Teachings at Palpung Wales in June 2013

HE Khandro Rinpoche will be teaching at Palpung Wales on June 15 and 16, commencing with a talk on the teacher-student relationship and guru yoga. She will also be commencing a cycle of teachings on the creation and completion stages of deity yoga which will continue over the next several years. 

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, the popular Kagyu lama, will be teaching at Palpung Wales on the weekend of June 28-30.

Fri 28th PUBLIC TALK at 6.30pm: How to keep practice alive in daily life?

Sat 29th – Sun 30th (10am-12 & 2pm-4pm) COURSE: Confusion Arises as Wisdom – Gampopa´s Heart Advice on the Path of Mahamudra (the title of Rinpoche's latest book).

Please see the Palpung Wales web site for booking and details or email palpungukoffice@gmail.com or call 01495 313395.

NHS Chaplains

The National Secular Society (NSS) are opposing the need for Hospital Chaplains in the NHS.  The following extracts are from an article on Hospital Chaplains which can be read in full here and you can also sign an e-petition in support for NHS Chaplaincy services here.

"[hospital chaplains] spend only a minority of their time with people of explicit religious affiliation. Much more time is spent on people of no explicit religious belief, but whose illness has brought them to a place of uncertainty, anxiety, and questioning, and who ask the chaplain to accompany them through that experience. [Chaplains] don’t proselytise (it’s against their code of conduct), and are bound by their professional standards to be open, accepting and non-judgemental to those who ask for their help. [Chaplains] are likely to have well developed skills in secular ethics, philosophy, sociology and many other disciplines, and also often have a profound body of experience to draw on. Almost uniquely in the contemporary NHS, chaplains organise their time so as to give their patients the attention they need, rather than working strictly to timed appointments. 

[Secularists] tend to argue simply that chaplaincy should be taken out of NHS hands altogether and, in effect, privatised by handing it over to religious organisations. [This] would make chaplaincy more narrowly religious, less helpful to patients, and virtually useless to NHS professionals and the institutions in which they work. A chaplain employed by a Church would see only patients who were members of that Church; a chaplain employed by the NHS is available for anyone. A chaplain employed by a Church would have no commitment or loyalty to the hospital they worked in. An NHS chaplain not only has that commitment and loyalty, but has an often explicit remit to help guide and challenge the institution when needed. The chaplain is also one of a usually small group of professionals whose role is to resist the tendency of modern technological biomedicine to see sick people merely as broken-down machines, and  who try to affirm and promote the human values of good healthcare."

101 Top Sites on Religion and Sacred Texts

Masters In Divinity.org, a web guide for people who are interested in the religious studies and pursuing work in related fields, have published an article that features 101 Top Sites on Religion and Sacred Texts: http://www.mastersindivinity.org/sacred-texts.html  The sites on this list offer insight into the sacred texts, cultures and beliefs of the world's largest religions.

While much of the site focuses on Christianity and the Bible, there is information on the other holy books and writings of religious leaders from around the world

The Sun Beaten Path

The film The Sun Beaten Path is touring Wales in the Wales One World Film Festival 15th March - 3rd April 2013 and will be shown in Aberystwyth, Cardigan, Swansea and Cardiff.

Film synopsis:

The Sun Beaten Path (PG)

Director: Sonthar Gyal
Starring: Yeshe Lhadruk, Lo Kyu
Tibet, 2011, 1 hour 29 minutes, subtitles

With vast, desolate landscapes and often dream-like sequences, this cinematic gem is a really authentic portrait of contemporary Tibet. Walking home to a remote part of Tibet through barren mountains and dusty wind-swept plains, the troubled Nyma is joined by an old man whose gently persistent good sense allows Nyma to gradually unburden himself. A simple tale, elliptically told that really shows how Tibet is now with smart Chinese buses speeding past Tibetan couples prostrating themselves on the hard shoulder all the way to Lhasa.

Sutra

On the 29 and 30 of March a production called Sutra is coming to the Wales Millennium Centre in the Donald Gordon Theatre, which features 20 practicing Buddhist Monks from the Shaolin Temple in China.  

The production is a collaboration between  the choreographer Sidi Larbi, the sculptor Antony Gormley (Angel of the North) and the Warrior monks themselves. Aged between 10 and 26 the monks performing follow a strict Buddhist doctrine, with kung-fu and tai chi martial arts forming a part of their daily ritual.

Welsh Assembly Government Faith Communities Forum Meeting 24/10/2012

Some of the agenda items discussed at this meeting:

1. Chaplaincy – continued support from the Welsh Government
2. Nation of Sanctuary – Welsh government backs the bid for Wales to become recognised as a Nation of Sanctuary 
3. Presentation with regard to the ‘Tackling Poverty Strategy’ – focus on material needs; the Forum raised the point that faith communities can offer support in terms of the spiritual needs of those in poverty; a means of communication with regard to such possible support to be explored
4. Organ Donation Consultation update – some representative raised concerns over the bill to move towards a opt-out system in Wales; concerns discussed around the wording of the bill seeming to differ from the expressions of its application
5. Prayers at Council Meetings – is it necessary for the Welsh government to intervene to allow prayers to be on the agenda at Council meetings

The Buddhist Council of Wales is the medium for all Buddhists in Wales to have a voice with the Welsh Assembly Government through its participation in the Faith Community Forum. If any Buddhist, Buddhist group, Buddhist tradition or lineage wish to make any comment or offer an opinion on any of these items, or have a topic that you feel should be raised with the Welsh Assembly Government, please contact the Buddhist Council of Wales – there is a contact form on the website.  

Interfaith Council for Wales Meeting 24/10/2012

The meetings of the Interfaith Council for Wales discuss the activities of numerous interfaith groups throughout Wales and those based in universities and chaplaincies. The meetings are usually well attended by representatives of all the major faiths in Wales. It is a useful forum to hear of the many valuable interfaith initiatives occurring throughout Wales such as:

• Tŷ Cwrdd at Glamorgan University Chaplaincy
• Ysbyty Gwynedd Multi-faith Chaplaincy Centre in Bangor
• Community House, Newport, Gwent ‘One World Week’
• The ‘Religion Café’ at Cardiff University Chaplaincy.

Buddhist are already involved in many interfaith activities and others may wish to become involved. If you, your Buddhist group, Buddhist tradition or lineage are involved in interfaith activities anywhere in Wales, please do let us know at the Buddhist Council of Wales. We can act as a focus of information and thereby inform the whole Buddhist community throughout Wales of interfaith activities and interfaith opportunities in Wales.

Please contact the Buddhist Council of Wales using the contact form on the website.