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 Triratna Leeds is a registered charity no. 1132691 October 2010
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BE PART OF THIS
NEWSLETTER
email a contribution or
send info about an event to
Room to Let
Leeds Buddhist Centre is available for hire for workshops, events and exhibitions. A light, spacious room in the heart of the city.
More details here
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GIVE as you SEARCH
Raise funds for the Triratna Buddhist Community (Leeds)
when you search the web
It costs you nothing, but raises funds for us with every search. You can even sign up to see how much you raise!
just follow this link
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| Useful Links | |
(Triratna Buddhist Community's video website)
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GIVE as you SEARCH
Raise funds for the Triratna Buddhist Community (Leeds)
when you search the web
It costs you nothing, but raises funds for us with every search. You can even sign up to see how much you raise!
just follow this link
Browse The Leeds Buddhist Centre
LIBRARY
Online
PLEASE SUPPORT
YOUR BUDDHIST CENTRE
with a monthly standing order
Download a standing order form here
Download a Gift Aid form here |
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| Sangha Snippets |
 In two weeks time Samanartha is running a non-residential weekend using the framework of Sangharakshita's system of meditation to deepen our own spiritual practice. This will be mainly through workshops and meditation but there will be some theory and discussion as well.
This retreat is open to those who have been meditating for a minimum of 6 months, have some familiarity with the mindfulness of breathing, metta and just sitting practices, and have a regular sitting practice at home.
This is a two-day event. Sorry, but attending only one of the days is not an option on this occasion.
Details: Saturday Oct 30th and Sunday Oct 31st
10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.
Suggested donation £60/£30 conc.
Please bring vegetarian lunch to share
Please sign up at the Centre to reserve a place
Floored in the kitchen
 If you've been to the Centre over the last few weeks you can't have failed to notice the fabulous new floor in the kitchen.
Thanks to Jeff, Ben and Samanartha for giving up their time to provide the rest of us with such a smart (and spill resistant) surface.
Help needed....
Jeff is organising a work party to complete the painting of the Centre - mostly windows and door frames - prior to draught proofing to keep out the winter cold.
If you can help please talk to Jeff or email:
Triratna Leeds
Library...
 now online
During the Summer months, Ann Croft has been putting in the hours at the Centre cataloging all the books in the library.
This means that you can now BROWSE our extensive book collection ONLINE! Simply follow this link:
You don't even need to log in!
You'll find all of our books listed here plus a facility to search by category, author or anything else. Many of the books show the cover art and lots of them include a synopsis of the contents.
Sangha members are free to borrow any of these books, however please remember to record the loan in the file on the shelves and to write the date of the return.
All book spines are colour coded so you can see exactly where they belong when you bring them back!
Lineham Farm Sangha Retreat
Only six weeks to go!
Jenny writes: These are a few of the pictures I took at the last Sangha Retreat at Lineham Farm in March this year (led by Samanartha and Rijumitra). It was my first retreat of any kind and turned out to be a wonderful way of getting to know other people as well as an opportunity to broaden my practice.
For me it is one of the high points of the year so far and I thoroughly recomend it to other, newer members of the sangha who have yet to enjoy this experience.
When Meditation Seems Impossible
 My partner goes for a run and comes back looking despondent. 'I struggled all the way round,' he says. 'It was as if I'd never run before.'
He has run several times a week for 3 years now. 'I know how you feel,' I say. I'm not thinking about running,  though, but meditation...
Read Mandy's latest wildmind blog here
Invitation
I am writing to invite you to 2 events; one is a practise day for people from different inner traditions and for people interested in the Zen Peacemaker approach.
The Zen Peacemaker day of reflection is on Sat 23 Oct at 47 Northfield Place, Robin Hood, Leeds LS26 0SL at 10am prompt till 4pm. The day will mainly be informal, with sitting periods and food. Formal elements will include a video on the Zen Peacemaker movement and the chance to participate in council circle which is a communal creation of sacred space with communication and sharing. Please bring veggie food and drink to share. The day is free.
A celebration day honouring and invoking the presence of Jalalludin Rumi, the great sufi poet. Rumi weekend starts the evening of Fri 17th December with evening salat (prayer), zhikir (sufi chanting), invocations of poems and continues at Northfield Place the next day with more of this plus a talk by myself on Rumi and Love. There may be a calligraphy workshop also. Sun 18th December sees the event continue in Manchester. The Zen Peacemaker Rumi events always manage to evoke the heart of things and love. Bring veggie food and drink to share. Cost free.
Much love
Shinchi Daishin Suleyman Salaam Hart
Full Moon Pujas are discontinued
The monthly pujas have been cancelled for the time being while the situation is reviewed.
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| Putting Down the Burden
Lineham Farm Sangha Retreat 26-28 Nov | |
The Buddha has compared Enlightenment to the experience of putting down a great burden.
On this weekend we will be looking at what this burden might consist of and exploring the three vimokshas or doorways to liberation.
Through meditation, discussion and ritual we'll look at how we might put our own burden down before walking through the door of liberation
Dates: From teatime on Friday 26th November to
mid-afternoon on Sunday 28th November
Venue: Lineham Farm, Eccup, near Leeds
Led by: Samanartha & Sahajasiddhi
Cost: £70/£35 concessions
To book a place:
(N.B. Places are limited to 30 so please put your name down early to avoid disappointment)
HELP! There's loads to organise on a sangha retreat, so we need help with various tasks - things like transporting the shrine, organising car share etc. There's a list on the Centre noticeboard, please take a look and, if you are coming, try and volunteer for one of them.
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| Light Night at Leeds Buddhist Centre | |
It was Emmy and David's idea to raise the Centre's profile by inviting members of the public to come along, have a cup of tea and coffee, some cake and - if it appealed - to try out a spot of meditation. They gathered a small team together back in September and then planned and executed this event as part of a city-wide Light Night extravaganza which took place on Friday October 8th.
Powerful spotlights were mounted at the sharp end of the shrine room, their beams sweeping across the river towards Briggate. Fine white linen was draped before the shrine partly obscuring the back-lit Buddha, creating an unworldy, mystical feel to the darkened room. Meanwhile, sangha members were out by the street door welcoming our guests.
...And so many guests! Lots people who had never visited before. Sangha members; friends; family; people who had meditated elsewhere, those who had never meditated; others who had lapsed with their practice; the curious; the interested; those who were looking for 'something'.
There were no less than five meditation sessions, most of them so well attended that extra mats and cushions needed to be laid out. There was tea and coffee, chocolate cake, buns and fruitcake.
The evening was described by more than one person as Warm, Welcoming and Relaxed. It certainly felt like that. judging by the comments from the guests - many of whom vowed to return.
We owe many thanks to everyone who was involved in the organisation: Emmy Twigge, David Turner, Gill Roughley, Kathryn Eaton, Sahajassidhi, Sarah Bronsden and all who helped on, and with, the evening.
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| Poetry Corner | |
Kindness
Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.
Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and
purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you every where
like a shadow or a friend.
Naomi Shihab Nye from The Words Under the Words: Selected Poems
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| Dharma |
A Slow, True Path Pamela White affirms the beliefs of a Buddhist.
 THIS I BELIEVE: That phenomena do not have any kind of demonstrable, intrinsic existence. That anything that is the composite sum of other parts is, logically, impermanent. That suffering is a given in any form of existence where confusion and ignorance are present. That when confusion and ignorance have been definitively eliminated, and goodness, caring, and wisdom have entirely taken their place, that is true happiness.
These four beliefs define me as a Buddhist and are the ground on which other beliefs are based. For example, I believe the teachings when they point to ego, to self-cherishing, to always being on the lookout for recognition, approval, comfort, and pleasure, as being so many hammers that fatally pound in the barbed nails of suffering. And I believed my teacher, the late great Tibetan master Gendun Rinpoche, when he answered my mother's question saying, "Yes, if you attain enlightenment you'll know it. How? Because suffering will have come to an end."
The Buddhist teachers and teachings I've been taken with have encouraged me to honestly investigate, question, and delve. And time after time, I've had to concur: Trying to build happiness on a foundation of ego is like trying to build a tower on quicksand. But letting go - oh, letting go - is the simplest, most direct path to what I'm always scrambling to achieve with the most ineffectual, hackneyed methods - like crowing about being right, or trying to get something for nothing, or choosing the shortest line, or getting the biggest peanut butter cookie. . .
What do I train in letting go of? Not enthusiasm, or humor, or creativity, or curiosity. I train in letting go of self-importance and its infinite ramifications. Not that it's easy. I am the most important thing in my universe - take me out of it, what's left?
I try to remember that every living being is also the center of its personal universe - from mite to mackerel to monkey. You are also the epicenter of your universe.
I try to take myself less seriously. I try to remember that every seed that is sown will sprout and ripen one day.
I try to imagine myself in the skin of others. And to love them for their qualities, and for the enlightened spark that underlies confusion. It's hard going, appreciating instead of judging, but every now and then it simply happens, and when it does, I'm happy.
Sometimes I train through meditation, learning over and over again that the fullness and goodness of the present can only be recognized when I'm ready to will my mind to let go of the past and the future.
And sometimes I train by remembering and accepting the inevitability of impermanence and death, making the wonder of the present moment even more luminous.
I try to remember how lucky I am, and to be helpful, and to expect less. I try to understand the teachings of the Buddha, of enlightenment, and to put my understanding into practice.
It's a slow path, rarely an easy path, but it is a true path.
From "A Slow, True Path to Goodness," © 2008 by Pamela White.
Published online 11/08/2010 Reprinted with permission
Tricycle, The Buddhist Review www.tricycle.com
Pamela Gayle White is a Dharma teacher in the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. A practitioner since the mid 1980s, Pamela spent six years in retreat in France under the guidance of the late Tibetan meditation master Gendun Rinpoché. She teaches Buddhism in Europe and the US and is a French-English-Tibetan translator and interpreter. She is also a regular contributor to Tricycle, the Buddhist Review.
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| Quote of the Month |
 Nature has so constituted men that, though all things are objects of desire,
not all things are attainable;
so that desire always exceeds the power of attainment,
with the result that men are ill-content with what they possess
and their present state brings them little satisfaction.
From The Prince by Nicolò Machiavelli (1469 - 1527)
Have you got a favourite quotation?
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| Regular Weekly Events at Leeds Buddhist Centre | |
Every Tuesday: Practice Evening - Unled 'sesshin' meditation from 6.30pm (prompt) until 7.15pm and again from 7.30pm to 8.10pm (with 15 mins silent break in between). One or both sessions may be attended but please do not ring the bell during meditation. Suggested Donation £4/£2 (unwaged)
Wednesdays (Monthly): Young(er) People's Evening - Held once each month, 6.30pm to 9.00pm. Suggested Donation £6/£3 (unwaged)
Every Thursday: Friends' Night Regular Practice Evening. Friends nights are our main Sangha night and in many ways the heart of practice at Leeds Buddhist Centre. It is a drop-in session exploring different themes around meditation and Buddhism. The evenings are based in part on the Free Buddhist Audio Foundation Course (Details Here) From 7.00pm until 9.30pm. (Meditation begins at 7.10pm prompt) Suggested Donation £6/£3 (unwaged)
Every Sunday Morning: Sesshin (meditation practice) for people with some experience of meditation who are happy to meditate without guidance or instruction. Three 30 minute unled sits, with breaks between sits. First sit: 10:00am to 10:30am, Second sit: 10:45am to 11:15am, Third sit: 11:30am to 12:00 noon. You may attend one or more but please do not ring the bell during meditation. Suggested Donation £4/£2 (unwaged)
Sunday Afternoons (Monthly): Men's Study Afternoon. Held on one Sunday each month from 1.00pm to 3.00pm. An afternoon of Buddhist study Each month a text or subject is selected for discussion. To receive notification of future monthly study afternoons for men at Leeds Buddhist Centre, please email gfrstudy@hotmail.co.uk Suggested donation £6/£3
***Please remember to leave your dana in the bowl***
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| Forthcoming Events | | Leeds Events
Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th October - Breathing into Awareness Weekend Course - Also covers Sitting Meditation and an Introduction to Buddhism £60/£30 concs
Saturday 23rd October - Day retreat for the Breathing into Awareness Course. All welcome. You don't have to be on the course to attend the day retreat. 10.00 to 4.00pm
Monday 25th October - Opening to Kindly Awareness Meditation Course. 7.00pm to 9.15pm for 4 weeks, followed by a day retreat on Saturday 20th November 10.00 - 4pm. An introduction to the Metta Bhavana, a practice which allows us to cultivate emotional warmth, kindness and friendliness towards ourselves and others. Cost: £50/£25 concs, including the day retreat. More details here.
NEW! Saturday October 30th and Sunday October 31st - Entering the Crucible - a non residential weekend with Samanartha, using the framework of Sangharakshita's system of meditation to deepen our own spiritual practice. We will be exploring this mainly experientially through workshops and meditation but there will be some theory and discussion. There is a requirement that you have been meditating for at least six months, have some familiarity with the mindfulness of breathing, metta and just sitting practices and have a regular sitting practice at home. This is a two-day event, so attending for just one of the days is not an option on this occasion. 10.00 a.m. - 4.30 p.m each day. Suggested donation £60/30. Please bring vegetarian lunch to share.
Friday 19th November - Full Moon Puja. 7.00pm for 7.10 start. A short period of meditation followed by a silent tea break then a sevenfold puja. Bring offerings for the shrine if you wish. Suggested donation £6/£3
Saturday 20th November - Day retreat for the Opening to Kindly Awareness Course. All welcome. You don't have to be on the course to attend the day retreat. 10.00 to 4.00pm
Sunday 21st November - Sangha Day. Details tbc
Monday 22nd November - Introduction to Buddhism. 7.00pm to 9.15pm for 4 weeks. This course introduces some of the basic principles of Buddhism and the Buddha's threefold path of ethics, meditation and wisdom. Drawing on traditional sources and on our own everyday experience the module aims to explore the teachings and their relevance to our lives today. Cost: £35/£18 concs. More details here.
Friday 26th to Sun 28th November - Sangha Retreat at Lineham Farm. A lovely, sociable and friendly weekend of Sangha and Dharma in beautiful surroundings near Eccup, Leeds (details above)
Saturday 11th December and Sunday 12th December - Weekend Day Retreat - led by Paramananda. Details tbc.
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