Leeds Regional Sangha Day

On Saturday the 21st of June the Leeds meditation group hosted a Regional Day Retreat at the Jamyang Buddhist Centre in Leeds. It was very nice to practise with monks and lay trainees from many different areas, and altogether there were just under 30 of us there.

Rev. Sanshin and Rev. Kōjō, travelled down from Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey for the day. Rev. Sanshin is the group monk for the Leeds group, and Rev. Kōjō is the group monk for the Huddersfield group. Rev. Mugō from Telford and Rev. Alicia from Sitting Buddha Hermitage also travelled to Leeds for the day, as did Rev. Aiden.

We started with a meditation period, followed by …

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.

The Festival of the Buddha’s Birth

The highlight of our calendar in May is always Wesak, the Festival of the Buddha’s Birth, and this year we will be celebrating Wesak on Saturday the 17th of May.

Wesak will be a full day event, from 10am to 4pm. The festival and Dharma talk will both be in the morning, so you can come just for those if you would prefer. There will then be the option to stay on for a bring-and-share lunch and a social afternoon, which will also include a meditation period followed by tea and biscuits. Rev. Alicia from Sitting Buddha Hermitage in Derbyshire is planning to join us for the day.

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.

On Thursday the 13th of February we celebrated the Festival of the Buddha’s Parinirvana at the temple. This festival commemorates the death of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, and this year for the first time we had a proper Parinirvana statue of the Buddha on the altar for the ceremony. This statue came from the recently-closed Reading Priory, and the photo below shows it on the front of the main altar, together with the three candles which represent the three refuges of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Behind it you can see the base of our usual main altar Buddha statue; the main altar statue is traditionally obscured behind a curtain during the Parinirvana ceremony.

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.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year

Thank you to everyone who has shared their practice,
and supported the temple in so many different ways,
during the past year.

Wishing you all a healthy and peaceful 2025.
Let us offer the merit of our practice to all beings;
may all beings be able to realise the truth.

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.

Forthcoming Events:
The Festival of Founders Day

On Saturday the 9th of November we will be celebrating the Festival of Founders Day. This festival is an opportunity to offer our gratitude for the life and practice of all those who have practised Buddhism, from the far distant past to the present day. In particular we celebrate those in our own lineage who have passed on the teaching from generation to generation for over 2,500 years, and are the founders of this temple. These include Rev. Master Jiyu (the founder of our order), her master Kōhō Zenji, Great Master Dōgen(1200-1253) and Great Master Keizan (1268-1325).

Improvements to the temple:
recent roof work

There has been an issue with the back roof of our single-story extension since before we moved in, with the surveyor pointing out water marks on the wall at one end. Water has been getting into the ‘soffit box’ behind the gutter, and coming out through the air vents and around the downlights, although fortunately nothing has been coming into the building.

Forthcoming Events:
The Festival of Avalokiteshwara Bodhisattva

On Saturday the 14th of September we will be celebrating the Festival of Avalokiteshwara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. The name Avalokiteshwara is Sanskrit (Japanese: Kanzeon, Chinese: Kwan Yin, Tibetan: Chenrezig), and means “The one who hears the cries of the world”. To live with compassion is to hear the cries of suffering within ourselves and within all beings, and to be willing to respond, and the festival will focus on this centrally important aspect of Buddhist practice.

Video talk by Rev. Master Daishin

In late June, Rev. Master Daishin visited the Norwich Zen Buddhist Priory, and whilst he was there he offered a Dharma Talk, which was recorded on video.

Leeds Regional Sangha Day

On Saturday the 29th of June the Leeds meditation group hosted a Regional Sangha Day at the Jamyang Buddhist Centre in Leeds. It was very nice to practise with monks and lay trainees from many different areas, and altogether there were just under 30 of us there.

Rev. Sanshin and Rev. Kōjō, travelled down from Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey for the day. Rev. Sanshin is the group monk for the Leeds group, and Rev. Kōjō is the group monk for the Huddersfield group. Rev. Mugō from Telford also travelled to Leeds for the day, as did Rev. Aiden.

Following a welcome at 10am, the day started with a meditation period. After this there was a Dedication of Merit Ceremony, during which we recited the Adoration of the Buddha’s Reclics, the Dedication of Merit invocation and the Invocation for the Removal of Disasters.

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 18th. It was very nice to have fifteen people here in person to celebrate Wesak together at the temple (including Rev. Aiden, and Rev. Alicia from Sitting Buddha Hermitage), and another 6 people joined via zoom. The photo below shows most of those who were at the temple in person.

The Festival of the Buddha’s Birth

The highlight of our calendar in May is always Wesak, the Festival of the Buddha’s Birth, and this year we will be celebrating Wesak on Saturday the 18th of May.

Wesak will be a full day event, from 10am to 4pm. The festival and Dharma talk will both be in the morning, so you can come just for those if you would prefer. There will then be the option to stay on for a bring-and-share lunch and a social afternoon, which will include a meditation period at some point, followed by tea and biscuits. Rev. Alicia from Sitting Buddha Hermitage in Derbyshire is planning to join us for the day.

The closing of Reading Buddhist Priory

Many of you will know that our order has had a small temple in Reading, Berkshire for many years, called the Reading Buddhist Priory. It was the first of the small temples outside Throssel to be set up in the UK, in 1990, and many different monks have been resident as the Prior over the years. The most recent Prior, Rev. Gareth, has stepped down from that role, and unfortunately there aren’t currently any monks available to take on the job. Our main monastery Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey, for example, isn’t really able to spare anyone as they are already quite stretched running the monastery with the number of monks that they currently have.

This Sunday, the 3rd of March, is the first anniversary of Rev. Master Saidō’s death.

Rev. Saido was a much loved and respected member of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives, and Prior of Telford Buddhist Priory in Shropshire. He died on Friday 3rd March 2023, not long after having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Rev. Saidō was a great friend to the temple, and his steady presence and wise council are greatly missed.

This coming Tuesday we will be holding a memorial for Rev. Saidō at our evening meeting, marking the 1st anniversary of his death.

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 during January. It was good to see members of the community again, although unfortunately a number of them caught covid whilst I was visiting, and in the end the visit had to be cut short by a few days. It was also lovely to see Rev. Master Daishin who was staying at Throssel during January as well.