Mediterranean shore, Karpazia
Global Sangha is growing. In fact, it is becoming a sangha of sanghas. Apart from my own offerings, Nati, Nuria, Ganendra, Sujatin, Geeta, Angela, Iris, Priti & Kimi at least, and maybe others, all have groups or regular gatherings, local or specialist, in various parts of the world or, grace of zoom, internationally. There is the early morning sangha, the Italian Sangha, several Spanish sanghas, Naikan, Tree of Life, and various off-shoots of Buddhist Psychology that seem likely to grow and diversify even further in the not distant future. Seeing this spontaneous flowering and wide transmission of the Dharma is very gratifying and bodes well. For my part, I keep on with my writing and oversight of the BP programme which has also expanded recently. I could have thought that by my age I would be doing less, but, it seems, the Other Power had other plans.
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#
26-28 April. Northern Spain
DEEPENING BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY
Path and Encounter
David Brazier & Iris Dotan Katz
Buddhist psychology is not really concerned with making one into something that one is not, but rather with reaching deeper into what one already is. The Dharma is the fundamental source of our being. We spontaneously recognise it as love, compassion, joy and peace. This recognition is something we already have. It is an unconditional gift. Some call it Buddha nature, but we should not get carried away by the idea that we are all buddhas. The source is not a personal possession. A certain humility is necessary. When we are in touch with the unconditioned, we encounter one another in a new spirit and creative things happen. This is the basis of therapy, of spiritual accompaniment, of deep encounter. It is what is lost in the maelstrom of materialism, superficiality and self-centredness that dominates the contemporary world. This is a workshop to support our practice, restore our recognition of what really matters and meet one another in the safety of the Dharma.
Enquiries & booking: Oscar via Jisshas <
jisshas@googlegroups.com>
22-26 July
BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY SUMMER SCHOOL
Please note the dates of this year's summer school in France. Numbers are quite limited so it pays to book early. The Summer School is particularly relevant to present or intending students of the two year BP training programme. The event is led by Iris Dotan Katz & myself and takes place at my home in central France. This is a simple small farmhouse set in an area of woodland. We can accommodate a few people in the house, but many participants bring tents or camper vans.
The suggested donation for full board is 40€ per day, 250€ per week.
Enquiries & bookings via Jisshas <
jisshas@googlegroups.com>
MAJJHIMA NIKAYA PODCAST TRANSCRIPTIONS
Through the hard work of Nuria, there are now transcriptions of the podcasts relating to the first eighteen sutras in the Majjhima Nikaya. You can find the index at
https://eleusis.ning.com/group3/global-sangha/podcasts/mn-transcription-indexTODAY'S PODCAST
The final part of the Snake Simile Sutra is an exposition on what the Buddha means by non-self. As we have seen repeatedly in the Majjhima Nikaya texts, this is the key teaching. It appears in the first sutta as the mula pratyaya - the fundamental condition of the spiritual life. As it says in the Dhammapada, whatever harm an enemy can do to one, the self can do worse. Yet we live in a society that worships the self. Religion has faded and been displaced by self-indulgence. The basis for most decision making becomes material gain, group dominance or personal comfort. Yet we live in an increasingly perilous situation. War, global warming, and poverty are leading to increasingly large refugee migrations and the only consistent response of the countries that still have wealth is to shut them out as much as possible. If we cannot bring about economic development in the poor countries and do something effective to combat climate change, problems of this kind will only get worse and worse. Wars will spread. Much of the world has been focussed recently on Palestine and Ukraine, but the bloodiest war in the past year has been in Ethiopia and the situation in Yemen is also pretty terrible. Selflessness is not just for the spiritual emancipation of individuals, it is necessary for the survival of the international community. The amount of money hidden in off-shore tax havens would be sufficient to finance schemes that could not only save millions of lives, but might also prevent a collapse of our whole civilisation. However, it is just a pipe dream. The selfish cling to their fortunes and the poor starve, but the up-shot may well be disaster for everybody before the century is out.
Namo Amida Bu.
DB
KO-FI
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