today - a pilgrimage

Today I have been on a 'People of God' pilgrimage organised by the Inter-Religious Commission for the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. We visited the Newcastle Mosque and Islamic Centre, the Reform Synagogue and the Hindu Temple and, in each place were given a talk about their religion, followed by questions. We had lunch at a church in Fenham (near where I went to school) and finished with Vespers at St Mary's Cathedral - the Catholic Cathedral. I was invited because, although the group would have liked to visit my centre, I do not have space to accommodate fifty. So after lunch I was given a slot to explain Buddhism in ten minutes. Rather a tall order, but I was able to give an overview, bearing in mind some of the things I know about the Catholic faith and what we had been told by other faith leaders. Among other things, I talked about the Three bodies of the Buddha and about the Unborn, about the Gate of Contrition - the Sange Mon. So they could see that there are similarities in some of our concepts. It was a delightful and joyful day and I was so glad to have been invited and to have spent the day with this group of people. A number of them expressed interest in coming along to some of my 'Meditation for Relaxation' sessions.

And, when I arrived home, it was to find that Dharmavidya and Sally had arrived from Narborough to stay for a couple of days. Tomorrow we are going to Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey... more on this to follow.