Sangha News - June

June

Buddhist Action Month

June was Buddhist Action Month - BAM! - a social action initiative devised by the Network of Buddhist Organisations, and there was much activity at Leeds Buddhist Centre in connection with the initiative.

Thursday nights throughout the month were dedicated to exploring the theme of Action and drew inspiration from the early Buddhist scriptures of the Pali canon. Jenny and Jeff kicked off with an evening on the karaniya metta sutta, in which the Buddha advises his disciples to cultivate an attitude of loving kindness towards all beings in order to appease the 'tree spirits' disrupting their rainy season meditation retreat. The evening included a lovely rendition of the karaniya metta sutta chanted by Joe Richardson at the recent Triratna International Retreat at Adhisthana - listen here.

Another evening was based on a talk from the International Retreat by Vaddhaka on the theme of Buddhism and Capitalism. The talk provided a stirring analysis of our current economic system and the wrong views on which it is based, before providing practical advice on how Buddhists can practice a radical alternative to transform self and world for the better. If you missed this talk it is an absolute corker and well worth a watch, see the full talk here.

Vegan Food Fest!

Sunday 15th June

In the midst of these sessions there was an almighty feast organised by Giles, with the aim of showcasing the delights of a vegan diet. The banquet consisted in all sorts of tasty treats - lentil daal, Thai curry, a Mallorcan tumbet with homemade soda bread, and a beansprout surprise - while for afters there was a berry and cashew nut whip, chocolate cake, chocolate and ginger brownies and fudge.

Many of the recipes were made with organic ingredients from local shops/farms - a great way to increase one's compassion footprint! Pictured is Matt's recent order from Goosemoor Organic Farm in Wetherby, a colourful and delicious selection, much of which ended up in said Thai curry.

The good news for those who missed the event is that all the recipes have been gathered together and will be serialised in this very newsletter over the coming months. This month, it's David's Mallorcan Tumbet, perfect for a summer supper.

Mallorcan Tumbet

Ingredients

500g potatoes, sliced length-wise

2 aubergines

2 sweet (pointed) red peppers, sliced into long fingers

3 tbsp olive oil

salt/pepper

Sauce

400g can chopped tomatoes

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp capers

2 tbsp tomato puree

3 bay leaves

Method

- Preheat oven to 180'c

- Make the sauce by simmering ingredients in sauce pan, covered, for 20mins

- Boil potatoes until just cooked through

- Fry peppers and aubergines in olive oil, in batches

- Layer potatoes/aubergines/peppers twice in a large oven dish with lid

- Pour over sauce, put on lid, and bake for 20mins until bubbling hot

White Tara Puja

Sunday 15th June

The vegan fest was followed by a special puja dedicated to White Tara and led by Billy. The shrine built by Billy, Giles and Lee (from the Sheffield sangha) looked magnificent and was captured on camera by Nick, who sent it to the newsletter team so that everyone can share in some White Tara loveliness...

Sangha News - July

July

Dharma Island Discs

Wed 2nd July

If you were cast away on a mythical desert island, what music would you love to have with you? What songs inspire you to live your life more fully and why? 

It was these intriguing questions that drew people to Leeds Buddhist Centre on 2 July for an evening of meditation and music sharing. Borrowing the format from BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, each person was given the opportunity to say something about why a particular song or piece of music inspired them before playing it to the others and having a short, open discussion afterwards. 

Everyone seemed to agree that there's something very powerful about hearing another person talk about their sources of inspiration and that it makes you listen to their selected piece of music with more receptivity. As well as being a powerful practice, the evening was simply great fun and a good opportunity to get to know each other in a different way. 

In fact, one member of the group had such a good time and got so involved in the imaginary theme that she almost seemed to think she was actually going to a desert island! At least she'll be well prepared if it ever does happen. And so can you be by listening the tracklist from the evening below. Who knows, maybe you'll love one of them so much that it'll become one of your Dharma Island Discs?

Click the links below to listen:

Miles Davis - Flamenco Sketches (chosen by Viv)

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (Wendy)

Emiliana Torrini - Big Jumps (Anna)

Peter Gabriel - I Grieve (Bernard)

MGMT - Kids (David)

Ryan Bingham - The Weary Kind (Rowan)

Mozart - Clarinet Concierto in A major, 2nd movement (Matt)

Welcome Sagarabala!

Thursday 17th July

There was a special Friends' Night on Thursday 17th July to welcome our newest Order Member into the sangha - Sagarabala (meaning 'she whose power is from the ocean', pronounced with long first and last 'a'). Sagarabala spent three months on retreat in Akashavana, Spain and was ordained on 2nd June. 

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

Flash Mob

Thursday 24th July

Jenny writes: It was a sunny, late afternoon. Briggate was busy with lots of people shopping or on their way home. Then, out of the blue, eight people simply sat down opposite Marks & Spencer and started to meditate. The effect was immediate. People stopped and stared. Some were clearly interested in what we were doing, others, perhaps, a little challenged by the sight of eight people sitting calmly on the pavement with their eyes closed. A good number took leaflets about our courses and drop-in sessions. One woman came across and thanked us for what we were doing: 'I can feel it', she said. Another man said 'God Bless' as he passed by, and a young woman promised to turn up at the following week's drop-in class.

Maybe you'd like to join us next time?

Poet's Corner

All is love
Love is all there is
Nothing else is real
It is why you are here
It is who you are

Therefore give yourself whole-heartedly to love
Embrace it
Wallow in it
and you will never die
For love is eternal

It knows nothing of past, present or future
It is not tense
It is soft, warm and relaxed
It sees no fault
It seeks not to blame

Fear is a stranger to love
Lack is unknown
Abundance is its view
Forgive all that was not love
It was never real anyway

Do not carry the weight of history on your shoulders
Who knows what will come to pass
Only love. 

The Mystery

Of your life. 

Rejoicing in Merits

Contemplating skillful action during Buddhist Action Month, Giles was inspired to write the following piece on the enriching practice of rejoicing in merits...

Rejoicing in Merits is a fantastic practice that can enrich both rejoicer and receiver. For me, it has enriched and grounded my metta bhavana practice. In fact, I think the qualities that get shared when a person rejoices in another's merits is even transcendental. And so, I'd like to offer you my insights into this most delightful practice.

'Rejoicing in Merits' is simply voicing the positive qualities of an individual, perhaps on a one-to-one basis, but equally in a group setting. In particular, this takes place during mitra ceremonies and other special occasions.

I began reflecting on this practice last summer when I had the privilege to lead the morning gatherings at Buddhafield North's camping retreat. I led the rejoicing in merits of the longstanding members of the Buddhafield team. It was a lovely experience, and the beautiful atmosphere was real privilege to be a part of.

I reasoned that when the qualities of the individual are highlighted, then this leaves them 'glowing'. It's not often that we are shown our qualities in this way, and we often take them for granted, or perhaps we have a tendency to focus on the difficult aspects of ourselves. Rejoicing in merits turns this on it's head and leaves us with a heightened sense of our positive qualities.

The positivity does not stop there, however. The folk listening to the merits of others being rejoiced in get to share the experience too. For example, somebody could be said to be a particularly kind person. As we listen to this, we explore what kindness is within ourselves - we resonate with our own experience of being kind to others. In that moment the quality might be highlighted in someone in particular, but at the same time shared by all. But is that quality owned by anyone? Is this transcendental? Maybe in such moments we can go beyond the state of consciousness concerned solely with an individual.

Such reflections have had a positive impact on my practice, particularly in meditation. Over time my metta bhavana  practice has changed and developed. For some time, cultivating metta felt like squeezing toothpaste, I could do it for so long but eventually it would run out! Now, it feels richer and less personal, particularly since leading the rejoicing in merits at Buddhafield. It allowed me to find a new way of practicing. I would think about the person, no matter what stage of the practice, and think of one or two positive qualities. There was an immediate sense of positive regard - metta - based on something they do, rather than a wish or just a feeling. I found this bypassed my own feelings of dislike, neutrality or sentimental attachment, and rooted the practice in practical experience. I have found this very useful, grounded and productive.

So, maybe the practice of rejoicing in merits is something to cultivate, as an aid to our metta bahavana practice and also as something that can help to reinforce the positivity within our community.

With Metta, Giles

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