Buddhism Today blogs

Change India and change yourself

We will run five six week Karuna appeals in 2012:

Men (all in London)

18th Feb - 31st March

7th April - 19th May

1st Sep - 13th Oct

Women

28th April - 9th June, Leeds

1st Sep - 13th Oct, Edinburgh

Visit www.appeals.karuna.org or contact Amalavajra on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more info.

Hi Guys

Hope you are all well and love the new website!

After my pledge at the Young People's Retreat in June I am now in the position to start looking for practising Buddhists to share my house.

So if you know of anyone who would like to join a Buddhist houseshare in Bristol then please contact me on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

With metta in our Sangha

Clare

x

After a lively discussion the previous week around the benefits of the arts (film in particular) and how this can support our practise and meditation (by exploration and understanding of human emotion and experience) and how our meditation practise can support participation in the arts, we decided to have a young buddhists film night.

We had some dinner together and watched Pasolini's Teorama ('Theorum') (1968) on a big projector screen in the Buddhist Centre. The film is apparently highly rated by Sangharakshita and Subhuti, and sees Terrence Stamp having a profound effect on an apparently repressed borgeouis family, largely by seducing them and challenging their most fundamental views of themselves and the world. We mostly agreed that it was a challenging (and pretty wierd) film but we felt we had learned something from it. Exactly what Im still figuring out - anyone else who was there or has seen it do share your thoughts! 

It was great to do something more 'social' though - we usually focus on our monthly discussion meetings but hoping to do more social stuff from now on, inspired by the Annual Retreat.

Thanks to those who came!

x Kara x 

I found this article in the Guardian on being "selectively mysterious" about faith. The author focusses mostly on Christianity and God, but I think it's a great question to ask ourselves as Buddhists: how well do we understand and communicate the Dharma? Can we maintain that following the teachings of the Buddha is the way to liberation for all sentient beings...if we also claim that everyone's beliefs are worthy of equal respect and acknowledgement?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/nov/07/understand-my-religion-faith

Good to read not as opposed to the subjects in the article...but perhaps on the same side as them.

Last night we had our November meeting at the Norwich Buddhist Centre.  Despite quite a few of us being a little bleary eyed, after Andrea's 1950's sock hop fancy dress birthday party the night before, everyone was very engaged.  

We looked at karma and rebirth, Miles and Andrea had attended a day on this at Centre earlier on and gave a presentation to the group, which produced a very lively exploration of this topic.  Amongst the many areas we covered in our discussion, one that seemed to stand out, was that whilst karma is central to the engaged spiritual life and is the most famous order of conditionality, it is not the only conditioning factor at play.  Buddhism also recognises the natural sciences; physics, chemistry, biology, psychology etc... Buddhism does NOT say that everything arises only from karma alone.  Also, by working with our mind we become happier and healthier human beings, on the basis of this, those factors that lead to the radical transformation of conciousness,  culminating in Enlightenment, can arise.

This discussion was so engaged in fact, that we ran out of time, seemingly with much more to say.

How I work with Energy – follow up.

Hello folks, this is a bit of a follow up piece following on from my talk from the Annual Young People's Gathering which is viewable on http://vimeo.com/31083133 starting just after 16 minutes.

So to summarise what I say: I invite myself and all of you to go much deeper into our motivations, to ask the question 'what do I really care about?' and then see how that value is expressed in our daily actions.

To communicate why I think this is important I give a potted resume of my life within Triratna, particularly focusing on the gap between my engagement with the institutions and practices and the fact that despite all that I did not feel fully engaged and consequently did not make the most of those opportunities, whether that be boredom in Mitra study or meditating every day for years without adequately clarifying my motivation to practise. All that drained energy and resulted in my being drawn in by my distractions.

To illustrate that last point I draw a simile between eating McDonalds: rich, sugary, salty, intense flavours that are no good for us; and that of eating quinoa, with steamed veg and tahini sauce: much better for us, ultimately more satisfying, but much less intense. To make the switch we need to be really clear why it is we're eating the good food – then we appreciate it and get into the tastes. The same is true, I think, in the spiritual life; it's hard enough to live lives based on higher values, but if we're not sufficiently clear about those values and how they directly translate into our everyday actions then they just get drowned out by craving.

However, on reflection, I realise my story communicates more than this call to clarify what we care about. Remember clarity could be expressed in images or moods, as well as ideas. So what else am I saying? First of all, this is scary; it's really hard to be clear because of the implications in our lives. Imagine living a life entirely (or at least much more significantly) directed towards what we think is most important; the potential is endless, but also the challenge. It's easier to be mediocre, live a conventional life, fit in, not to dream – don't accept that!

But, and this is the real point, how do we find the courage to ask ourselves this question? Well first of all it takes time; there's no way I had the confidence or self metta to really ask or act from this space 11 years ago. So, go easy on yourself – allow for the journey, just try to be conscious and direct yourself towards deeper engagement. It's in doing something that we work out why and how it's important.

Then secondly: how to develop that confidence and self-metta? Of course the answer, at least in my life, is obvious: stacks and stacks of going to pujas, studying the dharma, meditating every day (despite not really knowing why I was doing that), working and living with others, and, most importantly, developing friendships. Without all that I might be able to intellectually say what I care most about; in fact I think I could, even back in July 2000, but I had no capacity to activate or realise my aspirations. Actually that is not accurate, I started basing my life around those values, through engaging with the Triratna Buddhist Community, and this set up a positive feedback loop that helps me to be able to express and act upon my aspirations. So, in short, that's the first step towards 'work out what you care about'. Find ways of gaining the confidence to really look life in the eye and say 'this is what I value, and I'm not giving up without a fight.'

So this is a quest to discover what we value most in life and then the journey to see how that value is expressed in our daily actions – actions which may remain the same, but are transformed through the change in attitude. For example, I'm still doing the same Metta Bhavana – well, actually doing now rather than just intending to - but now I know why I'm doing it. I do think we need to find something big to move towards; a specific action is too narrow, too limited, always a strategy to realise some deeper need.

I'm still not really, really clear myself. But standing there on the Young People's Retreat I realised that I do want to change this world – and I want to do it through my interactions with those around me. I want to love everyone more than I love my closest friend. I want that love to transform my sense of self, how I perceive others, how I act, how you act, how you perceive others, and how you perceive yourselves. It sounds so simple on screen, but I find myself both elated and terrified when I acknowledge that this is what I want to base my life around and that I have the confidence, now, to more fully acknowledge that to myself and the world. Now I have to do it... 

In 2009 I attended the first proper Triratna Young Buddhists weeekend, I was doing so out of duty, representing Padmaloka.  I felt sceptical about the whole thing, my cynical side thought it sounded a bit 'trendy vicar'.  How utterly and completely wrong I was.  Around thirty of us attended, it was absolutely brilliant and deeply inspiring.  I was converted and looked forward to the 2010 one, which was even bigger and even better, with around 60 of us attending.

How would the 2011 one compare?  It had doubled in size again to over 120! 

I can honestly say that this year's was the best one yet.  Which is very high praise indeed.  I've said this elsewhere, but I'll say it again, for me it was a cross between: a Buddhist retreat ,a house party, an illegal rave, Hogwarts and a primary school (it was set in a an old manor house converted into a bording primary school). It felt deeply intergrating to have such elements all present in one context.

One of the highlights of the weekend for me was friendship, especially attending the event with the Padmaloka and Norwich crew and also being with my old cronies from Colchester, as well as all the delightful beings I've met in different contexts, plus meeting lots of new people.  I found myself on a number of occaisions want to talk to everyone at once but not knowing where to start!

The discussion group I led seemed to go well, with everyone engaged.  The pujas were sublime, such beautiful chanting...  Plus three very good talks from Vajratara, Singhamati and Dharmashalin.  Also lovely food provided by the Buddhafield Cafe.

One striking memory is from Saturday night.  It's just after dinner and I'm in the Order meeting, we're going round saying how we are and how the groups are going.  As we go round, outside the door we can hear the gentle bubbling of conversations getting louder, as people finish dinner and make their way to the tea area and lounge.  Flourishes of laughter spring up too, also getting louder.  Then the music starts, gently at first, with perhaps just a guitar, but other muscians join in, including drums, untill it sounds like a full on house party is in full swing outside the door.  We have to speak up in the Order meeting as the sounds outside are starting to drown out our voices, we decide to only have a partial silence overnight, not wishing to impede the energy that is flowing freely through the building and it's inhabitants.  Arybandhu and I get the giggles, imagining all the wild things that are going on outside the doors of our meeting.  The meeting ends and the Order members join everyone else, we find a civilised affair compared to the wild imaginings of Aryabandhu and I.  People enjoying the music and each others company whilst drinking tea.  Dancing starts and many join in, we then put our arms round each others shoulders and kick our legs in the air.  Then we let go and start liking arms in pairs, spinning round before linking up with another willing arm and smiling face.  The dance descends into laughing, smiling, joyful chaos.  Then 8 O'clock comes,  there's no bell, but each and every single person stops what they are doing and procedes mindfully to the shrineroom, ploughing all this energy and joy at simply being alive, into the meditation and puja, indeed one of the most powerful, beautiful and moving pujas I've ever attended.

My only regret is that this these events weren't happening when I first came along in my early twenties. But hey, better late than never, they are happening now.

I have been pondering on a topic discussed in my Mitra study group which came out full forcce again over the young peopl'e weekend recently. That is the topic of 'personal myths'. What are the deep archetypal stories we tell ourselves about our purpose and meaning in life, and where we are headed? To be honest I hadn't really framed it like 'a personal myth' before it was explained to me, so thought would bring it out for discussion.

 On the weekend there was a underlying theme of the 'noble quest', the 'heroic journey' that is the fully lived spiritual life, and I really respond and connect with that. Dharamshalin talked of the neccesity of making a heartfelt and personal connection with what really mattered to you and finding the ways to make that a reality in your own life.

And on reflection it was quite straightforward for me. I really respond to the myth of exploration. From star trek, to Dr Who, and all the other sci-fi and fantasy i get absorbed in, to scientific endevour and quantum physics I have a deep need to 'boldly go where no-one (or at least I!) have never gone before'...

However I have never really travelled the world, and don't enjoy not knowing where I am sleeping that night. I suppose I always live by the motto 'wherever you go, there you are'. I suppose I believe that changing your external conditions can challenge and surprise you, but not necessarily promote lasting insights or change.

So, what is this deep exploration I am drawn to? Well it's pretty obvious. It's the fascinating, profound and endless exploration that is humanity itself, and by default, my humanity. What is this conciousness of my 'self', my future death and my perception of the world that differentiates me from the animals? What makes us unique and what makes us the same? Can we be more than this mess of desires and emotion that lead us to dark and lonely places?

When I met Buddhism, it intellectually started to answer some of those questions for me. But it was when I really got into meditation that I started on that amazing journey for myself to change my perceptions and conciousness in ways that have started to answer those questions. And it has been so far astounding and terrifying in equal measure. And I know I have only just scratched the surface!

So I wholeheartedly endorse you to give some serious reflection time to the stories, myths and imaginative worlds that you most respond to, as it may help to bring some clarity to the path you want to tred. But in the end thinking about it can only go so far. And as far as I am concerned, deep meditation practices for me at least, could be 'the undiscovered country' from which something may return, but it may not quite be the 'me' I used to be. Now that really is an exciting adventure :)

The room is dark and hushed. At the far end, lit up by a handful of flickering candles, is a shrine, with a bronze figure of the Buddha Shakyamuni at the centre. From my cushion, eyes closed, I hear footsteps and the gentle rustling of blankets as people begin to arrive. I listen as the room gradually begins to fill. First, ten people. Then twenty; now thirty. A quiet atmosphere of metta meets them as they enter our devotional space. More footsteps, more arrivals. Fifty people; now sixty; then seventy. The Buddha rupa shimmers in the candlelight. Outside, the moon hangs low in the sky. The darkness of evening descends, embracing us. Eighty people; ninety; one hundred. A tangible sense of energy begins to pulse through the hall: a low voltage hum that gets louder with every passing moment. By the time we stand to salute the shrine, there are one hundred and twenty-three of us.

‘‘Namo Buddhaya,

Namo Dharmaya,

Namo Sanghaya.’’

The hall shakes with our salutation, and a shiver runs down my spine. Almost despite myself, I open my eyes and look around. One hundred and twenty-three young people, all here to revere the Buddha and his Dharma! London. Birmingham. Cardiff. Manchester. Paris. Norwich. Sheffield. Oxford. Dublin. Ghent. Balquhidder. Ipswich. Essen. Leeds. Llangollen. Cambridge. All of us part of that unbroken line, spanning the ages, linking us to the Buddha. Closing my eyes, I vow never to forget this moment.

We begin chanting the Shakyamuni mantra, and I imagine the sound flowing through us, becoming infused with our aspirations. As the hall reverberates with the name of Shakyamuni, everything – the mantra, the hall, the people – breaks down into energy. The mantra begins to expand far beyond our little refuge, flowing outwards into the infinite space around us. My heart is connected to the hearts of those around me; somehow, I know we all share the same wish. May our words and actions help to heal this troubled world. May all beings be free from suffering! May all taste Awakening! 

So here we are at Smallwood Manor School in Uttoxeter - so far about 80 people have arrived with a stead stream of others who are making their way from as far afield as Paris and Essen.

I was sat in a meeting of men yesterday and someone raised the story of a local hairdresser, who had used an image from the buddhist centre in their city for their flyers.  The image was one of Aloka's paintings and the buddhist centre had the copy rights for it. The hairdressers had not sort permission to use the image and well we talked.

We threw ideas around the lunch table and there is alot to consider really. There of course was the obvious issue of copy right and using something that was not freely given, though this in its self caused some heat, as it was not seen the same by all. Some saw the lawbreaking and lack of ethics, some saw the spreading of buddhist images and its positive effect on people.

how could buddhists really bring the leagle system to bear on this situation, when really its a matter of increasing our positive influence in the world?

But then comes the biggy, does having buddhist images spread every where really improve the world and buddhisms cause? seeing the buddha on posters and hairdessers flyers, t shirts and tv adds for vacuum cleaners really help or hinder?

It raises issues of how we look at scared/holy art. if its a good idea to spread the message wide but dilute it ? but also how we as buddhists relate to the images we have of the buddha and other  buddhist figures.

one of my issues over the years practising in three different centres in the uk, has been shrine room cupboards! haha. theres something about them that really says alot about were we are as western buddhists in relation to buddhist art.

Its not uncommmon to find images of the buddha or bodhisattvas (beings dedicated to enlightenment for all beings), and other ritual objects jumbled up together, mabey stacked up in one or two broken frames, collecting dust or damged and broken.

of course the shrines often change and some of those images get brought out again cleaned up and placed for all to see for a festival day or a perticular ritual. ''on show'' for us to prictise with and reflect on and feel devotional towards. but the cupboard is still waiting.

one of our problems (at least in my eyes) is in the modern westernised world, we have so much there are so many images made so cheaply posters and post cards reproductions of actual paintings and resin casts of statues, its almost impossible to know what to do with them all??   so its really not suprising that what we place on the shrine one week can be collecting dust and propping up the candle boxes the next.

But of course we also have to hold this next to our devotional practise, are we comfortable raising up our trust/faith/devotion in these objects these symbols of enlightenment, then after the festival or puja popping them back in the cupboard?

And yet, heres one of the things, they are after all just objects no? representations of the symbols of enlightenment. So that beautiful statue of the buddha on the shrine, is after all just a lump of wood or clay or metal, shapped by an artist to try and represent the images we hold in our hearts, or develop in our hearts of the buddha. they are not the thing in its self. All our devotion and love and respect, our worship which we direct at these images is not really for those artistically formed lumps but for the symbols they represent.

it would of course be so easy to literalise the situation, fail to see the distinction, but then we would be no better or enlightened than those the buddha talked of when he said ''there are those who go to sacred trees or groves shrines or rocks seeking a safe refuge, but in truth this is not a safe refuge, this is not a true refuge.

so what do we do? should we just scrap the lot as a waste and focus on the direct perception of truth? well the buddha was always clear you need to test things out against your exprience and listen to the words of the wise. so maybe if you want to try it, let me know how you get on?

my concern though is its such a major leap from where we are to seeing the full reality of things. we need to develop so much clarity of thought and purpose, and great depths of emotional positivity, and to be honest I dont see how you can side step the whole issue of devotion and sraddha, of building confidence in the buddha and his teaching.

So we are left walking the tightrope between literalistic belief in false refuges, becoming 'dogmatic devotionals'  or on the other side 'hard nosed truth seekers' reaching straight for 'reality' and struggling to avoid the huge empty space between.

Any thoughts?

Beauty – How to become spiritually stunning

Hello, and welcome to today's talk entitled Beauty – How to become spiritually stunning.

Firstly, I want to start by introducing Buddhism as a path of beauty and transformation. It is a path of teachings and practises that helps us to radically transform ourselves into more beautiful people and transform the world into a more beautiful place to live in. And the aim of Buddhism and this talk, is to address each individual person and offer them the opportunity to create a more beautiful experience of life and help to create a more beautiful world. And today I am going to explore some of the practises and teachings of Buddhism, and how they can make us and the world more beautiful.

So if you are interested in being more beautiful and experiencing an even more beautiful life then this talk may be of some use to you.

My talk is entitled how to become spiritually stunning. Maybe I should elaborate by what I mean when I say spiritual. By spiritual, I mean developing a beautiful heart and mind or a beautiful character or personality. In a sense I am contrasting it with purely physical beauty. The spiritual beauty I am talking about is the beauty of qualities of character. Not so much about how you look, but the beauty of your personality (who you are).

And Buddhism is very much about developing our spiritual qualities.

It seems that in society nowadays there is a tremendous emphasis on being physically beautiful. Being and maintaining physical beauty is possibly a high priority for a lot of people. We are constantly reminded by the media that we should look as beautiful as we possibly can. On TV, in films and on advertisements on billboards and bus stops all over the country we see spectacularly beautiful people selling products from clothes to beauty creams and shampoos.

The pursuit of physical beauty isn't a new thing, throughout history humanity has sought and revered physically beauty.

The Ancient Egyptians were apparently incredibly vain, they are said to have invented cosmetics and went to great lengths in their pursuit of ideal attractiveness, ; they considered bodily hair to be a sign of impurity so most men shaved their chests, legs and their heads, preferring to wear wigs. Some Egyptian women made sure that they were completely hairless from the top of their heads to the tips of their toes, and again favoured the wearing of wigs. Both men and women wore cosmetics, and both genders made sure they were slim. They used many concoctions to aid their search for physical beauty that included crocodile excrement in mud baths as they believed it to firm and tone the skin.

In Ancient Greece the ideal of male beauty was well sculpted muscular men. The Ancient Greeks devoted a great deal of time to what made someone physically beautiful. Plato wrote of the so called golden proportions, where the width of an ideal face would be two thirds it's length, while the nose would be no longer than the width between the eyes.

And in Shakespearean England, ankles were apparently a large part of what it meant to be physically beautiful. Women would also pluck their hairline to give them a higher forehead.

Ankles might not be so highly prized today, but being physically beautiful is still important for most of us; it can make us feel good to treat ourselves to a new pair of shoes or a nice shirt, it can make us feel quite happy if we go to the hairdresser and get a chic haircut, we can feel pleased with all our hard work down the gym when we look in the mirror and see ourselves with a good physique. We spend a lot of time and effort making sure we look good.

There are social, psychological and romantic reasons for our pursuit of physical beauty. Socially; we want to fit in with our peer group, we see this happen a lot in teenagers for example. Psychologically, we like to look good because it makes us feel better about ourselves. And obviously, if we want to find a lover, how we look is a very important factor, it can feel good if we can turn heads. All of these things can give us happiness.

So why is it important to develop spiritual beauty?

Well, what practising Buddhism offers us the opportunity to become even more beautiful people and experience an even more beautiful and happy life. Throughout the Buddhist scriptures it states that one of the natural outcomes of practising Buddhism is that you are stronger, healthier, happier and more beautiful.

It does this by giving us teachings and practises that help us to develop a beautiful mind and personality. Just as we can get a beautiful body through going to the gym, so we can experience wondrous states of beauty and happiness through practising Buddhism. Buddhism helps us to refine our minds and cultivate many positive emotions that makes us and our life happier and more beautiful. It can help us to create a beautiful mind and personality to go with our body.

For although our pursuit of physical beauty can bring us some happiness, if we place too much emphasis on it, it can unfortunately bring us a fair bit of unhappiness too. And I feel that nowadays society focuses too much on being physically beautiful and not enough on developing a beautiful personality.

I came across a statistic recently that said that two thirds of young women are unhappy with the way they look. To not feel comfortable in your own skin is really quite a sad thing. Because we are sold one particular ideal of physical perfection by the advertising industry, many people nowadays feel very insecure about the way they look. Many people strive and aspire to become like models they see on billboards and on TV, models whose pictures have been digitally enhanced or airbrushed anyway. And I'm told that if you go into many of the mental health wards across the country, the majority of places are taken up by young women with eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. A large reason for this could be our obsession with our physical beauty and being sold an unrealistic ideal of what it is to be beautiful. The ideal of physical perfection is a serious issue and it affects both men and women. It can make many people unhappy and bring people a lot of suffering, in the case of illnesses like bulimia and anorexia, the pursuit of becoming like models people see on TV can even be life threatening.

Now those are extreme cases, but I imagine we can all relate to not being happy with our appearance at some point in our lives.

Buddhism says that there is nothing wrong with being physically beautiful, there isn't anything wrong with desiring happiness through making ourselves look good; Buddhism, which was founded by a man called Siddhatha Gotama around 2,500 years, is a path and practises that lead us to an even happier experience of life. And if making ourselves look good brings us some happiness then that is to be appreciated. But if our own attitude towards our physical beauty makes us unhappy and if societies attitude towards beauty makes millions of people unhappy, then we need to address that.

What the Buddha taught, is that we have to be quite careful in regard to what things we invest our happiness in. Buddhism teaches that all things are impermanent, everything changes and nothing that is dependent on conditions will last forever. It also teaches that the source of our unhappiness comes from trying to hold onto those very same impermanent things, things that will never last forever. Our bodies are a good example of this, they are subject to ageing, they will not last forever, we will grow old and we cannot hang on to being 23 no matter how much we want to. Wrinkles will appear regardless of whether we like them or not, we cannot stop this process. It is a process that is beyond our control, we can't turn back time or automatically change the body we have to a different one.

So Buddhism urges us not to put all of our happiness in the basket of physical beauty, but find other ways to become beautiful. And what it says instead is that a Middle Way can be found, we can all enjoy to look good, but we could save ourselves a lot of unhappiness if we complimented our search for physical beauty with a search for spiritual beauty. physical beauty is not a thing to base all our happiness on. It will eventually leave us feeling unhappy. What Buddhism recommends is that we also can create a beautiful mind and that this beauty can not only enhance our physical beauty but make us considerably happier.

In Buddhism a truly beautiful person is someone who is free from all negative mental qualities, someone who has transformed mental states such as anger, hatred, greed, conceit, envy, jealously into positive mental qualities such as compassion, friendliness, joy, kindness and fearlessness. It is a mind that is filled with joy, energy, peace, calm, confidence and concern for others. the Buddha is the ideal of spiritual beauty. He possessed a whole range of positive qualities and a freedom from suffering that could not be taken away, and He gave us a path and practises for anyone who wants to become like Him. He was even praised many times for His serene complexion and melodious voice. Enlightenment, the goal of Buddhism is said to be supremely beautiful, a way of being characterised by wisdom, compassion, and energy. Enlightenment has been described as an imperishable beauty, it is a beauty that does not decline. The Buddha changed the world simply through being who He was, and we can all try to emulate the Buddha and experience this beauty for ourselves.

Beauty in Buddhism could be described as experiencing a mind which is free from mental states that harm us and harm other people. So if our attitude to our physical beauty is causing us some harm or unhappiness, we can transform that by focussing on developing our spiritual beauty instead.

And whereas we cannot stop our physical beauty from waning, we can consciously make ourselves more and more spiritually beautiful. It is something that, if practised, can grow and grow indefinitely.

So now I am going to explore some of qualities and the practises that can make us look more beautiful, make us feel more beautiful, and even make us more attractive.

The first quality and practise that can transform our lives is generosity. Generosity is a very highly regarded quality and practise in Buddhism. It is usually the first practise because generosity can be practised by anyone and everyone. Every single one of us has the capability to develop an attitude of generosity and express it. And although it is such a simple practise, the effect it can have on our minds, our happiness and our lives can be tremendous.

I'm sure each and everyone one of us has been generous on multiple occasions, maybe you can remember a time right now, when you gave a gift to someone, a gift that they really liked, maybe it was a surprise present and you can see their face light up with joy as they open it.

How did that act of giving make you feel?

I don't know about you, but from my personal experience I feel more beautiful when I'm generous. When I'm generous I experience a truly wondrous opening and expanding of the heart. I feel steeped in joy, gladness and love. My mind feels at ease, happy. Genuine generosity feels liberating to do it, it makes me feel far free-er and lighter and what I've noticed is that the opposite of generosity, clinging to things like Scrooge, makes me feel heavy and closed down, burdened.

And in Buddhism there is a list of ways that we can give, a list of ways in which we can experience the beauty of generosity:

The first is the giving of material things: This can include a whole number of things. Whether it's food, money , clothes, birthday presents of some kind. Whatever it is that someone would like or might find useful. Even the simple act of getting someone a cup of tea. Or giving up your seat for an elderly person. I am quite moved when either I, or I see someone else do that, when someone offers their seat to someone in greater need of it.

The second is our time and energy: Our time is a very precious thing, we don't really have that much of it and we don't know when our time will run out. So if we can spare our time for someone then that can be of great use to them. A good example of this might be if someone stopped you in the street for directions, if you give the time to give them directions, that is an act of generosity. Even that simple act, how does it make you feel when you have been of help to someone? I notice it makes me very happy. Maybe it is a friend of ours who is having a rough time and they could really use someone to talk to, we can be generous and give them the time they need.

We can also give our energy to people. And energy too is a precious thing, we all need energy especially if we have busy lives. But if someone asks us to help them in some way be it physically or psychologically, we can help them in that way too.

Thirdly: We can also share any knowledge we have with others. Like the situation of helping someone with directions in the street. If we know something that may help somebody, we can be generous with that. The gift of knowledge can be such a precious gift, if it wasn't for our parents and our teachers, we wouldn't know half the things we do now. Knowledge helps us greatly, and we can pass our knowledge on to those who need or want it.

We can also give people the gift of fearlessness and inspiration. If we are feeling particularly inspired we can pass that on to other people. A good example of this is through the medium of creativity. Maybe we feel particularly inspired and write a song or do a painting, and this can serve to be a real source of joy and inspiration to people. All of the great writers, artists and musicians have done just this, they have passed on their inspiration by creating something beautiful that can have a strong beneficial impact of people's lives and happiness. We can also inspire others who want to be like us, by embodying qualities such as generosity, serenity, bravery, energy; we can give others a role model to become like.

We can also give people our praise. This can be a really strong one, the simplest thing such as giving someone a heart felt compliment can be a wondrous way of feeling more beautiful.

So there is a short list of ways and examples in which generosity can be practised.

And in Buddhism there is even a practice of dwelling upon the fruits of generosity in general and your own generosity. And I imagine we can all get a sense that simply dwelling upon generosity, be it our own or others would lead to a truly beautiful, happy state of mind. If we can all remember a time we were generous, a generous act, and dwell upon the feeling we get from it, it would make us feel very beautiful. Simply remembering an act of kindness and generosity I showed to someone recently can really gladden me.

And it has a cumulative effect, the more of an attitude of giving we have and the more we give, the happier we feel. It can be a true delight to have a generous mind/heart. Try it out and see if it works, see if it makes you feel more beautiful. See if it gives you more energy. See if it gives you a sense of inner abundance.

It doesn't mean give things away without due care and attention, or suddenly donating huge amounts of money to a charity because we feel we should. Generosity is it's most delightful for us and beautiful when we give because we want to out of an open heart.

And not only can generosity make you feel more beautiful, it makes you appear very attractive to other people. People are attracted to happy, generous people. If you have a smile on your face , you look hotter. Generosity is experienced by others as beautiful. The world treats you differently, and this skilful action ripens into positive situations for us in the world. Selfishness is generally experienced as being quite ugly, miserliness is experienced as ugly, if someone is all me, me, me it isn’t that beautiful, in fact it can be rather unpleasant. Generosity counteracts that preoccupation with us and the fruit of that paradoxically is that we feel happier.

So being generous can make you feel more beautiful, make your experience of life more beautiful and make you look more beautiful.

The next practise that can help us is the practise of ethics.

Ethics is defined by the Oxford dictionary as: moral principles that govern a persons behaviour or the conducting of an activity.

And in Buddhism, ethics are very important. We are not punished by an outside force if we ‘sin’, but our actions (our kamma) is a large factor in making us who we are and our experience of the world what it is.

They is a famous phrase of the Buddha's that sums up Buddhist ethics:

Experiences are preceded by mind, led by mind and produced by mind. If one speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows even as the cartwheel follows the hoof of the ox.

Experiences are preceded by mind, led by mind and produced by mind. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow that never departs.

If we act from a state of mind of anger, what follows, usually pain and remorse. If we act from a state of generosity, what follows, usually happiness and pleasure.

The Buddha found that there are some actions that lead us to experiencing unhappiness and worry and other actions that lead us to experience positive states of mind, peace and happiness.

He called the actions that lead to our happiness 'skilful' and the ones that lead to our unhappiness as 'unskilful.'

Skilful actions came from skilful mental states such as compassion, contentment; and unskilful actions came from unskilful mental states such as anger, hatred and greed.

Skilful actions make our us and our experience of life more beautiful, unskilful actions make us and our experience of life seem a lot more unpleasant.

So the Buddha recommended that we train ourselves in certain training precepts or practises to make our experience of ourselves and life happier.

The most common set of training practises are what is known as the 5 precepts:

The 5 precepts are divided into negative and positive aspects, the negative aspect tells us what actions it would be preferable not to make, and the positive aspect tells us what kind of actions we practise to help make our experience of life better:

The Buddha said that killing and harming other creatures, stealing, committing sexual misconduct such as rape and adultery, lying and indulging in drink or drugs that impair our awareness can all lead to our unhappiness and the unhappiness of others.

If we refrain from doing any of those things our experience of life is improved. If we hurt other creatures, steal things, cheat on our partners, lie to people and get so drunk that do all sorts of regrettable things our lives and our minds are made a lot less beautiful. So much unhappiness comes to ourselves and other people through doing the these actions.

There are also training practises where we undertake to refrain from gossiping about people and speaking harshly to them. Buddhism places a great deal of importance on our speech, the Buddha once described the tongue of someone who speaks harshly, or lies as like an axe that chops themselves and others to pieces. A lot of arguments, falling outs and even wars can arise from speaking to people in a undesirable manner. Speech can really hurt someone, so we are advised to pay a lot of attention to how we speak.

And whilst we can practise not doing the things I mentioned above, the positive aspects that we can train in are: treating creatures with kindness and compassion, being generous, being content with the sexual partner we have or with being single, speaking truthfully and learning to be moderate with drink and drugs or learning to have fun without having to take drink or drugs at all.

We can also practise speaking kindly to people and not gossiping about them behind their backs. We can practise complimenting people when there is the appropriate occasion for it. For although speech can cause us and others pain if used unskilfully, it can be the creator of happiness, harmony, learning, development and honesty if it is practised well. It can unite those that are at war, rejoice in those we love and are inspired by... We can make the world far better with kind, honest and useful speech.

The benefits of practising the ethical training precepts are many. the Buddha said that if we live our lives according to these ethical principles we can experience a a clear conscience and a state of mind that is blissful, buoyant , peaceful and energised. And from my experience this is true. An ethical mind is very beautiful and blissful indeed. When my ethics are good, my mental states are pleasant. And it makes me feel very beautiful, you can glow with gladness, with blamelessness, it is an energised contentment, peaceful and vibrant. When I reflect on my day, a day where I haven't done anything unethical but have instead been kind and generous to people, I experience a beautiful, peaceful mind, and I can become contented far more easily. I feel more energised because worrying about something unethical that I've done or regretting something unskilful I've done takes up mental energy and makes me feel tired. If we have a clean conscience we can rest happily and walk around feeling far sunnier and most likely with a smile on our faces.

And practising the training precepts above also make you far more attractive to other people.

If you look at the precepts, you can see that if you followed them you would come across to others as pretty stunning. If you practised never intentionally harming anyone or lying to them or stealing from them; people are far more likely to want to spend time with you.

If you had a friend, who never lied to you, stole from you, or spoke harshly to you, who was kind and generous to you; you'd probably like them I imagine.

So by following the guidelines the Buddha gave us, by treating others like we would want to be treated, we can experience a far happier life.

On an even bigger scale, think of the positive impact on society if every practised these training precepts; if everybody undertook to refrain from doing any of those things I've mentioned above, if everyone practised not harming each other, or stealing from each other, or cheating on each other or lying to each other or getting really drunk and making a mess of themselves, I feel society would be a lot more beautiful. If everyone practised kindness, generosity, honesty and speaking with consideration for others the world would be more of a joy to live in.

The next practise is meditation. Probably the most iconic image is of the Buddha seated legs crossed in meditation. I imagine if you asked most people what image came to mind when they thought of Buddhism it would be of someone meditating, legs crossed with a slight smile on their faces.

And meditation is an integral part of Buddhist practise. Meditation could be described as the art of transforming and refining the mind. It could be described as the art of making the mind and our experience more beautiful.

And today we are going to explore three aspects of meditation that can help us.

The first aspect is mindfulness.

You may have heard something about mindfulness as a lot of medical research is being done on it and the benefits that can come from it. It is a extremely powerful and multi faceted tool. One facet of mindfulness is the ability to become more and more aware of what it is that we are actually experiencing. It is where we learn to pay attention to our actual experience of life.

And this is important because in a busy world we can develop the habit of going through life on auto pilot, where we don't really pay attention to our actual experience. And through doing this we miss out on some much potential beauty. If we are rushing about all the time it doesn't feel that great. It can be stressful.

Mindfulness can help us to become more aware of ourselves and our environment. When mindfulness is developed our experience of the world changes. Colours become more vivid sensations more pleasurable, flavours become even more delectable. When we discover how to be mindful it is almost as someone has suddenly turned up the light in our world so we can make things out even more clearly. It can completely improve the way we experience our lives.

When I am very mindful, I can be enamoured by the simplest things. Paying attention to my footsteps as I walk can be a source of almost orgasmic rapture. When I go to a restaurant I try to really pay attention to the whole experience of eating to really be interested in it, the colours and the textures of the food and the aromas of the food, the different tastes as I chew and the food touches different parts of my tongue. It can make the experience of eating exquisite. I imagine we have all experienced this, that when we really pay attention to what we are doing and give it as much of our time and attention as possible our experience is enhanced.

What mindfulness does is help us deepen our experience of ourselves and the world we live in. And it can be cultivated by everyone. Some really simple ways of cultivating mindfulness are paying attention to the sensations of our footsteps when we walk, or really paying attention to the food we are eating or really paying attention to the sensations you feel when you brush your teeth or put on your shoes. Bringing mindfulness to whatever we are doing makes our experience of life richer, more vivid and potentially a lot more beautiful. It helps us to appreciate life much more. And there are particular meditations that can help us develop mindfulness, one of which is called the mindfulness of breathing that we teach at the Cambridge Buddhist centre. This is where you rest your attention and interest in the process of breathing. A meditation that has been around for thousands of years and was even the Buddha's favourite meditation and apparently, the meditation He was practising when He gained Enlightenment.

The next aspect of meditation that can make us and our experience of life more beautiful is positive emotion or positivity.

There are meditations that help us to refine and cultivate beneficial emotions and responses to life. Through meditation we can cultivate a whole series of positive emotions. If our emotions are usually negative, they can bring us and our experience of life down, they can make life seem and make us feel and look gloomy. This can make our lives more difficult and make us unhappy. So in Buddhism a huge amount of emphasis is put upon developing positive emotions such as friendliness, joy, gladness, rapture, bliss, confidence and contentment.

The most common positive emotion is loving kindness or friendliness.

We can develop loving kindness and friendliness by practising a meditation called the metta bhavana. Metta means loving kindness or friendliness and bhavana means development, cultivation or becoming. So in this meditation we are becoming more loving more kind and more friendly both to ourselves and all beings. In the movement I practise in the meditation is done in five stages.

Firstly we cultivate metta towards ourselves. This is the basis of metta, if we are happy and desire happiness for ourselves we have a good basis to develop metta towards others. To be a friend to yourself is a powerful and beautiful thing.

Secondly, we cultivate metta towards a good friend. Someone who we would be really pleased to see if we bumped into them in the street, someone who we are happy to see.

Thirdly, a neutral person. Someone we don't know and have no strong feelings of like or dislike towards. It could be someone you saw on the train, in a shop, anyone...

Fourthly, a person you are having difficulties with. Someone who you might not want to particularly bump into in the street. Someone who if they walked into the room right now, it might make you feel uncomfortable.

Lastly, the four people altogether. You bring the people from the four stages you have done and wish all of them well together.

Then, if you are feeling mettaful, you can expand your metta out to the people in the room or house with you, then to the town you live in, then the country, the continent ,the whole world (animals included) the whole universe, wherever there are beings wish them well, you can use your imagination to great effect.

Metta is allowing our mind to focus on the beautiful. It is like a deep platonic love and empathy with all creatures. It works by generating a desire for us and all beings to be happy and well. We simply wish that we be happy and wish that others be happy too.

It may sound a bit strange, but through doing this repeated we generate a real loving, kind and friendly attitude towards ourselves and other creatures. Through doing the meditation we become what we dwell on. If we always dwell on the faults we find in ourselves or someone else, we become unhappy, but if we dwell upon the fact that we all what to be happy and wish that we and everyone else were so, then the mind can become very happy indeed. It can help to transform any sense of self hatred we have into a healthy self appreciation and regard.

It can help us to become more caring, open hearted, understanding and friendly towards other people and ourselves. We almost create a savings account of positivity, every time we generate a desire for ourselves and others to be happy we put some positive emotion in our bank. And that bank account can grow and grow and grow depending on how much we practise, we can experience an incredibly beautiful world, when we look at it and ourselves with eyes of friendliness, concern and joy and an open expansive heart. Metta is an extraordinarily powerful emotion. It can help us to be and feel more robust so we can deal with the trials life may throw at us and it can make us more confident. And through this we become more beautiful people.

The last aspect of meditation that I am going to talk about is concentration.

Concentration is the ability to become naturally focussed undistractedly, it where you can become deeply absorbed in what you are doing; there are many meditations that can help us to develop concentration, the mindfulness of breathing and the metta bhavana are two such meditations. And this ability to become concentrated has extraordinary benefits for us.

The happiest people in the world are apparently Buddhist monks, and one of the reasons why that is is because on their ability to become deeply concentrated. A happy mind is a concentrated mind and vice a versa.

There are states of mind that can be accessed in meditation called dhyanas, and they are states of mind characterised by incredible bliss, profound relaxation and calm, razor sharp concentration, energy, and expansiveness. They can be mind blowingly enjoyable, and they have a remarkably beautifying effect, you feel amazing and you radiate a deeply calm, integrated, joyful and energised quality.

This sort of concentration can have a remarkably re rejuvenating effect on the body and mind. Because of the sheer pleasure and bliss of them, and the amount of energy they can give us, they can serve as a real tonic.

One of the things I notice about good meditators is that a lot of them seem to look a lot younger and fresher than they actually are. One of my best friends is a good meditator and he must be a about 44 or 45 by now, but he looks so much fresher and younger than that. The peace and the energy he can find in meditation makes his way of being, his energy so beautiful, meditation can bring a calm, yet energised vitality to you.

It makes sense that if you have led a really busy stressful life, if you have a busy and stressful mind it will take it's toll on the body and how we look. The body and mind are so intricately connected.

I had an unfortunate incident recently where a man got out of his car to have a go at a friend of mine, and what struck me was how much his anger made him look so ugly; his face was contorted, twisted and flushed red, I felt sorry for him; his mind and his body was burning with anger and frustration, and that is harmful to you, and made him look the way he did. If you experience happy, joyful, blissful states of mind, you feel calm, energised and peaceful and more likely than not you will smile so much more. And you will feel and look better because of it.

Unless you are particularly gifted in meditation, it can take a lot of practise, patience and time to be able to access these states of mind. They also need a basis of good ethics and a fairly simple life to help you access them, but concentration can make your experience of life amazingly beautiful and have health benefits too. It is worth pursuing.

The last quality that I will mention very briefly but this in no way relates to it's importance, is the quality of bravery. It can take bravery to make yourself beautiful in this way. It can take bravery to transform and develop ourselves. It can take bravery to want to look at yourself and the world and try to create a different life. But through that bravery we can change our experience of ourselves and of life to increasing levels of beauty. By developing our spiritual beauty, we can become heroic. We can help to change the world we live in simply by being who we are. And this sort of beauty can be a frightening beauty. It can shock people. We can all be brave, we just have to find that place in our hearts that wants a more beautiful life, commit ourselves to it and make it happen. And bravery, I find is a very beautiful quality. And it is very much emphasised and praised in Buddhism. The Buddha Himself made facing and subduing fear a part of His practise, as in found in the Fear and Dread sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya. Through being brave and facing our fears we can grow into more confident people.

So these are the ways that practising Buddhism can make you and your life more beautiful.

I have talked about the need for a more balanced attitude towards beauty in society nowadays, how an unrealistic ideal of physical perfection can lead to unhappiness, and how Buddhism offers the world a different way of looking and relating to beauty, and we have explored the beautifying effect of generosity, the beautifying effect of ethical behaviour, the beautifying effect of meditation and the beauty of bravery.

I have found that these practises have made my experience of life a lot more beautiful and considerably happier. I experience a lot more contentment, peace, excitement, confidence, joy and I am fortunate to have many extraordinary loving friendships with really spiritually beautiful people. through practising I continue to grow and develop and experience who I am and what life is all about more and more deeply.

And each and every one of us can make our lives more beautiful, but not only that, we can help to create a more beautiful society and a more beautiful world. That is the vision of Buddhism, creating a society that is based on ethics, friendliness, compassion and transformation. A society where people are happier, more positive and healthier. A society where we can all realise our potential. By taking up the path of spiritual beauty we can transform ourselves and the world.

It may be in ways that we feel are small, it may be one act of opening the door for someone, or one act of sitting to meditate, but if just one person sees your spiritual beauty it may inspire them to become like you. If we are happier, kinder, braver and have a more enjoyable and beautiful life; we can share that and how we've managed to do it with others, and they too may grow as you have done. This is what the Buddha did and His teachings and example continue to do, the Buddha changed the world with His spiritual beauty. And we can do so too, by becoming spiritually stunning.

Street Meditation

for Mandala news... 11/09/2010

The first name of this project was “public meditation”, and I think this name communicates something in itself. A public space is somewhere that is not private or personal, somewhere that is not hidden. In my experience of Buddhism, although it is not an evangelical religion, we have become apologetic of what we do and why, and I believe (as do many others) that Buddhism and its practices have a lot to offer modern society.

So that’s what I wanted to make more public: the presence of Buddhism in this city, this year, by Westerners. I wanted to communicate that meditation is not only an isolated practice; it’s not only something you do in a quiet room in order to relax and benefit yourself. Meditation can take place anywhere, anytime, in the heart of our society. Wherever and whenever it takes place - on a personal and social level it can have a positive effect.

On our first sit in the city centre, we were sat in a circle or semi-circle, facing out to the world. We were there, meditating in public, and we experienced more than we expected. We imagined that meditating in a city centre on a busy Saturday morning would be more difficult than in a quiet space. In fact, many found that the opposite was true, that it was easier to get into a deeper state of meditation and that the interactive side, like giving out fliers was more difficult.

For me, two things in particular really stood out. First, simply being on the street brought to the meditation a variety and richness we don’t usually experience. There were the sounds of people passing, the rumble of traffic and snatches of conversation; we were surrounded by the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We also really valued being able to invite people to try out meditation, in a friendly way, to show that this is a practice that anyone can take on.

So for this reason we changed the name to “street meditation” and at the next session we arranged ourselves more openly with empty seats and signs saying “try it”, “join in” and, “just sit”. Most of us meditated for short sits of 30mins while two or three others took care of the meditating people and gave out flyers and postcards featuring a short breathing exercise and a link to the website that we are building (www.buddhismtoday.co.uk).

Although some were interested we found that most people didn’t quite know how to respond to what we were doing. Children were more openly curious, asking their parents, “What are they doing? Are they sleeping?”

Street meditation is just beginning - this is a whole new world to explore and we want to continue. Please, if you want to join us and have this experience contact us on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   

Greetings!

Lovely to see a NEW WEB SITE! I wanted to take this opportunity to say good on ya everyone who helpped make this possible, and the other thing I wanted to say is that the Buddhafield East Summer Gathering isn't happening this year as posted on Virya BUT,the Child friendly retreat is on again! Here is the linkage http://www.buddhafieldeast.com/#/family-friendly/4542118981

Love from

Aryapala

Ipswich & Colchester Younger Sangha had an extremely well attended summer BBQ this weekend on the banks of the river Orwell.

We all chose to bring bits of food for the BBQ and it turned out that without much planning we had ample amounts of all the essentials, along with some pretty awesome chutney and copious amounts of veggie burgers of course!

Hey people, 

just back from the weekend in Birmingham, on the new society. a few of us from cambridge travelled over in the crew bus after work, Arthasiddhi had kindly finished his solitary a day early so as to drive us over. Unfortunately we were all men, seeing as the ladies were having a GFR Cambridge womens weekend. It was a shame they couldn't come but none the less they were off doing good stuff.

so we rolled in to the Birmingham buddhist centre just in time to introduce ourselves along with every one else in the shrine room.

the weekend was packed with several short talks form a whole mix of ordermembers and mitras talking on different bits of the new society. Team based right livelihoods/Community living/and centre work. Along with this we had a talk from Vajragupta outlining the general setup and some of the history of the new society, and then some ways forward or next steps. 

There were also various disscussion groups and open space meetings the following days, meditations, pujas and rituals. But for me it was the coming together, a chance to hang out with friends from around the movement. to just practise the dharma in a very simple way with all the guys and gals that were there.

at the end of the weekend, in the closing rituals we had the chance to set intentions or resolutions to take away with us.

so these were mine:

I want to bring my inspiration into action and become a Dharmically effective human being. I dont just want to grow and mature on my own, I want this to be part of the people and friends around me. I have a need to bring my own personal and unique qualities into relationship with the order and movememnt.

I also want to make sure that my own desires and goals and passions, or in other words my vision for the future. Is not forgotten or left unlived or explored due to Fear, or Lack of Skill.  

Hi all, We're having a summer BBQ on 25th June in Ipswich down on the shores of the river Orwell.  We'll be starting in the early afternoon and going on as long as people want to stay!

Bring what you fancy for the BBQ, I will supply a few things and the basics (rolls, condiments and some drinks etc). Also bring a picnic blanket/tarp/binbag and cushion for the meditation bit!

Directions- turn off at junction 57 Nacton Road left at roundabout, first left to orwell meadows over the bridge turn right into the carpark.

At the end of our programme (about every 4 months) Ipswich & Colchester Young Person's Group host a sangha social evening, which last time was named 'The Art of Buddhism' where we explored links with various types of art to our Buddhist practice.  we had examples of musci, art, poetry, and even an improvised blues jam which became known as 'The Tahini Blues' - a great evening enjoyed by all which also made a small amount of money for The Abhayaratna Trust.

We're currently considering the theme for the next  social event - any ideas?

Ruth x