Sona writes from Australia with news of the first ordinations of 2012, saying -

“On Saturday 21 Jan 2012 at Triratna’s Vijayaloka Retreat Centre, Sydney, Australia, David Spotswood and Guy Holden had their public ordinations attended by about 120 family, friends and sangha. This was the last day of a 2 week men’s ‘Going For Refuge’ retreat and the beginning of the 4-day Australasian Triratna Buddhist Order Convention.

The ceremony was conducted outdoors and the auspicious event was especially memorable as there was a torrential downpour just after the chanting of the refuges and precepts. When it became apparent that the rain was going to continue and all of us - preceptor, ordinands and public - all started to get very wet, I made the decision to re-locate the gathering to the indoor shrine room to conclude the ceremony!

Guy Holden, from Sydney, has become …

Dayamudra, an American Order Member with strong links to India, writes from Kerala, where she’s recently completed her third tour and retreat in south India with the growing Triratna team there, where they are known as ‘Jai Bhim Kerala’.  She says -

“Dear Friends- Our team has just concluded our 6-day Communicative English and Basic Buddhism Retreat in Kollam, Kerala, in southwest India. It was our 3rd annual collaboration with the Jai Bhim Kerala team and we all felt it was our best effort yet. We left feeling inspired, energized and satisfied.

Our core team consisted of Dhammamitras Rejimon, Arun and myself.  We offered a training based in the Dhamma, with meditation and puja at the beginning and end of each day, skillfully led by Rejimon. In the morning sessions there were ‘Communicative English’ sessions, drawing on interactive student-centered activities which developed…

Vessantara, ordained in 1974 and recently returned from a three-year retreat, writes with news of his return, a brief glimpse of what it was like to be on retreat for three years - and what he plans to do next…  He says -“In the summer of 2008 FWBO News (as it was then) reported that Vijayamala and I were going to France to do a 3-year retreat in a couple of old wooden circus wagons in the Auvergne. I’m happy to say that we managed to complete it successfully. It was a very valuable time, and we both felt extremely fortunate to be able to focus so intensively on meditation, and to deepen our practice with very few external distractions.

The conditions were very supportive. Our shopping was all done for us, so we didn’t have to concern ourselves with that level of things, and there were very long stretches of time during which we only saw people supporting our retreat, or the occasional farmer when…

Back in 2010 Triratna’s  European Chairs Assembly set a series of priorities for their work over the next period of years.  Joint top of their list was the wish to “Re-emphasise the Power of Dharma to Transform Society” - their intention being to bring back into focus part of Triratna’s founding vision, namely “the inseparability of transforming self and world”.  Amidst growing awareness of ecological fragility and economic instability, never before has this emphasis been so needed.

As part of this, and to help explore the contribution Dharma practice and values can make to positive social change, a team from Triratna’s EcoDharma  Centre set out from their base high in the mountains of the Spanish Pyrenees on a tour of UK Buddhist Centres during November and December 2011, running, in…

Akasamati writes from Triratna’s Naganaga Vihara, a women’s’ retreat centre in New South Wales, Australia, with news of the celebrations of their tenth anniversary - and a little history!  She says -

“It’s been an unusually wet start to the summer here in the Macleay Valley, in the north-east of Australia’s New South Wales, but that didn’t dampen the spirit of celebration as community members and supporters gathered on the weekend of 11/12 December, to mark 10 years since the founding of Naganaga Vihara.

Naganaga was established in 2001 by Satyagandhi and Megha as a place where a commitment to environmentally sustainable living and care for the land and its inhabitants would provide the context for a community of women Order Members to live and work together, offering small group retreats and solitary retreat facilities.

Soon after the 150 acre property was purchased, a devastating fire swept through and all but…

Kamalamani, from Triratna’s UK Bristol Buddhist Centre, writes with news of her just-published book, ‘Meditating with Character’, a new and unusual approach to personal meditation practice.  She says - “This book breaks new ground in weaving together important threads from meditation, body psychotherapy, and Buddhism, encouraging the reader to be more present with their experience of being an integrated body-mind. The book invites the reader to get really curious about what goes on in their meditation practice, through understanding their embodying and disembodying habits. These habits and patterns are explored through the lens of character positions, a body of knowledge taken from post-Reichian psychotherapy.

“The tone is warm, immediate and accessible, reflecting my enthusiasm for meditation and…

Vidyaruci, Sangharakshita’s secretary, writes with his monthly update on Sangharakshita’s activities, saying -

“December saw Bhante giving a talk in Birmingham, at the launch of his new book Dear Dinoo: Letters to a Friend. It was his first public talk for more than a year, and his first time speaking at the Birmingham Buddhist Centre for around five years. Preceding him at the lectern was Kalyanaprabha, who spoke movingly about her…

Following yesterday’s story about Vishvapani’s recent and forthcoming appearances on BBC Radio 4, he writes to say - “Dear Friends, I’m writing to let you know that my book, ‘Gautama Buddha: the Life and Teachings of the Awakened One’ will be out in paperback on January 6th priced £8.99.   The publisher is Quercus and it is available from the usual outlets - and it’s now available in the Commonwealth territories.
There’s also a new website for the book at www.gautamabuddha.info which features all the reviews, talks, interviews and articles associated with the book. It’s gathered a few reviews and endorsements - here’s a taste:

‘Master of clarity and simplicity, Vishvapani presents through the life of Buddha an understanding of Buddhism of immense relevance to…

Vishvapani, a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order probably best-known for his biography of Gautama Buddhia: the Life and Teachings of the Awakened One’, writes to say -

“I’m currently doing a series of ‘Thought for the Day’ broadcasts on BBC Radio 4.  The one this week was on the theme of ‘The Dharma of Dickens’, and you should find both text and audio versions here.  I will be doing two more which you can listen to live on January 17 & 24 at 7.47am UK time on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

With metta, Vishvapani

 

Urthona is a Triratna magazine devoted to the exploration of Buddhism and the Arts.  Issue 28 has just been published, on the theme of ‘psychogeography’, and their editor, Ratnagarbha, introduces it thus:

“Our focus is the somewhat mysterious theme of psychogeography. Here we explore the imaginative response to landscape, especially urban landscape - the interwoven textures of past and present on the streets, alleyways, river-shores, even the motorway verges, of the world that lies on our doorsteps. My article introduces the work of psychogeographer par excellence lain Sinclair, amongst others. We also feature an interview with nature writer Robert Macfarlane, whose book The Wild Places is an intensely felt exploration of the wilderness that remains close by on these islands”.

Urthona is well-known for its poetry, and Issue 28 contains an abundance of poems, reviews, and excerpts from interviews with…