have a view to ministry in the future. The students are enthusiastic and a large amount of internet interaction goes on. Three lecture series here at TBH cater directly to the programme which occupies about five hours per week for an average student, tho some do more and some can only spare a lesser period. A creative and productive initiative.

After the INEB Conference

I look beyond my computer to a sea of mud and a lorry taking away the awnings that were supposed to protect the Dalai Lama and his followers from the sun. The monsoon lingers on and more hardships face those who struggle to go beyond poverty and oppression. As we waited for the Dalai Lama I looked at the faces of the large group of Tibetans from a local refugee community, waiting for him patiently. I remembered how many refugees there are around the world and how we in the West treat them.

Continue reading "After the INEB Conference"

Returning to a Vibrant Community

Prasada and I (Dharmavidya) returned to The Buddhist House yesterday. En route we collected two close friends from the USA at Gatwick. They are visiting for the weekend to discuss future developments in Amida Trust's work, not least in Hawaii where plans are gradually evolving. When we got back to TBH we found

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Mary Midgley: Moral Missionary

Mary Midgley is a patron of the Amida Trust and internationally known author and philosopher of ethics. Here is an article about her in today's Guardian Education section -

The only really dangerous ground in
philosophy is the middle ground.
Arguing the esoteric and contentious
defines you as a star player, while
striving for consensus tends to
mark you out as thoroughly second division.

link

Preparations for the Autumn Term

Prasada and I are now travelling again. Today I will give a talk at the Dana Sangha in Gent in Belgium, this weekend we will offer a retreat for the Amida Belgium group, next week we will travel through Germany and next weekend we will be at the European Buddhist Union Meeting and then the Buddhist Teachers in Europe Meeting in Poland. Over the last two weeks since we

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Discussing Diversity in Sheffield

We had a very good monthly meeting on Saturday. Ray, assisted by Mike, led us in some sharing of our various practices and the start of an examination of their meaning. This is something we envisage will continue over the next couple of months, with the theme of refuge next month following the ceremonies. We were struck by the richness of

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Amida in the South East - 3/4 Sep 05

Amida Hertford (in Stevenage) 3 Sep 05 Patricia, Criag, Colwyn and myself met for lunch followed by an afternoon of practice and sharing. After a period of reflection in Patricia's beautiful garden, we did walking nembutsu followed by sitting meditation. We then shared our thoughts about a chapter taken from The Feeling Buddha entitled 'The Big Story'. This led to some interesting discussion and we finished with a stone passing. The next meeting will be at John's house in Hertford (date TBC), email NUGENTS4@aol.com.

Brunch and Buddhism, Sukavati in Finsbury Park 4 Sep 05 Modgala was joined by Joan, Phil, Cordelia, Catherine, Leo and myself for Brunch and Buddhism this morning. We started with a short service including walking netbutsu and prostrations, before enjoying a shared brunch together. Modgala talked about her forthcoming trip to India to continue the project started last year (http://www.amidatrust.com/page5.html). It was an opportunity for old friends to catch up, and also for new people to find out about Amida. The next event is on 9 October, contact 07968 953908 for more information.

Running Tide 7 is coming

The next issue of Running Tide, magasine of the Amida School, will be distributed at the end of August - it is in the press. Its 28 A4 pages include....

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Hearing all sides

Like many people, we have been trying to understand what is going on in relation to the bombings in London and their aftermath. We are deeply troubled by what in our society causes such extreme action and what can be done to address the suffering on all sides. And we are aware that the

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Modgala leading events at Sukhavati 6 & 7 August 05

We have had a full and interesting weekend of activities at Sukhavati, Amida's London home in Finsbury Park. Sr Modgala stayed over the weekend to lead the events, as follows...

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Inter-faith learning

Last Wednesday I partcipated in the chaplaincy training at the Islamic College in Markfield. They have a chaplaincy training programme which is popular. There were about 30 students, roughly equal numbers of men and women and of a wide range of age and experience. The day I attended was an opportunity for students to hear about chaplaincy in other faiths. It's an interesting time for chaplaincy in Buddhism, as it is

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Brunch and Buddhism/ Gardening at Amida London

Joan, Cordelia, Frank, Tony, Angela, Carmen and myself met on Sunday 3 July for Brunch and Buddhism. After tea and introductions we had an hour of practice inluding half an hour of walking and chanting, and half an hour of sitting meditation. We then shared

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Amida School a Reality

As a result of recent admission ceremonies at Amida France and in Newcastle upon Tyne the Amida School now has 18 members in cluding the 12 Order Members.

My week in the Huang Son Pagoda

June 12th: My temporary home is Huang Son Pagoda
in Vung Tau, Vietnam. I have been here for one week
and so far am enjoying the new environment.  The
children, Tam Hanh and her master have gone out of
their way to make me feel at home. They are very
happy to introduce foreigners to their local specialities. 
There are about 15 different kinds of local fruit available
at the moment, so far I've tried 11 of them. The
Pagoda/orphanage is in a Buddhist neighborhood,
almost every other building is a Buddhist temple.

Continue reading "My week in the Huang Son Pagoda"

Security in Sheffield

We had at first planned to print the Karuniya metta sutta on the back of our G8 leaflet, and although we abandoned that plan, it would have had an interesting element we did not consider at the time. The translation I have includes the words 'may all beings be happy and secure'. It was the Justice and Security ministers

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Susthama in Vietnam

The day starts early however the rythm of life here is gentle and fun for me and the children aged 6 and younger. We are taken care of by the other older children and nuns so that we don't really have to worry about much. We wake up at 3.45 have service and then a work period then breakfast then another work period all before 7 am. It seems the children and

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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

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Vietnam

Sr. Susthama has arrived happily at Nirvana Pagoda, Vietnam, where she will be staying as a monastic and teaching children English for the next four weeks.

Developing Ministry

Eleven members of the Amida School, including eight order members, gathered in Sheffield at the home of Mike Fitter and Gina Clayton on Thursday evening and Friday to discuss the development of Buddhist ministry. On the Thursday evening we had a very productive workshop that went on until eleven thirty. Friday morning we had further discussions and a good spirit prevailed throughout. Mike and Gina were excellent hosts. Sujatin met Paul Normann who is visiting from Talahassee, Florida. Sujatin and Paul will co-ordinate a pre-ministry training programme that is being planned to commence in October. This training will be open to present and intending Amida School members. This was the first time we have held a meeting of this kind in Sheffield and it was certainly satisfying that it turned out to be such a success.

Toward Buddhist Social Theory

This item, generated at the Activist Week (see: Amida School item below) is now posted at Buddha on the Board

Amida School

We have just returned from the Activist Week held at the Amida Centre in Berry, France. Our French centre is a retreat in remote rural surroundings and just the place to have the kind of intensive nine days reflection session that we have just completed. The significance of this gathering is best understood as the latest in

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Amida in the South East

Here's a quick update of the events over last weekend:

Amida Hertford
I attended the Amida Hertford event in Stevenage
on Saturday as a support to the new group. It was
a really positive atmosphere with Patricia (the
host), John (Australian - organiser) and Craig
(newcomer) and I meeting for walking and sitting
meditation, light refreshments and discussion
around the introductory course material. They
really appreciated Dharmavidya's email of support
and encouragement and that helped it feel like a
real Amida meeting despite people's lack of experience.

Continue reading "Amida in the South East "

practising living with the devil

In Sheffield we have just held the last of our study evenings on Stephen Batchelor's book 'Living with the Devil'. One major theme of the book is that 'Mara follows every step' - i.e. that the arising of our potential for love and our potential for harm are inseparable. We cannot achieve a 'clean' position whereby our actions and thoughts are somehow outside conditions. I'm paraphrasing this rather roughly, but on the same day as the last study group I was having a rather strong experience of this truth, and of the realities we studied in our last study group on ecopsychology. The story follows.

There has been a long-standing planning application on land behind our house, which is currently wild, and home to a badger who visits us daily. My heart is with keeping the land wild and opposing all development. However, the site also is home to some lovely old (derelict) mesters' workshops - a particular feature of Sheffield - and they are listed buildings. Because they are listed the Council has obligations to ensure they are maintained. This means that no development on the land is not an option. It might have been possible to create a swell of community interest and money so as to create a viable scheme of conservation, allowing some public access, preservation of the historic buildings and also of the wild space. We made some moves in this direction, as did a couple of local groups. However, no-one put a lot of energy in, which would have been required, and it didn't happen. The Council has reasons why the land is not suitable for that purpose too.

I would have loved to take a simple position of just opposing all development on the site. However, if nothing happens on it, the buildings will fall down completely, and then it is more likely that a less sympathetic planning application will be made. After years of correspondence, meetings and investigations the current plans are less invasive to us than might be the case, and provide for a wildlife tunnel for badger to keep visiting us. We have engaged in discussions with the developer, with the Council, with community groups and with our neighbours. I have felt acute discomfort about the selfishness of protecting the integrity of our garden, which we have done - but recognise that the seclusion, protection and tranquillity of our house and garden is something from which many people benefit, and those who follow us will too. It is also good to protect something beautiful in and for itself.

When it finally came to it, I spoke at the Council meeting this week, recognising the benefits of the detail that had been worked out, requesting further amendments (which were made) and saying that for myself I would prefer that the land was left wild. When asked if I was for or against the application I had to say that I was neither, but commenting, so that the decision would be made in knowledge of what I had to say. I felt as though I had betrayed the wildness and my badger friend. I have felt desolate and sad over recent days at the prospective loss of the wildness and the disruption to badger (who has to accept a new sett for the whole thing to go ahead). And I know that if I had just refused to discuss the detail we might now be in a worse position. I still feel contaminated, but think that this may be the price we have to pay for effective engagement. We can oppose, but if from a position of opposition we do not talk and relate, then I don't think it is fully engaged Buddhism. Or have I been bought off?

For those of an academic turn of mind -  this is the discomfort with which Stephen Batchelor's book ends. I seem to be embodying it.

Gina

Debriefing on India

At The Buddhist House we have been engaged in debriefing discussions with Sr Modgala and considering the next steps in our India project. No doubt this will continue into the Activist Week next week. The first round of the project having been successfully completed we need to fine tune and find ways of reaching the most needy, co-operating with other groups most effectively, recruiting and training participants to best advantage.

Irene Memorial Day

The 15th May is the anniversary of the death of Irene Brazier, mother of Dharmavidya. Irene was the "senior bomori" at The Buddhist House until her death twelve months ago. We remembered her passing by holding a picnic lunch at her burial site, chanting nembutsu and sharing recollections. In Newcastle, the Pure Land Gardeners planted a rose. See also Dharmavidya Web.

Towards a Charter

This weekend the Order met for a retreat/conference. We agreed a set of ordinances to govern the way that the Trust develops over the coming years. These can now be found on the Amida Trust web site at Amida School and Order. This is an important step forward. The weekend was enormously satisfying both in terms of the formal steps achieved and the atmosphere os love and harmony that prevailed. The new arrangements provide both for the expansion of the Order through a cell structure and also for the emergence of a "School" around the Order for those committed to the Amida approach.

Engaged practice

I thought I'd give you an update of some of my work as a volunteer that has been keeping me occupied recently.  For the past two years I have been a trustee and chair of the management committee of Mediation Sheffield (MESH), a small charity that provides neighbourhood mediation services to people in South Yorkshire.  We have six staff and about 40 volunteers who have been trained as mediators.  My role has been

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Spreading the Word

Dharmavidya spoke at Quaker Concern for Animals on Saturday 7th May at Friends House in London. His talk "Buddhism and Animals" can be accessed via the Amida Trust home page. On Monday, Prasada and Dharmavidya spoke on Pureland Buddhism in Devon - see Dharmavida' weblog

The Irene Brazier Memorial Garden has a new weblog

Colin and Sujatin have spent part of the morning creating a weblog for the Irene Brazier Memorial Garden. It's been lots of fun, working together and deciding on the style, configuration and colour. The garden now has a good team, who work together on Saturday mornings. All the 'regulars' will be authors of the weblog, so they'll be able to post their own news and individual perspectives.

So now we have another Amida weblog in the growing family - another seedling has sent up a little green shoot.