News from Melbourne Buddhist Centre

Issue #1
Volume #3

January 2008

Happy new year, and welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter.

Mudita is designed to keep you in touch with Melbourne Buddhist Centre events and the activities of our Sangha.

Poem

All things have no beginning;

All things are without cessation;

If you understand this,

All the Buddhas are there.

So how can there be any coming and going?

Tran-Nhan-Ton (13th century CE)

From Zen Philosophy, Zen Practice

by Thich Thien-An (Dharma Publishing, 1975), p. 108.

What's On

Regular classes will continue as normal over the summer holiday period. In the new year the format of Wednesday evenings will change; it will be for regulars only. Newcomers will be welcomed on Thursday evenings with a drop-in class and meditation courses.

Since most Order Members are on retreat during January, 2008 Meditation and Buddhism courses will begin in early February. Look out for the new MBC postcard which contains details of the 2008 Centre program.

During the first week of February, Parami — Public Preceptor and senior Order Member — will be visiting Melbourne from the UK. She will lead a weekend retreat on 2nd and 3rd February on the topic of Death and Dying. Parami will also be giving a talk at the Centre and meeting up with sangha members.

Check our website for all up-to-date event information.

News

Sangha Retreat, Nov 2007

“Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net that stretches out indefinitely in all directions. A single glittering jewel hangs at every node and since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels, glittering like stars of the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold. If we now select one of these jewels and look closely at it, we will discover that in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net, infinite in number. Not only that, but each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel, is also reflecting all the other jewels, so that the process of reflection is infinite.”

Each jewel here stands for an individual being, an individual consciousness. Every jewel is intimately connected with all other jewels in the universe; any compassionate act can produce a ripple effect that will reverberate throughout the universe.

On our Sangha retreat we tried to support each other’s efforts and aspirations towards enlightenment. Whether preparing meals, meditating, making presentations or just hanging out together we actively experienced this sense of connectedness and mutual influence that is Sangha. May all jewels glitter and sparkle on.

Whislt driving to the Sangha retreat on that Friday afternoon in November last year several thoughts ran through my head. I was mindful that this was my first open retreat since my Ordination in January and I looked forward to meeting new Friends and catching up with old ones. I also was interested to see how the Melbourne High School country facility at Millgrove would be, as this was a new venue recently discovered by Maitripala. I reasoned also that disconnecting from the mundane in the short time available could be even harder than usual given Australia was voting the following day in a General Election.

The facility proved ideal and even though our shrine room was basic it was more than adequate to our needs. To me the feeling of the retreat was different from others that I have experienced over the years. The credit for this belongs to the leaders, Maitripala, Shantidevi and Sanjiva, who by taking the theme of Indra’s net set up conditions where each of us could share Information about ourselves, allowing us to connect at a deeper level. I particularly enjoyed the talk given by Shantidevi on Saturday night. As I drove away from Millgrove on the Sunday afternoon I felt great gratitude toward the leaders and the participants: through their efforts and openness all had allowed us to rejoice in our interconnectedness and deepen our appreciation of the Sangha jewel.

Meditation note

When one finds interest in what one does the mind stops wandering.

Sangha Interview

For this issue we talk with Jivita, Order Member and quirky editorialist for our newsletter.

When and how did you come across Buddhism?

I came across buddhism when I came along to the Melbourne Buddhist Centre in 1995. I wanted to learn meditation but was not interested in any of that 'Hindu mumbo-jumbo'. So I managed to keep coming along to the centre for quite a while and avoid the 'buddhism'. But then I read The Three Jewels by Sangharakshita and thought 'so that's what it's all about'. It all made perfect sense to me.

Do you have a favourite Dharma quote or expression?

Um ... no.

Which Buddha or Bodhisattva do you have the strongest connection with?

Avalokitesvara.

What interests and activities do you have outside the MBC which others may not know about? (eg. sport, arts...)

Writing.

What are you working on in your practice at the moment?

Trying to learn not to take offence.

How did you spend New Year's Eve?

I was the organiser for the New Year's puja at the centre so I was at the Melbourne Buddhist Centre as I have been for just about every New Year's Eve that I can remember. We had a full shrine room, so clearly the event is becoming more popular as time goes on. We did a double sit first; Mindfulness of Breathing followed by Metta Bhavana. Then we had a tea break and everyone reflected on their year. It was the time to write out private confessions that could be burned at the shrine during the puja. It was also the time to make resolutions for 2008.

by Vidyatara

To Reflect on

Because there is no fixed self, the inner nature has infinite possibilities...

And another thing ...

I thought we had a special relationship

If, as the Buddha said, all things are impermanent, that is nothing remains unchanged in some way or another from one moment to the next, then it would follow that there is no permanent satisfaction or pleasure to be gained from an ever-changing world. Going a step further, looking more closely at the relationship between impermanence and unsatisfactoriness, you see something altogether mind boggling. If everything is constantly changing then what is there that is changing? For there to be continual change there cannot be substantial ‘chunks’ of ‘things’ because substantial chunks of things, by their nature, do not change or interact and cannot come into being because coming into being requires change and interaction.

All very confusing. Are you still reading?... Good.

Although when we sit down and think about it we can see these three characteristics playing out all around us, at a more immediate, more intuitive level we see the opposite. We see permanence, lasting pleasure and substance in the things around us. Or rather we see the possibility, the hope that this time it will be different.

We see our cars, computers, loved ones, jobs, friendships and so forth as permanent, lastingly pleasurable and substantial; we think that we can control them, hold onto them. When your computer crashes you have a hissy fit because IT WAS SUPPOSED TO WORK FOR EVER! When your friend changes into an annoying fitness nut, you mourn the loss of your fellow couch potato. When your cushy job becomes stressful with the arrival of a new area manager, you rage at the injustice of it all. You had it all sorted, just the way you wanted it! The reality of the situation is that machines break down, friends change and situations spin out of our control. When we see it happening in other people’s lives we wonder at their inability to deal with these challenges in a philosophical manner. When they happen to us we shake our fists at the universe for doing this to us. I THOUGHT WE HAD A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP.

Well, you do. You just don’t fully understand it yet...

Send any news items or images you can offer to news@melbournebuddhistcentre.org by March 15th for inclusion in the next newsletter.

Don't forget to visit our website

Copyright Melbourne Buddhist Centre, 1 Pitt St, Brunswick, VIC 3056. January 2008

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