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NEWSLETTER Editor - David Brazier
number 188 - 7th February 2024
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All times in this Newsletter are Rome time zone
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Yaya has been to the Grand Canyon The Buddhist Psychology programme is getting off to a good start. There are now three year groups and, currently, a total of 33 students, which is, I think, the largest number we have had at one time for about thirty years. It is very encouraging to see the programme thriving in this way and providing access to the Dharma to people who want a practical approach that is not caught up in sectarian or hierarchical organisations. We are also excited about the 4th ITZI Conference, planned for Spain in October. We used to hold these conferences every two years and they were always very stimulating events, but then covid came along and we had to suspend the series, but now we are getting back to it. Do get it in your diary, book up and join the throng in October. I am currently escaping from the cold of central France and travelling to a warmer clime to recover from a rather nasty bout of bronchitis. I hope the sunshine will cure me completely. My advancing age must be more obvious than it was - as I went through Paris several kind people helped me carry my luggage up stairways, operate ticket machines, find the right platform - it was very gratifying to be on the receiving end of so many generous gestures. Enjoy the Newsletter Namo Amida Bu - David Get involved: it is time to book for 23rd-27th October 2024 4th ITZI CONFERENCE "COLLOQUIUM ON BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY" Ten presenters already lined up - how about you? You don't have to be a presenter in order to attend, but we hope that as many people as possible will share their ideas, whether they take a 90 minute, 45 minute or 15 minute slot, alone or jointly with a colleague. Experiential workshops & led discussions will be just as welcome as learned papers. We are aiming to bring together fifty people with an interest in Buddhist psychology, its nature, development, application and relevance to the contemporary world. I bought one of the first tickets. Come and join me, attend, participate & present your work & ideas. It will be a residential colloquium held in northern Spain in an excellent venue, secluded in the mountains, that we have used before and know well. This is a good place for a colloquium. Previous conferences in this series have been very enjoyable gatherings and have included a wide variety of presentations on aspects of Buddhist psychology and its applications in various forms of therapy, personal development, spiritual practice and social life & organisation. The event will be limited to fifty places, so early booking is advisable. The cost for early booking is 320€ fully residential. Information: Sonia via 2024itzi@googlegroups.com, Book now: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globalsangha/1067240#8th February ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA A day for some extra nembutsu as we think about the heritage of the great sage that has come down to us through eighty generations. Remember the Buddha's last words: "Original light, original refuge - abide therein, seek no other." Here, "original" means "at the origin", not dependent upon anything else, unconditioned. The central teaching of Buddhism is dependent origination. Depend upon what is original in this sense, what is fundamental, what is not subject to change & decay. When you take this refuge, you yourself become an originator, endlessly creative, ever fresh. Namo Amida Bu. TODAY'S PODCAST
The raft simile. This is one of the most famous similes in Buddhism. Buddhism is distinct from most other religions in not presenting its teachings as eternal dogma, but, rather, as practical spiritual advice. This attitude has saved Buddhism from much of the feuding that has marred many faiths. It implies, firstly, that there can be, as it were, many different kinds of craft for getting across the same river, secondly, that it is pointless to be too attached to a single interpretation - that what counts is the actual practice - thirdly, that although religions may point toward something eternal and fundamental, the religion itself is a human creation and therefore subject to error and decay like all other artifices, and, fourthly, that everything can be left behind eventually. These are special features of the Buddha Dharma. They have had many important consequences. One of these has been that the Buddhist texts are not regarded as infallible. They are full of wisdom, for sure, but due to the vagaries of history, travel, translation, memory and so on, in the case of most of the great texts, several different versions exist. There are at least seven versions of the Larger Pure Land Sutra, for instance. This is not a disaster, it is a richness. Dharma wisdom is not a matter of clinging to the right dogma - quite the reverse: it is a matter of recognising human fallibility, seeing beyond superficial ideology, and, with some humility, reaching out to others in fellow feeling. Namo Amida Bu. DB KO-FI
Do visit The Feeling Buddha Ko-Fi site at
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Photo by Yaya
Jornada de Retiro
MENTE COMPASIVA, CORAZÓN DESPIERTO Retiro presencial en Haro (La Rioja) 10 de febrero de 2024
18th February 13:00 NAIKAN WITH KIMIKO
The next one hour Naikan Session. Naikan, literally "inward reflection" is a Japanese approach to life review and Dharma practice. It leads to a sense of gratitude and a healing and enhancing of relationships. Naikan is both a spiritual practice and a personal therapy. Join zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88992070497?pwd=M3pDRG9LT3BpMnFwR1BSY0I3Vi9QUT09ID: 889 9207 0497 -:- passcode: 999175
SUNDAY PUJA 10:00
Dharmavidya, Liz & Sujatin are now holding a short service on Sunday mornings, normally at 10:00. If you would like to join this group, please come along to a meeting. This is a good way to practise together. There are two zoom links given below as travel arrangements sometimes cause some difficulties. When the first does not work, try the second. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84734198325?pwd=eDU5Z0dBUmVuVmFyZktab3dIeHNmQT09Meeting ID: 847 3419 8325 -:- Passcode: 536609 Meeting ID: 447 192 6002 -:- Passcode: 153670)
Mondays 09:15
QI GONG WITH ANGELA
Angela is offering Qi Gong on Mondays at 9.15 am Rome time.. If you are interested, please contact her via Jisshas < jisshas@googlegroups.com>
Comment by an attender: "I just want to say thank you for the lovely and warm welcoming to your morning Qi Gong experience. I feel very grateful for it. A new way to start the week."
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Nuria ofrece un retiro en español en el País Vasco francés en abril Nuria is offering a retreat in Spanish in the French Basque country in April
BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAMME NEWS
Our academic year started on 1st February. Students signed up, joined the web site, wrote an introduction to their interest and started to get to know one another. Peer learning groups have formed and students are making contact with their tutors. Established second and third year students have moved on to new Classroom material. It is an exciting time. We aim to have about a dozen students in each cohort. This year's 12 new members hail from Spain, Netherlands, Italy, England, Scotland, USA, Thailand, India and Bhutan - a good international mix as usual. Every two or three weeks there are seminars at which students from all three year groups can meet and three times a year we have a whole weekend of studies. But most students will tell you that the most important part of the course is the peer learning work in which students engage in interpersonal exercises that make the theoretical material that they are learning come alive in their own experience. Not all of the students are or intend to become psychotherapists, but all are interested in obtaining a deeper understanding of the human heart and mind. Monday to Friday 06:30 DAILY NEMBUTSU Geeta Chari: Let’s do some Nembutsu every weekday morning at 6:30 am Rome time. We begin to chant straightaway, without social talk, for 20 minutes, in chain-style. There is a bell rung at the end. People who wish to stay and talk afterwards are welcome to do so. Saturdays and Sundays are rest days. Namo Amida Bu Every Thursday there is a half-hour reading and discussion of the Summary of Faith and Practice from 06:00 to 06:30, followed by Nembutsu as usual. ESPAÑOL Practicamos Nembutsu todas las mañanas (excepto fines de semana) a las 6:30 hora de Roma. La práctica consiste en recitar el nembutsu en cadena durante veinte minutos. Al finalizar se escuchará el sonido de la campana, y posteriormente, los que lo deseen podrán conversar. Namo Amida Bu Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/84997972011?pwd=NFVGZDhBTy95NTJlalJYWHZaYVJtUT09WhatsAppThere is now a WhatsApp group for those who would like to attend Daily Nembutsu. Please contact jisshas@googlegroups.com to be added. Taijun Kasahara: Whenever you are able to say the Nembutsu out loud, please do so. If you are unable to do so, quiet Nembutsu or silent Nembutsu in your mind is fine. Amida Buddha wants you to continue the Nembutsu in whatever way you can. The same goes for the number of times. Continuity is first, number is second. However, if you decide on a number, you will be able to continue well as a result. I am concerned that some people set a high number and practice obsessively to achieve it, and end up mentally driven into a corner, so I advise them not to get too attached to the number. However, if you are able to decide on a number and continue practicing with joy, please do so. Namu Amida Butsu. https://shorturl.at/BIPW6
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THE STATE OF THE WORLD: SOME BASIC QUESTIONS In 2022, almost 40% of global military expenditure was accounted for by the US ($877 billion). China’s budget was 13% at $292 billion. Russia & India come next with less than 4% each, roughly one tenth of America. Yet, here we see Russia and USA facing off in Ukraine and, at the moment, it looks like a dead heat. And when we think back to Iraq, Afghanistan, or Vietnam, America did not do so well there either. Isn’t this somewhat surprising? I'd like to suggest that real power has a moral-spiritual dimension, not merely one of brute force.
Three so-called liberal democracies, UK, France & USA, precisely because they do claim to be liberal democracies (LD) and staunchly believe that this is the most virtuous form of polity to which the whole world should be converted, act as though they have a right to instruct the rest of the world and to back up this instruction with military action. However, most of this action consists of bombing that kills far more civilians than combatants. If we were to accept the official line that these military actions are intended ultimately to convert the world to the liberal democratic approach, then we would have to conclude that even when they have involved troops on the ground, they do not seem to have been very effective. Does this not cast some doubt upon the basic theory? Then we have the issue of sanctions. We seem to have convinced ourselves that economics (money) is all that really matters. Economic sanctions have thus become a weapon of war, but it is by no means clear that they do what they are supposed to do. When the Ukraine war broke out, it was widely put about that economic sanctions would bring Russia to its knees in a short time. Now, however, it is becoming apparent that sanctions have hurt Europe badly, stultifying economic growth and exacerbating a wave of inflation that began with the measures implemented during the pandemic, whereas in Russia sanctions have stimulated growth, especially in agriculture, as the country has been forced to become self-sufficient. Wheat production has risen by nearly fifty percent - something that the Russian government would have been quite incapable of achieving without the help of sanctions. The whole thing seems to have back-fired. Does this not rather call in question the economic principles upon which most of our policies are based? Are we not increasingly living in a world characterised by a spiritual vacuum? Everything is monetarised and economics rules. People serve machines. Wars are waged by remote control. Democratic politics has become largely a matter of spin. Where can one look for real leadership or inspiration?
It is evident that the US and its proxies have the technological capacity to do a huge amount of damage, but it is not apparent that they are actually winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the mass of humanity. Furthermore, it is not clear that the LDs are really in such good shape in their own patch. In the past century, America has never been so divided as it is now, in UK one senses a pervasive gloom and in France, the population seem to take to the streets to oppose their own government on every possible pretext.
It rather seems that nothing very inspiring is on offer. Communism has died. Capitalism is making the rich-poor divide worse, Christianity has been shamed by many abuses. Islam is divided into sharply antagonistic factions. Nationalism only fuels feuds. Does Buddhism have anything to offer to this sorry state of affairs? Surely this is a question that we should be trying to answer.
Buddhism does not offer a single social system or a single political model. Historically it seems to have favoured what we could call the philosopher king model - the virtuous traditional monarch. But virtuous traditions take many generations to establish. There is no quick fix. The basic building blocks are respect for those who give a good example and the construction of communities within which sharing and cooperation prevail on a principle of “small is beautiful”. This cannot be achieved overnight. However, we can all do something toward it. We can all be part of a spirit of sangha, both global and local. The world is suffering from a spiritual-psychological problem, not an economic-military one.
Peace is not achieved by bombing and bullying, but by restraint and step-wise fostering of care and confidence. To walk the path in a world such as ours, one needs faith. One needs to stay in touch with the source. It is not so much a matter of trying to reshape the world according to an ideal plan as of staying true to the very source of life, the very Dharma, the love and light that is spontaneously recognisable to every one of us when we see it manifest, just as young Siddhartha saw it in the sadhu who inspired him to go on his quest. There is something that we all know in our hearts. Let us have the courage of it. Then, even if social fragmentation continues, one will have done what one needed to do and, in the long run, it will bear fruit. My most fundamental question, therefore, is: are we capable of this? Namo Amida Bu. ========================================================== TIME TO SIGN UP FOR
THE BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY COLLOQUIUM OCTOBER THIS YEAR IN SPAIN
To Register:Get a ticket at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globalsangha? "2024 ITZI Conference" More details: see above, the first item in the Newsletter ==========================================================
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DIARY All times are Rome time zone Every weekday (Monday-Friday) 06:30-06:50 Nembutsu Chanting - Geeta Chari https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84997972011?pwd=NFVGZDhBTy95NTJlalJYWHZaYVJtUT09Mondays 09:15-10:00. Qi Gong Information: Angela via Jisshas Lunedì dalle 19.00 alle 19:45 - ogni due settimane Gruppo ItalianoInformation: Angela via Jisshas Tuesday 6th February and every first Tuesday of the month Tree of Life SanghaLed by Sujatin, based in Perth, Scotland for code see above in Newsletter Thursday 14:30, 8th February & every two weeks BP Diploma Tutors Meeting Thursday 18:00-19:30, 8th February & every two weeks Supervision Group - Iris Dotan KatzFor presentation, review and discussion of counselling/psychotherapy casework from a Buddhist psychology perspective. Information: Iris via Jisshas
Fridays 19:30-20:10 Amitabha Service Angela & friends https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89480699209?pwd=enBHS3RYWVZxN1FyUGthZ1o0cVdFZz09Meeting ID: 894 8069 9209 -:- Passcode: 137836 Viernes 18:00 Encuentro de la Sangha en español y servicio. Guiado por Ganendra. Por zoom. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81138990223?pwd=dmNZU3VmRTRhUjBobVdnMjhuV3NYUT09Para asistir, escribir por whatsapp a +34 620265962. Sunday 13:00 every 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month Naikan - Kimiko Nita ID: 889 9207 0497 -:- passcode: 999175 Sundays: 10:00 Puja: Sunday service with chanting, readings, & sharing - coordinator Liz Almark https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84734198325?pwd=eDU5Z0dBUmVuVmFyZktab3dIeHNmQT09Meeting ID: 847 3419 8325 -:- Passcode: 536609 Also: see alternative code in Newsletter above. ===========================================================
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