Sangha News

Two New Mitras

Sadhu to David and Louise who had their mitra ceremony at the Centre on Thursday 20th March. Becoming a mitra ('friend') in the Triratna Buddhist Community is a public declaration that one believes themselves to be a Buddhist, agrees to observing the five ethical precepts as best as they can, and commits to continuing to practice the Buddha's teachings within the Triratna context. The ceremony was a joyous occasion in which the community thoroughly rejoiced in David and Louise's merits and showered them with cards and gifts of different kinds.   

An ever-widening circle, the sangha grows - SADHU!

PS - You will be able to read more about becoming a mitra in next month's newsletter when there'll be special features on why people become mitras and how it feels to take part in the ceremony.

Jumble Sale with Style raises £500

The annual jumble sale to raise money for Leeds Buddhist Centre was held on Saturday 15th March at Chapel Allerton Methodist Hall. The stock was all generously donated, while numerous people gave up their time to pre-sort the jumble, deliver leaflets in the local area, and 'man' the stalls on the day. It was a Herculean effort by all involved but the real hero was David Turner, who organised the whole event from start to finish.

After totting up the cash register and deducting the costs, David estimates that the jumble sale raised approximately £500.

Thanks to all who donated jumble and gave up their time to help out with the event. 

Lift Off!

The new Leeds Buddhist Centre website has now been launched and looks fantastic. Thanks to Ben Niblock for the idea and design for the new site, and to Samudradaka of circularcube.co.uk for putting it all together. It's been a big project and it's great to see it completed.

Log on to  leedsbuddhistcentre.org and have a look for yourself.

Another Rocket Launches...

The new Dharma Dudes study group for men - meeting every other month - blasted off into the Void on 16th March with Billy leading a session on the Heart Sutra. The discussion was lively and insightful. The group next meets in May, keep an eye out for emails and posters advertising the specific date. All men are welcome, whatever level of experience.

And Another One!

The team responsible for organising events for young people (generously defined as anyone in their teens, 20s or 30s) has recently expanded and now consists of Matt, Laura and David. We're aiming to organise monthly events - the most recent was an outing to Yorkshire Sculpture Park - and any young folk out there who are interested can email their contact details to mattmccarthy5@gmail.com,  laura_j_harrison@hotmail.com or macdougall.david@gmail.com and we'll be in touch about forthcoming events. Alternatively, keep an eye on the notice board at the Centre for snazzy posters and grand plans!

Sangha Weekend Retreat

Matt reports on the recent sangha weekend retreat...

In vol.3 of his memoirs (In the Sign of the Golden Wheel), Sangharakshita suggests that "people taking up the spiritual life tend to fall into one or other of two categories. There are those who are drawn to the Unconditioned because they are disgusted with the conditioned, and there are those who lose interest in the conditioned because they are enamoured of the Unconditioned. The former, one might say, are pushed from behind by the sheer painfulness of mundane existence, whereas the latter are pulled from in front by the sheer beauty and attractiveness of the transcendental".

If this is true, then the theme of the sangha weekend retreat to Lineham Farm on 21-23 March - focussing on the life of Milarepa - might just have resonated with everyone. The Tibetan yogin's life, the story of which was told by Uddyotani over the course of the weekend retreat, definitely divides into two parts - the first exemplifying the suffering of conditioned existence and the second reflecting the beauty of the transcendental.

In part one of this story we heard how Milarepa was born into a fairly affluent family. His father owned numerous properties and had accumulated many precious things. However, while Milarepa was still a boy his father died, entrusting the estate to his brother until Milarepa reached the age of 15 and would be allowed to inherit his father's wealth. But in the interim years, Milarepa's uncle mistreated the boy and his widowed mother and finally, when Milarepa turned 15, refused to return the property and valuables that were rightfully theirs. Milarepa's mother therefore instructed her son to leave the village and find a teacher of the dark arts, telling him to return only when he had developed powers strong enough to bring ruin on the uncle and restore 'justice'. Off Milarepa went into the wilderness. He soon returned a powerful sorcerer and conjured up a storm that wrought havoc on the village, killing his uncle and all those who had colluded with him to keep Milarepa and his mother in a state of poverty.  Only now did Milarepa begin to question his actions. Surveying the scene he was struck with remorse and fled in disgust. 

Part two of Milarepa's story saw him set out on a quest to undo his terrible deeds. He eventually came into contact with the Buddhist teacher Marpa, who was surprisingly renowned for his irascibility. Milarepa offered the teacher a vase filled with flour only to be told that the flour was not his to give and he should empty it immediately. Marpa's aim seems to have been to empty Milarepa in much the same way as the vase - chasing out all of his bad habits and delusions by whatever means necessary. In one episode, Marpa instructed his new disciple to build several houses in different locations, each of a different shape, only to then instruct him midway through each building project to dismantle the house as it was not to his liking.

Such teachings had the desired effect. Milarepa not only attained insight into the true nature of Reality but was overcome with joy, which he expressed in the form of poetry and songs.

"I bow to the feet of my holy master

It was by accumulated merit that I met with him.

And to this place indicated by my master, I have come.

A land of grassy slopes with flowers of many hues,

With glades where fair trees dance

And monkeys ply their sports,

Where resound the many songs of birds

And bees hover in their flight

Where day in and day out a rainbow quivers

Where summer and winter a sweet rain falls

And spring and autumn a thick mist clings.

It is in such a lonely place as this,

That I, the yogin Milarepa

Am joyous in the Clear Light of the realisation of the Void,

Joyous exceedingly at its many ways of appearance,

Joyous in its greatness of variety

Joyous with body free of harmful karma,

Joyous in confusion of diversity,

Joyous midst fearful appearances,

Joyous in my freedom from that state where distractions arise and pass away,

Joyous exceedingly when hardship is great,

Joyous in freedom from sickness,

Joyous that suffering has turned to be joy,

Joyous exceedingly in the mandala of spiritual power,

Joyous in the dance of bringing offerings,

Joyous in the treasure of triumphant songs now uttered,

Joyous exceedingly in the sounds and signs of multitudinous syllables,

Joyous at their turning into groups of words,

Joyous in that sphere where the mind is confident and firm,

Joyous exceedingly in its spontaneous arising,

Joyous exceedingly at its manifestation in diversity."

On sangha retreats it's always difficult to tell what's going on for other people (and even for yourself!) We all arrive from different lives and come together as a community for a short period of time to meditate and do puja together, have both deep and light-hearted conversations, go for walks in the woods, cook and eat communally, and clean up together. This coming together can generate a strong current of energy which we all experience in different ways. There's the possibility of comfort and discomfort, togetherness and loneliness, happiness and sadness, stillness and activity. I'm sure most people experience one, if not all of these states during the course of a weekend retreat.

Whatever the dominant tone of our experience was as we listened to the life story of Milarepa, discussed our responses to it in small groups, reflected and meditated, chanted and made offerings to the stunningly decorated shrine, it did feel to me that a lot of people experienced at least a little bit of joy, and possibly much more. The many ways in which this joy manifested was shared in the closing ritual when we 'wrote' our own Milarepa's song - taking it in turns to call out the things over the weekend that had brought us joy. Watching others bask in the morning sun, enjoying the company of friends, great food, talking to the pigs in the farmyard ... were all mentioned, among a multitude of other things.

Perhaps if we keep dwelling on these glimmers of joy, and like Milarepa hold a hand to the ear and listen for echoes from the Void, 'the sheer beauty and attractiveness of the transcendental' - to borrow Sangharakshita's phrase - might make itself fully known to us.

*shrine photo taken by Nick Janvier

Dhardo Rimpoche: Vigour Personified

Mandy writes: Dhardo Rimpoche was a Tibetan 'tulku' who Sangharaksita counted as one of his most important teachers. His importance to our community shows in the fact that ashes from his cremation in 1990 are installed in several Triratna stupas: at Sudarshanaloka Retreat Centre (New Zealand) at Padmaloka in Norwich,  Guhyaloka in Spain and at Tiratanaloka in Wales as well as at Vimaladhatu in Germany.

Dhardo Rinpoche was born in 1917 as Thubten Lhundup Legsang. He was the 12th in a line of tulkus from a village on the eastern border of Tibet. His name, Dhardo (or Dhando) is a contraction of that village's name, Dhartsendo.

If you're wondering what a tulku, is, it's an 'emanation' of a Buddha or Bodhisattva: the appearance in bodily form of a Buddha. It's believed that some tulkus (emanations of superior Bodhisattvas) can choose their place and time of birth and their future parents. An example is our Dalai Lama, who is said to be the 14th manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion.

The thoroughness of the testing procedure varies according to the eminence of the tulku. For minor figures the choice is made after only a perfunctory search. For major tulkus, like the Dalai Lama, great care is taken to ensure accuracy. Interestingly, as Tibetan Buddhism now attracts followers all over the world, a few tulkus have been found among Western people. One is Hollywood action movie actor Steven Seagal, who was recognized by Penor Rimpoche, head of the Nyingma school. Being recognised in this way doesn't seem to mean all that much, however. To become a realised tulku, Seagal would have to undergo an extensive program of training and study.

But back to Dhardo Rimpoche, who was recognised as a tulku of the chief abbot of the famous Drepung Monastery in Central Tibet. This wasn't a surprise to his mother, who found him naughty and precocious as a child. He could also read and grasp complicated material very quickly and remember things from previous lives. After being recognised, Dhardo Rimpoche was educated at Drepung, a process that involved twenty years of intense academic study as well as six hours of debate each day. After this, he was allowed to take his Geshe Lharampa degree. Drepung was one of only three monasteries in Central Asia that could award this degree, the most prestigious honour in the Tibetan Buddhist world.

After taking his degree, he went on to study at Gyud-med Tantric College. Study is a major part of a Rimpoche's life and one that Dhardo Rimpoche loved and took very seriously. He was often beaten by his guru, but although this made him angry and sad, he was ultimately grateful for it because he realised he wouldn't have learnt enough to become a Rimpoche if he'd not been so frightened of the beatings. 

In 1951 he was asked by the Dalai Lama to run the Tibetan monastery at Bodh Gaya, India. Now, India wasn't an entirely unknown quantity to him. As an inveterate worrier, he'd suffered from severe stress and had developed a heart problem. He'd gone to India to get it treated - the heat there was part of the cure. But when the Dalai Lama approached him, he didn't want to accept. He doubted whether he was capable. But his guru had given him an instruction before he died. He'd told Dhardo Rimpoche not to think of trying to get a big job and raise himself up. If, on the other hand, someone asked him to do a big job that he didn't want and didn't feel up to, then he was to take it. So Dhardo Rimpoche said yes to Bodh Gaya. While he was there, he was both happy and unhappy - happy because he was helping others but unhappy because he was not able to study himself. He learned to speak what he called 'broken Hindi' from the cleaners and porters.

He believed meditation to be 'the best thing a human being can do', although he said it was important to know what one was trying to do with it and therefore important to study before starting. In meditation, he said, 'we lighten our heart and mind. If we do not meditate, the mind remains empty and does not become bright.'

The year after taking on Bodh Gaya, in 1952, he founded the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Cultural Institute which then opened an orphanage and school for Tibetan refugees. In the 1980's the Karuna Trust (then called Aid for India) undertook to provide funding for this school and many of Sangharakshita's followers did a lot of work there.

Dhardo Rimpoche became friend and teacher to Sangharakshita during the 50s and 60s. When they met, at Kalimpong near the India-Tibet border, he was surprised to see an English person as a monk. Later, he realised that Sangharaksita would be able to spread the Dharma in Europe because he came from the same culture. He said he would be able to do it 'better than if 100 lamas went to London.'

Of all his disciples, there was no one like Sangharakshita, he said. He also said 'all Bhante's disciples are my disciples. Although the distance means we can't meet often, I pray to the Buddha that all their Dharma work is successful.'

For Sangharakshita's part, he considered Dhardo Rimpoche to be a living bodhisattva. Dhardo Rimpoche was abbot of Yiga Choeling Monastery, Ghoom from 1964 till his death in 1990. His motto was "Cherish the doctrine; live united; radiate love," which also became the motto of the school he founded.               

"People feel that life is short. Because of this, instead of working for others, they try tr themselves. If we live in this way we become isolated. Our lives become like bubbles on the surface of water. But people can be inspired by action. If they see something is happening they can start to give. If you work hard in the right way the effects will spread like light."

- Dhardo Rimpoche

Food Glorious Food

It originated from a uk-based vegan, whose website is given below, should you feel inspired to browse.

The only ingredient included that people may not have readily available is Nutritional Yeast Flakes. They are used quite a lot in vegan cooking as they give a slightly cheesy flavour so should be a useful addition to the kitchen cupboard. But as Ann says, 'I would imagine a few extra breadcrumbs would do instead (although I haven't tried that out!)'

Two Bean and Leek Sausages

www.theveganhousehold.com

These are so quick and simple to prepare but absolutely delicious. The wonderful flavours from the creamy leek and beans make these sausages a sure fire winner. Not just for main meals, but great at any time of the day as a snack or as part of breakfast.

Ingredients (to serve 4)

• 1 teaspoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons for frying
• 2 medium leeks, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 x 400 g ( 14 oz ) can kidney beans, drained
• 1 x 400 g ( 14 oz ) can cannellini beans, drained
• 40 g ( 1.5 oz ) fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon tomato puree
• 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Method

Start by frying the leeks and garlic in the oil over a medium heat for 10 minutes or until soft and creamy.

Remove from the heat and place into a bowl with all the other ingredients.

Mash together using your hands being sure not to mash too much and lose the texture from the beans.

Shape into sausages (we tend to just shape into 'cakes' rather than sausages as they hold their shape better!) and fry in 2 tablespoons oil until golden brown and serve.

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