lotusinthemud

Whispers from the Bamboo Grove - Amida Newsletter number 10: April 2013

Dharmavidya's Pastoral Letter
March 31st, 2013
We have just completed the Mondo Sesshin. This was attended by a dozen people including five nationalities, a diversity that is not uncommon on Amida events. Mondo is about encounter and encounter is about meeting one another in faith rather than in a state of clashing egos. How fragile, brittle or bristling we can sometimes be! However, coming together in faith we can help one another to pass beyond fear and enter into an experience of deep confidence and entrustment.

I feel considerable satisfaction in the fact that we have, as a sangha, evolved a style of practice that demonstrates our faith in a rather robust manner such that those who came newly in our midst on this occasion certainly felt that they were encountering "the real thing". There is always a temptation in what some might call the contemporary spiritual marketplace to water down the message so as to cater for a wider public. I do feel that it is important to have some access points for people who are of a more generic spiritual persuasion or, alternatively, for those of a more secular turn of mind, but it is essential that we retain also occasions when the undiluted faith and practice are manifest and shared amongst us and this was one such occasion.

:: continue reading here

ecourse - introduction to pureland buddhism - begins in march 2013

This course of 16 lessons, written by Dharmavidya, the Dharma Teacher of the Amida Order, guides you from Basic Buddhism to a deeper understanding of the Pureland Tradition. 

As a member of the study group, you will receive the lessons as email newsletters and will have access to an on-line discussions forum. Lessons will be sent out at a rate of one every 2-3 weeks and will take a maximum of 3 hours to complete, including engaging in discussion. The course will start during the first week of March.

Sujatin, a senior teacher with the Order, is tutor on the course, which she has taught on-line and face to face for over 7 years.

To sign up and pay for the course look here. A concessionary rate is available for people on benefits/pension etc

Previous participants have said:

"A thorough grounding in Pureland Buddhism, which doesn't just transmit the facts but also the warm heart and reassuringly human face of this school of Buddhism. I'd recommend this illuminating course to anyone who wants to find out more about Buddhist philosophy and practice." ~ Satyavani

"This course which introduces us to Pureland Buddhism became for me an intense personal journey into the spirit that Shakyamuni Buddha found and shared.  The interactive nature of the teachings and discussions is a most wonderful medium for reflection, both personally and within group process.........the discussion questions are good and part of this reason is that they confront our- selves....... to sit with a discussion question or a comment made by other participants, or by myself, for hours or sometimes days, weeks - this is such a gift of reflective space which is unavailable in the real time of a workshop or talk." ~ Rob

"I have found that the Introduction to Pureland Buddhism course has been interesting and also at times challenging. The course has given me the opportunity to be able to 'deepen my practice'. Along with having the forum to be able to share a few of my life experiences through these winter months, although this has felt challenging, it also has been cathartic. Gratitude to the other group members for given me the space to open my heart. Much gratitude to Sujatin for her support and spiritual guidance throughout. Namo Amida Bu." ~ Colin.

::link

the latest izt (institute for zen therapy) newsletter - october 2012

You'll find the newsletter by following this link

You can subsribe, share, look at past issues or translate the newsletter from the top bar in the link.

whispers from the bamboo grove - amida newsletter no 5

Uniting Zen and Pureland

'The essence of Zen is big mind and big heart. The essence of Pureland is that there is nowhere where the Light does not shine. These two are sides of a coin. Nothing is outside of the compass of one's spiritual life. There is nowhere where one's spiritual life is not supported.'
~ Dharmavidya

News from Dharmavidya

Dharmavidya was in Seville at the beginning of April taking the first legal steps toward the setting up of the
Instituto Terapia
Zen Internacional

 

Dharmavidya led a
workshop in Milan
13-15 April for the Mindfulness Project and gave a talk to a dance therapy school on the Sunday afternoon. These were well received and he will be going again the same time next year.

 

As part of the setting up of ITZI, Dharmavidya is moving his base of operations to Belgium in early May.

ITZI  already has local reps in UK, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Canada and USA

ITZI facebook group

 

mindfulness - workshop in belgium

Mindfulness is an "in subject". However, our minds always are full of something. What is being missed is the question, mindful of what? Mindfulness does not just mean bare awareness of immediate reality. In the teaching of Buddha it means consciousness of what is beyond this reality - the "other shore", "other power", nirvana. That is what makes a life spiritual. There is more than just this. The key Zen text, the Heart Sutra, is about "going beyond"; the key Pureland text, the Sutra of Immeasurable Life, is about the beyond coming to us. Either way, Buddhism is about adding another dimension to our lives, not narrowing our consciousness, but expanding it and coming to life spiritually. In this world there is much beauty and much suffering. Buddhism is a path of love that sees beyond the immediate frustrations and disappointments to open up to a reality that is extraordinary and marvellous.

Workshop with Dharmavidya David Brazier - booking information here

Date and time: March 17, 2012 from 1:30pm to 5:30pm
Location: Don Bosco, Kessel-Lo, Leuven, Belgium

the institute for zen therapy - an updated list of courses during 2012

Programme of events

The following is the provisional programme of events for 2012. Do click on the title for more the event description. Click here for fees & practicialties.

 

March 24-25: Zen Therapy: Punctuating Dysfunctional Equilibrium

 

April 1: Day Seminar: Holy Fools

 

April 28-29: ZT: Existential Zen

 

May 25 Day Seminar :Immanent Vitality: Therapy & The Actualizing Tendency

 

May 26-27: ZT: The First Five Minutes

 

June 16-17: ZT:Empathy for the devil

 

July 28-29: ZT: The Unconscious In-between

 

September 8-9 ZT: The Buddha as a fully functioning person

 

October 19 Day Seminar: Zen & The Art Of Neurophenomenology

 

October 20-21: ZT: Safety & Danger in the Life Change Process

 

November 17-18: ZT: Great Doubt

 

2013

January dates tbc Bumping against Boundaries

 

February 23-24ZT: When the Heart Boils Over: Jealousy & Envy in Therapy and Life...

::more information here

::IZT staff

amida france, summer of 2011

There's a very full and varied programme throughout July, August and into September at our beautiful retreat centre in the middle of France:

Website: Amida France

July 4-8: Anjin Sesshin Retreat

July 11-15: Becoming More Alive through Words & Movement

July 18-22: Teachings: Mindfulness & Pureland Buddhism

July 25-29: Women Together/Familie Week (English/Dutch)

Aug 1-5: Arts & Family Week (English/Dutch/Francais)

Aug 8-12: Buddhist Psychology Summer School

Aug 15-19: Earth to Earth: Facing Grief & Finding Healing in Nature

Aug 22-26: Volunteer Week

Aug 29-Sept 2: Rivers & Forests: Walking retreat (English/Francais)

Sept 5-9: Women, Food & Bodies Week

Why not just stay for the whole summer :-)

join fiona's may e-course: writing as spiritual practise

Fiona writes:

Who the course is for:

This course is aimed at anyone who wants to feel more at home with themselves and with the world, through the exploration of writing as a spiritual practice. Participants will write at least one small stone a day – a short piece of observational writing - and also use journal writing and other writing exercises. 

The course is suitable for both experienced writers and for those with no previous experience of creative writing, and for both those already steeped in a particular spiritual tradition and for the spiritually ambivalent or curious.

When and where:

The course is four weeks long and will take place online via email and here on the forum in a private group. It will take place between the 2nd and the 29th of May 2011. Cohorts sizes will be limited

More information and how to book ::here

join kaspalita's may e-course: eastern therapeutic writing

Kaspalita, a Pureland Buddhist priest in the Amida Order, writes about his course:

This course will give you an experience of four different styles of therapeutic writing/journaling, each drawn from eastern spiritual and therapeutic traditions.

Who this course is for:

Anyone who wants to learn more about themselves, and their connection with the world.

Naikan : During the first week we will use a reflective practice developed in Japan to look at our relationships with other people.

Morita : During the second week we will keep a Morita journal. Morita encourages us to contemplate the relationship between actions and feelings, and, as Susan Jeffers said, to Feel the fear and do it anyway.

Waka/Tanka:  The Buddhist monk Saigyo became famous for the poetry he wrote whilst travelling through Japan which was heartfelt and full of feeling. How can we use this form to capture something of our own lives?

Koans: Koan practice has become very formalized in Rinazi Zen, but it began very simply with a reflection upon a spiritual ancestor’s life. How did their troubles mirror our own?  How did they become enlightened?

When and where: The course is four weeks long and will take place online via email and here on the forum in a private group. It will take place between the 2nd and the 29th of May 2011. Cohort sizes will be limited.

Find out more details and book ::here

buddhism and psychodrama workshop in london

LONDON PSYCHODRAMA ASSOCIATION

STRATEGIES FOR CHANGING ATTITUDES

Saturday October 8th 2011

This is a unique opportunity to participate in an experiential and reflective workshop with two well-known experts in Buddhism and Psychodrama. They will be exploring the changing of attitudes through similarities and differences of these two disciplines. It is often perceived that Buddhism is centered on reflection and Psychodrama is centered on action.

This workshop will demonstrate the power of ‘role-reversal’ as a tool for nurturing empathy in developing an understanding of the other in the process of moving towards the changing of attitudes.