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Bright Earth Buddhist Temple

Kaspa and Satya write:

The new name for Amida Mandala is... BRIGHT EARTH.

After stepping back from the Amida Order in November, Kaspa & Satya will continue to run the Malvern temple with a changed name to reflect our heart values.

'Bright' to signify Amitabha's golden light, streaming all over everything. To remind us that this light is always present, whether we are able to open our eyes to it or not. To help us to see the world around us as illuminated. 

'Earth' to remind us of our dependence on this magnificent, beautiful planet. To encourage us to practice outside and in the temple garden. More than anything, to inspire us to take courageous action for the Earth's behalf - as eco-activists, as individual consumers, speaking up for her, mobilising with others, and living on her as gently as we can. 

As we move forwards with our new name, lots of things will stay the same. We'll still offer Buddhist practice twice a week, offer other events and do ministry in the community. We will still be financially and legally supported by the Amida Trust. We will still have the nembutsu as the heart of our practice.

In other ways, we will be very different. We are no longer members of the Amida Order. Instead we have joined with other Pureland Buddhist teachers to form the Amitabha Fellowship, where we will receive both support and accountability. Our Buddhist practice sessions are simpler. We want to become more accessible, and for it to be easier for people from different walks of life to feel welcome. We feel more able to bring more of ourselves into our work, and into serving our fellow fallible humans. 

We hope that you'll come along with us. Whether you read these emails, or join us on Zoom, or practice in the temple garden with us, or come and stay in our guest room, we hope that we can continue to reflect some of the light that has been beamed at us over the years. We remain grateful for our time with the Order, and we are excited about a new chapter. 

Namo Amitabha,
Satya & Kaspa & all the temple animals

***
Blessed by Amitabha's light
May we care for all living things
And the holy Earth

Talks from the Bodhi Retreat, December 2019

Here are the links to the audio and video recordings of talks from our recent Bodhi gathering in Malvern. The theme for the retreat was In Less Than a Day

1. Rev Master Dharmavidya: Post-Mappo and Innocence of Heart
   audio link – YouTube link
2. Acharya Susthama: Queen Vaidehi’s Vision of the Pureland
   audio link – YouTube link
3. Acharya Kaspalita: Outside Practice and Just as You Are
   audio link – YouTube link
4. Rev Master Dharmavidya: Regaining Innocence
   audio link – YouTube link

Rev Master Dharmavidya: Regaining Innocence

audio link

The final talk of our Bodhi gathering 2019. In this talk Dharmvidya speaks about how the path to innocence is through the nembutsu and reflection on the precepts. He also answers a question about the language of Buddhism, and one on dealing with trauma.

 

 

Acharya Kaspalita: Just As You Are & Outside Practice

Acharya Kaspalita:

Here’s my talk from the Bodhi gathering 2019. I talk about outside practice, and of receiving particular insight whilst chanting the Tai Shih Chi (Mahastamapratpa) mantra.

Listen/download audio (mp3) or watch below:

 

 

Video of Post-Mappo and the Innocent Heart by Dharmavidya David Brazier

Bodhi gathering 2019 - talk one. Rev Master Dharmavidya David Brazier gives the first talk of our Bodhi gathering.

"In this time of materialism it is not even possible for people to follow the path of faith with any ease. In fact, many people have become inoculated against faith by exposure to its degenerate forms. What can possibly avail us in these latter days? Life has become immensely complicated. People are under pressure from all sides to conform to the path of worldly success." "The innocent heart is unselfconscious. Through innocence one can find faith renewed. Through faith renewed one can find the real meaning of the practices. In these real forms one can meet the Tathagata. Meeting the Tathagata one can receive the transmission. It all unfords naturally. We are in the fourth age, the Post-Mappo, and a return to the simplicity of innocence is now the only gate that is not locked."

:: audio link

 

 

Post-Mappo Rediscover Innocence ~ Dharmavidya

The first Dharma talk of the 2019 Bodhi Retreat at Amida Mandala. Dharmavidya writes:

In my Dharma talk today I suggested that we are now in the fourth age of the Dharma. In the first age of the Dharma Buddha Shakyamuni was still in this world or had recently passed away and people became enlightened by direct encounter with him or with one of his great disciples. This was the age of direct inspiration.

In the second age of the Dharma, people were able to become enlightened and enter nirvana by means of self-power practices. It was not that these rituals had an intrinsic power, but they were what still connected practitioners with the original source. By doing what Buddha did, people received the transmission. This continued for eight hundred years or so.

By the third age of the Dharma, called Mappo, things had deteriorated. Although the self-power practices remained a shining example, there were few or no people capable of actually realising them. The times were degenerate. At this time there arose teachers who showed the path of faith as the only available possibility for deluded beings to reach the Buddha and receive the transmission, if not in this life, then in the next.

Now we are in the fourth age, the Post-Mappo. In this time of materialism it is not even possible for people to follow the path of faith with any ease. In fact, many people have become inoculated against faith by exposure to its degenerate forms. What can possibly avail us in these latter days? Life has become immensely complicated. People are under pressure from all sides to conform to the path of worldly success.

Those who still attempt self-power practices do so mostly for the sake of this-worldly benefit. We do not have Shakyamuni nor Shariputra, Kashyapa nor Ananda to show us the way. We are more sophisticated than the people of old, but this very sophistication blocks our way back to the source. What is needed now? What is needed now is a return to innocence.

Only by cutting through the interminable woes and worries of our age can we hope to find the light and this cutting through involves a great simplification and lightening. Lighten your life! Reclaim the innocent eye of the child without letting go of the knowledge gained by maturity. Learn once again to play and skip. Life has become too heavy.

We are all weighed down by possessions and responsibilities, deadlines and protocols, debt and work. Riding the Dharma, leap free. Break out of the prison. Embrace nature. Let the mind expand in wonderment. Talk to the stars and bathe in the light of the moon.

The innocent heart is unselfconscious. Through innocence one can find faith renewed. Through faith renewed one can find the real meaning of the practices. In these real forms one can meet the Tathagata. Meeting the Tathagata one can receive the transmission. It all unfords naturally.

We are in the fourth age, the Post-Mappo, and a return to the simplicity of innocence is now the only gate that is not locked.

:: link

Sound of Silence ~ Satya

Satya says:

I got to do this very cool thing....

"Sound of Silence #podcast episode 49 is out now featuring special guest Satyavani Robyn, an author, psychotherapist & Buddhist Priest who runs the Amida Mandala temple. Recorded in Malvern, UK. Listen via (link: http://www.soundofsilence.org.uk) soundofsilence.org.uk (link in biog) or on itunes."

 

 

 

 

Nembutsu: a Simple Home Practice ~ Satya and Kaspa

If you want to explore Amida Shu Buddhism, why not start by trying our simple practice?

The nembutsu is the core practice for Pureland Buddhists across the world. It is a way of aligning ourselves with the wholesome energy of Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. We do this by saying ‘I entrust myself to Amida Buddha’ in different languages, most often using the phrase: Namo Amida Bu.

In order to start the practice, you don’t need a clear idea of exactly what Amida is or how nembutsu works. To begin with you can see Amida an unfolding wholesome energy, as the spirit that moved the Buddha to live a good life, or as unconditional love. We would encourage you to try it for a week or for 30 days [a free online course is coming soon] and to pay attention to any changes in your mood or in your daily life. If it works for you, keep going!

Nembutsu is a simple practice and it requires no special equipment or specialist knowledge. It doesn’t require the practitioner to study long texts or sign up to any dogmas. It is suitable for those with busy lives, and for those who are struggling with self-destructive habits or with feelings of despondency, anger, sadness or confusion. Nembutsu practice also connects us with the beauty in the world, with gratitude for all we receive and with a more meaningful way of life.

Amida Newsletter #43, announcing a retreat in the UK

Summer Retreat - Dwelling in Entrustment

13th - 18th August in Holland House, Worcestershire, UK



A residential retreat

Spend a week learning to trust, 'lean in' and be held on this Pureland Buddhist retreat led by priests with the Amida Order:
 Rev. Kaspalita, Rev. Jnanamati and Rev. Satyavani.

The perfect opportunity to deepen your connection the sacred. Dharmavidya is not running any retreats in France this year, so come and join us at this beautiful location in the UK. 

This retreat will include silent contemplation, chanting, personal enquiry through the creative process (including writing, poetry and visual art), group sharing and dharma talks. The retreat is open to all - Pure Land Buddhists, Buddhists from other traditions or other spiritual practitioners interested in learning experientially about the Pure Land way and a more faith-based tradition of Buddhism. 

This retreat is an opportunity to enter more deeply into the Pure Land practices. Dharmavidya has referred to Pure Land Buddhism as refuge Buddhism, and explains that rather than being a tradition that encourages the cultivation of practice Pure Land invites us, over time, to deepen our refuge. The various practices we engage in are devotional and are in this context ways of deepening our refuge in Amida Buddha. They are also ways of opening to the grace of tariki or Other Power of the Buddhas.

Venue: The retreat will be held at Holland House near Evesham in Worcestershire, a beautiful retreat centre with lovely gardens with a great kitchen. The cost includes all accomodation, delicious food and dana for the retreat leaders.

Cost: A £40 deposit is required to book your space - this deposit is non-refundable. The earlybird fee (until end Feb 2017) is £365, after this the fee £395. Unwaged fee £345. Payment by installments is also an option. For details of how to pay your deposit and secure your place, contact Satya: [email protected] 
Phone 01684 572444. 

You can read more about the retreat leaders below, read more about the Amida-Shu school of Buddhism at www.amidashu.org, or more about the Amida Mandala temple at www.amidamandala.com. 

Namo Amida Bu

The Retreat Leaders
Rev. Kaspalita runs the Amida Mandala Buddhist Temple in Malvern with his wife Satya. He is a practising psychotherapist and offers mindfulness classes as a part of Mindfully Whole. He co-runs Writing Our Way Home, a mindful writing company, with Satya. 

Rev. Jnanamati is a Pureland Buddhist Priest with the Amida Order. He works as an art therapist and also does chaplaincy work in health care settings. He is the Amida-Shu representative for the Worcestershire Interfaith Network. 

Rev. Satyavani is a Pureland Buddhist Priest, psychotherapist in private practice and a writer. She co-authored 'Just As You Are: Buddhism for Foolish Beings' with Kaspa and has written several novels.

See the Facebook event or get in touch for more information.

:: link

Meet Poppet, The Newly Three-Legged Temple Bunny

:: Satya, of Amida Mandala, writes:

Meet Poppet, our newly three-legged bunny.

Kaspa and I enjoyed our two week break and at the end of our first day back, a busy volunteer day, I went to feed the much-loved temple bunnies with 3 year old Felix.

It took me a while to notice that Poppet wasn’t coming out of the hutch. When I looked closer I saw the blood, and that her back leg was at a horrible angle underneath her. I won’t go into details but when I picked her up it was a traumatic sight. We think she caught her leg in a slatted chair – I still can’t understand how she broke it so badly.

Felix was amazing and ran to get a grown-up as fast as he could. We rushed off to the emergency out-of-hours vet in Worcester, trying to balance speed with not bumping her around too much. I couldn’t imagine how much pain she was in. The vet said she’d keep her comfortable overnight and then we could take her to our own vet in the morning.

Rabbits are more difficult to treat medically, both because of their size and digestive systems, and because vets don’t get as much experience as they do with cats and dogs. We did some hasty Googling that evening and I spent the night worrying. Would she survive the shock? The anaesthetic? Would they save her leg? What would happen if not?

The next day we said goodbye to her at 10am and waited. It was 3.30pm when the vet called. She’d made it through the op, was eating well, and by 5pm we were asked to come and pick her up.

She’s currently in a temporary pen in the living room with her friend Peter for company (I just went in to check on them – Peter is licking Poppet’s head, and Fatty our old cat is hanging out nearby). She’s already managing to hop around remarkably well, and the prognosis is good.

Whilst waiting for the news I couldn’t concentrate on anything and so I had lots of time to look at the beautiful blue sky and contemplate. Life is so short and unpredictable. Most (all?) of the discomfort I experienced from the time we found Poppet injured was because I wanted thing to be different than they were, and I wanted to be in control. I wasn’t in control of how far away the vets were, or whether or not she was going to stop breathing on the journey. I wasn’t in control of whether she came round after her operation. Of course, I manipulated the situation as much as I could – barking orders at poor Kaspa, interrogating the vet about her surgical skills, beating myself up for leaving the chair in the rabbit’s enclosure – but none of these things made any substantial difference to the outcome.

By the grace of the Buddhas, Poppet has been allowed some more time alive – to flop over and roll in the sunshine, to race up and down the grass, and to snuggle under Peter’s belly.

It’s often in the midst of crisis that we realise how much we take refuge in the things we can’t control. Remembering this, I might do better during the next crisis, but I probably won’t. Instead I can relax, knowing that the Buddhas accept me just as I am, and give thanks. Thanks to the overnight emergency nurse who found & fed Poppet dandelion leaves. Thanks to our vet for her kindness. Thanks to the insurance company for paying most of the £750 it cost. Thanks to Felix for staying calm. Thanks to the supportive friends, the car, the Chinese takeaway we had at the end of a long day, the people who grew the carrot Poppet just munched…

And thank you to you, for reading and for caring. Namo Amida Bu.

:: link