Buddhism in Britain

Venerable Bodhidhamma and Satipanya Trust

The Venerable Bodhidhamma is temporarily residing in Birmingham whilst negotiations for a new retreat centre are completed. I stopped in Birmingham on my way to North Wales and spent a very enjoyable and informative few hours in his company.

Bhante has a long and varied background as a Buddhist practitioner and Theravadan bhikkhu. This is well described at the web site:

http://www.satipanya.org.uk/bio.htm.

Most recently - from 2001 - he was the resident teacher at Gaia House. Whilst there he determined to establish a centre devoted to the Mahasi Tradition. With the strong support of friends, the Satipanya Buddhist Trust was created and became a registered charity. An offer has now been accepted on a property at Minsterley near Shrewsbury in Shropshire and it is hoped that a contract will be finalized within the next month or so.

As with all such property acquisitions the whole process has taken a long time and included one or two surprises. The main one in this case being that the water supply comes from a spring on an adjoining property. To avoid a ‘Jean De Florette’ scenario with the spring being corked, Bhante will probably need to sink a bore hole at some time.

I enjoyed a lively discussion with the Venerable Bodhidhamma about old friends from Chiswick Vihara and Amaravati, and his time at Gaia House. Bhante had found his excperience at Gaia very helpful, although sunce this is a largely lay community had found limited concessions towards his monastic status. In particular, keeping to the traditional Vinaya rules can be quite difficult without a supportive environment. This is especially so for such vinaya rules as the restrictions on eating before noon and not handling money.

Amaravati has got over these issues by establishing the Anagarika role. Anagarikas wear white robes and keep eight precepts, but are allowed to deal with money. They are thus able to accompany and support the ordained monks and nuns. The Anagarika role provides a good taste of life within a Buddhist monastic community and is an excellent stepping stone to full ordination.

Venerable Bodhidhamma kindly suggested that I might like to eat something, possibly a quorn dish. Unfortunately I have an intolerance to quorn. If I eat it it leads to violent vomiting. (See the quorn victims site: http://www.cspinet.org/quorn/victims.html.)

Later, over an omelette, we talked about the NBO and its role in creating a ‘neutral space’ for Buddhist organisations to meet, talk, cooperate, debate, criticise and build community and understanding. The NBO neutral space is intended to allow all sorts of Buddhist organisations to interact – whatever their pedigree (within reason) – on the premise that it is ‘good to talk’ as this is the best way to avoid or resolve conflict and to learn from each other and support the growth of a healthy Buddhism.

What could be more damaging for the long-term future of Buddhism than for it to become perceived as just another fractious collection of the ‘religious’ divided over some doctrine or other? That is not to say that there is not a need for discussion and possibly argument, just that such debate is best carried out from a spirit of good-will and understanding rather than rumour and dogmatism. We do not want placards on the streets and public displays of Buddhists abusing Buddhists. Neither do we want damaging media exposés of abusive or coercive activity within Buddhist organisations, or anonymous and scurrilous letters denouncing Buddhist groups to prominent national organisations. Fortunately this sort of thing is pretty rare in UK Buddhism.

It would be good to continue to practice what we preach and to maintain what is generally the excellent public perception of 'Buddhism' in the UK.

In order to strengthen relationships at the grassroots level, the NBO is hoping to support regional meetings or conferences between local groups. This is something which has already started independently in some areas and which can with care, help to improve understanding and support between Buddhists.

Venerable Bodhidhamma and the Satipanya Charity are launching a fresh appeal for funds to help to reduce the inevitable mortgage on the new retreat centre. Full details on the progress in purchasing the new centre and in how to support this worthy initiative can be found at:

http://www.satipanya.org.uk/index.htm

April 2007 update...I have now heard that the purchase of the retreat centre has has now completed succesfully.

Three Wheels

I managed to drop into the Three Wheels Temple on the 9th February. Three Wheels is a Shin Buddhist centre near Acton housed in a large and imposing semi-detached house. Shin Buddhism is a Pure Land tradition and is the largest school of Buddhism in Japan. Established in London in 1994 as a branch of the Shogyoji Temple, Japan, Three Wheels has continued to grow and is a popular venue for a range of activities, including children’s events, Japanese Brush painting, meditation and Eza meetings.

The centre is headed by the Reverend Sato, who has been a long-term supporter of the NBO and is well-known to some of the committee.

We briefly discussed the background to my visit and of the Three Wheels Temple— and of Buddhism in Japan. The Reverend Sato mentioned an article he has written countering the criticisms that Brian Victoria has made against DT Suzuki. (Brian Victoria wrote a book called Zen and War a few years ago). Reverend Sato’s article will be published in the UK.

I mentioned to Reverend Sato that I was a follower of Ajahn Sumedho and the Thai Forest Sangha tradition at Amaravati. The Reverend Sato responded that Ajahn Sumedho had given a talk last year at the Three Wheels Temple on the Four Noble truths which had been greatly appreciated by all present. The Reverend Sato had met Ajahn Sumedho at the Buddhist summer School in Leicester and regarded him as a good friend. It is both interesting and heartening that sincere dhamma practice and realization transcends tradition and that accomplished practitioners from different traditions can relate very easily with each other.

Later, the Reverend Sato, led me into the stone garden, a striking rectangle of carefully raked gravel embedded with rocks, and intended to help cultivate a spacious and concentrated mind. He also showed me a spacious shrine room containing impressive carpentry and a striking and unusual Buddha Rupa.

Three Wheels holds an Eza , open to all, every two months. The bi-monthly Eza Meetings open with a formal Buddhist service which is followed by a talk from a guest speaker. Each Eza is a time when many people, Buddhist and non-Buddhist gather at Three Wheels with the aim of encouraging harmony within diversity and spiritual exchange and encounter. The next Eza will be held at 2.00pm on the 25th February, when Reverend Sato will speak about ‘Other Power’?

Information on Three Wheels can be found at:

http://www.threewheels.co.uk/index.php?option=com_contact&Itemid=3

Marpa House

The countryside around Saffron Walden is very pleasant. Marpa House is situated in the village of Ashdon near Saffron Walden, on the border of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It is a Buddhist retreat and meditation centre and dedicated to the advancement of Tibetan Buddhism. The Venerable Lama Chime Rinpoche (of the Karma Kagyu tradition) established the centre in 1973 and it is now run by the Dharma Trust.

I arrived late in the afternoon at the end of January and was met by Jigme Deere, the secretary. He told me something of the house. Although the centre has had resident teachers in the past, this has not been the case for the past five years. To some extent the centre is not used as much as it was in the very early days, although there are still regular events throughout the year with a range of teachers. Recent events have included a youth retreat, Losar (New Year celebrations), and teaching on Lojong - Mind Training.

The centre has some links with Ato Rinpoche who teaches in Cambridge, although not with many other local Buddhist groups.

Jigme showed me around the spacious house with its meeting places, many bedrooms and retreat facilities. We looked at the shop with its books and artefacts. I am often inspired by Tibetan Buddhism, with its ornate iconography and sophisticated teachings, but also, at times, find the teachings quite complex. But then, so we are told, what really counts is to put the teachings into practice. Just as with a cake recipe, we should apply it and use the result for sustenance.

Perhaps Tibetan Buddhism just has lots of good recipes?

http://www.marpahouse.org.uk/index.html

Oxford Buddha Vihara

On an extremely sunny and frosty morning (my thermometer said -6˚ C) I made my way to the Oxford Buddha Vihara (OBV). I was rather pleased to experience the freezing temperature. This winter has been very mild and wet and a frost gives some hope that global warming might be delayed for a bit? In addition, and as a gardener, I am aware of the Saxon prayer ‘Good lord protect us from a mild winter’.

Nevertheless, I was pleased to enter the warm semi-detached house on the outskirts of Oxford where the OBV is based. Phra Pasanno is a Thai Theravadan bhikkhu who occupies the vihara with other monks. He explained something of the history of the OBV.

The senior incumbent is the Venerable Dr. Dhammasami. Originally from Eastern Burma, Khammai Dhammasami obtained his doctorate from Oxford. As well as being the senior incumbent of the Oxford Buddha Vihara, he also heads the International Secretariat for the UN Day of Vesak, based in Bangkok.

The Venerable Dr. Dhammasami has a key role in the newly formed Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies’ (OCBS) relations with the Sangha and Buddhist Universities in Theravada countries and more widely across Asia. Supporters of the Oxford Buddha Vihara have offered much voluntary help to the OCBS.

I made a note to make contact with the OCBS, it sounds a very interesting venture.

The OBV was purchased less than three years ago and is a little small for the numbers wishing to use it from local Asian families, students from Oxford colleges, and local people. Property in the UK is now so expensive, that generous donations from Asian countries which would purchase a sizeable monastery in the donor country, only allow small UK properties to be obtained.

This has been a regular refrain during my visits to centres around the UK. The OBV has close links with Amaravati and the Forest Sangha. Phra Pasanno mentioned meetings with Ajahn Sumedho, and also Ajahn Khemadhammo. Ajahn Khemadhammo leads the Angulimala Prison Chaplaincy organisation, and Phra Pasanno expressed his great respect for this enterprise. Ajahn Khemadhammo has also been instrumental in setting up the recently formed Theravada Buddhist Sangha (UK) organisation to which the OBV belong. The word ‘Sangha’ is here used in its early sense as meaning the monastic Sangha, rather than the common contemporary use of the word as including all who practice Buddhism.

We discussed the NBO and its role in maintaining a neutral forum or space within which all organisations regarding themselves as Buddhist can meet, exchange information and develop fellowship. There is no reason, of course, why an organisation such as the OBV could not be a member of TBS (UK) and the NBO as well as interfaith networks and other ‘umbrella groups’. The work of such groups is complementary and I would expect more to arise as Buddhism becomes established in the West.

The Oxford Buddha Vihara can be found at 33 Cherwell Drive, Marston, Oxford, OX3 0NB

The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies has a website at http://www.ocbs.org/

Leicester Buddhist Vihara

The Leicester Buddhist Vihara is a housed in a suburban property, in this case a pleasant small property in Una Avenue, Narborough, Leicester. On a wonderfully sunny January morning, I met the Venarable Teldeniyaye Amitho Thero, a Sri Lankan monk of some twenty years. He had been listening to a tape describing initiatives for world peace. We sat in the small and pleasant shrine room discussing the various activities undertaken at the vihara. These include children’s events, interfaith meetings and meditation teaching. The vihara supports both Sri Lankan and Asian families and a growing English congregation.

Venerable Amitho was supportive of the NBO aim of cultivating fellowship between Buddhist organisations

The Vihara has a small library and a number of books for free distribution. This is a common and welcome feature at many Buddhist centres. Somehow we started to talk about Buddhist scriptures and Pali, the original language of the early oral teachings and which later got inscribed onto palm leaves and books. The early Sangha during the Buddha’s own lifetime, established a system of ‘reciters’, monks with excellent powers of memory who were allocated sets of teachings to memorise and recite. The use of numbered lists, (a technique called ‘redundancy’), and the standardisation of teaching formulae, combined with regular recitation and cross-checking between reciters, created a pretty reliable method for maintaining the integrity of the Dhamma over several hundred years. This was the best technology available at the time, and some of the techniques are still used today in network communication technology to detect and correct errors in transmission.

After the Pali texts were written down they were maintained by the Sangha of monks and nuns and would not have been easily available to lay-people. We are extremely fortunate today to have access to modern and careful translations into English of all of the Pali Canon. Much of this is available on the internet. It is an incredible resource for all Buddhists of whatever school. If we want to read what the Sangha were listening to at the time of the Buddha, we can read the Pali Canon. This is the material which informed all major Buddhist traditions in India, Tibet and China and beyond.

The Buddha in the Canon has aches and pains, displays a dry wit, and immense skill, compassion and wisdom in dealing with questions. The teachings in the Pali Canon have a consistent style and flavour, described as the taste of freedom. There is an openness, almost an ambiguity, which constantly turns our thinking minds back to reflect on our experience, the reality of our lives and away from metaphysics, views, opinions and the proliferation of ideas. Although the formulaic repetitiveness of the texts can make them something of a struggle at times, they are worth persisting with, or returning to, to acquire the taste.

Contact details for the Vihara can be found here;

http://www.btinternet.com/~asankawebdesigns/srilankanetuk/leicester_buddhist_vihara.htm

Leeds Buddhist Council

On the evening of the 23rd January, I drove through snow flurries to meet with Barbara Coplans and members of the Leeds Buddhist Council. Barbara lives in a redbrick terrace in the Headingley area. After greeting Barbara, Ken and Jay (and Colin the cat) who were representing Soka Gakkai International, Dhammapala Theravada group and Leeds Jamyang centre respectively, we discussed Buddhism in Leeds and Yorkshire.

In 1998, Leeds Faith Forum had requested a Buddhist representative. As a result of this, the Leeds Buddhist Council (LBC) was established comprising:

Dhammapala (Leeds) a lay group of Harnham Vihara

FWBO (Leeds)

Jamyang (Leeds)

Dechen Community (Yorkshire)

Soka Gakkai International (Leeds)

New Kadampa Tradition (Pocklington - York)

Leeds Zen Group

International Zen Association UK (Leeds)

Buddhist Hospice Trust

One of the LBC, Jan Metcalfe, has until recently been very active on interfaith bodies. Barbara, the LBC Secretary, has also been similarly active. This sparked a discussion about Buddhist involvement in interfaith and SACRE groups. The general feeling was somewhat cynical. The intentions behind interfaith activity are invariably good; the problem is that such bodies rarely seem to achieve anything and absorb a lot of energy. Buddhists are usually working people with responsibilities and with little spare time. Such spare time as they have is usually taken with voluntary Buddhist activity and household and family commitments. There is often the feeling that a lot of precious time can easily be wasted in conscientiously attending interfaith meetings.

From my own experience, SACRE’s in particular are dominated by Christian traditions, and representatives from the smaller faiths often feel that they are present simply ‘to put a tick in the box’ rather than being encouraged to contribute in a significant way (or at all). SACRE’s are composed of six Christian representatives from the major denominations and one representative each from Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Moslem and Sikh faiths. There are in addition some eight teachers and nine councillors and local authority representatives.

The majority of teacher and local authority representatives are also of a conservative Christian orientation. The end result is that any representative of the minority faiths is greatly outnumbered and usually ends up being little more than an uncomfortable observer. The RE Curriculum is also heavily weighted towards Christianity with minimal time given to other faiths, and this sits within legislation that requires schools to undertake regular Christian acts of worship. Perhaps it is reasonable to ask whether it is worth attending such meetings?

Barbara observed that it was the ‘same old, same olds’ who attended interfaith and SACRE meetings. She also noted that interfaith meetings seemed to operate on a stimulus /response basis; ie a particular problem was perceived by a faith group and reported at an interfaith meeting. A response to this problem or crisis was then sought. In between such ‘flare ups’, not much happened. However, perhaps on a more positive note, an agreement had been implemented to have multi-faith winter lights in Leeds.

Does any reader of this report have any positive and upbeat experiences of Buddhist contributions to interfaith and SACRE's around the UK? I would like to have some evidence to counter my curmudgeonly outlook.

Intra Buddhist relations in Leeds and Yorkshire are pretty good, with a joint Wesak celebration and communal meal. Some groups were more active in the LBC than others; the NKT seemed to be the most reluctant to contribute their time.

I mentioned an idea of the NBO organising a Yorkshire or Leeds regional Buddhist conference in partnership with LBC, to act as a focus for community buidling, and perhaps hopefully making this an annual event. Barbara and those present thought this a good idea, with Jay Simpson suggesting that Leeds Town Hall could be available (for free) for such an activity. Leeds University was also mentioned as a possible venue. Barbara thought the theme of ‘British Buddhism’, or ‘What is British Buddhism?’ would be a good one. The conference would be for one day and probably between 10am – 4pm. The details remain to be worked out.

I was very grateful to Barbara and the LBC for organising a meeting with me and I found the discussion very helpful.

An excellent website for Leeds Buddhism can be found at: http://www.communigate.co.uk/brad/leedsbuddhistgroup/page2.phtml

Bodhi Garden

The Bodhi Garden is situated in the Lanes area of Brighton. This was the old fishing settlement that existed prior to the great expansion and gentrification of Brighton which took place in the 19th century. Richard Gilpin, the manager of the Bodhi Garden, met me at 6 pm at the door of the centre. Fortunately, the stormy weather had eased considerably.

We walked down a passage into the main room, which apparently used to be a gambling den. The hall has space for about forty plus a small kitchen.

The Bodhi Garden is run as a non-sectarian space for Buddhist groups in the area. Groups using the centre include a Forest Sangha Theravada group, a Soto Zen group, the Tibetan Shambhala, Green Tara and Jamyang groups. The centre also hosts events led by teachers from Gaia House, Tenzin Josh, Christopher Titmuss and others. A Soka Gakkai group did briefly use the hall but have not continued, and NKT were not interested.

The approach taken at the centre arose from the Venerable Tenzin Josh a Tibetan monk who also ordained as a Theravadan monk and wished to establish a non-sectarian monastery in England. The English Buddhist Monastery Trust (EBMT) was established for this purpose and the Bodhi Garden was opened in 2001 to further this general aim. The dana principle is used to fund the centre and has proved to work, although this has taken a while to build up.

Richard and I realised that we had both recently studied on the same MA Buddhist Studies course run by Peter Harvey from Sunderland University. We exchanged our experiences of the course, one which I found very enjoyable and which we both felt had been very useful. We agreed that we knew less about Buddhism when we finished the course than when we started—so it was an excellent course!

Let me explain. Probably like many long-term Buddhists I had picked up quite a lot about Buddhism before I started the course, but realised gradually as a result of the excellent study material and teaching from Peter, that I knew very little that was reliable about the history, organisation and variations of outlook between different traditions. What I thought I knew tended to be distorted, outdated, or incorrect in various ways.

Although understanding all this is not necessary in order to practice Buddhism, it can help not only to inspire practice, but also to understand and communicate with Buddhists from other traditions and to appreciate the great diversity that is included under the label of ‘Buddhism’.

It is so easy to attach to 'our Buddhism' just because we are familiar with it. This tendency to become protective of, and attached to, that with which we are familiar is very natural. It probably has evolutionary survival value, since it protects an investment of time and effort that we have made in learning ideas and practices and forming relationships within a community.

I am convinced that if Buddhism is to flourish in the West then we must make an effort to find out more about different traditions and where our favourite tradition fits. Perhaps ‘our tradition’ is not so perfect after all? Or perhaps it is even better than we thought?

Bodhi Garden runs an annual festival to bring all groups together. The FWBO plays a significant role with this. Richard explained that it is easy for groups to meet at their respective slots at the Bodhi Garden without interacting much with each other. Festivals help to overcome this, as do regular meetings of the main organizers for each group.

Richard was interested in the NBO and thought it very likely that one of the Bodhi Garden or EBMT representatives would join in the near future.

I found the centre to have a very nice feel and to offer many opportunities for engaging with a Buddhist path. Later that evening I left clutching some Bodhi Leaf newsletters (which I subsequently found to be good reading) and headed into the Lanes for some exploration.

Bodhi Garden information can be found at: http://www.bodhigarden.org/

A Cool School - Brighton Dharma School

The storm had been forecast for several days. Unfortunately, the forecasters were correct, and on the morning that I had planned to drive to the Dharma school in Brighton, Wednesday the 18th Jan, the country was swept by westerly gales. However, I decided to take a chance and set off on the two hour drive to Brighton. I made reasonable progress until I got stuck in a lengthy queue quite near my destination, which I eventually found to be caused by a fallen tree. 

The Dharma School is housed in an old, large, white Victorian house on a hill above Brighton. After fighting through the wind and finding my way to reception, I was shown to the headmaster's office. Unfortunately, due to my late arrival Peter Murdock was busy for the rest of the day. So I accompanied him on his lunch hour duties and sat with him through a maths lesson. We talked about the history of the school and its approach. 

The Dharma School is the only one of its kind in the UK. Its patrons are the Dalai Lama and Ajahn Sumedho and it has been running for about 12 years. The school is open to all children aged between 3 and 11, regardless of the religious affiliations of their families. Peter was aware of a diverse range of influences on parents. The fifty percent or so who were Buddhists included FWBO, Theravadan, Tibetan and Zen. The staff had been selected primarily on the basis of good teaching skills, although a Buddhist background was very helpful.

After lunch a group of children came in and sat down for a short meditation, I was impressed by the way they settled very quickly, especially on such a wild day which normally excites children. Peter encouraged them to notice their thoughts. He then asked them for their feedback on what they had noticed. Hands shot up, and when asked, each student, gave his or her brief report. Some had found their minds attracted to the sound of the wind. Others had noticed memories arising. 

Peter asked them what they liked about the school. The comments ranged from ‘really really, really, really, really, really, nice teachers’, to observations about the exciting project work that they had undertaken. One boy observed that it was a ‘cool school’.

Peter explained that the school had made steady progress in its short history, and that he was the third headmaster. He had found that a new raft of legislation on health and safety and employment and OFSTED rules had generated a huge amount of work over the past year; and not only additional work, but also additional costs to the school. With only about seventy or eighty children at the school, the school finances had to be very carefully managed. Although thanks to generous donations from Thai Buddhists, there were plans to build a new shrine room by the end of this year.

Having been a maths teacher quite recently, I was interested to sit with a small class working through some decimal fractions and percentages questions. Generally, the class had very few problems with the work, and I was impressed with their positive and calm attitude and their industry.

Peter was sympathetic to the aims of the NBO, but found that he had very little time and energy to devote to networking over and above his work in leading the Dharma School, particularly during the past year.

We talked about the actual teaching of Buddhism. What guidelines were available? Peter did not think that there was very much that was really useful although there was some good material. He recalled speaking at a conference about a year ago and devoted to the teaching of Buddhism. The NBO and Clearvision had been among a number of those attending. This had been a useful event.

I mentioned that I had received a good report about the meeting, and an article had been included in the NBO Connection ezine. However, I had also been told that it was somewhat marred by a loud and vociferous speaker who seemed to regard themselves as the self-appointed guardian and authority on British Buddhism. Such attitudes are not helpful, especially given the diversity of Buddhism today. I doubt whether there is anyone who really has a full and current understanding of the complexity of contemporary Buddhist practice in the UK, so I think that some humility and openness are required.

Actually the one thing that we can all do, as Buddhists, and whether or not we are in touch with the rich diversity of Buddhism in the UK, is to behave well. More than any other factor, this is what will ensure that Buddhism flourishes.

Information on the Dharma School is available here: http://www.isbi.com/isbi-viewschool/971-DHARMA_SCHOOL.html

Derby Multi-Faith Centre

The Derby Multi-Faith Centre is a relatively new venture, having completed construction in September 2004. It offers a series of attractive and asymmetrical spaces for use by religious and faith groups for meetings, performances, worship, meditation and study.

On the 6th December I arrived at the centre to give an evening presentation on ‘Buddhism in Britain - An Overview’. This was part of a series of talks entitled ‘Encounters with Buddhism’. Given the diversity of Buddhism in Britain, and the limited time, it was inevitable that the talk and discussion would only be able to touch upon a limited range of topics.

I had considered not giving a formal presentation for the event but simply an extemporaneous talk. However, without really knowing the audience, I decided it would be safer to present some of the photos I had taken during my tenure as development worker for the NBO and to augment these with a few slides and bullet points.

Afterwards we had a question and answer session.

One of the questions concerned my role as NBO development worker. Was I not being compromised by accepting a government grant to work on behalf of the NBO? Did the government not want to use me to spread a particular message to Buddhists? Was the government trying to control or distort Buddhism in some way?

I think that these questions arise from a concern over the potential for corruption or compromise that can be connected with political engagement. Many Buddhists that I meet have little or no sympathy with authority structures, either of a religious or a political nature. There seems at least to be resistance to being organised, and sometimes a more or less anarchic outlook. I guess most of us share this tendency; a deep suspicion of the motives of those in power. However, dogmatic cynicism is a rather dismal philosophy. There is actually a possibility that engagement with government or other authorities might be beneficial and not automatically lead to compromise.

The grant that I am using was applied for by the NBO, (along with lots of other faith and voluntary groups), from the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund. The NBO described how they wished to use the money and the Home Office judged that this was a beneficial use of public finds. The policy of this government is to strengthen the ability of faith groups to reach out to faith communities, to improve communication within faiths and between them and government channels, to improve community cohesion and to support faith groups in delivering information and services to their respective communities.

Underlying this, of course, is the government’s wish to deliver services to marginalized individuals more effectively using voluntary organisations. Effectively, the government is grooming voluntary organisations for service delivery. Grants have been made to all of the major faith groups in the UK. One of the stipulations is that the money should not be used for proselytisation purposes.

Although I do make quarterly reports to the Home Office, these reports simply record progress against the targets agreed by the NBO with the Community Development Foundation. At no time during the nine months that I have fulfilled this role have I been contacted (let alone pressured) to deliver a government message. My role has been to make contact with Buddhist groups and to improve their knowledge of the NBO and help them to network. As far as I can see, the grant is being put to good effect, without any compromise to my Buddhist practice or to the detriment of ‘Buddhism’ in some broader sense. In fact quite the reverse.

However, this perception depends where one is looking from, and I guess Buddhist organisations or individuals who have not been awarded grants or who do not sympathise with the NBO or some of its members, might find this whole initiative quite threatening. One of the things that I have picked up from my nine months in this role, is that the UK Buddhist community is diverse; there are different outlooks and quite a lot of isolated groups; the equivalent of left and right-wing positions; what might be called ‘fundamentalist Buddhist stances’, and widely held negative perceptions of particular Buddhist organisations.

There is also obviously a distinction between those Buddhists who take monastic vows and live a renunciant celibate lifestyle, and those who lead a ‘householder’ life with partners, families and mortgages. There are Asian Buddhists and Western convert Buddhists. And there are significant differences of outlook between Buddhist traditions. There is really no such thing as a simple and homogenous ‘UK Buddhist community’.

I must admit that I have my own prejudices and views around some of the groups that I meet; I am not at all sure how they all easily relate to the teaching of the Buddha… as I understand such teachings; although I do not think that I have met any Buddhist who was not sincere. This is the point. We all have personal views of 'Buddhism' and it is helpful to have such views challenged. And surely the main concern is whether a group is behaving well and doing good work.

One of the benefits of the NBO ethos of adopting a neutral and welcoming stance to all sincere Buddhist groups is that it allows dialogue to take place. Any criticism of groups or individuals can be expressed within a framework, hopefully in a direct and yet kind way; and best practice can also be agreed and communicated.

Attitudes or activities which give concern to some Buddhists can be identified and perhaps adjusted or changed, not by some sort of (imagined) ‘supreme NBO authority’ passing judgement, but simply by dialogue and peer review. This is not to say that there is always a simple solution and that we should be aligning to some sort of ‘standard Buddhist' position, but at least we can identify tension points and agree to amicable dialogue. And isn’t this the key to avoiding public conflicts between different groups and inevitable collateral damage to the good name of Buddhism?

Derby Multi Faith Cente can be found at:
http://www.multifaithnet.org/

Letchworth Buddhist Vihara

Letchworth is the world's first Garden City, based on the pioneering theories of Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928), who stated:

'There are in reality not only, as is so constantly assumed, two alternatives - town life and country life - but a third alternative, in which all the advantages of the most energetic and active town life, with all the beauty and delight of the country, may be secured in perfect combination. Human society and the beauty of nature are meant to be enjoyed together.'
Letchworth was developed from 1903 to realise Howard's aims with tree-lined streets, low-density housing, spacious gardens and public parks.'

During my visit to Letchworth Buddhist Temple in early December, I only explored a little of the city, although some of the parts I did see were spacious and tree lined. I suspect that Ebenezer Howard did not anticipate a large Tesco superstore on the outskirts, though, and the volume of road traffic.

The Buddhist Temple is located in High Avenue - a pleasant suburban street of white semis. The only external sign of a Buddhist presence is a flag in the lounge window. Inside though, is another matter. The former lounge has been turned into a delightful Buddhist grotto. The walls and ceiling have been painted to resemble a jungle scene with luxuriant foliage and blue sky, whilst the chimney breast has become a rocky outcrop with a Buddha Rupa nestled in an alcove. Three dimensional tree trunks (papier-mache?) and stage lighting complete the illusion.

I suspect that this form of vernacular architecture will spread. Indeed, the creator of the temple told me that he was going to Scotland to create a similar effect in the Scotland Vihara.

The Letchworth Temple follows the Sri Lankan Theravada tradition and its chief incumbent is the Venerable Nahalle Rahula Thero. I spent some time speaking with another resident monk, the Venerable Dodamgoda Sumedha Thero. The temple supports Sri Lankan families in the city and surrounding areas, and some 300 attend the major festivals each year. The temple hosts a Dhamma School, meditation classes and school visits.

One problem is the small size of the temple, which can really only comfortably hold around twenty or so. Another concern is that parking is limited. Like many similar organisations the Temple would like to be able to move to more spacious premises with better parking facilities.

The web site is: http://www.letchworthtemple.com/index.htm