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Sangha is about keeping in touch with our friends, supporting each other's practice and generally rejoicing in our spiritual community. There are many ways to do this - at Friend's Night, helping out at the Centre, meeting up in the outside world, going on retreat together...

Another, newer way, is online. We now have a Facebook group with over 100 members. It's a great place:

• to post useful links about Buddhism
• or upload your own images of events etc
• to start a discussion
• ask advice about your practice
• pass on news 
• publish poems
• find out about and get involved in, forthcoming events

If you are already a member of our Facebook group, then let's hear from you online

If you are not a member then why not join us now?

 

 P.S. We're also on twitter 

Neues Buddhistisches Tor, Berlin (that's New Buddhist Centre, Berlin)

Celebration to mark Berlin's brand new Buddhist Centre 

A report on the opening ceremony from http://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.com

In beautiful late summer sunshine, we held a very successful opening of our new Buddhist Centre - known as 'Buddhistisches Tor Berlin', the Berlin Buddhist Centre - which we celebrated with more than 500 guests from many countries. There were representatives of other Buddhist groups, local neighbors and many other interested visitors.

The festivities began in the morning with a talk by Sona on the question "Why a new Buddhist Centre in Berlin-Kreuzberg?". Amogharatna, our chairman, described the search for a new centre and the path that eventually led to the 'Buddhistisches Tor Berlin'. During his speech, he read a greeting from Bhante Sangharakshita, who had sent it from England. There was also an atmospheric consecration ceremony, including the Sakyamuni mantra and offerings to the new shrine.

The time and energy that we invested in preparing for this special day was worth it a hundred times over! We want to express a big Thank You to everyone who participated in this wonderful celebration, especially to all of the volunteers who contributed to its great success.

Now we look forward to the beginning of November, when the centre's construction will be completed and we can fill the building with life.

 A New Home for the Triratna Community

The Sangharakshita Land Project

On Wednesday afternoon, 7th October 2009, Subhuti, Dhammarati, Vajragupta and Karunika met with Bhante to discuss where best to house the Sangharakshita Library & Study Centre (SLSC) in the future. In time Bhante envisaged that in addition to the Library and Study Centre, the land would also house the Order Office, Men's and Women's communities and play host to sizeable Sangha events such as the Order Convention, National Order Weekends, possibly Triratna Community/Order days and the like.

Since then the search has been on for land and property but for one reason or another nothing suitable was found for many years. However, this year, this month the search concluded successfully with the purchase of Coddington Court School, Ledbury, Herefordshire, a large property on the edge of the Malvern Hills. 

Mokshapriya writes: Known as Coddington Court, it sits on the edge of the Malvern Hills, just outside the tiny village of Coddington in Herefordshire, West England, not far from the Welsh border. The nearest train station is Colwall which lies 3.2 miles away. The drive south from Madhyamaloka takes about 75 minutes. The Malvern Hills are designated an 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty' and the attractive spa town of Great Malvern is just a ten-minute drive away. 

Coddington Court as shown in an old property brochure

Some work is needed

The site now consists of six substantial buildings set within 15.5 acres. We have to begin with a lot less land than we hoped but in years to come there is the potential to buy surrounding fields and woodland. Positively, we have around 40,000 square feet of buildings to use which considerably exceeds our short term expectations. We have also bought the adjoining farmyard which lies immediately to the north. This will hopefully provide the footprint for a large shrine hall but that will have to wait for a few years. It's a working farmyard and will continue to be used by the farmer for a couple more years. The full address is Coddington Court School, Ledbury, Herefordshire HR8 1JL - you can see the property on Google Maps. There's also a link to an old property brochure here. 

Happily the buildings will not need years of work to get them serviceable but it will take a few weeks to get a clearer sense of exactly how long we need before Bhante and the communities can move in.

The Buddha-rupas are ready to move in

 

Thanks to TheBuddhistCentre news for most of this item. You can read the full account of the four-year search on the Sangharakshita Land Project blog. 

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The ideals at the heart of Buddhism are collectively known as the 'Three Jewels', or the 'Three Treasures'. These are the Buddha (the yellow jewel), the Dharma (the blue jewel), and the Sangha (the red jewel). It is by making these the central principles of your life that you become a Buddhist.

The Buddha refers both to the historical Buddha and to the ideal of Buddhahood itself. The whole Buddhist tradition derives from the historical Buddha and all schools regard him as their root founder, guide and inspiration. Going for Refuge to the Buddha means seeing him as your ultimate teacher and spiritual example. It also means committing yourself to achieving Buddhahood - Enlightenment for the sake of all beings - which means that you aim to become someone who sees the nature of reality absolutely clearly, just as it is, and lives fully and naturally in accordance with that vision. This is the goal of the Buddhist spiritual life, representing the end of suffering for anyone who attains it.

The Dharma

The Dharma primarily means the teachings of the Buddha, or the truth he understood. The word 'Dharma' has many meanings but most importantly it means the unmediated Truth (as experienced by the Enlightened mind). As a term it also encompasses Buddhist teachings as that same Truth mediated by language and concepts. In this second sense, Dharma is the teaching that was born when the Buddha first put his realisation into words and communicated it to others at Sarnath in Northern India. The occasion is traditionally referred to as 'the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma', and the eight-spoked Dharma wheel is a common emblem of Buddhism. 

The Sangha

All of us need other people to learn from. If we are to practise the Dharma we need the example and teaching of others who have done so before us, especially those who have gained insight into the nature of reality themselves. So the third of the Three Jewels is the Sangha or the spiritual community.

More broadly 'sangha' also refers to the people with whom we share our spiritual lives. We need the guidance of personal teachers who are further along the path than we are, and the support and friendship of other practitioners. This is very important because Buddhism is not an abstract philosophy or creed; it is a way of approaching life and therefore it only has any meaning when it is embodied in people. And in the broadest sense the Sangha means all of the Buddhists in the world, and all those of the past and of the future. 

Read the full article on TheBuddhistCentre.com

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Weekly Programme at Leeds Buddhist Centre

Diary of Events

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