The anniversary of the birth of Skakyamuni Buddha is celebrated in the spring. Different traditions have slightly different dates. For some, it is the full moon of May, for some the 8th of April. We shall celebrate between these two on the full moon of April which is this coming Saturday. Join us for all or part of the Upavastha.

The EBU Team: Dear friends, we are delighted that in April our annual conference will again take place! This time the topic will be Unity and Diversity in European Buddhism. The conference will provide insights and practices so we may create a peaceful society - today this seems to be more relevant than ever.Host will be the Center for Spiritual Friendship Buddhism, Reiyukai in Nantes.  You can attend either in person or remote via video conferencing! (all sessions accept the workshops will be recorded and provided afterwards as video files).Make sure to get your ticket and all details about the event here. Also please forward this mail to everyone who might be interested to attend! Thank you very much for your support!

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Photo by Iris Dotan Katz

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8-12th August 2022

At Eleusis, Central France  -  In person only

As last summer, a time for relaxed living in good company, sharing poems and other writings over brunch, going for walks, good conversation, community, communing with nature in the adjoining 35 acres of meadow and woodland where we hope, eventually, to establish the Oasis 2 Project.

13-14th August 2022

At Eleusis, Central France  -  In person & Online

This year Global Sangha will celebrate Obon on the second weekend of August, which is also full moon, so this will incorporate the August Upavastha. Some of the event will be online. A more full and comprehensive event will take place at Eleusis, including a visit to the nearby community at Oasis. Nambutsu; chanting; readings; meditation; offerings to the ancestors and spirits; odori dancing and other celebratory activities. In person participants may stay longer if they wish to have some time for relaxation and to enjoy the area.

15-20th August 2022

At Eleusis, Central France  -  In person only

Of particular interest to those already on or hoping in the future to join the Buddhist Psychology Diploma Programme, but open to all who are interested, the Summer School will include seminars, workshops, experiential groups, demonstrations and discussions. There is no better way to deepen one's understanding and learn and refine skills. The event will be at David Brazier's house in France. Accommodation is limited so this will be a first come, first served, booking.

 

Full board: 30€ per day

Photo by Sunsook Park

We say that the Buddhist scriptural texts consist of three "pitaka". Pitaka means "basket". Long ago, books were not bound, they were bundles of papers carried in baskets. The three pitakes are sutra, vinaya and abhidharma. Sutra are the direct teachings of Buddha, often in response to an enquiry, but sometimes given as a lecture. Vinaya are the stories of how the guidelines for monks and nuns came about. Abhidharma is a more scholarly form of literature which came about as people tried to systematise the teaching. It includes many lists: list of conditioning factors, lists of elements of mental activity, and so on. As such, it constitutes one of the first attempts in history at a systematic study of the mind and so is the origin of Buddhist psychology. So we can regard the abhidharma as a resource. However, we can also realise it as an activity. We can do our own researches into the mind and mental factors. If we want to refine our skills and "secondary factors" as bodhisattvas on the path, we can usefully study the relationship between language and mental functioning. We can refine our language. We can study how subtle shifts of language change meanings and implications. This is important in rhetoric and in therapy as well as in literature and in daily life. Whether a news broadcast labels a certain group as "terrorists", "insurgents", "rebels", "liberators" or "the resistance", for instance, gives a subliminal message about what one is supposed to think about what is being reported. Changing the word might still accurately refer to what is being transmitted, but completely change the hidden message. Dharma is about getting beyond surface appearance and comprehending deeper levels. If one can see through such subtleties one acquires greater freedom of mind. This is a political example, but the same is true at the personal level. Is one feeling "guilt", "shame", "embarassment", "dismay", "regret", "contrition", or what? Is it "joy", "elation", "triumph", "smugness", "exuberance", etc - getting the precise word can make a lot of difference. Although there is a sense in which experience is always "beyond words", it is still important and valuable to use language well and to avoid its pitfalls. 

Dogen Zenji: "The secret of life in willingness - words are its key."

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Robert Althouse: I live at the cross roads of Zen and art. One thing they both have in common is a quality of whole-hearted attention that is brought to bear on the task at hand. It might be chopping wood and carrying water. Or it might be creating a work of art and happily losing track of time in the process. I think in our culture, we underestimate how important this quality of enriched attention is because it's become a rare and endanger species. Attention is the new currency. Without it you are at the mercy of other peoples' agendas. Madison avenue is only too happy to turn you into a good and obedient consumer.

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In the Spanish Pyrenees  -:-  Photo by Nando Maril

As followers of the Dharma we all strive to live good lives, to realise the ideals of honesty, non-harm, and pure living, but in experience we necessarily encounter the obstacles of karma, of circumstance and of our own habits and passions. We find that however hard we try we cannot fully control our wandering mind and we are easily moved by unwelcome emotions, not just by pure and beautiful ones. So we turn to the Buddhas for help. We recognise our own vulnerability and errors and the nembutsu naturally arises in us as if from a hidden spring. Then we feel gratitude for the blessing of being accepted just as we are.

The ideas developed by these masters had a wide and profound influence upon the whole of Chinese Buddhism and influences our views on faith and practice and also on Buddhist psychology.

A small group are studying the history of the tradition. Last autumn we  studied the transmission in India in the early centuries following the life of the Buddha. In the spring semester there are study units covering the transmission of the  teaching  in China from the beginning of the common era up to the medieval period (13th century). This is a good course for gaining a deeper understanding of the way that the Dharma has spread and adapted to changing historical and social conditions. You can still join this course:

Tickets <https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globalsangha>

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