Prime Minister's message for Vesak 2014

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, sends his best wishes to all Buddhists celebrating Vesak.

David Cameron:

I’d like to send my best wishes to Buddhists in Britain and around the world celebrating Vesak, the sacred festival commemorating the birth, enlightenment and the passing away (Parinirvana) of the Buddha.

For millions of people it is a time to reflect on the Buddhist teachings of tolerance and compassion, and to make offerings to those in need. It is a special occasion that reminds us of the sincere and enduring principles espoused by Buddhists throughout the world.

At this time I’d like to especially praise Britain’s Buddhist communities for the outstanding contribution they make to our country. You play a valued and important part in our Island story and I thank you for everything you do.

To Buddhists in the UK and the world I wish you a happy and peaceful Vesak.

Text and image from https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-ministers-message-for-vesak-2014

Radio 4 - Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day - 14/05/2014 - Vishvapani

This week Buddhists around the world celebrate the Buddha’s Enlightenment in the festival of Wesak or Buddha Day. Buddhists believe that on night of the May full moon he sat beneath a spreading fig tree and entered a state of deep concentration. Exploring his consciousness in its profoundest depths, he saw the ingrained, instinctual responses, such as craving and ill will, that shaped his mind and sowed the seeds of future suffering. Then something changed. A new vision of existence opened, as if he’d been asleep and now he’d woken up. 

This experience made him the Buddha, ‘the One who has Awakened’. It guided how he taught others in the remaining 45 years of his life, informed the practice of his disciples and inspired a pan-Asian civilisation. But what is its significance today? 

The Buddha’s teachings resonate, to a surprising extent, with a secular outlook. He didn’t believe in a creator God or insist on the need for a saviour. He said reality was impermanent and insubstantial, and suggested that our failure to live in accordance with it produces suffering. Then he taught practices like meditation that reshape our minds accordingly. Their continuing relevance is seen in the current popularity of mindfulness practices. These have served centuries of Buddhist practitioners and are now being adopted in secular settings from parliament to schools as an antidote to our speedy, stressful lives.

But the goal of Buddhist practice is more than psychological health. It aims for the same liberation the Buddha experienced in his Enlightenment. While ideas and teachings are helpful in grasping this, images can evoke it. 

So let us imagine a clear, blue sky stretching infinitely in all directions. We’re in the space of the creative imagination, and before us we see a light. It resolves into a figure and we sense that this figure embodies wisdom: our capacity to know, deeply and truly, the real meaning of our lives. It embodies compassion: the force that flows through us when self-preoccupation falls away. It embodies energy, creativity and beauty. 
In Buddhist art the figures that appear in this space are defined by traditional iconography, but perhaps we can also allow room for our own intuition. What does wisdom look like to you? For Buddhists, the Buddha is both an individual and a symbol for a new way of being. So, in marking Buddha Day, we’re celebrating the human capacity to develop awareness, wisdom and compassion, and their potential to transform both individuals and the world.

Transcript from BBC iPlayer

The speaker is a member of the Triratna Tradition

Cardiff Kagyu Samye Dzong

Based in the Soul Centre on Cowbridge Rd. East, Canton Cardiff, Kagyu Samye Dzong is a community of experienced meditators and professional Mindfulness trainers and are affiliated with the Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery founded in the West by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the late Choje Akong Rinpoche, and overseen by Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche.

Classes are offered in Buddhist meditation, philosophy and Vajrayana Buddhism. Also a mindfulness course is hosted in conjunction with Samye Foundation Wales in Cardiff, Caerphilly and the surrounding areas as well as retreats and other events.

Weekly Buddhist events in Cardiff

TUESDAY
18:00 - 20:00 8 Week Mindfulness course

18:30 - 20:00 Chenrezi Puja followed by Simply Meditation: shrine room open for personal practice (unguided)

20:00 -21:00 Buddhist Study Group

WEDNESDAY

19:30 - 20:30 Guided meditation with practice instructions on compassion practise 

THURSDAY

18:00 - 18:45 Guru Rinpoche Puja

19:00 - 20:00 Buddhist teaching open to all, Buddhist or not

All Buddhist events operate on a donation basis with a suggested donation of £5 / £3 (unwaged) to help cover centre running costs, but nobody will be turned away due to lack of funds.

Weekly events are free for those who have subscribed to the Membership program. 

Weekly Buddhist events in Caerphilly

WEDNESDAY

18:45 - 19:30 Chenrezi Puja

19:30 - 20:30 Guided meditation

For further information please visit the website or email

Order of Buddhist Contemplatives

Established as a monastic order in 1983, The Order of Buddhist Contemplatives is an outgrowth of the previous Zen Mission Society. The Order serves to unify its members and congregation, thereby helping to support the religious practice of all. The Order embraces the diversity of expression found in its temples, meditation groups and individual members. It endeavours to assure that the teachings and practice offered by its licensed priests and lay ministers remain true to the Dharma transmitted by its founder.

Great Ocean Dharma Refuge

Rev Mokugen Kublicki, MOBC, Chief Priest

Penwern
Felindre Farchog –
Crymych –
Pembrokeshire
SA41 3XF –

01239 891 360


The Place of Peace Dharma House

Rev. Myoho Harris, MOBC, Chief Priest

P.O. Box 207 –
Aberystwyth –
Ceredigion
SY23 2NL –

01970 832026

The Place of Peace Dharma House is situated on the outskirts of Aberystwyth, a coastal town in West Wales.

It serves as a small Buddhist Temple for the local area but its' primary function is as a retreat house for our broader congregation and for those who would like to follow the practice of Serene Reflection Meditation as taught by our Order.

Within the regular daily schedule activities unfold according to the needs of those present, with the emphasis being on a quiet contemplative approach.

PRIOR: Rev. Master Myoho Harris
The Order was founded by one of the first Western female Zen masters, Reverend Master Jiyu-Kennett. She ordained Rev. Master Myoho in 1977 and later named her as a Master of the Order.

Weekend Retreats
These retreats are for those who have already received meditation instruction from a monk or lay minister of our Order. Their flexible framework responds to the individual's needs. Local Sangha are invited to take part as non residents.

Seven Day Retreats
These are open to those who have already attended a weekend retreat at The Place of Peace. Guests may stay for all or part of the week.

For Further information on The Place of Peace Dharma House please visit their website

Creation & Completion - Essential Points in Tantric Meditation & Empowerment of Minling Dorsem

Saturday 7th – Sunday 8th June (10am-4pm)
at Palpung Changchub Dargyeling - Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Centre in Wales (Brynmawr)

WEEKEND TEACHINGS
Creation and Completion – Essential Points of Tantric Meditation
& Minling Dorsem Empowerment
Creation and Completion meditation is the cornerstone of tantric Buddhist practice. Her Eminence Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche continues the second year of the cycle of teachings on this very profound topic. As Creation and Completion practice opens up properly through a sadhana practice, Rinpoche has chosen to bestow us an empowerment of Minling Dorsem (Mindroling Vajrasattva). Minling Dorsem is a famous practice of Vajrasattva revealed as a terma by Terdak Lingpa, Minling Terchen Gyurme Dorje in 1676 from a place called Okar Rock.

for further information and to book to attend this weekend please visit the website

Bodhicitta and Chamtrul Rinpoche's 2014 UK Teachings

Chamtrul Rinpoche came to the UK for the first time in 2013. His teaching tour took him to several places across the land, where he captivated and inspired many old and new students with his uplifting presence and renowned teachings.  The teachings are open to all, and are by donation. Booking isn't required, please just come along.

Please find your way to the venues in good time so that you can settle yourself in, well before Chamtrul Rinpoche begins to teach. 

For further information please visit the Bodhicitta website 

PORTHCAWL, WALES

ST CLARE'S PRAYER & RETREAT CENTRE, CF36 5NR
30 MAY 7-9PM

The Practice of the Four Immeasurables
To Open the Heart

By thinking about and meditating on the Four Immeasurables, we lessen our disturbing emotions and attitudes, and we begin to open the heart, benefiting ourselves and others.

Immeasurable Love is the wish for all beings to have both happiness and its causes.

Immeasurable Compassion is the wish for all beings to be free from suffering and its causes.

Immeasurable Joy is the wish for all beings to never be apart from happiness and for it to increase more and more.

Immeasurable Equanimity is the wish for all beings to be free from attachment and aversion, that keeps some close and others distant.

Chamtrul Rinpoche will also speak about how these four are the foundation of bodhicitta - the mind of enlightenment - the compassionate wish to attain the enlightened state of a Buddha for the benefit of all beings.


LLANDOGO, WALES
WYE VALLEY ARTS CENTRE, NP25 4TW
1 JUNE 3-5PM

Finding Meaning in Everyday Life

Chamtrul Rinpoche will explain how by recognising the conditions that create suffering and those that generate inner peace, we can find greater meaning and purpose in everyday life, helping ourselves and others.

BRIDGEND, WALES
FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE, CF31 4AZ
2 JUNE 7-9PM

The Healing Power of Tonglen

Tonglen is a Tibetan word - 'tong' means giving, and 'len' means taking.

In brief, this practice aims at taking on the suffering and pain of others, while giving them well-being.

If Buddhism asserts that it's not possible to literally take away and experience somebody else's karma, how does tonglen work?

It is said that for tonglen to be most effective, we would first have to have a deep karmic connection with the other individual, built up from this life, or a previous life.

Tonglen would then act as a condition for the surfacing and ripening of a portion of each individual's karma, which would otherwise be buried under their other ripening karma. This causes the person performing tonglen to experience something similar to what the other individual had been experiencing, while they experience well-being instead.

On this deepest level, tonglen is an incredibly powerful practice to engage in. A practice that relies not just on a deep karmic connection, but on great compassion and courage too.

Whether we have the ability to practice this deepest level or not, there are other levels of practice too. Whatever level that we engage in, it's extremely beneficial, as it will dramatically weaken the self-cherishing attitude, and will undoubtedly strengthen our positive qualities, and our bodhicitta aim - the compassionate wish to attain the enlightened state of a Buddha for the benefit of all beings.

Aberystwyth Buddhist Group

The Aberystwyth Buddhist Group is for people interested in Buddhism in Aberystwyth.



The group meets for Buddhist meditation and general discussio every Wednesday at Merched y Wawr, Vulcan Street, SY23 1JH (Map) at 7.45 for 8pm.

They are a friendly, non-sectarian group interested in exploring Buddhism, its relevance and benefits for modern living.

All are welcome, beginners and more experienced meditators; of whatever religious belief, or none.

Web site http://aberbuddhism.wordpress.com/

Further details from:
Ian: 01970 625762
Maurice: 01970 627356