December 2020 Newsletter
Forthcoming Events:
Festival of the Buddha’s Enlightenment
The understanding that the Buddha came to during his enlightenment is the basis for the whole of Buddhist practice, and on Saturday the 5th 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.
We will be holding the festival over zoom this year, so that Lay Sangha members can join in from where they are. Details will be sent out by email prior to the festival.
Work Starting on the Temple’s Building Project
We are very pleased to let you know that the building work on the temple property will be starting on November the 30th. In mid-November we signed a contract with the builders, and they have committed to completing the work by the end of March.
It will no doubt be a challenging time over the next few months, with the builders working in and around the property, but it will be well worth it for the improvements that it will bring.
As a reminder, the main issue we are trying to address is that much of the property is accessed via the Meditation Hall; we intend to change the layout so that this room is no longer a thoroughfare, which will make it far more conducive to the practice of meditation.
In order to acheive this, the main items of the work include building a porch at the front, to give access between the downstairs rooms and provide space for two WCs, and moving the stairs so that they rise from the entry hall. We will also be converting the garage to provide downstairs accessible bedrooms and a shower room, and improving guest facilities upstairs by dividing the existing bathroom into two shower rooms. Taken together, these modifications will substantially improve the temple and allow it to function much better as a place of retreat.
The total cost of the project will be about £69,500, and we are pleased that we will be able to have it all done in one go, so that we minimise the inevitable disruption that building work causes. It’s also very helpful that we are able to have the work done whilst we are forced to be closed anyway, due to the coronavirus restrictions.
We are very grateful for recent donations and interest-free loans, and we would welcome any further donations, which would reduce the amount of money the temple would need to borrow in order to complete the work.
We realise that these are difficult times in which to be trying to raise money for a project, but if you felt able to help the temple with a donation or interest-free loan of any amount, that would be very much appreciated.
If by any chance we raise more than needed, any extra will be used for the general purposes of the temple (and there will also be carpets and furniture etc. to buy).
Any help you feel able to give would be greatly appreciated.
An Improvement in the Meditation Hall
In November last year we made a bit more space in our Meditation Hall by removing a false “chimney breast” which dominated the middle of the room. It had an electric fire mounted on it, and didn’t actually have a chimney. The picture below shows how the room ended up after that first phase of the work, with the bare blocks of the wall temporarily covered by a sheet.
This year we did a bit more work on it, covering the bare blocks with plasterboard, and then plastering and painting it. The photo below shows the work at different stages.
It’s nice to have the work completed after a bit of a delay. It gives us quite a bit more space on that side of the hall:
Autumn in the Garden
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.
All donations are received with gratitude