The Festival of the Buddha’s Birth

The highlight of our calendar in May is always Wesak, the Festival of the Buddha’s Birth, and this year we will be celebrating Wesak on Saturday the 18th of May.

Wesak will be a full day event, from 10am to 4pm. The festival and Dharma talk will both be in the morning, so you can come just for those if you would prefer. There will then be the option to stay on for a bring-and-share lunch and a social afternoon, which will include a meditation period at some point, followed by tea and biscuits. Rev. Alicia from Sitting Buddha Hermitage in Derbyshire is planning to join us for the day.

Any established lay Sangha members who would like to come to Wesak in person would be very welcome to do so, and we will also be holding the festival over zoom so that lay Sangha members can join in from where they are. Please could you let us know if you will be coming in person, as it is really helpful to know in advance how many people will be here. Details of the day will be sent out by email nearer the time.

We hope that you have a joyful Wesak, however and wherever you choose to celebrate it.

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Spring Day Retreat in Nottingham

On Sunday the 28th of April we had a very nice day retreat at the Chilwell Community Centre in Nottingham. Six people came for the morning and five for the afternoon. Unfortunately some were put off from travelling due to the torrential rain in the morning, and some of the roads near to the Community Centre were quite badly flooded.

The main room we use for meditation is quite large, as you can see from the photo below, and we also have a couple of other rooms and a small kitchen, giving us plenty of space to arrange things for the day. The building was nice and quiet as the library which shares the building with the community centre is closed on Sundays.

Thank you to all those who helped organise it and make it happen, and for all your support and donations in many different ways. We hope to hold another retreat at the same venue in the Autumn.

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Spring Flowers

The wet and windy weather this spring has been a challenge for all the garden plants, but we have still had a reasonable display of flowers, from snowdrops and crocuses to hyacinths, daffodils and tulips. The photo below was taken right at the end of March.

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Buddhist Stories

There are many stories in Buddhism, from the time of the Buddha onwards, and they are very helpful in illustrating aspects of the Buddha’s teaching and Buddhist practice.

Unfortunately due to other commitments there hasn’t been time to prepare a Buddhist Story for this issue of the newsletter.

We hope that our regular Buddhist Stories slot will return in the near future.

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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