Nearly home

Hi from Valencia. I head home later today and I am really looking forward to being back in Glasgow, colder weather and all. More than anything, I am looking forward to seeing friends, sleeping in my own bed and being warm indoors. Houses here are not made for the cold weather and it has been cold here - warmer outside than inside. Anyway, enough about the weather. Really not the most interesting of things to write about.

I said I would write a bit more about the college meeting - particularly the evenings. I often find the evenings a really enjoyable part of the college meeting. This time we had an evening where the two new college members - Kalyacitta and Nayaka - told their life stories. I love life stories as they often give you quite a new insight into people. It’s a practice that we do in Triratna which I value a lot. I have known both Kalyacitta and Nayaka for decades but, even so, I learned a lot hearing the narrative of their lives.

Over another two evenings we said goodbye to retiring college members. I missed one of the evenings as I returned to Glasgow (as described in my blog from a couple of weeks back) but thoroughly enjoyed the evening where we rejoiced in Malini and Ratnadharini.  Again, I have known both of them for decades and it was delightful to chair the evening and to rejoice in both of them. Rejoicing in merits is also a practice I value highly. It is such an antidote to cynicism and to feeling a bit overwhelmed at times with the world.

We had an evening where 6 people shared a glimpse of their lives and their inspiration.  They were so different and all fascinating. We also marked the anniversary of Bhante’s funeral. Hard to believe it was 7 years ago. Purna led a beautiful puja and we ended the evening around the burial mound listening to Padmavajra read Bhante’s poem The Elements Speak, just as he did at the end of the actual funeral. Amazingly, there was a shooting star just as he finished.

Straight after the college meeting I was part of the team for an Order retreat focusing on Padmasambhava’s Advice to the three fortunate women. I’ve really been exploring that text this year and l look forward to it being the theme of the women’s winter at Dhanakosa. This retreat at Adhisthana focused more on the meditation instructions which was great. I had a lot to do with the online participants which I enjoyed although, as a hybrid retreat, it was certainly more complicated than a purely online retreat. I think my experience with retreats on the buddhistcentre.com really helped. There were around 90 in person and 40 who had signed up for online. 

Straight from there to Valencia for Sangha day and catching up with people. I was the chair of the centre here for 9 years - from 1994 - 2003 and have been president since around 2005 or 6. So, I have a long history with the sangha here. This sangha day coincided with the 35th anniversary of the founding of the centre and that was a big part of the day’s celebrations. I gave a talk about sangha (using the sanghavandana as a basis) then the rest of the day focused around hearing from the previous and current chairs: Moksananada; myself; Saddhakara; Amalamati; Paramachitta and the current chair, Silamani. We all talked a bit about our time as chair and the different things that happened during our period. My period was when we moved classes out of the men’s community and found a property to rent. We also moved from that property to another, much nicer property while I was chair and we set up our Right Livelihood business: an Evolution shop. It was interesting to think back and I was pleased to think that I had played a big part in establishing Triratna Valencia - with a team of course. In the Puja in the afternoon, each chair rejoiced in the person who came after them. That was very moving - and, I think, quite healing where there had been difficulties in some periods of handover.

That, naturally, led me to thinking about my period of being chair in Glasgow. Will I be satisfied when I look back on that? It will be a much shorter period - probably around 3 years rather than 9 - but, I think, an important period in Glasgow’s story. Again, I think we have a great team working together and so many people involved in classes, retreats, fundraising and, really exciting, the new centre project. As most of you will know, I hope to stand down at the next AGM, probably in May and the deadline for expressions of interest in being the next chair has just passed. We have a council meeting on Thursday this week (27th November) where we will see where things are at and we will let the membership know what is happening after that meeting. 

When I passed on the chairship in Valencia to Saddhakara, it was a new phase for Valencia - she concentrated on having the centre open every afternoon for people to drop in. She also systematised the teaching, introducing courses and a Saturday afternoon drop in meditation class which is still successfully running 20 years later. I feel that Triratna Glasgow is ready for a new phase with the new property. Whoever becomes the next chair will, I’m sure, take us into exciting times. One thing we reflected on here in Valencia is that the world is a very different place now than it was in 1990 when activities began there. We had a session in the afternoon where the 6 of us (and also Subhuti online to begin with - he was the first president here and was very involved in the early years) talked about the need for urban Buddhist Centres. There was agreement, not only from the panelists but from everyone there, that the world truly needs Buddhist values to be offered as fully and accessibly as possible. That is very much our vision in the council of the GBC and, I am confident that will be very much the continuing vision of whoever becomes the next chair and of whoever forms the council to work alongside them.

Meanwhile

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.

Where the Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise

Where it has arisen

May it flourish

Where it flourishes

May it never die