BAM and Woodside
- Parami
- Jun 3
- 3 min read
BAM/ Engaged Buddhism
June is Buddhist Action Month (BAM) and at mandala night we will be exploring themes in relation to this. As many will know, our Tuesday night Mandala class through 2025 is dedicated to themes to the Bodhisattva Ideal. We have looked at this in different ways: introducing the Bodhisattva Ideal; What is a Bodhisattva?; the Bodhisattva vow; the Paramitas and, most recently, hearing about the Bodhisattva figures whose mantras we chant at the end of the sevenfold Puja. Most of the talks from these classes can be found on Free Buddhist Audio at this link.
Through June, to coincide with BAM, we will look at the Bodhisattva Ideal in action - what is sometimes known as Engaged Buddhism. BAM was initiated in 2012 by the Network of Buddhist Organisations (NBO) and, from the start, Triratna have played an important part. On their webpage the NBO have this:
Buddhist Action Month (BAM) is an annual opportunity to put our Buddhist values into action. It’s a time to reflect on how our compassion manifests in the world, celebrate what we are already doing, and challenge ourselves to do more. Individuals, groups, and
centres across the world participate each year, making a collective impact.
Within Triratna there is also a network of folk particularly interested in how we respond to the climate crisis. This is the Triratna Earth Sangha (TES). They describe themselves as
A group of Triratna Order members, Mitras and Friends worldwide who are deeply concerned about the climate and ecological crises we face and see it as part of their practice to do something about them
Their website can be found here:
Of course there are other aspects to how a trainee Bodhisattva might respond to the cries of the world and many different facets to the suffering found in the world. One issue that Triratna has engaged with for decades is working with our Sangha in India through Karuna, a registered charity who have been “working with excluded communities in South Asia for over 40 years”.
Their website can be found at https://karuna.org/
Many members of our sangha here in Glasgow have participated in Karuna appeals and one evening this month we will hear from Angela and Carunalaka about their experiences on the 10th June. Other evenings we will listen to some extracts from lectures by Bhante Sangharakshita in which he talks about practising in the world and we will have a chance to reflect and look at how we, as Buddhist practitioners, might respond to the suffering we see around us.
Woodside update
The first round of woodside workshops went well and we will be having part two this coming week. Moksadhi and Sarah have collated the ideas generated so far and will be offering some possible scenarios of how we might use the space in Woodside Terrace. These sessions will take place on Thursday 5th June at 6.30 and on Sunday 8th June at 2. Everyone welcome. Personally I find it an exciting process and am glad that so many people are participating. I feel confident that our new place really will be a centre for the whole Sangha.
For now, as always, may all beings be well, may all beings find true happiness and its causes and may all beings be free from suffering.
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