Triratna prepares for Buddhist Action Month - and beyond…

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Triratna prepares for Buddhist Action Month - and beyond…

On Fri, 14 March, 2014 - 04:55

lokabandhu

June 2014 sees the third annual ‘Buddhist Action Month’ - BAM for short - happening across Triratna. BAM is, in essence, a celebration of our aspiration - and the Dharma’s power - to change the world for the better. And we’d like you to be part of it! it’s a great opportunity to explore and celebrate the connections between our ethical commitment as Buddhists and the needs of our society and the wider environment.

Participating is simple: all Buddhists and Buddhist Centres are warmly encouraged to take whatever action or actions they wish for the benefit of others, especially ones that benefit the environment or society. And once you’ve done that: to share and celebrate your actions on the dedicated BAM space on The Buddhist Centre Online. It’s also a great opportunity to build Sangha.

Triratna’s Development Team are suggesting that in 2014 our actions especially focus on addressing Climate Change, and if possible, on those which will have a permanently beneficial effect, such as switching electricity to renewable suppliers - or going vegan - or taking a ‘no-fly’ pledge. Their ‘Action Pack’ of 20 suggested initiatives has been mailed to all Centres and is available online, plus an extended presentation on the ‘Dharmic reasons to be part of BAM’.

BAM is an inter-Buddhist event, and two Manchester mitras, Claire Morris and Bex Frost will be working to engage Buddhist Sanghas beyond Triratna. They’ve created a BAM Facebook page and some great posters for the Network of Buddhist Organisations, available for anyone to use.

To stay up to date with Triratna’s plans for BAM - and to contribute your own - just +follow the BAM page on The Buddhist Centre Online. You’ll also find there the ‘Beyond BAM’ group - a place to explore the practicalities of building a Triratna-wide consensus to link our ethical commitment more decisively to environmental concerns: for instance, following the lead of the Quakers and committing collectively to becoming a low-carbon, sustainable community.

Tags:

BAM, Buddhist Action Month, engaged buddhism, climate change

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Responses

vajratara — Sat, 15 Mar, 2014 - 14:51

That sounds exciting! It ties in nicely with a retreat we are running for young mitras and Order Members studying Dr Ambedkar side by side with Sangharakshita drawing out the social revolutionary aspects of Buddhism: ‘to spread Buddhism is to serve mankind’. Its at Rivendell from 19 - 22 May, just before the international retreat, in fact I think some of the retreatants will go straight to Adhisthana to help set it up. There are places left, so if anyone is interested, they can contact Vajratara or Singhamanas.