January 2018 Newsletter
Events on New Year's Eve
During the daytime on New Year's Eve there will be a New Year's Eve Meditation Retreat from 10am to 4.40pm, which will have the same schedule as the usual Sunday Meditation Day. The turning of the year can be a very good time to reflect on our life and practice, and the temple will be open if you would like to come and sit for any part of the day.
Then in the evening we will have the traditional New Year’s Eve Ceremony, starting with meditation at 7.30pm.
During the ceremony we recite the Scripture of Great Wisdom, and a ceremonial copy of the scripture arranged in a fanfold design is "revolved", symbolically showing it and offering it in all directions. After this we all drink a glass of celebratory New Year juice together, making a wish for the peace and prosperity of the temple and the Sangha during the coming year. The evening will end at about 9.30pm or so.
This will be followed by the New Year Vigil (10pm to midnight), for anyone who would like to round off the year with some meditation periods. There will be four meditation periods, with walking meditation in between (and a break half-way through) ending with the New Year Dedication at midnight.
New Year's Day:
The Festival of Maitreya Bodhisattva
Then on New Year's Day we will have the Festival of Maitreya from 10am to 4pm. This festival celebrates the Bodhisattva Maitreya, known as "the Buddha who is yet to come". It is said that Maitreya will appear when the teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha has completely disappeared and been forgotten. Associated with new beginnings, the Festival of Maitreya is often celebrated on New Year’s Day.
The day will start at 10am with a meditation period, followed by the ceremony. After the ceremony there will be a Dharma talk, and at about 1pm there will be a bring-and-share vegetarian lunch. In the afternoon there will be two periods of meditation from 2pm, followed by a Dharma discussion and tea. You are welcome to come for any part of the day.
For other events in January, please see the events calendar.
Property Purchase Update
Our solicitor has recently confirmed that the vendor is now going ahead with the things that need to be done regarding the legal issue that has been holding up the sale for the last few weeks. It will probably take a few weeks more before it is actually resolved, but once that is sorted out we hope that we will be able to exchange contracts.
The tenants who were renting the property from the vendor moved out in early December, and the property is now empty. Below is a picture of the main room, lit by the late-afternoon December sun.
We have now spent just over £1,000 from the Building Fund on expenses towards the purchase of the property. However, we have also received further donations in recent months, which we are very grateful for, and the fund currently stands at just over £34,000.
Any additional support would be most welcome, and details of how to help are on the Building Fund page of the temple website. Thank you for all your support.
Closed Period in January
The temple will be closed to visitors for about a week in January, from the 3rd to the 10th inclusive, to allow Rev. Aiden to have some retreat time.
There won't be any events at the temple during that time; after the Maitreya Festival on the 1st, the next event will be the Basic Buddhism Evening on Thursday the 11th. You will still be able to contact the temple by email during this period, but not by phone or text.
Update on Recent Steering Morning
On the 9th of December we had a Steering Morning at the temple. Apart from the finances, the main things that we discussed were to do with the property purchase, which is described above.
The finances have been steady over recent months, and the graph below shows the temple's Core Income for each month. Core Income comes from Standing Orders and donations place in the temple's alms bowl (Guest Donations).
There is much more information, including more graphs, on the finances page of the temple website.
The next Steering Morning will be in February. Please do get in touch if you have any questions or comments about any of this, or anything else related to the temple.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year
Thank you to everyone who has come and shared their practice,
and supported the temple in so many different ways,
throughout the past year.
Wishing you all a peaceful and prosperous 2018.
Let us offer the merit of our practice to all beings,
so that all may be able to realise the truth.
Alms Bowl Requests
Thank you to all those who have donated items to the temple. We are very grateful for donations of any household or other items that the temple might be able to use. Please contact Rev. Aiden if you have an item to offer but are not sure whether it would be useful.
Donations of Food
Offering food is a traditional way to support a monk, and all donations of vegetarian food are most welcome. In particular:
- fresh fruit and vegetables (except garlic or peppers)
- fresh or dried herbs
- porridge oats
- yoghurt and eggs
- peanuts or other nuts
- brown rice and pasta
Any other suitable items would also be appreciated.
Donations
The temple is dependent on donations for its continued existence, and any financial support you are able to offer is greatly appreciated. Details of how to offer support can be found on the Donations page of the website.