News from Melbourne Buddhist Centre | |
Issue #3 Volume #2 | May 2007 |
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Welcome to this edition of our newsletter. Mudita is designed to keep you in touch with Melbourne Buddhist Centre events and the activities of our Sangha. | |
NewsBrunswick CentreWe held a very enjoyable festival day in early May to celebrate the Enlightenment of the Buddha. See the report by Naomi below. Opportunities to helpThe Brunswick Centre regularly requires a tidy-up. Furniture and equipment have recently arrived from the City Centre which need to be incorporated. Dhiramani and Saddhavijaya are organising a day retreat on June 3rd. It runs from 9.30am to 4.30pm. For more information contact Dhiramani or Saddhavijaya. Those who have been on retreat at Brad's place, know what a valuable resource it is. On Sunday May 27th, Brad is holding a day to tidy up the land around the house, following the felling of the cyprus trees.Contact the Centre if you're able to help there. OrdinationsOn May 20th Anita Hirshhorn was ordained on a retreat in New Zealand. We will discover her new Order name soon. New MitrasOn Buddha Day two women became mitras in a simple ceremony. Naomi Overton and DeChantal Hillis took the inspiring step to commit themselves to practising within the FWBO. This photo shows them after the ceremony with SIladasa, the chairman. |
What's On
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Send any news items you have to news@melbournebuddhistcentre.org by July 13th for inclusion in the next newsletter. Programme of Events for 2007 - Visit our website | |
ReportsBuddha Dayby Naomi Overton It was great to have so many people at the Brunswick Centre on Sunday 6th May to celebrate ‘Buddha Day’. The centre had a festive tone, with the shrine decorated predominantly gold, to symbolise Buddha. Thank you to both Rosemary and Siladasa for their engaging talks on the Buddha. These talks were followed by people introducing their own rupas of various forms, and contributing them to the shrine. Following this presentation of the rupas, a plate of food was brought by each person, providing a beautiful vegetarian feast. The concluding puja included two mitra ceremonies, for both DeChantal and myself. As the Three Jewels have become increasingly important to me, it felt a natural step to ask to become a mitra. Both DeChantal and I were blessed to also have family and friends present on this important day, to witness our going for refuge. Overall, Buddha Day at the Melbourne Buddhist Centre was a great chance to get together and to reflect upon who the Buddha was. Devamitra's Visitby Brian Lowry The fund raising film night (Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man) held at Cinema Nova back in March was very well attended and raised over $600 to assist in bringing out our UK based president, Devamitra. His subsequent 6 week stay enabled many at the Melbourne Buddhist Centre to meet and discuss Buddhist ideas and practice with a senior Order Member. His Wednesday night talks and day workshops at the centre were well attended. At the time of Devamitra's arrival I was preoccupied with moving house and settling in to a shared and very compact domestic environment, otherwise known as the Men's Community in Bishop St, Brunswick. It was here that Devamitra was staying. My first encounter with community living conveniently coincided with the 9 day Men's Retreat in early April. Although Devamitra was not leading this retreat his presence there, and occasional input, revealed a depth of knowledge and point of view that was worthy of further consideration. It's often the 'throw away lines' that are the most revealing. To encounter the man and the Order Member on Retreat and at home provided me with another glimpse on what living a Spiritual Life can actually mean. Tax Cut Plansby Linda Williams I have been thinking about the tax cut that I will receive from this July and wondering what is the most mindful way I could use it. The modest amount of almost $15 per week could easily be wasted with a few cups of coffee or frittered away on any number of retail outlets. I have decided the best way to have my tax cut make a difference is to give it to the Melbourne Buddhist Centre in the form of a Monthly Standing Donation. The Centre provides an astonishing number of classes and events for a large number of people yet runs on a very modest budget. This is acheived by the hard work of many of the Order and some sangha members who consistently dedicate their time and effort to have the Centre run smoothly. My monthly standing donation of $60 (which I will set up by direct debit) will mean that I don't have to get cash out of the bank for my attendance on Wednesday nights or Saturday mornings. How will you allocate your tax cut? If you would like to consider providing a monthly standing donation to the Buddhist Centre by direct debit, you can download the form here: Monthly Standing Donation form . Print it out, fill it in, sign it, and post or hand in at Brunswick Centre. If you would like to make a contribution by some other method, you could speak with Arunamalin or Dhiramani to work out alternatives. I'm hoping that my tax cut will mean a tiny bit more certainty for the financial stability of the Centre, and that the MBC committee might have fewer difficulties balancing the budget and tighening the purse strings. | |
Sangha Interview
What are you passionate about?The other side of the story. The world can appear full of 'good guys' and 'bad guys', until you look really hard and realise that everyone has their own story, and that the series of choices that become their 'life' makes sense to them at the time. What are you reading at the moment?I recently enjoyed Camille's Breadby Amanda Lohrey and found myself looking at food and people in a new light. If you could have five beings at dinner party (dead, alive or conceptual) who or what would they be?My two children, the Buddha, Ghandi and the Dalai Lama. The first two because they have so many questions about the world, and the latter three because they could give answers more wisely than me. What school of Buddhism most influences you and why?I like the simplicity and the 'everydayness' of Zen, as I want to practise in the place I find myself right now. I've also been reading work by Stephen Batchelor and considering the influence of 'having' versus 'being' in my life. This is proving a useful yardstick for looking at Buddhist practice and other choices I make. What interests do you have outside the centre?My family, camping, tertiary study. | |
PoemThe wind has settled, the blossoms have fallen; Birds sing, the mountains grow dark— This is the wondrous power of Buddhism. Ryokan (1758–1831) From Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan, trans.& ed. John Stevens, Shambhala, 2004 | |
And another thing...by JivitaGetting what you want... versus ... accepting what you get.To get what we want! That is what we all want isn't it. It is so obvious that it is hardly worth mentioning. We want what we want and we don't want what we don't want, and we take steps to ensure the getting or avoiding necessary to achieve this goal. It is what we are engaged in, in so many subtle and refined ways through the hours between waking and sleeping. In most cases we do not even have to put much conscious effort into the task, we just do it. It would seem supremely sensible to make the effort to rearrange the cards the universe is dealing us day-by-day to make things just that little bit more to our liking; to make things how they should be. The problem is — sometimes it does not work. In developing the habit of expecting to get what we want we are just building ourselves up for disappointment. Like 'licking honey from a razor's edge', as the Buddhist analogy goes. The Buddha explained that we experience the pain of unsatisfactoriness because we want the universe to give us all the things we want and it just will not yield to our individual desires. Expecting to get champagne from the kitchen tap is as ridiculous and as frustrating as trying to get lasting satisfaction from the universe. So what is the solution? This is where the Third Noble Truth comes in. In the context of 'getting' versus 'accepting', the Third Noble Truth recognises the impossibility of trying to get what you cannot have, and rising above this fact rather than becoming apathetic or depressed. In basic day-to-day terms, it could mean simply changing your focus to accepting what you get, or are given. Instead of being in conflict with the universe because you do not understand it's true nature, take a step toward being more in harmony with the whole drama unfolding around you. In doing so you may see more clearly the nature of your own mind and begin to experience... Oh dear! I have reached my word limit.
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AdvertisementsWant to help us with the newsletter?The Newsletter Team is looking for someone to assist with producing Mudita every other month. Tasks and talents required include being able to write; attending bi-monthly editorial meetings; meeting deadlines and eating pizza. The time commitment is two hours per month or so. Mudita provides an important link to our 'regulars' and the wider Sangha who may not be able to attend the Centre regularly due to personal or family circumstances. If you would like to lend a hand, send an email to: Newsletter help Don't Forget our Bookshop!The Brunswick bookshop has a newly expanded stocklist. All stock from the City Centre is now integrated and on display. Whenever the Centre is open, leisurely browsing is welcomed and encouraged. If you would like to order any Buddhist book or resource you can not see on the shelf, just let us know. We can usually help. | |
Dharma Quote of the monthDo Not Think Lightly of Good and Evil 121. Do not think lightly of evil, saying: It will not come to me. Even as a water-pot is filled by the falling of drops, likewise the fool, gathering it drop by drop, fills himself with evil. 122. Do not think lightly of good, saying: It will not come to me. Even as a water-pot is filled by the falling of drops, so the wise man, gathering it drop by drop, fills himself with good. from The Dhammapada, in Walpole Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, Grove Press, 1987 | |
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Copyright Melbourne Buddhist Centre, 1 Pitt St, Brunswick, VIC 3056. May 2007 Please forward this newsletter to friends and family. All rights reserved worldwide. Reprint only with permission from copyright holder(s). All trademarks are property of their respective owners. All contents provided as is. This, and previous newsletters may be accessed online at: www.melbournebuddhistcentre.org/newsletters.html To contact us with feedback, questions or praise, email us This is an opt-in newsletter available by subscription only. We neither use nor endorse the use of spam. Thank you! | |
In this newsletter we are fortunate to meet Lisa Frye: