Forthcoming Events:
The Festival of Kshtigarbha Bodhisattva

On Saturday the 9th of August we will be celebrating the Festival of Kshtigarbha Bodhisattva. Kshtigarbha is usually depicted as a monk, carrying a staff and a “wish-fulfilling jewel”, and symbolises gentleness and the importance of offering.

Celebrating the Festival of the Buddha’s Birth

The highlight of our calendar in May is always Wesak, the Festival of the Buddha’s Birth, which this year we celebrated on Saturday the 17th. It was very nice to have ten people here in person to celebrate Wesak together at the temple (including Rev. Aiden, and Rev. Alicia from Sitting Buddha Hermitage), and another 9 or so people joined via zoom. The photo below shows the festival altar.

Invitation to Wesak:
The Festival of the Buddha’s Birth

We will be celebrating Wesak at the temple on Saturday the 17th of May. Everyone is cordially invited to come and celebrate the Buddha’s birth with us on this festive day, and you are very welcome to bring family and friends along to see the temple and join in as well.

The day will start at 10am, with tea and biscuits available as people arrive. This will give an opportunity for people to meet, and for those visiting for the first time to have a look around the temple before the ceremony starts.

At 10.45am we will have a short ceremony rehearsal, and at 11am we will have the Festival Ceremony. This will be followed by a Dharma talk, and then a bring-and-share vegetarian feast. There won’t be any specific events scheduled in the afternoon; you are welcome to stay for as long as you would like, and this will be a good opportunity to socialise and meet other members of the Sangha. The day will end at 4pm, and you are welcome to come for any part of it.

We hope you will be able to join us for this joyful celebration.

Visit to Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey

Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in Northumberland is our order’s main monastery in the UK, and it was very nice to have the opportunity to visit for just over a week during January. This year it was very cold and snowy whilst I was there.

I gave Rev. Master Leandra and Rev. Master Leoma a lift, and we arrived on the afternoon of Saturday the 4th. The snow started in the early hours of Sunday so we got there just in time. It snowed quite steadily until the middle of Monday, and by then well over a foot of snow had fallen. The photo below shows the courtyard between the Abbot’s House and the Meditation Hall, after a path had been cleared through it.

Forthcoming Events:
Festival of the Buddha’s Enlightenment
and Tenth Anniversary Celebrations
The understanding that the Buddha came to during his enlightenment is the basis for the whole of Buddhist practice, and on Saturday the 9th of December we will be celebrating the Festival of the Buddha’s Enlightenment to mark this important event in the life of the Buddha.

In the story of the enlightenment, the Buddha had spent many years following ascetic practices in his search for the truth. Close to death as a result of these hardships, he realised that this was not the way, and after eating a meal decided to sit in meditation as he had done naturally as a child. As he sat in meditation, many thoughts, feelings and memories arose which could have distracted him from his purpose, but the Buddha continued to sit. As the morning star arose he gained a deep insight into the nature of existence.