lotusinthemud

beginning anew

As we begin 2013, this new beginning brings to my mind the ceremonies of Ordination that were performed in a number of Amida centres around the world at the beginning of December. Before making any new vows, we always recite the Sange Mon - which connects us with our many foolish deeds and proclivities. We usually use a longer form but here is the short form which was used when I first took the 5 Mahayana Precepts:

If you wish to grow in spirit, give yourself first to contrition. Do not think of this as a burden, but as liberation. Put yourself in the position of the other and inquire deeply. Then a change of heart may arise naturally and the energy of enlightenment will flow in your veins like the nectar of bitter-sweet tears.

Here is an ancient verse. Please take it to heart:

All the harm committed by me

Is due to beginningless greed, hate and delusion

All this is the work of my body, speech and mind

I now confess everything wholeheartedly

And resolve to begin anew

whispers from the bamboo grove - amida newsletter number 6

News from Dharmavidya [David Brazier],
Head of the Amida Order
Dharmavidya will be in Korea for the whole of August as guest of the Korean Association for Buddhism and Psychotherapy giving courses in Buddhist psychology.
 
Dharmavidya was the lead speaker at the University d'Ete, a persona centred conference in the south of France, 1-4 July
 
In September Dharmavidya will be visiting Japan and giving events in Kyushu, Hiroshima, Tokyo and Nagoya.
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Rev Prajnatara's
  vows as an Amida minister have been confirmed
Watch the ceremony here
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Fiona and Kaspalita went to Buddhafield
Fiona writes:
Kaspa & I attended the Buddhafield festival  in place of Modgala this year. She was a hard act to follow! Many people asked after her and wanted us to pass on love.

small stone blogsplash – we need your help…

Kaspa & Fiona have taken over my blog for today, because they need our help. 

 

They are both on a mission to help the world connect with the world through writing. They are also getting married on Saturday the 18th of June.

For their fantasy wedding present, they are asking people across the world to write them a ‘small stone’ and post it on their blogs or on Facebook or Twitter. 

A small stone is a short piece of observational writing – simply pay attention to something properly and then write it down. Find out more about small stones here. 

If you’re willing to help, we’d love you to do things: 

1) Re-post this blog on your own blog any time before June the 18th and give your readers a chance to hear about what we’re doing. You can simply copy and paste the text, or you can find the html here. 

2) Write us a small stone on our wedding day whilst we’re saying our vows and eating cake, post it on your blog, and send it to us.

You can find out more about our project at our website, Wedding Small Stones, and you can also read our blog at A River of Stones. 

We also have a July challenge coming soon, when we’ll be challenging you to notice one thing every day during July and write it down. 

Thank you for listening, and we hope we’ll be returning from our honeymoon to an inbox crammed with small stones, including yours. 

Kaspa & Fiona

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the bodhi retreat begins with 72 hours of chanting

Every year during the Bodhi Retreat (the most important event in the Amida year), which is held at Amida's Buddhist House, Narborough, we chant the Nembutsu continuously for a period of time. We will be chanting the Nembutsu for 72 hours and would like to invite you to come and participate/experience some or all of it. The aim will be to keep it going for 72 hours between all of us therefore we do not expect anyone to chant continuously without taking any breaks. The practise will be shared and so people are welcome to dip in and out according to their needs for rest and food.              

It would be lovely if you could join us. Along with the three days of chanting there will be special ceremonies on the 9th.

Timetable:

Noon 1st to noon 4th December
72 hour continuous nembutsu chanting

Sunday 5th December
Refuge and Admission Ceremonies for people becoming or confirming their Buddhist commitment or entering or confirming membership of the Amida-shu.
Evening session of Other Power Life Dance

Monday 6th December
Day of Silent Contemplation (Quan)

Tuesday 7th December
Meetings for Practice, Devotion, Sharing and Instruction

8th December - Bodhi Day
Ceremonies for Ordination, Admission to the Amida Order, or Admission to Aspirancy or Postulancy.

The retreat is a wonderful occasion for entering into the heart of the sangha, its community and its practice.

Please pay for your accommodation and give a suitable donation toward the work of the Trust and the Order. Thank you.

Click here for further details of the event.

a photo of the amida mosaic sangha in ontario

Dharmavidya writes: On the evening of 14th November seven members of the Amida Mosaic Sangha took refuge. This marks a big step forward in the development of the Amida-shu on this side of the Atlantic. Congratulations to all these wonderful pioneers. Afterwards we had another party !!

 

refuge ceremony at the amida centre in london, ontario

 

amida order: new acharyas, ganko-shas, postulants, aspirants, amida-shu members and refugants

On the 9th December 2009, in an historic and beautiful ceremony presided over by Dharmavidya at the Buddhist House, Narborough, the following good people took various vows, refuges, precepts, new responsibilities and spiritual commitments as follows:

Prasada became an Acharya;
Modgala became an Acharya;
Sujatin became an Acharya;

Rachel Abel became an Order Member and was ordained as a Ganko-sha with the name Amita Kuvalaya;
Orna Matri became an Order Member and was ordained as a Ganko-sha with the name Amita Pundarika;
Yaakov Matri became an Order Member and was ordained as a Ganko-sha with the name Amita Vimalashri;

Massimo D'Alessandro became a Postulant;
Simon Williams became a Postulant;
Madrakara Albiges became an Aspirant;
Tony Danford became an Aspirant;
Dawn Hart became an Aspirant;
Zee-Zee Heine became an Aspirant;

Madrakara Albiges took the Five Precepts;
Zee-Zee Heine took the Ten Precepts;

Annetta de Quaasteniet was admitted as a member of the Amida-shu;

Bruce Coleman took the Five Refuges;
Brandon Haywood took the Five Refuges;
Dean Haywood took the Five Refuges;
Richard Ollier took the Five Refuges.

On the following day, the 10th December 2009, in a ceremony at the Buddhist House presided over by Sujatin, the good person and new Postulant Simon Williams was admitted as a member of the Amida-shu.

Namo Amida Bu
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video of highlights

dharmavidya invites you to our bodhi retreat

obama had the dalai lama's scarf in his pocket during his swearing in

Ah, so Buddhism wasn't left out, after all!

Beliefnet.com: Friday January 23, 2009

Lama Surya Das passed on this fascinating bit. Richard Blum, who is the husband of California Senator Diane Feinstein, also happens to be a major supporter of Buddhism. He was up on the platform during the swearing in.

Beforehand, he told Barack Obama that he had with him a white khata -- a silk Tibetan scarf -- given him by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Blum described what happened next in a letter to an associate of the Dalai Lama:

"I offered it to President Obama before the ceremony. I said that I could get it delivered to him later. He said, no, that he was going to take it and have it with him; in fact, it was in his pocket when he was sworn-in."

What's the significance? Lama Surya Das, one of the nation's leading Buddhist monks/teachers, explains:

"The meaningful symbolic gesture of our youthful new president keeping the Dalai Lama's blessing scarf in his pocket during the inaugeration certainly augurs good things for Obama, for us and for the country and the world, in its way, however great or small; but I think it's we ourselves who have to help the new president and his team of allies, give of our best to the collective good right now in these troubled times, and not wait for someone else or perhaps divine intercession to do it for us. I like to remember the old Middle Eastern saying: 'Trust in Allah but tie up your camel."

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mindfulness and the inauguration as a world event

William writes:

Kurt Barstow - Mindfulness and the Inauguration as a World Event

A nice post from Kurt on today's Inauguration and its world impact. He makes some nice observations about the hopes so many of us have for this new administration, and the realities that threats that face us all, both externally and internally.

Mindfulness and the inauguration as a world event

by Kurt Barstow, LA Religion & Spirituality Examiner

Shephard-Fairey, Barack Obama

It is an awfully big moment. In a certain respect, race has the least to do with it, since, although one is keenly aware of the historical and cultural importance of having Barack Obama take the oath of office as our first black president, race can also be seen as the most superficial division between people. It was Martin Luther King's wish, after all, that there would be a day when people were judged "not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." What makes the moment even bigger than an important first in American politics is not only that we will now have a president that, in the current ethnocentric division of race in this country to whites on the one hand and people of color on the other, we will have a president that for the first time resembles the majority of the world more than any other. That would not be so important in and of itself if we didn't also sense this changing of the guard as a change from an administration that has in many though not all respects been informed by a kind of small-minded provincialism, arrogance in world affairs, and greed.

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