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Home » November 2019 Newsletter

November 2019 Newsletter

Turning Wheel Buddhist Temple, Leicester Posted on by October 28, 2019

On Saturday the 2nd 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 2500 years, and are the founders of this temple. These include Rev. Master Jiyu (the founder of our order), her master Koho Zenji, Great Master Dōgen(1200-1253) and Great Master Keizan (1268-1325).

Dōgen and Keizan with Shakyamuni Buddha
Dōgen and Keizan with Shakyamuni Buddha

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 November, please see the events calendar.

Turning Wheel Buddhist Temple Logo

In her recent newsletter, Rev. Alicia from Sitting Buddha Hermitage announced that she will be taking a retreat for the whole of 2020, and that during that time the Hermitage will be closed.

Rev. Alicia is a trustee of Turning Wheel Buddhist Temple, and we wish her well for her extended retreat.

You can read more details about Rev. Alicia’s plans in the Sitting Buddha Hermitage October Newsletter.

The front border in late summer
The front border in late summer – before the first frosts!

On Saturday the 26th of October we had a Steering Morning at the temple, and the main things that we discussed were the temple finances and the plans for alterations to the buildings.

Finances
Support of the temple from regular donations by standing order has continued to increase over recent months, which we are very grateful for. Guest Donations placed in the temple’s alms bowl have varied from month to month, as they always do, but have been pretty good recently considering that the temple was closed for a week in August and for half of September.

As a result, we broke even on our core cash incomings and outgoings in July, and have been close in other months. The graph below shows this “net core incomings”, month by month.

Net Cash Incomings on Core Activities up to the end of September 2019
Net Cash Incomings on “Core Activities” up to the end of September 2019

The temple also has other income (including from chaplaincy and outside events such as school visits) so overall we have broken even each month, but the “net core incomings” is an important indicator of the underlying health of the temple’s finances. It is nice to see it improving over time, and hopefully it will be breaking even more regularly in the future.

There is much more information, including lots of graphs, on the Finances page of the temple website.

Thank you to all those who are so generously supporting the temple through your standing orders, donations in the alms bowl, food donations and other donations in kind, in addition to the support of your practice.

Plans for alterations
The main alterations that we have in mind are to allow us to access the different areas of the property without having to go through the meditation hall.

The first phase of the work that we are hoping to have done is to build a porch at the front, which would allow access from the common room to the kitchen without going through the meditation hall. It would also give a larger entrance hall, which we really need, and an additional downstairs toilet.

The second phase will be to reverse the direction of the stairs, so that they can be accessed from the entrance hall instead of from the meditation hall.

We have had initial meetings with a couple of architects, and we hope to make a decision shortly on which one to go with. Both thought that what we had in mind sounded reasonable and that we should be able to get planning permission for it.

The next steering morning will be in February 2020.

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:

  • porridge oats
  • peanuts or other nuts
  • fresh fruit and vegetables (except garlic or peppers)
  • dried herbs
  • cheese, eggs and yoghurt

Any other suitable items would also be appreciated.

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

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