Sometime during the next week or so we'll be taking delivery of a quantity of super-comfortable meditation cushions which have been hand-made by Dalit women in the slums of Nagpur.

They come to us via the efforts of the Mitras at Triratna Croydon Buddhist Centre who import them and pay extra to support the women and their community.

The Spring Weekend Retreat 

at Lineham Farm from 6.00pm on Friday 18th March

to 3.00pm on Sunday 20th March 2011

The first of our two weekend retreats this year will be led by Uddyotani and the theme will be 'Finding Balance - Exploring the Buddha's Middle Way'. 

Balance can mean many things - a state of stillness and stability, or a creative tension between two parts of our life. We will look at how we can find a sense of balance in meditation practice and in our wider lives. 

Uddyotani says "What I'd like us to explore is how we can learn to have confidence in our own intuitive sense of balance, and also a playful approach to finding this. We can worry so much about doing things right or wrong that it inhibits us and stops us finding out for ourselves. Perhaps practice is like riding a bike or balancing on a log - it's alright to learn by falling off a few times and getting back on!"

On Retreat at Vajraloka

Managing the Buddhist Centre charity 

Recently there have been requests for more information on how the Centre - and the charity that supports it - is run. Below, Colin Mawhinney, explains some of the important requirements of running a Charitable Company and how the Leeds Buddhist Centre in particular is managed.

 All organisations including charities like our own need some sort of management to run them. In fact charities, in particular, are covered by all sorts of laws and regulations to ensure they are run well and use their funds to achieve the aims they were established for. 

 The Leeds Triratna Buddhist Centre is no different to this. 

Earlier this year we decided to become a Charitable Company (rather than a charitable trust, which was what we were before). This means that we are still a charity run on a not-for-profit basis but there are changesin the way the Centre is managed. Instead of having trustees with unlimited and direct responsibility for any losses in the event of the charity being wound up, a Charitable Company has directors who also have responsibilities to run the charity well but who are slightly more protected in the event that things go wrong. Being a Charitable Company makes it easier for volunteers to take on the responsibility of managing their charity.

 It doesn't make running the charity any less work however! In the Leeds Triratna Community our managing team is called 'a Council' and is entirely composed of volunteers giving their time to ensure the Centre continues to function as a resource for meditation, teaching and the promotion of the Dharma. This includes making sure the funds are there to cover all our costs as well. 

We've only a small team to do all of this, including  Samanartha, Dayaka, Sarah Bedworth, Ben Niblock, Debbie Purdon and myself at present but with advice and help from Uddjotanni, Jenny Roberts and David Turner. We meet every month to cover all the management issues but in particular we spend most time looking at how we can bridge the gap between what we make in income and what the centre actually costs to run. 

We've developed a business plan to help guide us along the way and this includes broad targets for income to be achieved from standing orders, classes and renting space. 

You may already be aware of our Superfriends Appeal which is making good progress in increasing the level of support from standing order agreements. We also have special events such as the recent meditation weekend run by Paramananda which also help bring in much needed income. 

However more work is needed to really get the centre into a healthy financial position and we need to encourage as many people as possible to become involved. So if you would like to help keep the centre going on a sustainable basis and have time to spare please contact any member of the Council to see where your help can be best applied. This could be fun as well as a challenge for you and will be of great service to the Sangha.

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Buddhist Humour by P.B.Law

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Doing Solitary near Scarborough

Jenny Roberts writes: This was my first week-long solitary retreat. I did three days last June when I went quite easy on myself - reading Dharma books, doing regular meditation, lots of chanting and pujas to fill the space.

This time it was different. I was on my own in a small cottage in the countryside near Scarborough for a week. I wanted to see how I would cope without any daily structure and without many diversions. So there were no books, no tv, no music, no phone, no computer, no conversation and only a little formal meditation and one two-hour walk in the country each day. Otherwise it was just cooking, eating, sleeping and sitting. Just trying to be present as much as possible and failing much of the time. Trying not to look at the clock every thirty seconds. 

The point for me was to experience myself  without all the distractions that usually surround me. But inevitably, for someone who likes to be busy, it was uncomfortable. Every day (especially the dark evenings) seemed to stretch into eternity. Being parted from the 'stuff' in my life was painful. What was really interesting was how hard it was just to relax and do nothing. There was no personal crisis. I didn't feel even slightly depressed at any point. It was just very hard doing nothing and staying present. It was like my mind was on elastic. I kept having to pull it back to the moment, back to the point of being there. Just like meditation really, only harder and longer.

Time has its own pace

Moment by moment,

Second crawling upon second,

Never hurrying,

Content in its idleness.

I, on the other hand,

Am lost in my fantasy, 

impatient through the hours

forever scurrying

away from Reality

 My ego just wanted to go off and do things - anything! I think I read every biscuit wrapper and tin in the place half a dozen times and I lost count of the number of cups of tea and coffee I drank! And yet, presumably, it was the same ego that made me keep to this self-imposed regime (nobody was telling me to do it - I could have given up at any time.) 

Save me!'

The prisoner cries.

'Don't lock me away in the slow, painful passage of time,

Let me dwell 

In my own delusions,

Safe from the world and its pain.'

As the week went on it did get easier. I'm not someone who is forever jotting down poetry but by the fourth day it felt like my mind had been freed and I began to make occasional notes about the way it felt, which amazingly seemed almost poetic. At the same time my one daily meditation session got deeper and then my emotions kicked in strongly during a chanting of the Sakyamuni mantra. There was - very suddenly and unexpectedly - a sense of deep compassion with a feeling of deep devotion to the Buddha and his teaching which arose each time I chanted on the final days.

I was still climbing the wall with all the sitting around, but by the end there seemed to be a real point to it all and I have no doubt that it has moved my practice on. I shall be doing it again next year!

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This Month's Recipe

Trying to go more vegan but love your eggs? Ann Croft had the same problem until she discovered the joys of scrambled tofu which, she says, is indistinguishable from the real thing!

Scrambled Tofu and Mushrooms

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

225g / ½ lb / 4 cups chopped mushrooms

3 tbsp vegetable oil

455g / 1 lb / 2 cups tofu - fresh if available

a 'shake' of turmeric (not too much!)

a small squeeze ready-made English mustard

a 'shake' of garlic / onion salt

Freshly ground pepper

4 spring onions (Instead I add fake 'bacon' bits with the mushrooms for breakfast!)

Method 

1) Sauté the mushrooms in the oil until tender and drain.

2) Mash the tofu in a bowl. Add the turmeric, mustard, garlic salt and pepper and mix well.

3) Add the tofu mixture to the mushrooms and stir over a medium heat until well heated. 

4) Chop the spring onions finely.

5) Stir the spring onions into the tofu and serve everything piping hot.

NOTE: I use quite a bit less of the turmeric, onion salt and mustard than the original recipe. This way it makes a really good scrambled egg substitute - and this is from an egg addict!

Have you got a favourite Veggie or Vegan recipe you'd like to share? 

Please send it to jenny@jennyroberts.net

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