from mexico

hi there
wondering if it is worth starting to write here again or start a new blog. i'm currently visiting mexico city and have been pretty busy since arriving.
Pxx

south pacific

well, it really has been too long!!! i think most folk have given up on me blogging by now. i just get so busy and it slides but i'd like to try and find the time to keep it up.
i'm on the last full day of my trip to the south pacific region. i left britain in the midst of incredible snowstorms and below zero temperatures and flew to auckland. i was picked up at the airport and whisked off to awhitu (pronounced afitu) environmental camp where i was to lead a retreat for dharmacharinis from the region. a couple of days later 35 of us were studying and meditating together. i really enjoyed the retreat, we studied the cetokila sutta which was a good choice i think. it deals with faith and confidence in: the three jewels; the training and the community. i gave talks and we had discussions around the text. i had wondered if there was enough to do a whole retreat and had another text up my sleeve but i ended up giving 10 talks and our discussions were stimulating and (i'm told) useful. the whole retreat felt very satisfying indeed.
straight after the retreat a bunch more order members turned up - men and women - including dhammarati and we had the first southern pacific region order convention for 15 years. i thoroughly enjoyed that. as we had received bhante's letter re his suggestion for the new name for the order, people were very keen to do some kind of ritual to mark how happy they were with this development. so, we had a lovely ritual on the saturday evening in the midst of a padmasambhava puja. that felt very significant. the photo above is the banner made by prajnalila to welcome folk onto the convention. it was lovely seeing it billowing in the wind against a clear blue sky.(well it was cloudy that day but there were moments of clear blue sky as well) i think there were 57 of us on the convention. this was my 4th order convention in 12 months! international one at bodh gaya, the combined and then women's european conventions and now this. seems good for an order convenor. i had hoped to also attend the american convention in sept this year but i think i've got to let go of that.
after the convention the women public preceptors here had a meeting which sanghadevi and i attended. dhammarati stayed on for a day and a half with us and we talked about all sorts of things to do with the ordination process here in this region. plenty of food for thought.
after that spent a night in auckland and then took the train down to wellington. that was a gorgeous 12 hour train journey. i spent a few days in wellington mainly attending order events though i also gave a talk at friends night. i talked on what would the buddha do now?.
from wellington i flew to melbourne where i led a weekend retreat and gave a talk in the buddhist centre. they had been focussing on going for refuge so i talked on my own experience of going for refuge. lots of tales from my experience of finding the movement and the early days of the order (well the late 70s early 80s, early days for me).
i took the train up to sydney from melbourne. another 12 hour journey. relaxing if not quite so picturesque as the new zealand trip. i've been pretty busy here. again, order events and seeing people. i've enjoyed it a lot. i feel very at home in sydney and this is my 3rd trip so i am getting to know people here. on monday night i led the parinirvana celebrations. that was lovely. tonight i'll give a talk on the mahaparinibbana sutta. this morning i went to a right livelihood meeting at bodhi books, the team based right livelihood business here run by ratnajyoti and carunalaka. i have a fantasy that if i wasn't order convenor i'd like to come here and live for a few years and work in bodhi books. oh well!
tomorrow i fly back to birmingham. i'm not looking forward to going back to the frozen north in terms of the temperature but i am quite happy to be getting back. i'm way behind with e mails and other communications so look forward to catching up.

in valencia

i'm in valencia for a week after having been at akashavana for the ordination period of the 3 month retreat where 17 women became dharmacharinis. they were from 6 different countries. the retreat is going very well and when we (the preceptors) left they were about to enter a silent phase of more intensive meditation. then they will have a period of 'order induction' and end their retreat with study on the bodhicaryavatara, santideva's wonderful mahayana poem which mixes poetry, metaphysics and practical advice. so, they'll leave the mountain on that note - focussed on the altruistic dimension of their practice and the fact that the world will benefit from more dharma practitioners.

i arrived here in valencia on thursday night. quite a contrast from the tranquility of akashavana! valencia is a busy noisy city and i'm staying in a flat belonging to a dear friend -- right on a busy road. also it's hot and humid unlike the nights on the mountainside which are fresh and even to my mind (or body) cold. took a bit to adjust. of course having lived in valencia for over 12 years it is certainly familiar. friday i spent most of the day with guhyapati who had come down from eco-dharma centre inthe pyrenees to meet with mahamati and i. the three of us have been working together on the programme for the european order convention later in the summer. we met for lunch and then wandered around and sat in a peaceful square catching up and talking about all sorts of things. then we met with mahamati (on his way to guhyaloka) and had a really enjoyable and productive meeting and supper together. it worked really well that all three of us could be in valencia together. more satisfying than skype though i don't knock skype at all. it's one of my main ways of keeping up with people given my lifestyle.

on saturday i went to the fiesta in the new buddhist centre. this was to mark the end of the intensive 7 months of hard work on the renovation of the centre. it is fantastic. i'm so pleased for them. (click the title of this blog entry to go to their web page. it is in spanish but even if you don't read spanish you'll get a sense of it). it really is the venue we dreamed of for years- patios, various meditation / yoga spaces where there can be different activities, a 'cafe' area. the neighbours from upstairs had come along and it was delightful to see them sitting there -- 4 elderly valencianos really enjoying themselves and great to hear saddhakara eloquently thanking them for their patience and kindness during the reforms. i was 'presented' as the new president of the centre and had to make a wee spontaneous speech. just as well my spanish hasn't got too rusty.

on sunday i spent the day at the buddhist centre - the morning with the women mitras who have asked for ordination and the afternoon with the women's chapter.

since then i've been meeting up with people -- a lot of people - and talking - a lot! very enjoyable though tiring. it's been hot and humid and i'm not sleeping as well as i have been recently. it has been great to catch up with people. of course i've talked a lot about bhante's recent document to the order and community both in formal settings and in one -on -one conversations. that's been interesting and i've appreciated the opportunities as each time i talk about it i become a bit clearer myself.

today is my last day here for this trip. this time tomorrow i'll be on the euromed to barcelona and flying back to the uk in the afternoon. tonight i'm giving a talk at the centre but before that there's more people to see, train tickets to buy and a talk to think about.

back in the north - again!

hi all
i'm back in the northern hemisphere. india was pretty amazing though challenging - particularly organising the convention. went really well though.

loved sydney again and enjoyed the things i did there - talks, study day, order weekend, retreat. also visited new zealand for a long weekend where i went to an order weekend and also a meeting of some of the foks who are engaged in the work that reconnects down there. both really enjoyable.

got back last wednesday. hit the ground running as they say as i am pretty busy. one strange thing is im falling asleep by 10.30 or 11 p.m and am up and working by 5.30 a.m. not sure if this is jet lag (only symptom) or if i am a reformed character. only time will tell

hi from mumbai

hi all

i am in mumbai at prajnamata's flat en route to australia. sanghadevi and i travelled down from bodh gaya on a train with quite a few indian order members arriving last night after over 30 hours on the train.

the convention was a great success as far as i could tell. all the feedback i received was pretty positive and i am delighted that we held it in india --in bodh gaya. we started every day down at the bodhi tree and ended most days there too. so, a highlight was meditating and doing puja with over 500 members of the order by the vajrasana. will write a bit more soon, just wanted to say that it was very satisfying (though quite a feat of organisation).

travels

hi and bye for now. i am in london en route to india.

i got here on sunday and enjoyed spending time with dhammadinna.

yesterday and today i've been doing study with the karuna team in north london. i've really enjoyed that, we studied a tsongkapa text.

last night i went with karunagita to see the movie "milk". i thought it was excellent and sean penn's performance was brilliant. it was horrifying to realise that it's only 30 years since harvey milk was assassinated. little more than 30 years since it was illegal to be a homosexual in the usa (i know it still is in some parts of the world). 30 years ago someone could appear on the telly and use the terms bestiality, paedophilia and homosexuality in the same sentence as interchangeable terms! and that wasn't seen as that strange or worthy of censure. definitely worth seeing for anyone interested in gay rights - or indeed human rights.


then on wed i fly out to mumbai. yippee!!! i am really excited about going to india. i loved it so much last year. and also i'm excited and inspired about going to bodh gaya. i arrive in mumbai morning of the 12th feb and the evening of 12th i board the "kolkatta mail train" to gaya. 30 hours on the train. i've splashed out and booked 2AC which is second class air conditioned. train is scheduled to arrive at gaya at 3.30 a.m which i'm told is not a good idea but it will probably be late anyway. i'm being met and taken directly to the root institute at bodh gaya where i'm staying for a few nights. i'm hoping to get a fair bit of time with rocani who is working at root institute.

from the 18th i am at a different hotel for the preceptors college meeting and then straight into the convention. i have been pretty busy with the organising of this and i think we've got a good programme. anyway, just being there at the place of the buddha's enlightenment with almost 500 OMs will be tremendous i'm sure. i'll be busy there i reckon but i'm looking forward to it.

convention finishes on the 1st march and i take a train early morning of the 2nd back to mumbai. on the 4th i fly out to sydney and am in that part of the world until the 1st april when i arrive back at heathrow via singapore.

i'll try to write a bit on here during my travels.

burns night

happy burns day. today is the 250th anniversary of the birth of robert burns and i'm feeling a wee bit homesick for scotland. as a kid i grew up on irish and scottish songs and poems. in my house we had irish rebel songs and we celebrated burns suppers on 25th january. strange brew but not that unusual in glasgow.

we had burns celebrations at school and also in local community centres and, one that was always really good fun, the communist party HQ. burns was the darlin o the commies. especially "a mans a man for a that" we'd have that read and sung.

Then let us pray that come it may
[As come it will for a' that],
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree an a' that.
For a' that, an a' that,
It's comin yet for a' that,
That man to man, the world, o'er
Shall brithers be for a' that.

there's a ritual element to a burns supper. certain features that are always there. first the pipes (live if possible but not necessarily!), then someone dramatically reads the address to the haggis

"His knife see rustic Labour dight / an cut you up wi ready sleight, / Trenching your gushing entrails bright / Like ony ditch; / And then, O what a glorious sight, / Warm-reekin', rich!"

yuck, but anyway. then after the haggis had been addressed and attacked someone (often my da) would do the "immortal memory" which is a wee talk on burns's life and significance for today. the commies especially revelled in this and frankly would go on and on. i can only imagine some of that this year what with the collapse of global capitalism (!)

"Had i to guid advice but harkit, / I might, by this, hae led a market, / Or strutted in a bank and clarkit / My cash-account. / While here, half-mad, half-fed, half sarket / Is a' th' amount."

i think that's partly why his memory lasts so strongly. he's a poet whose work can be read and revelled in by the modern world. i think he'd have been thrilled to see obama elected and much in the inauguration speech and, especially, the benediction given by rev joseph e lowery would have resonated with burns' view of the world and cry for solidarity.
and there's the address to the ladies, the response from a lady - well whatever - and then songs, poems, dancing.

one of my favourite burns poems is "tae a moose(that's mouse)" here's the whole text

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!

I'm truly sorry man's dominion,
Has broken nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen icker in a thrave
'S a sma' request;
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't!

Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin,
Baith snell an' keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,
An' weary winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell-
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.

That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld!

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men
Gang aft agley,
An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me
The present only toucheth thee:
But, Och! I backward cast my e'e.
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!

he wrote this when he turned her nest up with his plough.

so, especially to scots the world over reading this

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;
Ae fareweel, alas, for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.
Who shall say that Fortune grieves him,
While the star of hope she leaves him?
Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me;
Dark despair around benights me.

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,
Naething could resist my Nancy:
But to see her was to love her;
Love but her, and love for ever.
Had we never lov'd sae kindly,
Had we never lov'd sae blindly,
Never met-or never parted,
We had ne'er been broken-hearted.

Fare-thee-weel, thou first and fairest!
Fare-thee-weel, thou best and dearest!
Thine be ilka joy and treasure,
Peace, Enjoyment, Love and Pleasure!
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!
Ae fareweeli alas, for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.