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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.
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"Triratna is not a service provided by some for others. Triratna is the joint creation of all those who come together in harmony... and co-operate to create the conditions for practising meditation, spiritual friendship etc."
Ratnaghosha - Read more here
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A weekend in the country...
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Now Booking...
The Spring Sangha Retreat
at Lineham Farm,
Eccup, near Leeds
From 6pm on Friday 30th March
to 3.00pm on Sunday 1st April
This is a very sociable and enjoyable weekend retreat in a lovely setting on the outskirts of North Leeds, and involves meditation, beautiful ritual and lively discussions plus great food, good company and a chance to relax in the beautiful surroundings of Lineham Farm.
TO BOOK YOUR PLACE...
Full details about the weekend will be available soon but in the meantime you can secure your place by emailing enquiries@leedsbuddhistcentre.org or by adding your name to the list on the Centre Notice Board
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NOTICES
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Tejananda Weekend
Saturday & Sunday 3rd & 4th March
10.00am to 4.00pm
Sorry this retreat is now fully booked
however you can still add your name to the reserve list by emailing the Centre
Sunday Morning Meditation
Please Note that there will be
No Sunday Morning Meditation
on 4th March or 11th March as there will be day retreats beingt held on those dates
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Follow Triratna Leeds on twitter!
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Join us on our new Twitter Feed and get up-to-the-minute information: snippets of breaking news, reminders about events, details of any changes to programmes and more.
And while we're thinking about it, please join us on Facebook as well...
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Puja on Friday 2nd March
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Kathy and Debbie will be holding a puja on Friday 2nd March from 7.00pm at the Buddhist Centre
Everyone is welcome. If you have never experienced a puja before this might be the perfect time to give it a go!
Puja is a form of beautiful, rather poetic ritual which is intended to appeal to the emotional (rather than the rational) side of our spiritual nature. The best way to find out what it is (and whether it appeals to you), is to come along and experience it for yourself on Friday 2nd March at 7.00 pm
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Triratna International Retreat
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This is a quick reminder about the Triratna International Retreat which runs from 1st to 5th June at Taraloka Retreat Centre and is open to anyone from Leeds, (with any level of experience) who wishes to join us there.
This is the biggest Triratna Community gathering of the year (outside India), with the potential to inspire and unify all those who take part. It's a great opportunity to meet people in the the wider movement - from the UK and the rest of the world - and to enjoy lots of events, including talks, meditation, chanting, storytelling and puja.
It's a family-friendly event as well so you can bring the kids along. There are facilities and activities for both children and teenagers.
There's also a sheet on the notice board where you can offer or request lifts.
For more details and to book a place, please go to:
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Mitra Ceremony
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Please make a note in your diary to come to the Centre, if you can, on Thursday April 12th at 7.00pm to wish Billy Frugal well as he celebrates his Mitra Ceremony. More details to follow.
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Jumble Sale - Your help is still needed
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Leeds Buddhist Centre
JUMBLE SALE
Chapel Allerton, Leeds
Saturday March 10th
8.00 am Set-up
11.00am opening
1.00pm clear-away
WE (STILL) NEED YOUR JUMBLE!
The jumble is coming in well but we still need more. The more we have, the more money we raise! Please drop your unwanted items in at the centre (clearly labelled 'jumble') or bring on the day. We need: bric-a-brac, books, cd's, vinyl records, computer games, children's books, children's toys, push chairs etc, comics, small (working) electrical appliances, musical instruments, push chairs, bicycles, musical instruments, laptops, small items of furniture etc, etc... and of course clothes, coats and shoes (especially children's). Also cakes buns, biscuits and other items for our tea stall.
 We NeedYOU
on our Team
We need to distribute leaflets door-to-door in the Chapel Allerton area on Thurs 8th
Can you Help?
We need 20 helpers for the Jumble Sale itself (from as near to 8am as poss please)
So far we have 8 people - Can you Help?
Please be generous and give us your support. We're aiming to raise over £1000! to help keep our lovely Buddhist Centre thriving, and able to offer the Dharma to all. We can only do this with everyone's generous support
Please email jenny@jennyroberts.net to offer help or add your name to the list on the notice board.
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Getting to know you...
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A new series exploring the background and personalities of different Sangha members. This week: Billy Frugal answers questions put to him by Kim Birch
Who or what was the biggest influence in your life?
The biggest influence in my early life was my mother - particularly in matters of truthfulness, at first because I could see the sense in what she was saying, and later because I could see the ways in which she lied
to herself - this was a magnificent lesson.
Name a favourite Dharma book
I'd recommend Sangharakshita's "A Survey Of Buddhism". I haven't finished it yet - I'm a bit over half way through, but it is wonderfully surprising, moving from hard opinion to poetic prose in a way that wakes you up. And it shows how lucky we are to have our community, and how much we have to thank the man who started it.
Assuming rebirth is possible - in what form would you like to be re-born?
I'd like to be re-born as a female African Elephant please, assuming that all the people have died out by then of course (not that I'd rather be a person - it's just that people probably make elephant's lives more difficult)
What personal qualities do you most admire in other people?
I admire the human quality of honesty - I know how difficult it can be
to really get to it!
What do you like about the Triratna Community?
The Triratna Community seems so full of loveliness that it's hard to
pick one thing. I suppose I'd pick the moments it can generate when I am
me, at home in a Puja, or a meditation, and not wanting to be anywhere
else, and knowing that this is exactly where I need to be.
Can you think of any improvements?
I'm not sure that it would be an improvement, but I'd like to have
ethics reviews!
How would you sum up the Dharma?
Love is the whole of the law.
What would you see yourself doing in ten years time?
In ten years time I want to be right here, doing what I'm doing in
whatever capacity suits me and the community.
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My Experience of Pure Land Buddhism
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The essential practice in Pure Land Buddhism is the chanting of the name of Amitabha (or Amida) Buddha with total concentration, trusting that one will be reborn in the Pure Land, a place where it is much easier for a being to work towards enlightenment.
 Kim Birch writes: I came across Pure Land Buddhism about 8 years ago, when I was invited to Amida France by Dharmavidya (David Brazier), its founder and teacher, to do some landscaping work.
We would chant ' Namo Amida Buddha' in the barn shrine room 3 times a day. I was a bit reticent and self- conscious at first, and it seemed a bit too devotional for me at the time. I used to think who IS this Amida Buddha, and how can he help me towards Awakening? At that time I believed that I had to make the effort all on my own, or perhaps it was just vanity. Gradually though, I absorbed the Pure Land approach, with help from Dharmavidya's very clear and down to Earth teachings, and now it makes complete sense.
'Other - Power' was having its effect on me, and after several days chanting I was having quite strong insights. I think the depth of the response to the practice depended on how much I was willing to let go and trust in Buddha Nature, our essential nature. Sometimes I had a feeling of being unconditionally loved. At other times that life was a precious gift. It varied. Quite often I would experience a whole range of emotions, particularly after marathon chanting sessions, which we did occasionally.
I am still amazed at the power of the practice. It is so simple , yet deeply beautiful and profound.It doesn't make 'rational' sense in some ways, but is all the better for that, in my view. If Awakening made sense in the normal way, there would be a lot more enlightened people around!
It also makes me realise how much of ego is down to lack of faith in life, which struck a chord with me. When I went back-packing for 12 months in my twenties, I was much more open and adventurous, and had some strong spiritual experiences. Looking back, I think these happened because I lived much more in the moment, and had a lot of trust that whatever happened was OK. I only wish I knew something about Buddhism then.
I think it is easy to take for granted all the 'blessings' we are continually receiving from life, and massively over-estimate our own self-power. That 'self' is a fiction anyway, according to the teachings, so it doesn't make sense to me that it can somehow gain Awakening. Whatever glimpses I have had have always come from the 'outside' so to speak, often when I've least been expecting anything.
The founders of the Pure Land school in Japan were monks who spent many years meditating in monasteries, and according to them, getting nowhere. But there has always been a Pure Land approach in most forms of Buddhism. Sangharakshita gave me his blessing to introduce the practice here in Leeds, which shows that he sees much value in the tradition. I've done some tasters, which seemed to go down pretty well, but it does need to be practised regularly I have found. If there is enough demand for it I would be happy do some more.
If you happen to have total trust and confidence already, and feel fully loved and loving, then you wouldn't probably feel the need for this sort of practice.
Amida literally means 'without measure' and Amida Buddha is said to be the unlimited compassionate energy of all the Buddhas. I enjoy our existing pujas, but have found the Nembutsu (calling the name of the Buddha) to be much more concentrated and powerful. By sincere and regular practice I have found that one can open a window to this energy, and I can't think of a more direct way of Going For Refuge. In 3 Mahayana Sutras, Shakyamuni Buddha talks about Amida's vows to save all living beings, and I personally need all the help I can get.
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Buddhafield North
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Dayaka writes to remind us of the next three Buddhafield North camping retreats:
 Camping Weekend for Men
18th to 20th May
Enlightened Courage
Led by Arthaketu
Exploring aspects from the seven-point mind training,
Suitable for those with some meditation experience
£80 (waged) £65 (low wage)
£50 (unwaged)
Camping Weekend for Women
25th to 27th May
Bodies of Earth
Led by Padmadarshini, Vidyabhadri and Taravandana
Through an intimate mindfulness of our own body and our wider body, the Earth, we can realise the Buddhist insight of impermanence more deeply.
Suitable for those with some meditation experience.
£80 (waged) £65 (low wage)
£50 (unwaged)
 Buddhafield North Open Retreat
26th to 31st August
My Religion is Kindness
How would it be to place kindness at the heart of our lives, for it to be part of everything we do? What can we do to make this happen? On this camping retreat we'll be living as a community for a week with our usual mixture of meditation, talks, ritual, kids' activities, bushcraft, yoga and more
£160 (waged) £130 (low wage) £100 (unwaged)
Children £80/£65/£50
The weekends are suitable for those with meditation experience and the open retreat is, well, open to anybody who wants to be on a Triratna retreat, including friends, family and general hangers on. The retreats are very local to you, they are held on a beautiful farm on Addingham Moorside, just outside Ilkley. All you have to provide is your own camping equipment. The BFN team is very keen to build up the team so if you are interested in helping set up and take down we can offer a discounted rate.
For further information see the website www.buddhafieldnorth.org.uk or contact Dayaka: dharmachari.dayaka@gmail.com or 01924 270365
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Music and Mantras
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New Book
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 Meditating with Character
by Kamalamani
Published by O Books
ISBN-13: 978-1846945069
 Kamalamani is an Order Member living and working in Bristol and this is her first book. 'Meditating with Character', she says, is aimed at beginner/intermediate meditators and those particularly interested in embodiment. It explores how we can engage more fully with our meditation practice through deepening our body awareness and ease in being a body-mind. It brings together Buddhism, meditation and a body of knowledge called 'character positions' in exploring our body 'armoring' and how we can explore that experientially in meditation and reflection.
This is an extract from the foreword by Nick Totton
Author of Body Psychotherapy: An Introduction.
What most fascinates me about character is its constantly paradoxical nature. Character is both a way of evading and engaging with the world; it is how we express ourselves, and how we protect ourselves from being seen. Our character structure offers us a key to the meaning of life - and also encourages us to try the same old key on every door we encounter. It both wards off embodiment and enables us to be embodied beings...
Character theory points out that what causes us suffering is not so much what we feel, but how we feel about it; not so much what we do, but how we do it. As Kamalamani paraphrases her teacher Sangharakshita "There is nothing wrong with our experience; it is our interpretation of our experience which is the problem."
...As Kamalamani so clearly describes meditation is a brilliant way to engage with this process. Just as with other aspects of life, we meditate in character: it brings us deeply into contact with our own deepest habits of being, our individual style of aversion, craving and delusion.
The book is available in both print and Kindle formats
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Weekly Programme at Leeds Buddhist Centre
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Monday teatime - Start the Week (drop-in meditation class) - Join us on any Monday at 5.15pm to explore meditation with support and guidance. Intended for thiose new to meditation but more experienced meditators also very welcome.
5.15pm to 6.15pm (doors open 5.00pm)
Suggested donation £4/£2
Wednesday Lunchtime - Mid-Week Breathing Space (drop-in meditation class)
Join us on any Wednesday lunchtime at 12.45 for a 'taster' of four different kinds of meditation practice (one each week and repeating). You can join on any Wednesday, each is taught independently of the others.
Relaxing body scan * Working with the breath * Developing kindness to yourself and others * Walking meditation
12.45 to 1.30 (doors open from 12.30pm)
Suggested donation £3/£2
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. From 7.00pm until 9.30pm. (Meditation begins at 7.10pm prompt)
Suggested Donation £6/£3 (unwaged)
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)
***The Leeds Buddhist Centre relies on your generosity to keep going - please donate what you can when you attend events ***
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Diary of Events
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Saturday 3rd March & Sunday 4th March - Absorption and Insight - A non residential weekend with Tejananda. Fully Booked
Saturday March 10th - Living with Awareness Day Retreat. Spend the day exploring the Mindfulness of Breathing. Open to sangha members and anyone who has attended the Opening to Kindly Awareness meditation course at some time. No need to book - just turn up on the day. 10.00am to 4.00pm. Pay what you deem appropriate.
Please bring vegetarian lunch to share.
Saturday March 10th 2012 - Triratna Jumble Sale at Chapel Allerton Methodist Centre, begins at 11am but help setting up needed please from 8.00am. Please contact Jenny at jenny@jennyroberts.net
Tuesday 13th March - An Introduction to Buddhism - 7.00pm to 9.15.00pm 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 course aims to bring the Dharma alive in our daily life. Cost for the course: £35/£18 concs. More details here
Friday 30th to Sunday 1st April - Lineham Farm Sangha Retreat - Details to be announced soon
Tuesday 17th April - Living with Awareness Meditation Course - 7.00 - 9.15pm for 4 weeks, followed by a day retreat on Saturday 12th May 10.00 - 4.00pm.
In this course we explore a practice called the Mindfulness of Breathing, a simple and direct way of developing awareness and calm. By coming back to the sensations of the breath we are able to cultivate calm, clarity, and a relaxed concentration and presence. The course includes Just Sitting meditation, an unstructured practice which complements formal meditation.
Cost:£50/£25 concs, including the day retreat
Saturday 12th May - Living with Awareness Day Retreat. Spend the day exploring the Mindfulness of Breathing. Open to sangha members and anyone who has attended the Living with Awareness meditation course at some time. No need to book - just turn up on the day. 10.00am to 4.00pm. Pay what you deem appropriate.
Please bring vegetarian lunch to share.
Tuesday 15th May - Living with Kindness Meditation Course - 7.00- 9.15pm for 4 weeks, followed by a day retreat on Saturday 9th June 10.00 - 4.00pm
In this course, we explore the Metta Bhavana, a practice which allows us to cultivate emotional warmth, kindness and friendliness towards ourselves and others. This enhances awareness of our responses to others and allows us to interact in an increasingly positive way with the world around us. The course includes Just Sitting meditation, an unstructured practice which complements formal meditation.
Cost: £50/£25 concs, including the day retreat
Friday 18th to Sunday 20th May - Buddhafield North Men's Weekend - Enlightened Courage - Led by Arthaketu. Exploring aspects from the seven-point mind training,
Suitable for those with some meditation experience.£80 (waged) £65 (low wage)
£50 (unwaged). For details go to: www.buddhafieldnorth.org.uk or contact Dayaka: dharmachari.dayaka@gmail.com or ring 01924 270365
Friday 25th to Sunday 27th May - Buddhafield North Women's Weekend - Bodies of Earth - led by Padmadarshini, Vidyabhadri and Taravandana. Through an intimate mindfulness of our own body and our wider body, the Earth, we can realise the Buddhist insight of impermanence more deeply. Suitable for those with some meditation experience. For details go to: www.buddhafieldnorth.org.uk or contact Dayaka: dharmachari.dayaka@gmail.com or ring 01924 270365
26th to 31st August - Buddhafield North Open Retreat - My Religion is Kindness
How would it be to place kindness at the heart of our lives, for it to be part of everything we do? What can we do to make this happen? On this camping retreat we'll be living as a community for a week with our usual mixture of meditation, talks, ritual, kids' activities, bushcraft, yoga and more
For details go to: www.buddhafieldnorth.org.uk or contact Dayaka: dharmachari.dayaka@gmail.com or ring 01924 270365
Friday 1st to Tuesday 5th June 2012 - The International Sangha Retreat at Taraloka - see article above for details
Saturday 9th June - Living with Kindness Day Retreat - Spend the day exploring the Metta Bhavana. Open to sangha members and anyone who has attended the Living with Kindness meditation course at some time. No need to book - just turn up on the day. 10.00am to 4.00pm. Pay what you deem appropriate.
Please bring vegetarian lunch to share.
Saturday 26th to Friday 31st August 2012 - Buddhafield North Open Retreat
Saturday 15th September - Teens Retreat Day - Details to follow
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Please note that the views expressed in this newsletter are the opinions of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Leeds Buddhist Centre, theTriratna Buddhist Community (Leeds) or The Triratna Buddhist Order
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