Forthcoming Events:
Festival of the Buddha’s Enlightenment

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.

In addition to welcoming visitors to the temple for the festival (please book in advance), we will also be holding the festival over zoom so that Lay Sangha members can join in from where they are. Full details of the festival day will be sent out by email to Lay Sangha members prior to the festival.

This festival day will run from 10am to 4pm, with the Festival and Dharma Talk both in the morning so that people can come just for those if they would prefer. There will then be the option to stay on for a bring-and-share lunch and an afternoon of meditation, followed by tea and biscuits and an opportunity to ask questions.

Temple Library

We have recently got some new bookcases in our Common Room, which means that we can have a small library of books available, which lay Sangha members will be able to borrow.

At the moment the bookcases just have in them some books that were recently donated, together with a few that we had in a smaller bookcase in the Common Room already. However, we have a lot of books in storage which can also be added to the library, so that there will be a good selection of Buddhist books for people to borrow. The majority of them are on Zen Buddhism, but there are quite a few from the Theravada tradition, as well as from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and others. There will be a sign-out book so that lay Sangha members can borrow them.

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Alms Bowl Requests

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
• peanut butter
• fresh fruit and vegetables (except garlic or peppers)
• dried herbs
• cheese, eggs and yoghurt

Any other suitable items would also be appreciated.

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Donations

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