from Moksananda
A little later than normal, here is a brief report on the last meeting of the College of Public Preceptors. We met in November at Madhayamaloka.
Subhuti was with us for the first few days and shared his thoughts coming out of recent conversations he has had with Bhante on the Imagination. We covered similar material to his talks in Cambridge and at the LBC, and which he has written up in his paper ‘Imagining the Buddha’. Amongst other things we spent some time exploring the implications for Sadhana practice, which is something that Subhuti particularly draws out.
We also spent some time discussing meditation, especially with regard to the ordination process. In the Order we now seem to be arriving at a renewed understanding of meditation and we would like to build on that in communication with others.
We spent time simply identifying areas of meditation we think need more discussion or clarification and how we could proceed. We want to make sure that meditation continues to go hand-in-hand with the teaching of the Dharma at Centres, and not become divorced from ethics and wisdom. We’re suggesting that a working group on meditation come out of the planned International meeting. We would like Order members representing the three strands of the Order, the Movement and the College to come together to look at coordination in meditation and to talk through the issues.
We are also keen to continue to work with private preceptors, not only in the area of clarifying meditation but also with regards ordination and post-ordination training generally. Private preceptors are in important kalyanamitrata relationships with Order members and their role is essential to the spiritual dynamism of our community. We have a number of training retreats planned for private preceptors next year, and would like to have a large retreat with public and private preceptors in 2012.
We also talked about the ordination process in India. The men and women’s process there are seriously under-resourced in terms of preceptors and it seems essential that consultation processes for new preceptors, especially public, are started. We agreed to do so, at the same time aware that there are different points of view in India about what is needed for the ordination process to develop. We see consultation regarding new preceptors as a means of also discussing and clarifying such issues.
Another area to which we gave some time was the area of sexual ethics within kalyanamitra relationships in our community, including the whole range of such relationships: preceptor/preceptee, retreat leaders, class leaders. We recognised that this is a complex and sensitive issue and one that needs further thought and discussion.
A number of further points were on our agenda, which we gave more or less time to. These included changes to FWBO Central, which holds central assets of the movement such as Madhyamaloka. There is a plan for a change in the structure of FWBO Central ensuring that the College is legally responsible for the assets it is morally responsible for.
College funding was also on the agenda, and we decided to partially support a professional fund-raiser, who will also be working for the European Chairs’ Assembly. We also had an update on the Sangharakshita land project, discussed 7-year reviews (with a number of us coming up for review in 2011/12), and looked at our policy on Order names and concerns that the scholars have raised about ensuring their grammatical correctness.
We also, of course, had time together in our kulas. The kulas decide on ordinations, on private preceptor consultation and reviews, and gives a smaller context for each of us to share our work and concerns. There are 5 kulas at present. Men and women in the ordination process, and Order members themselves, may not be aware of which public preceptors are working together in this way, so I thought it might be useful to list the kulas:
- India: Chandrasil, Suvajra, Karunamaya, Srimala and Subhuti
- two men’s Kulas: Manjuvajra, Padmavajra, Satyaraja, Saddhaloka, Surata and Moksananda in one, and Dhammarati, Sona, Nagabodhi, Buddhadasa, Mahamati, Kamalasila in the other.
- a women’s kula: Dhammadinna, Dayanandi, Parami, Maitreyi, Ratnadharini, Sanghadevi, Padmasuri, Mallika, Vajragita
- a South pacific women’s kula: Varadevi, Dharmanandi, Megha, Ratnadharini, Parami and Sanghadevi.
Some public preceptors may be in more than one Kula if they have overlapping responsibilities.
Our next meeting will be in March 2011 at Padmaloka.
January 13, 2011
A meeting of the College of Public Preceptors
April 19, 2010
A report on the recent meeting of the College of Public Preceptors
From Moksananda
Werner Herzog is reported to have once said that documentaries are as close to the truth as glaciers are to flatulence. The point being I guess that documentaries just cannot do justice to the subtlety and complexity of things. In the case of glaciers neither the awe they inspire nor their beauty can be captured.
Likewise, perhaps a report of a meeting of Order members can never really communicate what that meeting was like. Even a good report is inevitably flat and two-dimensional. A meeting of Dharmafarers exists in many dimensions, on many levels, and manifests the play of friendships that may go back a whole life-time. Certainly that is true of the recent public preceptors’ meeting.
I'd never been to Taraloka before. For some reason I wasn't expecting it to be quite so lovely. I guess I just imagined a place on the edge of a peat-bog being somewhat flat and uninteresting. But no, it's lovely. The retreat centre is really well done, light and spacious, well looked after, and the community just seem to brim with delight in it's smooth-running. And even after a week I was still finding corners of the place I hadn't noticed before.
And the birds. I loved getting up in the mornings and being outside just listening to their song! Maybe it's like that all over Britain this time of the year. After more than 20 years in Spain I don't remember. I suspect it is. What a delight! I felt happy before even getting into the shrine room, which itself was another delight. Being in it felt like a kind of blessing. Really. Light pours in through the large windows and there is such a stillness. I'm sure some of what I experienced had to do with being there with friends in the Dharma, but I'm equally sure it had something to do with the place itself and the many women who have sat there in meditation over the years.
After meditation, breakfast: my favourite meal on retreats. What is it about meditating with friends and then sharing coffee, porridge and toast? So simple, so satisfying, so normal.
We began our morning meetings at about 10 o'clock, coming together to sort out any practical details before getting on with whatever it was we were going to be doing. There were about 20 of us and during our 11 days together we spent time studying with Subhuti – his reflections on various suttas and things coming out of his recent conversations about the Dharma with Bhante – kula meetings, a report on the ordination process in India, discussion about structures for co-ordinating decision making (in the order, movement and college) and a number of other points such as college funding, mitra study, reviews of preceptors, the land project…
The India Public Preceptors Kula discussed the consultation process for new preceptors with us and Subhuti talked about responses in India to Bhante's recent conversation regarding his personal life. We also heard a little about the effects of Karuna deciding to withdraw funding from the ordination teams in India. Karuna still supports the teams to some extent, but from 1st April their support has been cut by 25%, and it will be completely gone in a years time. The India Dhamma Trust has recently been launched with the aim of supporting the teams that work with Karunamaya and Suvajra, and to expand the women's team. This is important because these people do a lot of Dharma work, and provide many of the retreats in India. They are a crucial part of our Order and Movement there and if we are not able to find financial support for them it's going to have a big effect on things.
A structure for the Order and movement:
It's a complex issue, as we all know. We started by seeing that there is a lot already in place within the three strands of the Order, the Movement and the College. We have such things as the European and international chairs meeting, the centre presidents, the mitra convenors' meetings, the order convenors and chapters, the preceptors' college and the private preceptor gatherings. It's important that each of these three strands work effectively in each of the regions, and that there is good liaison between them. At present we have very little structure that allows the different strands to 'talk to each other' and in a way that balances on the one hand the views of all Order members, mitras and friends, and on the other, spiritual and organisational experience. We need to balance the horizontal and vertical, autonomy and coordination.
We talked about all this at some length in the college meeting, and we're very keen for Dhammarati, as chair of the college, to continue discussion with others in the Order and movement. In fact, we think it's pretty essential. Dhammarati plans a number of meetings with other bodies in the movement and we hope we can steadily move towards a clear structure with broad consent.
Funding:
Moksananda presented a report. We need to find a more effective and long-term means of finding funding for the work of the College. Though we are very generously supported by a number of the men and women who have asked for ordination, and a few Order members, we simply are not getting enough financial support to meet basic running costs. The funding of the college is somewhat precarious and we would like to find a more sustained and on-going source of financial support for our work. It seems to me important for the Order and movement that the college does get the support it needs to be able to work effectively. There’s more information about college funding on our web page and links if anyone is able to donate via standing-order. And there's a button to our JustGiving page here on our blog, for one-off donations.
We also discussed, amongst other things, mitra study (and the need to perhaps strengthen some elements in the course), the land project (the visions behind it and how it's going), the changing of the name of the Order and movement to Triratna, young people and how we can encourage them in the ordination process, and preceptor reviews. We also returned to look at the theme of Order members going to Dharma teachers outside of the Order, and in the light of Bhante’s message of last year.
During our time together we celebrated Dhammadina's birthday, we had Ratnasuri with us for dinner one evening, we marked the 20th anniversary of the death of Dhardo Rimpoche, and Chandrasil from India shared his life story.And some of us watched 'Encounters at the End of the World' by Werner Herzog. The documentary is about people who spend half the year living in the Antarctic, mainly eccentric scientists and travellers who like to discuss such things as the beginnings of evolution or cosmic energies that permeate all things. A pretty wacky, but somehow very inspired and positive bunch of men and women. In some ways, not unlike a few of the public preceptors I thought…
Personally, the meeting was very enjoyable and I think beneficial. It was good to be back with my kula and catch up on where we're all at. I really appreciated Subhuti sharing his understanding of the Dharma so fully and hope that he has the opportunity to share some of what has come out of his conversations with Bhante as widely as possible. I think of lot of people would find it very helpful. I also loved seeing more of Suvajra. And if any of you want to see some photos of our meeting, then Suvajra has posted quite a few here on Facebook.
Or maybe just this once, ‘Birdcall from the Realm of Tara’?
February 3, 2010
A trip to Mexico
from Moksananda
Just back from Mexico after a 10-day visit.
But hey, I do like Mexico. And particularly connecting up with our Sangha there. I've been visiting for some 12 or 13 years now. Participating in the Order and movement there is an important part of my life. I've ordained many of the Dharmacharis, privately, publically or both, and am president to one of our two Buddhist Centres, el Centro Budista de la Ciudad de México, which is in the area of Mexico known as La Roma. This is run by Upekshamati, who is the chairman and who started Order activities in Mexico, and by Virasiddhi, Dayachandra, Padmabandhu and Abhayagita. There is also another centre of the movement in Mexico City, BudaMandala, run by Jñanadakini, Saddhajyoti, Akasavajri, Rocani and Kavindu. This is in Coyoacan, for anyone who knows Mexico.
Some 5,500 miles away from Europe and 2,000 miles from the nearest other centre run by order members (San Francisco), the FWBO in Mexico is relatively small. There are 13 order members living there, all of them Mexican, and well over 100 mitras, about 30 of whom have asked for ordination. I don't think any of the order members there would mind me saying that there have been some tensions between some of them over the last couple of years. It's not easy building a Sangha from scratch, a long way from other order members etc and in a very different culture from anywhere else in our movement. And especially so perhaps during a period when our community as a whole has been in a period of flux. But things seem to be coming together again and personally I have only admiration for what my brothers and sisters in the Order are doing there.
I met up one way or another with all the men who are actively pursuing ordination in Mexico, some 16 men. I was glad to see that the 4-year mitra study course is getting underway, or about to get underway, in both centres there. One of the things I am concerned about, as public preceptor for Spanish-speaking men, is that those who ask for ordination are able to follow through their request. This is not always easy in a situation a long way from other parts of the movement. Dharma study, longer intensive retreats and meaningful contact with order members are not so easy to come by and it has taken time to build these things up. But even in the last few years I have seen definite development in all these areas in Mexico and I think that is reason for celebration.Since Upekshamati started Buddhism courses etc in Mexico there has been a gentle stream of Mexican men and women visiting the UK and Spain, even living here for extended periods. Several Mexican order members have been ordained while living in the UK. At present both Saddhayu and Maitrigosha are in Cambridge at Windhorse, and Ivan, who has asked for ordination, also lives there. Samamati, who lived in Mexico working at the centre for many years, also works at Windhorse.
Apart from the opening of BudaMandala and developing conditions for the men and women who have asked for ordination, the last year or so has also seen the translation and publication of quite a few of Bhante Sangharakshita's books in Mexico. This is an important project that has benefits not just for the movement in Mexico, but in Spain and Venezuela too. Upekshamati has been leading a small team that plans to translate and edit a number of Bhante's books, and some by other order members, over the coming years.
Approximately 400 people a week are involved with Buddhism or meditation classes/courses at the Mexico City Buddhist Centre (I don't know the figures for BudaMandala). Some 150 of those are in weekly study groups. OK, with a metropolitan area population of over 21 million they say anyone can draw a crowd in Mexico City. That the Dharma could have a very positive effect on a lot of men and women in Mexico, and on the society as a whole, I have no doubt. At the moment the work of order members and other Buddhist groups in Mexico is just a drop in the ocean. But it's a drop of something very special indeed and with our growing Sangha in Mexico beginning to find its feet I think that the Three Jewels may yet find a place in the heart of many, many Mexicans. And that could have quite some effect.
I left Mexico thinking that I must go back again soon. Even if I do find the long flights difficult. And the trip back home? Well that was pretty horrible too.
But hey, I do like Spain ...
January 15, 2010
fund-raising 2010
from Moksananda
Most preceptors, public and private, just donate their time; theyʼre not supported to be preceptors. To be able to connect to thousands of men and women around the world, we do however need to support the chair and a part-time administrator of the college. This year we would also like to begin to provide the chair of the college with part-time secretarial support.
We also help to bring public preceptors from India and Australasia to our meetings in the UK. It is an important link that keeps our Order and movement spiritually unified.
To do all this we need to find £20,000 per annum. Itʼs not a lot, but we need to raise it. We have no ongoing funding, apart from what we can raise from men and women who have asked for ordination and a few Order members who generously support us.
If you have asked for ordination and live in Europe you should be receiving a letter from me soon, asking for your support in 2010. However, I thought I'd post something here too. Just in case there is anyone else out there who would like to contribute!
Your financial support will make a real difference to how well we can do this work.
2009
In 2009 we set out to raise £15,000. We finally raised about £14,000 (as I write I am still waiting for the end of year figures). That's fantastic! I have written to nearly all our supporters thanking you/them for supporting us in 2009. There are a few, however, who I have not been able to track down. If that's you, then please be assured that all of us in the college really want to thank everyone who donated, whether by standing order or one-off donations. People contributed from the UK, Europe, and from Australia and New Zealand too. We have the beginnings of a worldwide community to support the work of the college.
This year we hope we can build on that growing support and reach our new target of £20,000.
Who is getting supported?
The chair of the college, Dhammarati, has a responsibility for the smooth running and development of the whole ordination process. Bhante once said that what links the Order is ʻa shared understanding of going for refugeʼ. Itʼs Dhammaratiʼs job to make sure that we share experience about what makes spiritual training work and that the college is able to effectively assume itʼs many responsibilities.
He works directly with Bhante and the private preceptors; meets with the chairmen, mitra convenors and Dharma teachers; helps in the training of private preceptors; and, of course, chairs the Preceptors' College itself. He wants to make sure that training for ordination is a real spiritual training.
He is also responsible for the men's ordination process in the USA.
Moksananda - me! - is our part-time administrator. I give essential support to private and public preceptors, look after our web pages, work with Dhammarati and find the funds to support the college, amongst other things.
I also run the Spanish-speaking ordination process for men.
The public preceptors respond wholeheartedly to every request for ordination. Please help us.
Of course, what we'd really like is for people to make a regular donation to the work of the public preceptors. Weʼre suggesting that everyone who has asked for ordination make a donation of £50 a year, for those in the UK, and the equivalent in Euros for those in the rest of Europe. But if you want to give, weʼd be grateful if you just give what you can afford, whether it is more or less.
A standing order, paid monthly or annually, would make this simpler and more reliable for us.
If you want to make a contribution you can find information for setting up a standing order here, or for making a one off donation at JustGiving click here or the donate button on this blog. It's easy.
And you can find out more about us here.
Please, help us to help those who wish to commit themselves to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and be Ordained into the Western Buddhist Order.
Many thanks.
January 13, 2010
Guhyaloka and Vajrasattva
from Moksananda
I've just come back from a short solitary at Guhyaloka, which I very much enjoyed and benefited from. It was particularly good to connect more strongly again with the figure of Vajrasattva, the sadhana I took when I was ordained by Bhante in 1985.
I spent quite a bit of time meditating and reflecting on Vajrasattva, and his significance Dharmically and in my life. Having the time and space to simply follow through those reflections led to a natural flowering of confidence in the practice of the Dharma, Bhante as my teacher and the context of our Order.
In fact I came away with a very simple set of precepts, which I would like to follow, back in my day to day life. Nothing particularly radical, just simple Dharma:
1. Be happy - and if not happy then positive.
2. Do the practice - whatever particular form my Dharma practice takes at any given time.
3. Help others - my family, friends and the Sangha. If I can help strangers and 'the world' too, then great.
It was, as always, really lovely to be back at Guhyaloka, our retreat centre in the mountains near Alicante, Spain, where the 4 month ordination course for men is held each year. I'm very grateful to the community for looking after me there and providing such good conditions for solitary retreats. I first lived at Guhyaloka in 1987, then again in 1997, and have spent many shorter periods up there. It's a kind of spiritual home for me I guess. The first day I arrived at Guhyaloka in 1987 I awoke to a blanket of snow covering the valley. As it happens, I hadn't seen so much snow there since. Not till the penultimate day of my solitary. Beautiful.
And of course Vajrasattva is said to be the colour of sunlight on pure white, virgin snow.
February 17, 2009
fund-raising
from Moksananda
We are raising on-going funds so that the preceptors’ college can support two vital jobs, that of the chair and a part-time administrator, and so that we can contribute to bringing public preceptors to our meetings from India and Australasia.
Thank you!
As a result of the donations we recieved in 2008 we have been able to go some considerable way to meeting these aims. People's contributions have really made a difference.
How is the fund raising going?
Last year we managed to raise some £8,000 pounds through standing orders, one-off donations and gift aid. That’s a good start, and with a grant from Windhorse:evolution of over £9,000 we managed to raise a total of £17,352 (we are looking for £15,000 per year at present).
This year we want to double our income from donors, given that for the foreseeable future Windhorse is not going to be able to help us again. In 2008 we had just over 100 donors, between those who set up a standing order and those who made a one-off donation. So we are looking to find an extra 100 people to help support us in 2009.
How is our work going?
Sangharakshita once said that what links the order is ‘a shared understanding of going for refuge’, and this is very much how we see our work in the Preceptors’ College: deepening a mutual understanding of going for refuge between ourselves and sharing that understanding with others in the Order and the FWBO, especially with those of you who have asked for ordination.
At present the chairman is Dhammarati and I am the administrator/secretary. As a direct result of people's generosity I have been able to work two days a week for the college, during which time I've covered a number of essential jobs, such as maintain our web page, help private and public preceptors with information etc, register names for ordinations as well as follow through decisions made at our meetings, write reports and respond to queries, and give Dhammarati some secretarial help. And of course I have been finding the funding we need!
Dhammarati works directly with the college of public preceptors to help us focus and develop that all important ‘shared understanding of going for refuge’. He also works with the private preceptors, and meets with the chairs of fwbo centres, the presidents, the mitra convenors and Dharma teachers, as well as with Bhante. This link between the college and the Order and movement is vital and it’s essential that we are able to support him to be able to do this work. Though Dhammarati holds other responsibilities too, through the generosity of donors he has been able to give a considerable amount of his time to these important tasks.
Keeping in touch:
Remember you can find out more about the college on our site at www.preceptorscollege.org.
I am hoping that gradually we will have more frequent posts from public preceptors on the blog here, so it’s probably worth having a look once a week or so to see if there’s anything new.
Little by little
People are contributing to the financial support of the college from the UK, from Europe, and from Australia and New Zealand too. A world-wide community of people who help support the College is gradually developing. And now we've got the ball rolling we'll be continuing to put our efforts into finding more supporters.
Want to help?
As I wrote above, people's donations really do make a difference to us being able to support public and private preceptors, the men and women in the ordination process and once they have joined the Order, and to our work alongside others in the FWBO as a whole. It quite directly helps us to contribute to the unfolding of our movement and to our community.
Quite a few of our supporters have written to me saying how much they appreciate being to able to help us. I’ve personally found that really inspiring. If you want to make a contribution you can find information for setting up a standing order here, or for making a one off donation click here.
January 21, 2009
Private Preceptor's Retreat at Padmaloka
Last week I attended a retreat for private preceptors at Padmaloka. We were eleven men, some had done over twenty private ordinations, others were yet to actually ordain someone. But we were all engaged with the process of helping men join the Order, and so the discussions that we had every morning and evening were stimulating and illuminating. Saddhaloka and I hoped that the retreat would go some way to working towards deepening our common understanding of what it meant to be an Order member. We discussed very fully our own views, and what we would expect from someone we invited into the Order.
In particular we talked about our relationship to Bhante, and the Order generally; our attitudes to ethical practice and where we drew the lines of acceptable behaviour; what meditation practices we did and what we would expect the men we ordained to do; whether Bhante's 'teaching' was complete or whether we needed 'other' teachers; whether our 'institutions' were working; and so on. We were not looking for a crude authoritative list of agreed conditions but a deeper appreciation of the spiritual principles involved. Of course there were differences in perspective, but gradually, by listening to each other and speaking honestly, we each formed a greater degree of confidence in the others. In the same way that I'd felt an increasing shared confidence in our common understanding as a result of our Preceptor's College meetings, I felt a greater unity from our discussions on this retreat. It was a common experience – as of course it had to be, to be real – and through our engagement we were all inspired and educated.
We also talked about the more practical aspects of how we can help men prepare for ordination, and the difficulties that it can involve. Some of the discussions reminded us of the nature of the responsibility we have taken on, and how this urges us to intensify our own personal practice.
But it was not all talk, we did a couple of hours meditation every morning and the six-element practice every afternoon as well as a puja every evening. The familiar walks in the Norfolk countryside and the unflagging attention of the Padmaloka community completed the experience. I felt it was a deeply satisfying week which we hope to repeat next year – hopefully with even more preceptors in attendance.
