Vision

I didn’t manage to write a blog last week but there are a couple of things I wanted to share this week.

We had a busy weekend at the Buddhist Centre. On Saturday we hosted around 60 participants on a walk around places of Faith, organised by Interfaith Glasgow (IG). From the press release on the event:

Around 60 people from across Glasgow’s diverse communities—ranging from children to older adults—came together on Saturday (28 March) for a major interfaith sponsored walk across the city.

The Glasgow Interfaith Sponsored Walk, organised by Interfaith Glasgow, saw participants from a wide range of backgrounds walk side by side while raising vital funds to support ongoing work tackling prejudice and building connections between people of all faiths and none.

Starting at St Andrew’s Parish West on Bath Street, participants walked approximately five miles across the city, visiting eight places of worship and community spaces. Stops included Kelvingrove Park for a Pagan reflection, the Hindu Mandir, Glasgow Buddhist Centre, St Aloysius RC Church, Garnethill Synagogue, Glasgow Central Mosque, and finishing at Glasgow Gurdwara, where participants shared a traditional langar meal.

Parami and Carunalaka welcoming a crowd from the Interfaith Walk

At the GBC we had a team organised by Angela who is our representative on the board of IG. As well as Angela, the team was Dianne, Vicky, Fred, Carunalaka and myself. After welcoming everyone in the Library and saying a little bit about what we would do, we invited them all into the shrine room for a wee programme of half an hour. We saluted the shrine, making it clear that folk were welcome just to listen but many joined in which was lovely. After a short talk about the 3 fold Path, we heard the metta sutta read and sat in silence for 5 minutes. To finish I chanted the Pali blessings. Viryadevi was on the walk so it was great to have her there too.

Rose wrote to us afterwards to say:

I just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you for hosting us so generously on Saturday and for the beautiful experience you gave our guests. Everything went so smoothly and your input about Buddhism and wee meditation taster was perfectly judged. Thank you so much for all the thought you put into it. We’ve had nothing but positive feedback on the whole day. So thank you so much for your contribution. Please do pass on our thanks to everyone involved.  

And amazingly, we’re now over the £14,000 mark! We’re so grateful.

I’m delighted that we could participate. Interfaith dialogue is so important in this suffering world with so much polarisation and prejudice. There was a lovely atmosphere and well done them - £14,000! Is there a lesson there for us?

Then on Sunday we held an EGM. EGMs are open to members and associate members (Order members and mitras training for Ordination). Around 35 of us attended and, again, there was a great atmosphere. After the Refuges and Precepts, I opened with a short talk to set the scene. I pointed out that we had our first EGM in Woodside Crescent a year ago and that I naively assumed that some months later we would be celebrating everything there. In other word we would have moved! I said that, although there have been moments when I have felt frustrated that it is taking so long, overall I feel happy with what we are doing. I see this as a legacy project and we want to do everything as well as we can recognising priorities and with the budget we have.

Carunalaka giving us a design update for Woodside Crescent

I updated the meeting on the kula / working groups and how they are going. I emphasised that it is important that we have people with appropriate skills working well together. I talked about the fact that I will carry on a bit longer as chair so that Moksadhi can concentrate on the project management during this time now that we have planning permission and we are moving into a pretty intense period of work. Our idea is that the chair hand-over can take place as part of our inauguration days. That means she can move into being chair in a more visionary way rather than combining it with the nuts and bolts of the building work.

I ended my wee talk by reminding everyone that I have not given up on the idea of having a ‘secret name’ for the centre. We would obviously continue to be the GBC, Triratna but I like the idea of a mythical name. More next blog!!!

After I spoke, Moksadhi and Carunalaka updated us on the work that has been done, the financial picture and the design plans. I think all that was greatly appreciated. Gunasiddhi showed us a rough timeline of the work that we will need to do once it is clear when we will be handing in notice to the Unitarians. As someone commented to me in the tea break - it makes it all feel real and brings home what we will have to do. The person saying this was pleased, he feels it becomes clearer how he can be involved. Gunasiddhi also filled us in on the hearing system that we plan to purchase.

After tea and a lot of cakes and scones, Moksadhi spoke movingly of her vision for the future. She introduced herself as some people don’t know her so well, spoke of her connection with Glasgow and Scotland. She commented that this is the start of a conversation.

Moksadhi giving a personal introduction to the sangha

All in all, I was very happy with the meeting. I felt inspired, while recognising how much work we have ahead. I will leave us with a quote from Bhante, from the Bodhisattva Ideal:

“It’s all about vision. If one is to be inspired to build a Buddhist centre, to take that example, one will need to be given a vision of what one is creating. If one has a picture in one’s mind of beautiful Buddha images, spacious, peaceful rooms, and a wonderful community of people, even if what one is doing is plastering a ceiling or knocking down a wall, one will be inspired to do it. If someone just came along and said, ‘Knock down that wall,’ that would feel entirely different. If one is doing what one is doing for the sake of a positive goal, one can work much more happily. Indeed, it becomes pleasure all the way.”

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 yet arisen

May it arise

Where it has arisen

May it flourish

Where it flourishes

May it never die