HH Dalai Lama visit to UK June 2012

 

Tibet House Trust is delighted to announce that His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be visiting the UK from 16th to 23rd June 2012.

The key themes throughout the visit will be the promotion of His Holiness’ message, particularly to young people, of non-violence, dialogue and universal responsibility.

The visit will start in Manchester on 16th June with an event with His Holiness, especially for young people followed, on 17th and 18th, by a Public Talk and three sessions of Buddhist teachings.

 

On the 19th June there will be a Public Talk in London and then His Holiness will visit Scotland on 22nd and 23rd.

The Box Offices for Manchester Arena and the Royal Albert Hall, London will open mid March.

For further information: http://www.dalailama2012uk.org/

This website will be kept updated as details of the programme are confirmed.

Happy New Year

  May all beings be free from enemies

  May all be free from dangers

  May all be free from mental anxieties

In this passing moment

 “In the presence of Sangha, in the light of Dharma,
in oneness with Buddha — may my path
to complete enlightenment benefit everyone!”

In this passing moment karma ripens
and all things come to be.
I vow to choose what is:
If there is cost, I choose to pay.
If there is need, I choose to give.
If there is pain, I choose to feel.
If there is sorrow, I choose to grieve.
When burning — I choose heat.
When calm — I choose peace.
When starving — I choose hunger.
When happy — I choose joy.
Whom I encounter, I choose to meet.
What I shoulder, I choose to bear.
When it is my death, I choose to die.
Where this takes me, I choose to go.
Being with what is — I respond to what is.

This life is as real as a dream;
the one who knows it can not be found;
and, truth is not a thing — Therefore I vow
to choose THIS dharma entrance gate!
May all Buddhas and Wise Ones
help me live this vow.

 

By Shodo Harada Roshi
(1940 – )

 

Day Retreat with Chudrun

 Ani Chudrun has long been a friend and supporter of BBG and for may years she was an ordained Nun. Recently she has become a householder and handed back her Nuns vows.  Like most of us she is navigating a dharma path which includes running a business and making money.

 This day retreat/ workshop is about dealing with some of the ethical issues which arise for all of us.  ‘What is a fair price?’ How to live within an ethos of Right Livelihood and how to make an ethical living in a consumer based culture where the idea of money and self worth seem impossible to separate. Sometimes placating the ‘ethical’ demon and maybe undervaluing ourselves seems to be an easier option than asking the going rate.

The retreat will be held at Bosham House on Saturday December 10th from  10am to 4pm and I’m sure it will create some debate and reveal some practical experience and solutions based on our dharma and especially Vajrayana practice.  Even The Buddha and all his subsequent followers through the ages have to sustain themselves.

Suggested donation £10 to cover the hire of the hall and a donation to Chudrun, however we urge you to come along  and offer what you can, be it less or more!  You are invited to bring lunch to share.

 

Bosham House fundraising event

Healing and Joy Concert A fund-raising event for Bosham House Venue: Hamblin Hall, Bosham House, 01243-572109 September 10, 7.30-9.30pm Ticket Price: £10 (to include a glass of wine or fruit juice) Give yourself a real treat and come dancing along to an informal concert of music making, singing and playing.

I wanted to tell you about a very special musical event we are having at Bosham House on the 10th September at 7.30pm. The idea was conceived by Russell Stone in order to raise funds for Bosham House. We are grateful to him and hope that we can attract a good audience. As many of know, Bosham House runs events all through the year that provide rich opportunities to raise consciousness and to heal. Many of us – both at home and abroad – regard the Trust as a home. Do please come and support Bosham House by coming to our sparkling fund raising evening concert. This will help to keep our door open and ensure that we provide a warm hearth for many years to come.

Russell has worked with stars like Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Cliff Richard. In 1977 he achieved considerable success with his act, R&J Stone and their worldwide hit ‘We Do It’. Today he is a trained psychotherapist and combines this with his musical skills. Russell will be joined by: Simon Ford ~ a seasoned sound therapist and musician, Helen Claxton-Roper is a singer and teacher with a voice that has been described as having a crystal clear and buoyant quality that reminds people of Joan Baez. Varianne Cowan has used sound as a therapeutic tool for many years. Max Gilkes is a singer and songwriter. His debut album was released earlier this year. The evening promises to be a rare treat.

Do join us for this informal concert of music making, singing and playing. To book your ticket Tickets: £10 to include a glass of wine or fruit juice

Please phone Bosham House (01243 572109) to make a credit card payment. Alternatively, please send your cheque, payable to The Hamblin Trust, Bosham House, Main Road, Bosham, West Sussex PO18 8PJ. We will include your name on a list. If you would like an acknowledgement, please send an sae. Booking in advance helps our admin. but if you would like to pay on the night, please do!

Film Evening, 20 August, 6.30pm for 7pm A Zen Life – DT Suzuki This is a fabulous film with original footage of DT Suzuki and shining souls who visited him to learn his wisdom. I have watched it three times and never tire of it. (Elizabeth) There are many pearls of wisdom. Perhaps bring your notebook!

RIP Chan Master John Crook

 I first encountered the buddhadharma by accident following a Radio 4 programme entitled ‘A Place of Silence’ so typical for R4 to make a radio programme about silence!  Thankfully I noted the contact details and some years later found myself in a dark farmhouse in the middle of Wales.  The leader seemed a strange old bird with his talk of a freedom through absence of chatter and I hated the first couple of days.  ‘Who am I?’ what’s that about?  On the third day I woke up with the thought that this was it, something rediscovered and I got stuck in to hours of meditation and self enquiry with gusto.

Following that I went on many retreats, became a retreat cook, discovered our dear Rinpoche and followed a dharma path.   Now 12 years later that ‘strange old bird’ has died and I feel devastated.

Some of you will have known John Crook through personal meetings or through his books, professionally he was a socioecologist at Bristol University and  travelled  extensively in the Himalyan Kingdom of Ladakh, noting the ways of villagers and meeting lamas.  I can highly recommend ‘The Yogins of Ladakh’, travelogue, dharma teaching and self revelation.

John’s introduction to Buddhism was through the Chinese Chan tradition of Zen Buddhism and he studied under his main teacher Master Sheng Yen for many years, becoming his first European dharma heir.  John saw similarities with the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition and found a Tibetan Dzogchen teacher in Wales.

He devised the Western Zen Retreat in the 1980′s, bought a remote farmhouse, ‘Maenllwyd’ (Welsh – ‘grey stones’) and created the Western Chan Fellowship which has introduced many to the buddhadharma.  These retreats were and continue to be ‘a simple monastic retreat’ devised to face ‘the major paradox – who am I?’

I consider myself very fortunate to have met and practiced with John and miss him very much.

As an introduction to John and especially for those studying the Heart Sutra I can heartily recommend this teaching he gave in 2007.  Click here; The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment.  

Sister Kovida teachings online

 Sister Kovida’s recent teachings at The Hamblin Hall, Bosham House are now available to listen online or download to your computer or MP3 player.  Click Ajan Kovida or go to the Audio page to your right.

Ajahn Kovida gave several teachings at the Hamblin Hall on meditation and being present.  She talked with great clarity and insight on becoming aware of our habitual prosesses and refining our attention.  Sister Kovida also talked about many issues including  the transition between activities, be they sitting quietly, conversing with another, standing and walking, all the activities we encounter in daily life.

How do I react, when do I react and just letting it be; let come, let be, what happens next?  It’s your discovery!

There are many audio teachings available on this page including Ringu Tulku Rinpoche’s teachings to BBG Bosham, Chenrezig puja and the prayers we  recite at each meeting.

A personal message from Ringu Tulku

 A Personal Message from Ringu Tulku,
I would like to personally invite all my students all over the world to the Bodhicharya Summer Camp in France (July 30 to August 5). I encourage all to come and join us if possible. I will try to present the essentials of Dharma that I understand and also make a support system through deeper social network so that they can work together and keep up the study and practice.

Hope to see you soon,
Ringu Tulku

 

You can see more and join Rinpoche’s new Facebook group at:

Ringu Tulku Facebook group

Ringu Tulku teachings in Sussex online now

 So Rinpoche’s visit came and went so quickly, so eagerly awaited and so quickly gone.  It was good to see Rinpoche and Lama Shenga looking so healthy.

I have posted the Bosham teachings on this site, you can click Ringu Tulku in Bosham or go to the Audio page in the list on the right of this page.  Download to your computer or MP3 player by clicking on the relevant teaching or right click on the teaching, ‘save target as…’ in the folder of your choice.  You may need to wait a few minutes for the download to complete.

Ajahn Kovida visits Bosham House

  

Public talk – Awareness and Insight on Saturday May 21^st May 2-4pm Hamblin Hall event: (01243 572109)

 Meditation day – Sunday 22nd May

10 am – 12 pm,  2 pm – 4 pm Bodhicharya Buddhist Group event:  (Pema, 07824 533093)

Sister Kovida is a Theravaden Buddhist nun from the Thai Forest tradition of Ajahn Chah and has trained both at Amaravati in Hertfordshire and Cittaviveka in West Sussex.

 ’My practice is following the Buddha’s teaching of the Four Noble Truths. From this I offer guidance in developing awareness and insight into how we suffer and the way out of suffering. 

I emphasise Right Attitude in how to undertake this contemplative practice. That is the kind of effort and compassion that supports us in observing our minds. Through this we can see how conditioned habits of thinking and emotion affect our lives. Rather than trying to override these habitual tendencies I offer guidance in firstly becoming more aware of them and then seeing the underlying perceptions, attitudes and beliefs that hold them in place. All of this begins to loosen the hold of these patterns and our identification with them.’

 The day will have guided meditations and reflections on becoming more present with what is arising in this present moment and will be held at: 

 Hamblin Hall, Bosham House, Main Road, Bosham, Nr Chichester, PO18 8PJ, UK

 Please bring a lunch to share or something for yourself.

 Venue details and directions:

www.thehamblintrust.org.uk/hall.htm

This General Area Map shows the local towns and roads within about ten miles of Bosham House. (The arrow points to Bosham House)

For roads within the immediate vicinity of Bosham House view the Local Area Map (the open red circle marks Bosham House).