A New Society

Wee short blog today to make up for the long one last week. 

Once again I am writing on the train. This time I am on my way to Brighton where I will be giving a talk tomorrow evening. The link to the live stream is on this weeks newsletter. The theme is a revisiting of Bhante’s 1976 talk: A Nucleus of a New Society. This is timely as next week we will be starting on that theme in Mandala night. All part of our revisiting Buddhism for Today and Tomorrow as we are doing throughout this year.

The previous talks from this revisiting are available on https://thebuddhistcentre.com/highlights/brighton-lectures-2026

While both the previous talks were excellent, I would particularly recommend Vishvapani’s on a Vision of Human Existence. Vishvapani has been a chronicler of Triratna’s history for many years. He and I have worked together in many different contexts. Although he was not a member of the Adhisthana Kula (the group of Order members who produced the report Addressing Ethical Issues in Triratna), he worked closely with us. https://thebuddhistcentre.com/adhisthana-kula?display=latest

He was our communications person for many years and so had dealings with the press and TV around the controversies as they arose. I have always found his approach very balanced. He is articulate at naming the shadow but also very appreciative of what Bhante has done in creating our community. He expresses this well in the latter part of his talk. 

Subhuti will end the talks next week with the revisiting of A Blueprint for a New World. I am looking forward to that. The more I delve into the material in the four original talks and think of what remains relevant, I am inspired by the possibilities. I see the exploration of these talks not as 1970s idealism revived, but as asking a living question. “What kind of world do we want and how do we get it?”

Thinking of possibilities, I am excited by the fact that the building project is heating up so to speak. We have told the Unitarians that we will leave by the end of September so it’s going to be all hands to the deck now. There will be a working day retreat at the new centre on Sunday 24th May - the details are in the newsletter and on the website. We will be asking for all sorts of help over the next few months. Helping with this project will also help us all to feel that Woodside is OUR centre. It doesn’t just belong to the Council of trustees, nor to the folk who teach classes - it belongs to the whole Mandala, to everyone who participates. 

The talk a Nucleus of a New Society refers to the Sangha, the community. It relates to the 3rd gift in the poem The Four Gifts: a shepherd’s round dance. By helping out in any way we can in the new centre project our feet are dancing. We are participating in something that might seem mundane but has the makings of a community that can influence the world around it. A world that needs such an influence more than ever in my lifetime.

Meanwhile, as ever:

May all beings be well, may all beings find true happiness and its causes and may all beings be free from suffering.

Where the Bodhichitta has not yet arisen

May it arise

Where it has arisen

May it flourish

Where it flourishes

May it never die