Who are we?

Buddhafield is a group of practising Buddhists, an off shoot of the Triratna Community, who, along with volunteers, aim to bring the Dharma to the wider community. Buddhafield consists of 3 main strands: Buddhafield Festival, Buddhafield Cafe and Buddhafield Retreats. This blog is written primarily by volunteers Louise and Ruth, tracking their experience of working and living in a right livelihood situation based at Trevince House, in Devon, and also features contributions from the other members of the Buddhafield family around the country.


Thursday 30 December 2010

Life at Trevince by Louise and Ruth

Snow covered back garden

Tat down at one of our last festivals.


Snow ball target practise.

Chilling in the living room.

Trevince House

Living in a community is something I have always wanted in my life. Knowing that there are people around to support and comfort you just feels like it should be reality for many people and it makes me sad to know that people struggle because there are on their own and do not feel protected in the place they live.
There is support, enthusiasm and comfort at Trevince house along with creativity, music, study and hard work. The energy in the house can sometimes be low and sometimes high but that is what you get in a community, a chance to vent your anger, a chance to jump for joy and a chance to be listened to, no matter what.
It is mostly cafe crew that live at Trevince but being the Buddhafield open community house, anyone is welcome. Every morning we have a meeting, a check in where we all have a space to say how we are feeling and what we are planning to do for the day. The work is plenty, help is always required, our communal dinners always need cooking in our tiny tiny kitchen.
We do everything at Trevince to help our pockets, the vans are all serviced before MOTing them and any failures will also be corrected at Trevince, we are growing a part of our own vegetable needs, bread has recently be baked regularly but as our star bread baker has moved out, who know if this will still happen. When the temperatures are above freezing we heat our hot water via our sauna system that comes to the festivals with us and we heat the house with wood burners.We believe in sustainability, living low impact lives and creating a supportive and creative place to be and learn.

Trevince house is siuated not that far from Dartmoor on top of a hill, it's surrounded by open fields and woodlands and steep slopes perfect in the snow we just had for sledging. The stars shine out brightly in the massive expansive sky and the openess in the surrounding area impacts on our own openess as a community.

-Lou
Living at Trevince, I am the happiest I have ever been. Each morning I get up, with a thrill of excitement that I am spending another day in the place I want to be most in the world. As I make my morning cup of tea I am greeted with sleepy smiles, and warm morning hugs, and gradually (for we are a group with a large range of sleeping patterns!) we all congregate in the living room, to check in and decide the plan of action for the day. After a few minutes of silence as no one ever wants to start check-in first, Satyajit usually relents and gets the ball rolling. I think check-ins are my favourite part of the day, everyone is in one room, we hold the space for each other, and we open to each other in a way I have never experienced before. Anything and everything is said in that space, every emotion, from joy to despair, is expressed and sat with. I always finnish check-ins with a sense of awe, it is so hard to try and understand yourself, to understand what it is that you are really feeling and express it, with as much awareness as possible, but we are trying, and it is so beautiful. I look round the room, in those few moments before we start to talk, and some days I feel as if I could burst, showering everyone with stars, I am so happy and proud to be living with these people, to be part of Buddhafield.
Post check-in the day's work, the cooking and when we will meditate is discussed, and eventually, the larger group dissapates, each of us wandering off, after another cup of tea of course, to get on with our alloted tasks. A few of us will go to Easterbrook to tend the garden and pick salad, Ruperdarshin will be in his dome, chipping away, others will be working on vans or moving things around, canvas's need to be sorted and repaired, and there is always cleaning or cooking to be done. Each day is different, even doing the same tasks, there is always something that changes, yet one thing is always the same - my joy at being here, my astonishment at how lucky I am to be living this way. 
About 6pm, or later, it depends on who is cooking, dinner is ready and we all gradually arrive in the living room from the different parts of the house and garden that we have been in. This is also one of my favourite times, we all sit together eating and catching up with each other, we swap stories of our adventures that day and talk about different ways of solving problems we are facing. The food is always amazing, we take it vaguely in turns to cook, everyone has their own way of doing things, so it is always interesting eating! Our evenings are spent, again, with each other, people wander in and out of the living room where some read or carve, draw or write. People move from van to yurt to TV room to the office, in search of the perfect warm spot, the kettle whistles sporadically, and over it all there is a low hum of laughter. 

-Ruth





Monday 27 December 2010

Study Night # 5 - Conditionality, Karma and Rebirth by Louise

The central concept in Buddhism is pratitya samutpada which literally means 'existing on account of arising together', or more simply conditionality. This means that all things come about because of the conditions that surround them. Nothing exists independently we are all interconnected and interdependent on everything around us. For example we in the west have a tendancy to lean towards the scientific an are likely to dismiss anything that doesn't have concrete proof. With this in mind and the people present our study night on karma and rebirth was incredibly heated.

Karma in Buddhism is different to the karma taught in Hinduism, Hindu's believe karma implies whatever ill effects are happening now they are directly linked to past actions. This can lead to a lack of responsilibilty and compassion for social injustice. Karma means action, so the way we act, speak and think have a powerful influence on how we will deal with our future days. This is seen as the right view and is essential to believe in this if you are to be a Buddhist. We always need to take responsibility for any bad thing that may happen to us. We should always think that it may have something to do with our past actions although it does not have anything to do with our karma. This way we will be compassionate to others and try to resolve the conditions put in place for the bad thing to arise. It is this skillfulness that aids us to evolve in a more positive diretion and our lives will be more pleasant. To be content lead to contentment with the world, to be angry leads to anger with the world but it is important to remember that karma has nothing to do with rewards or punishments but simply how we experience things as a reflection of our state of being.

There are five types of conditionality:-
Physical or inorganic such as earthquakes, tsunami's, other natural disasters. Not collective karma.
Biological such as illnesses, the flu' is caused because of a virus and not past actions.
Psychological as in mental states that are due to past experiences we had no influence over. Not due to karmic choices.
Karmic - Karma Niyama, the effects of ethics which we do have choice over.
Dharmic - Dharma Niyama, some kind of sign that we are heading in the right direction.

Dharma Niyama is worth looking into a bit more closely as the concept makes sense up to a point but after that it can get hazy. I said above that it could be described as a sign that we are heading in the right direction. It might make more sense though if we look at it as an extention of our consciousness. There is so much of our consciousness that we do not understand, do not look to it because we are not aware of how far it can go. If you are practising to any degree then stuff will change and shift. Is this to do with just sitting on a cushion and concentrating? Or is it some 'other power' that enters our consciousness to tell us what direction to travel in? This topic was the dominant discussion point in our study night. Our scientific conditioning forces us to look at this in a rational way. In just being still and concentrating gives way to more thoughts to come to us, things that we wouldn't think about normally. What happens on the surface can be quite different from what is going on underneath. Is it more about 'hidden' power and not 'other' power? We are all able to draw something out that we never realised existed. Is it just that we dont know our own minds enough? All of these points try to give us a more tangable explaination as to what happening when we meditate and we, as westerners, feel that is it important to be able to explain these processes and to be able to have control over it. To imagine purity is to assimilate purity but if this purity exists as some 'other' power that comes to you this could be seen as disenpowering as it hasn't happened through your own efforts.

It is interesting to note that eastern cultures hold the imagination with much more majesty then we do. They ascibe much more weight to dreams and visions as being something that it worth more of our attention. Stories and myths are also held with more attention as a way to teach but are these just metaphors for rational explainations or are they something real, an 'other world' thing? Is it our scientific conditioning that says that we can't understand what could be miraculous or is it the 5000 year old view that does not understand that miracles do not happen.

It terms of Buddhism and as I have mentioned many times before, finding the middle way could give you the answer. As the thrid fetter states, rites and rituals are a means to an end and not an end in itself. Eventually we all have to give ourselves up to something bigger.

Rebirth (which is closely linked to Karma) again differs to how it is understood in Hinduism. It is believed in Hinduism that an unchanging soul passes from vessel to vessel by way of punishment or reward for good or bad actions. The Buddhist take on this is that there is a constantly changing stream of engery that is shaped and transformed by the lives it lives and actions it takes. It is merely a continuation of a process. Ideas of rebirth are difficult for westerners to grasp hold of because, as i said before, there is no concrete proof  of it. This is a part of many westerners conditioning and maybe it is important to believe in those things that we cannot fully understand.

There are four different types of karma:-
Weighty karma - something that has a major impact on us and others which leads to a strong effect on our emotions such as meditation.
Death-proximate (near death) karma - these are actions that will have an effect on our rebirth as they are performed when close to death.
Habital karma - Something we do regularly without noticing but eventually will build up to something massive.
Residual karma - which is basically everything else.

Victims of habitual karma will not challenge or change these habits because due to the habital nature of it there is a lack of awareness of what is happening. In this culture there are many victims of this due to many vague and halfhearted sets of beliefs this leads to us having a fatalistic, 'why me', attitude and a sense no control. The media is a good example of this as constant bombardment of negative news stories and advertisments is bound to have an effect on our inner being. Legal systems and social etiquette are some others. These prevail in our society and questions of 'what are my rights?' can be heard all over. We can spend our lives fulfilling social positions and still not get what is needed. It is so easy to hide behind the media or law that we have gone from blaming God for our problems to blaming other people, "there must be a reason for this happening, I must find the agent behind why this is happening and once I find them I will inflict my pain onto them in some way". By throwing yourself into Buddhsim and throwing out vague beliefs and the TV will help in understanding why these bad things happen. How we think creates our experience if we constantly believe that we are living in a harsh and hostile environment then this is what we will get back. It maybe that there is no choice over what thoughts may arise but what is important is how you deal with those thoughts. If you feel like you maybe losing control and you panic because of this then control will fall away more rapidily, but if you keep calm, you are more likely to come through it unscathed. Consciousness grows and changes and thoughts are just a part of the experience. What we do in this life does have consequences after we die and our ego's would love for us to live on and on and on but ego will also say that it will be you as you are now that gets reborn and this is simply not the case in Buddhism. Frstly to gain Enlightenment you must let go of the self and ego, and secondly we are constantly changing beings. What we are when we are born is not what we are when we die. It is not necessary to believe in rebirh if you are a Buddhist. Whether you believe in panning lives or whether you live on a moment to moment basis, either is ok as long as each moment has your full attention.

Thursday 23 December 2010

Link Love

And so here is another installment in the saga of my internet addiction! I am really trying to not just browse mindlessly, unaware of time passing by, but to search out subjects that I think will expand my mind and get my thoughts racing and jumping about, making new connections and helping me grow.

DharmaLife magazine was published and archived by the FWBO, and online has a selection of articles from each edition. Sadly it has stopped being published, which I am upset by as yesterday afternoon I devoured many of the articles they had online, and want to read more! Favourites include Sangharakshita talking about his current life and his legacy, I find it fascinating to think that I am part of a movement that is still in its early stages and that the guy who started it all is still alive! We can ask him questions and talk to him! It just makes it all seem so much more open and relevant, less intimidating and less rigid. I think I would quite like to meet Sangharakshita, but I have no idea what I would say or ask, I think maybe I want to meet him so that I know he's real? I dont know. Anyway, my other favourite article is Lalitaraja's piece on the links between dance and meditation - I love dance meditation with all my heart, it is a really good way into meditation for me, it really gets me going in a way no other meditation has done so...yet! I did Jewels Wingfield's Ecstatic Dance at Buddhafield 2009 and then went to both of the ones she did at Buddhafield 2010, and more recently, the newly ordained Diajyoti held a dance meditation session at the Buddhafield Team Retreat at Easterbrook which was amazing! Hopfully she will be doing more of these!

Sewing as meditation. This site is a scrapbook/notebook/record of one woman's creation of cloth, by hand from other scraps. She calls it 'slowcloth', where the process of making it is just as important as the finnished piece. Each cloth tells a story, has a story sewn into it, and this site beautifully tracks the process. I was taught to sew at an early age, and though I never really connected with it when I was younger, in the past year or so I have become closer to it, and find it very peaceful and meditative. This woman inspires me - I hope one day I will have a little studio in the woods just like her!

I love poetry. This woman writes a poem a day, and they are all so beautiful. They are full of space, and I find that after I read one I need to take a few minutes to be in the poem, to understand it, and take it in. A really meditative experience.

Here modern photos and archived photos of the Second World War are combined to, in the words of the creator, 'show the horrors of war to people so that it can help prevent wars again'. These photos are fascinating and at the same time haunting and horrifying, showing, for example, the combination of laughing tourists taking photos of the Eiffel Tower, while a sepia tinted Adolf Hitler and officers pose malevelently in the background. It sends a shudder down my spine, but also brings me back to the idea that we need to be aware of what is happening, and not happening, in the world so that we can try to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.

Everything passes away, even art. This links to pictures of street art in Paris, taped to walls around the city these cardboard pieces are free to whoever wants to take them, be it the wind, rain or people. It's a good lesson in letting go I think.

Hope there's something there to interest you :-)
Any recommendations?

Love Ruth

Monday 20 December 2010

Study Night # 4 - A Foundation Knowledge of the Dharma, by Louise

Much of this study night relates to other study nights we had here at Trevince and many more of them will become interlinked as they go on. This weeks study was on the Dharma and this is inextricably linked to the ideas stated in 'The Truth of Cause and Effect' and 'Enlightenment' posts we published in November.

We read from extracts of Sangharakshita's book 'What is the Dharma'

In short the Dharma means Truth. In Sanskrit it can mean many things but truth is the most relevant and understandable explanation of the word. It is not useful though to pin this word down to a single meaning as it varies throughout the various Buddhist traditions and cultures.
So many a better explaination of the word Dharma is whatever helps humans to transcend their present limited state
 
The 4 noble truths - (see Study Night #1)
1) Human existence just involves suffering
2) Cause of suffering is that we want things to be other then as they are. 
3) There is an end to suffering
4) This is to follow the eight fold path (or the three fold way which consists of Ethics, Meditation and Wisdom)- provide us with a framework for understanding the Dharma and how to follow it, what is stated above and enhanced on in the Eight fold path are the ideas of having a 'right view' on life. They are helpful in keeping us on the right track and our practise heading off in the right direction. If we do not follow this then our lives will continue to follow the unconscious and unquestioned beliefs and values that make up our conditioning. This will go unchallenged and therefore never we will reach nirvana and we will stay in a state of dissatisfaction.

The first truth is possibly why Buddhism is said to have bad name because it basically states that all life is suffering, a better way to describe this is that there is always something missing or better still dukkha (which can be translated to uncomfortable, uneasy or ill-fitting). What is important to remember about Buddhism is that is honest, it puts it plain and simply about how life can be better. If satisfaction does exist in life as it is normally lived then there would be no craving, but there is craving and the constant notion that something is always missing. Happiness is good but it cannot be relied on.

Dukkha was spoken about in Ruth's post about Enlightenment but knowing about it in terms of Dharma I can go into more depth:
  • The suffering that comes from living with an impermanent body and living within a hostile environment.
  • The suffering that comes from not getting the things we like and having to make do with those that we do not like.
  • The suffering of change, happiness does not last.
  • Suffering that arises from general dissatisfaction at whatever situation as long as we are not fulfilling our spiritual potential.
The second noble truth states that the origin of dukkha is craving. We are constantly craving our world to be a certain way but as the world is constantly changing then all this is doing is leading to unhappiness. There is a difference between a healthy desire for something such as a need to quench you thirst or for friendship but these are very different from the craving for a chocolate bar or the latest fashion accessory. Craving ultimately just distracts us from realising our full spiritual potential. On a more extreme level, craving is just a 'result of our deluded obsession with ourselves. Things to remember are that life is full inescapable sufferings, as soon as you are born you start to die, there is sickness, old age and all other ailments that come with having an impermanent body. To transcend this suffering we must look inside ourselves and turn our negative states into positive ones.

The third noble truth takes a more positive look at life. Our suffering is based on our conditioning. All the events that have happened before leads us to where we are now. To over come, understand our conditioning / limitations and then to transcend it will be our end to suffering.

The fourth noble truth helps us to understand how we can overcome our suffering by following the noble Eightfold path. The Eightfold path is basically saying is that if we follow the precepts more deeply and be aware and mindful at all times, if we keep ourselves positive, meditate and follow the Dharma then we will crave less and therefore suffer less. Is being dissatisfied with current state of awareness a bad thing? Rejoice in your happiness when you are feeling it. Accept the sadness and be with it. Whether this is a cruel or beautiful world depends on your vision. Actions are determined by how you respond to how you feel.


"Circumstances such as illness or good fortune come and go, but what lingers with us are internal conditions. If we have peace of mind, we can weather through the rough patches, but guilt, hatred or depression will cloud the brightest day. A millionaire or a king can be beset with worry and mistrust, but a property-less monk can dwell in ease and fulfillment. Suffering and the cessation of suffering live in our minds and our hearts." ~Theravadin monk Ajahn Sucitto

Simple!


Next Time.. Karma and Rebirth.



Thursday 16 December 2010

10 Memories in 15 Minutes, by Louise

One of the best 'get to know you' exercises I have come across is one that Vidyadasi introduced me to at the Buddhafield Broadhembury work retreat on the 6th to the 10th of December. The retreatants were a handful of cafe crew and a handful of retreats crew so it was cosy and I have come away with a greater understanding and greater respect of each person that I work with.

The idea of the exercise is that in 15 minutes you must write down 10 memories starting from that very moment and work backwards throughout your life and note down the first 10 things that pop into your mind. Then each person involved has 45 minutes to talk about their memories starting from the earliest. Not only does this give you 45 minutes of of beautiful stories to listen to but also an insight into the state of mind of that person and as to why they chose those memories to talk about.

So background over, here are my 10 memories to give you a shapshot of the Broadhembury work retreat and all the joys it gave me.


Frost Crystals
It was cold at Broadhembury. The snow hadn't melted from the flurry the week before and everything was freezing anew each night. Even the most delicate things were standing up strong to the cold as each blade of grass to massive oak in the exposed areas of the land had at least 5mm of ice crystals parading themselves along each each twig, along each stem.










Being Back the in Woods
I love being in the woods, I remember as a child taking our dog for a walk in some woodlands near where we lived and always being overtaken with a sense of adventure and discovery but from that point until last October my passion for woodlands and its many inhabitants was hidden from view. It wasn't until I immersed myself in outdoor life and farming through wwoofing and found myself living and working in woodlands that my passions again were found. Now I can't wait to spend time in woodlands.

The leaves, the mosses, the birds, the flora and the fauna, the skeletal structures of the trees in winter, everything fascinates me and excites me about the woods and as I have never been to Broadhembury before it made this trip even more important to connect with the land that Buddhafield holds many of its retreats on. It is a stunning place to take time out to reflect, the trees are an aid in finding wisdom and tranquillity.



 A Permaculture Approach
The work that we did on this retreat was to prepare the ground for the planting of a forest garden. A forest garden is one of the principles of permaculture whereby the planting of fruit and nuts trees or shrubs exist within the ecosystems of the forest. It creates diversity where  companion plants help each other to grow by fixing nitrogen in the ground or deterring pests / attracting predators to name just a few. The creation of a forest garden is done in layers. These layers consist of large deciduous trees or the 'canopy' layer such as chestnuts or oaks, small trees/large shrubs that will be planted in and around the larger trees. Then shrubs that will be alright in the shade, Herbaceous perennials to add to ground cover such as mints, a main ground cover and thereby a natural mulch and the last layer are the roots and fungi. The important part to remember is that all layers consist of edible or medicinal plants thus creating a productive garden containing a wide range of lovely thing to eat or cure or make things with. It is a system that needs to be carefully thought through but after the initial slog to create the garden with all its layers it should be relatively hassle free. So in amongst the a massive patch of gorse (you can just see a bit of it in the picture above) a forest garden will be created.


Meditation Kitchen
As I mentioned earlier the retreat was cosy but that was good for keeping warm. We had one dome which was our kitchen and hanging out space (and knitting space for three of us!). For our meditation we had a simple shine placed in the centre of the dome with all of us sitting in a circle around it. It was a movable fluid space that was kept warm and comfortable for the duration of the week. I have been lazy recently in my meditation efforts but I had decided that being on retreat I would make myself do the full meditation programme. After waking up in a very chilly van on Tuesday morning, I ventured out to a sun on the tip of the horizon and carefully found my feet on the ice and walked the short distance to our dome. There everyone was gathered with our simple white shrine with a Buddha and two candles and I settled into the earth to concentrate on my breathing whilst a robin hopped in and out welcomimg us to his home.  


A Strong Resilience
I have worked outside in freezing temperatures before whilst wwoofing and I struggled to keep warm then whilst sleeping in our van. Our van has gone up market since then we have a burner inside so sleeping inside a freezer this time was not a problem. Working in these conditions is good though, even without a burner and sleeping in a tent, to reaffirm your confidence in being able to work and live in freezing temperatures. It is all about seeing the beauty in each day, in each moment, if coldness sets in go find something warm (our dome was really toasty, thanks to Shantikara being our amazing housekeeper!). Physical outdoor work keeps you warm anyway as you are using all your muscles and generating heat that way. Its about thermals, its about wool, its about absorbing energy for the glorious winter sunshine and staying strong to yourself and the others around you. As you hear the sound of bramble leaves crisping up with frost at dusk, it is surprisingly easy to be and enjoy the outdoors in winter.

Gorse Corridors.
The idea to start our forest garden was to initially make three corridors through the gorse. The gorse patch must have been at least two acres in area so this was a task in itself. It is not a good idea to take away all the trees in one go as the animals that reside there would get confused, having somewhere for them to retreat to for protection is always important when clearing ground. We only wanted to clear enough gorse to make it easier to initially plant and then maintain the trees that will be planted. One corridor that stretches all the way along the bottom of this particular area was to be planted with 100 alder trees which would eventually provide a wind break and protection for the garden. After using hand tools on the first day it was obvious that this would take a while and to make any kind of impact in the time we have so we decided to bring out the chainsaws. By the end of the week there was a network of paths in the gorse for the fruit trees. One of the paths framed a view of two oak trees and the landscape beyond.

Missing Trees Found
Amongst the gorse we came across several birch trees and willow trees that were having to fight for life again the relentless spikes of the gorse. These trees were liberated and being fast growing will provide some of the main structure of the garden.

A Spring Like Day
After the freeze came the thaw. By the Friday the day felt like the first day of spring. The sun was beating down on us and the ice was melting, jumpers discarded and work continued with a renewed vigour


A Bright Star
On the last night in this wondrous place whilst brushing our teeth by the van Tom and I happened upon the brightest star in the sky. I haven't ever seen a brighter star. As it twinkled the flashed out chards red, blue and green in the dark night sky. Truly a mesmerising sight as the crescent moon rose above.
 
 


Buddhafield retreats provide a space where you can really hear. see, smell and touch nature in all its wondrous glory and really connect to the earth you live on. I really appreciate that this is one of the facets of Buddhafield as I love to spend my time working and living outdoors and having the freedom to appreciate this Earth is important to me its about the unspoken clarity about the interconnectedness of us all and the abundance of the place we inhabit.

To read more about Broadhembury please read Hannah's post on Sacred Landscape Appeal. She has spent much more time there then I have, there will be more posts by Hannah on this subject.

To experience Broadhembury yourself there is 'Creating a Forest Garden Retreat' from the 28th January till the 4th February, there is also a weekend option. Well worth a look especially if you have been inspired this post. For more information about Buddhafield whole retreat programme follow the link.



Monday 13 December 2010

Retreat at TaraLoka: Self on the Page

From the 19th to the 26th November I attended a writing retreat at the TaraLoka Women’s Retreat Centre near the north border of Wales, about an hour from Manchester. Having been on team retreats with Buddhafield, and a 10 day silent meditation course at the Vipassana Dharma Dhippa centre, experiences at either end of the spectrum - Team Retreats being quite relaxed, while Vipassana was very disciplined - I wasn’t sure what to expect. The retreat was led by Samantabhadhri, who lives at TaraLoka full time, Kavyasiddhi, a writer whose plays are often heard on Radio 4, and Mumukshu, who I live and work with in the Buddhafield Café. This review just scrapes the surface of my experience at TaraLoka, so many things happened which were truly wonderful, that there is no way I could write them all down. This is just an attempt to share my experience.

TaraLoka is a beautiful retreat centre on the Welsh/Shropshire boarder. In 1985, an old farm and its surrounding land was bought and gradually, a team of women converted it into the beautiful centre that is there today. There is a white community house  a way away from the retreat centre in which the retreat team live. The retreat centre itself consists of two buildings, one which contains the shrine room on the ground floor, and above that bedrooms, and the other contains the kitchen, dining room, living room, art room, more bedrooms and a solitary retreat suite. There is a sense of light and space throughout the centre, the room are painted bright colours, there are warm wooden floors and the kitchen is a delight! I wish we had one that size and that well equipped for Trevince! Retreatants all sit together to eat in the large dining room, and there are enough sofas for everyone in the cosy living room. There is a burner at one end which provides a really nice focal point, and we gathered round it every evening for different activities. The centre is surrounded by beautiful gardens which are seen through the windows that seem to be everywhere you look. I feel very privileged to have been there at the time I was, as over the week I was able to watch the change from autumn into winter - the first few days there was no frost, the sun was still really warm and I wandered around outside with no coat. On the third morning I woke to find the world white and silent, the grass was stiff under my feet as I walked to the Tara cabin for morning meditation, and my breath emerged as white smoke.

A typical day on retreat was as follows:
7am. I am woken up by another of the retreatants, Chloe, ringing a bell, outside my door which is above the shrine room. It is still dark so I and the other occupants of my room, slowly and sleepily dress and bumble downstairs, across the walkway, stopping to marvel at the stars that are still out, and into the warm dining room. There I make a cup of tea and sit on a sofa , slowly becoming fully coherent, while other retreatants do the same. Apart from the first morning, we are in silence until the first activity at 11am. I enjoy it, it gives me space to start the day and slowly come back to myself, without feeling guilty for ignoring others.
7.30am Morning meditation. I join the beginners meditation, led by Mumukshu, in the Tara Cabin, a small wooden panelled cabin in the grounds of the retreat centre. There is a beautiful shrine, and full length windows that look out onto fields with sheep and woodland. It is so cold that I run and leap across from the house to the cabin in an attempt to preserve my warmth, my feet leaving darker patches in the frozen grass. The other beginners and I leave our shoes outside, exchanging glances that say ‘Isn’t it cold today!’. Once in, we start the session by doing a quick warm up, tapping our bodies all over and shaking ourselves out to get the blood flowing. We sit, and Mumukshu talks about the day’s meditation, we do Mindfulness of Breathing and Metta Bhavana on alternate days. After spending about 40 minutes meditating we each talk about how the meditation went for us, and Mumukshu offers advice and suggestions. It is really good to speak to other beginners about their experiences and realise that I am not the only one to have the problems I do in meditation! About 8.45 we stop, silence resumes and we go back over to the main house. The sun has fully risen by now, and I, full of energy and joy at my beautiful surroundings, cartwheel back over to the house, to the amusement of the people looking out of windows at the right moment.
9.15am. Breakfast! Porridge is made each morning by a retreatant. For the week that we are on retreat we live as a community, meaning each of us signs up for a job every day to help keep the centre running. There is a volunteer cook, Kathy, who makes lovely food all week, but other jobs like cleaning, setting tables, washing up and making breakfast are our responsibility. People take these tasks on with joy, I am offered toast in silence with wide smiles and glints of laughter, and from the washing up area after lunch and dinner peals of laughter ring out. We are in silence until 11am when the writing workshop starts. I love this hour of silence, when people wander from room to room, looking at books, writing, or just sitting. It is so peaceful.
11am. We all gather, pens and paper in hand, in the living room, where Kavyasiddhi sits on  a chair, ready to tease out of us gems of poems and stories that we didn’t know were hidden inside us. The workshops consist of a number of timed writing exercises, in response to a title or phrase given, a walk outside, or a picture or set of words we choose from a random selection provided by Kavyasiddhi. At first she says we aren’t going to share, which makes it a lot easier to write, I’ve never shared my writing with anyone before, and it was this aspect of the retreat that I was most worried about. Kavyasiddhi works us into it slowly, only asking for volunteers to share after a few preliminary exercises.  At the start only a few of us share, reading out in small voices, heads buried in our papers, but by the end of the week we are all sharing our work, heads up, smiling round at the group that has held us all through the experience. We write on a wide variety of different subjects, yet the thing that surprises me is that, even if while writing I don’t think I’m writing about myself, when I read it back, I see exploration and sometimes resolution, of issues or ideas or problems I have been thinking about. 
1.15pm. Lunch is served, and we sit round the dining tables discussing the writing session, our respective lives outside the centre and a myriad of things in between. Everyone is so open and honest, understanding and supportive. After lunch we have free time until group meetings later on. Now is when closer relationships within the group are formed. The writing sessions and the openness within them serve to cement us as a group, but it is the walks together round the site, the washing up sessions that take all afternoon, the cups of tea shared on a sofa, the secret discovery of biscuits in a tin in the cupboard, that create closer bonds of friendships that will last beyond this retreat.
4.30pm. We each have signed up for one of three groups, each led by a retreat leader. I am in Samantabhadhri’s group, along with Linda, Helen, Janine and Amitashuri. It is a mix of people I know and don‘t know: Amitrashuri was a shift co-ordinator in the pancake tent at Buddhafield Festival 2010, as was I, and Janine worked on my shift at my first Buddhafield festival in 2009. It was a surprise to see her here, we became close at Buddhafield 2009, and then I got off the train at Whitstable to find her in the same taxi as me - what a lovely surprise! It really brought home to me how much everything has changed for me - when I first met her I was very unhappy, working a job I didn’t like, full of worry, closed up and wanting to change but not knowing how. In contrast, in the year and a half since I met her I’ve completely transformed my life and myself and am happier that I ever thought I could be.
In our group we use the time to have an extended check in. A check in is where you sit in a circle, and, after a few minutes of silence, go round the circle, each person saying a little bit about how they are feeling, what has gone on for them that day, if they have any problems that they would like to express, or anything they would like to rejoice in. Each morning at Trevince we do this, and it is a really useful tool when living in a community, it helps you act more compassionately towards yourself and others, and brings you closer together as a group. I really enjoyed our group, it was smaller than the others and I felt this helped us have a really safe, held space. I felt truly listened to and understood.  I am really grateful for the people in the group, for their strength and willingness to listen and accept everything each of us said. It was a really powerful experience for me.
6.30pm. Dinner is served, and again, people sit around after chatting and laughing.
7.45pm. Each night is something different: a couple of sessions consist of us sharing inspiring poetry that we or other have written, and in other sessions each retreat leader speaks. Mumukshu introduces a poem by Charles Bukowski called bluebird, which is about creativity, and suggests that we all use the art room to make a bluebird to use in the closing ritual at the end of the week. Kavyasiddhi tells us how she got into writing, and speaks compellingly about ‘the thread’ that is the path that we follow, that might be unknown and scary but that we can’t help following because we know it’s right. This really resonates with me, I feel really strongly that Buddhafield and Buddhism is my thread, I’ve never felt a pull this strong towards anything, and it has been something I’ve thought a lot about this summer. It’s good to hear someone else talking about it. Samantabhadhri also talks about her relationship with words, speaking about her ambitions to be a writer and sharing some of her writing with us.
8.30pm. Puja time! Having been brought up a Jehovah‘s Witness, and being told from a very early age that worshipping an image and participating in ritual  is completely utterly wrong, and something which will stop you from living forever in paradise on earth, I’ve had quite a struggle to be able to join in puja’s and appreciate them. It’s something I still struggle with. I’ve done very few puja’s before now, and never a seven fold puja every night for a week! It’s a very emotional experience for me, especially when I watch people making offerings, and recite the admittance of faults. The shrine space is really striking, and I felt a connection with the rupa, which I really enjoyed and was grateful for. Something clicked in my head to make it all make sense to me. I realised that the image of the Buddha is not an idol, we are not worshipping the image itself, which is what Jehovah’s Witnesses prohibit, but what it symbolises. It is symbolic of a state to aspire to. I look at the rupa and see someone to look up to, as I would look up to my parents, or a teacher, or someone I respect, I see someone who has set an example that I can strive to follow and be like. It’s so hard to put this all into words!
Hearing 30 or so women all chanting together, and listening to the Heart Sutra being recited was very moving and really affected me, each night it reduced me to tears. After the puja we went into silence over night. This was so good for me too, each puja had such an effect me that I wasn’t really capable of talking, I just needed to be alone with my thoughts, and feel the space inside me that the puja helped create.
On the last night as part of the closing ritual we all gave the blue birds we had made as offerings to the shrine, hanging them from a line draped across the shrine space. It was truly amazing to see this solid symbol of all our efforts to release our inner creativity and to use that in way to benefit ourselves and others.

 Photo with much thanks to Amitashuri

On the last morning, we all meditated together in the shrine room, doing a group Metta Bhavana. This was possibly the most intense experience of the retreat for me. We sat and did the first stage, and then, in turn Samantabhadhri, who led the meditation side of the retreat, named us all in turn, and as each person was named we concentrated our Metta on them. Going into it I felt quite blasé about it, I didn’t think that I would feel much as I find Metta Bhavana the hardest practise, but I really did! I felt so much love and warmth from everyone in the room, it really moved me. Afterwards I felt like Tigger! I had so much energy and love that I literally had to bounce around and do cartwheels to express it. I was sorry to leave, and to see the group of women who I felt such a connection with disperse, but I guess it’s another lesson in being able to let things go, and understanding that I can’t hold onto things because they will always fade and change. I came away from the retreat feeling renewed and refreshed and even more sure that following this thread is what I must, and will continue to do.

I’d like to thank Buddhafield for this chance to go on retreat, there is no way I could have gone on it without their help. I’d also like to thank Abbie for pointing it out to me and persuading me to go after I saw that I’d have to share my writing and immediately ran away from it! I’d like to thank Rosie and Mumukshu  for being there with me and last but not least, I’d like to thank all the wonderful amazing women who were part of the retreat - big sardu to you all guys!!

Love Ruth

Thursday 9 December 2010

Link Love

Late posting this week! Louise is on a work retreat at Broadhembury, with no phone signal or internet, and I have just returned from the depths of Wales (Aberystwyth to be precise) where I had no phone charger and no internet. Thus, Tuesday's post was missed, and today's post will be short but sweet. 
I don't know about any of you but I am an unashamed internet addict and I end up reading a lot of random websites, I thought I'd share a few that are of a more Buddhist nature. If anyone else has any gems they would like to spread the word about, send them to blog@buddhafield.com please, and this could become a bit more regular!

Be thankful for something, everyday! This website consists of notes of thanks to things in the author's life, from irreverent notes to the plastic bag on the pavement to notes about facing the realities of life. I laugh out loud most times I read this! 

Be mindful every second of every day. This website contains prompts on specific things to try to be mindful of each day, some are fairly obvious, but other tips have really made me think, such as 'What would a day without competition be like for you? Spend a day with no competing with yourself or others.'. At school I was fairly competetive in sports, and I've never thought about it since leaving 6 years ago but reading that tip made me really understand that all the time, inside, I'm competing with an ideal of a perfect Ruth, and my self doubt and dislike come, partly at least, from that competativeness inside me. Something to work on I think!

It's nice when science backs up what we know already! Scientists have carried out tests and now have evidence that meditating makes you happier, I could have told them that!

Finally, I'd like to share a picture I found which I really love. For me it really illustrates the idea of the many faces and aspects of the Buddha, and how though we are all different, we are also very much the same :-).

Hope you enjoyed this post, I'll be posting again soon with a review of my retreat at Tara Loka!

Love Ruth





Friday 3 December 2010

The Sacred Landscape appeal


* Stop Press* 
The are three exciting events coming up in aid of Buddhafield's Sacred Landscape appeal. We only have around £15,000 before Frog Mill is fully paid off so if you can, support these events and have a great time whilst doing it.


Sat 4th Dec 2010 Yorkshire: Film and curry night near Hebden Bridge Call Karen on 07765 022702


Fri 10th Dec 2010 Sussex: Band on a Boat! Party on a house boat near Brighton www.justgiving.com/padma-pani0


Sat 11th Dec 2010 London: A musical night with Vilasamani at the West London Buddhist Center www.justgiving.com/Dharmachari-Vilasamani




 Broadhembury: Dandelion/forget-me-not double exposure  Hannah Phillips

Buddhafield owns two pieces of land, both of them in Devon. One is is West Devon and is near the village of Broadhembury, the other, Frog Mill is in Dartmoor National Park. They are very different environments each with their own distinct qualities.

Broadhembury is a wild and beautiful 25 acres of woodland and wetland on a sloped hillside. There are natural springs, bluebell woods, ancient woodland, an ash plantation, a Douglas Fir plantation and gorse. At Broadhembury we are now integrating the magic of our retreats with the challenge of practicing sustainable land use in a real and long term way.
The dawn chorus in May is the loudest and most amazing I've ever heard in the UK and the tawny owls in February looking for mates, hooting and calling, landing on tree branches just above tents is simply stunning to witness- and be woken by! 
Buddhafield won 3 acres of land at Broadhembury in a competition about ten years ago and when the surrounding land came up for sale, the collective bought it and set about creating drainage ditches and flat spots for camping. It is a well loved piece of land that is often described as 'challenging'- particularly when it is wet. The shrine tent is usually up in the woods which is a good ten minute hike from the 'hearth' area on the terraces where the kitchen and tea tents are so, if it's wet, retreatants are pretty much guaranteed to experience the full extent of the changing British weather. It is what makes Broadhembury such a special place. Buddhafield's own wilderness.


Broadhembury apple blossom and ash double exposure Hannah Phillips

Around Broadhembury cow double exposure Hannah Phillips


Broadhembury hot tub: Shantikara with Lomo fisheye lens Hannah Phillips

Trees planted at Broadhembury, Devon
Broadhembury new trees Vidyadasi



Frog Mill is a gentler site of 17 acres in Dartmoor National park. It consists of several fields with thick established hedgerows and trees and a river, the Blackaton Brook, dividing the site and has views of some of the craggy Tors of Dartmoor. The river is home to kingfisher, dippers and spawns salmon and is the life blood of the land. The children LOVE it and it is their watery playground when they come on retreat. The site is large enough, and has enough flat space to hold our larger retreat events, such as the Family Friendly retreat.

Our aim for this tranquil site is to develop a magical and safe environment, providing the opportunity for adults and children to experience connection 
with a beautiful piece of land, hopefully for many years into the future. We are looking into various kinds of tree planting, including an organic orchard, and coppice for fuel and wildlife habitat. Taking on this project has been a leap of faith for us: In 2006 we borrowed £85,000 to buy the land and we wish to wholeheartedly thank all who have contributed £65,000 to our Land Appeal so far.



Frog Mill and the Blackaton Brook Padmapani



The stream running through Frog Mill, Dartmoor
Frog Mill Padmapani

As part of the Buddhafield vision we are drawn to nature as the primary context for our life and practice — to the beauty of the natural world, to the living experience of interconnectedness it gives us, to the ancient sacred sites and landscapes around us.

Therefore we wish to create sanctuaries and shrines, for our own and others' benefit; to live simply and to live lightly on the land, using appropriate technology and exemplifying best practice in all that we do.  Owning this land means that our larger retreats have a site that can be developed for their needs.

Work on the design for Broadhembury got underway during the winter of 2004, and continues. Work on the land will be an integral part of at least one 
Buddhafield Retreat each season. Out of a desire for the well being not only of humankind but also animals, birds and the earth itself, Buddhafield is taking a leading role in developing an eco-Buddhist culture in this country. 
In 2004 we employed the
permaculturalist Phil Corbett to carry out a survey at Broadhembury. Following this consultation Dharmamrta developed a permaculture design for the land, which includes planting trees for firewood and for fruit; creating terraces to provide flat land for camping, and planting hedges for shelter and privacy.

If anyone wants to help us to fully own Frog Mill in the next few months then 'Be 1 of the 150! Contact me, Hannah on hannahaha15@hotmail.com or call me on 0781 449 6070.

Posted by Hannah Phillips

Thursday 2 December 2010

Ritual and Devotion in Buddhism - by Louise

Within Buddhism there is a connection with beauty and this beauty is used to delve to the depths of our emotions and connect that with our spirituality. Although it may seem like there is much rationality going on to understand why we are how we are, our conditionality, there are structures in place that will immerse you completely in beautiful sights, sounds and smells to aid in emotional understanding. The most rife time that this happens are in the Pujas. The ultimate aim of a Puja is 'a preparation for the arising of the Bodhichitta, the will or aspiration for the enlightenment of all beings' but the common aim of a Puja is to state a "shared value, expressive of common strivings, rooted in common values"(Erich Fromm) with the group or spiritual community (a Sangha) you are with.

Pujas are a devotional practise whereby a Sangha will come together to meditate, recite, chant and give offerings to the Buddha. It is a powerful practise that demands full concentration and will help in understanding your emotional happenings. By understanding these emotional happenings they can be integrated into everyday life helping you to be more harmonious as a person. It is to move your self-knowledge and integrate it into your being.

The centrepiece of a Puja is the shrine in which a Buddha or Bodhisattva sits proudly. The shrine will be adorned with flowers, candles and incense which acts as our offerings to that particular Buddha figure and our commitment to Enlightenment. The incense and candlelight also acts as a softener and preparation for you to look deeper into yourself. It is a wondrous thing to see candle light reflected in the Buddha figures eyes as he looks down proudly at all that you have to offer. To hear the rise and fall of a choir of voices all chanting a mantra together and to feel the vibrations coming from your own voice and of those voices near to you creates such a unifying energy about the room. It is hard not be to moved by such a practise.

The sevenfold Puja consists of a series of verses that have been condensed down from a longer set called the Bohdicaryavatara, written by Santideva in the 8th Century CE. The content of the sevenfold Puja consists of  seven sections which are entitled Worship, Salutation, Going for Refuge, Confession of Faults, Rejoicing in Merits, Entreaty and Supplication and Transference of Merits and Self Surrender. Each one of these sections follows the flow of life in general and all the ups and downs that everyone comes across. Condensed into a bubble of ritual it encapsulates what is required of us throughout our lifetimes and each is is a perfect little teaching.

First we worship, we offer to the Buddha earthly and heavenly possessions as an appreciation of the teaching he has given us. We know that we are still far off becoming Enlightened so we pay salutation and respect to these teachings and the ideals. The combination of these first two sections drive our need to go for refuge, by using our determination we close the gap by allowing ourselves to 'become the Buddha, follow the Dharma and practise in harmony with others'. After making this commitment we confess our faults which is an acknowledgement of our unskillful ways which we must overcome. Once confession is over we rejoice in the three jewels and what they give to us. We still need help though and in entreaty and supplication we ask for it not just for ourselves but for the world throughout the ages. Lastly we transfer our merits to each other and for all the world, my merits "I give up without regard to myself, for the benefit of all beings". 

As Ruth and I mentioned in our post about the Easterbrook weekend Abie lead her first Puja. It is a tradition in Buddhism that the person who has been on the path the longest leads the Puja and so it was that out of the six of us the conditions where perfect for Abie to be our guru.

We asked her if she would write a bit about how it went:
 
"I'm not sure I really lead the puja; we all seemed to be leading it at the same time, such was the way the weekend unfolded, but I just said the words first! It was the first time I'd done such a thing, but it felt very natural, a quality which feels quite precious to me. I loved hearing our voices as women, speaking together.

At the end of the Team Retreat in October, Lou, Ruth and myself lovingly cleaned the shrine candles sticks and adornments together. From that, came a great discussion and series of questions, 'What does Om, Ah, Hum mean, and why do we say it when we salute the shrine?

I didn't really answer that very well, but it's been very good to ponder upon, and turn over in my mind. In trying to connect with this over the years, I have made my own simple visualization during saluting the shrine that I find connects me to a bigger, mythical level before sitting on the cushions.

I was also reminded of an Amogasiddhi retreat at Rivendell 10 years ago, where we had a very simple, but profound ritual in which about 30 of us chanted Om, Ah, Hum over and over and over as a vajra was passed around the shrine room; we each put it to our head, throat and heart. Afterwards, I felt completely aligned and grounded- perhaps the most I've ever felt from any ritual! I think it's a profound practise."



As modest as Abie is I was very moved by the simplicity that adorned her Puja. The Om Ah Hum chant was really effective in that I could really imagine my voice going up in the universe, around my body and the world and right down in the ground, rooting me to that spot. Puja's for me are a way of breaking through my Christian conditioning of my tendency to deify the Buddha. I feel grounded in myself, Buddhism and the world. Being amongst people that are doing the same thing and striving for that common end makes for a very uplifting and powerful event. By reading up about ritual in Buddhism it has really connected me to why we say what we say and why it is important. I read Sangharakashita's 'Ritual and Devotion in Buddhism, An Introduction' to express what a Puja is in more detail and post it up here for you all to read.  

Alongside the seven verses mentioned above we also recite the Heart Sutra (which I have written out in full below), This is not talked about in the book I read and I feel that this, along with the Transference of Merit to be the most powerful and beautiful verse in the Puja. It is a verse in which we lay bare all things that we must realise in our lives and a teaching of what we must overcome and understand in order to gain Enlightenment. I am not saying that I fully understand all that is written in this verse or that I even adhere to all of its teaching yet but as a thing to look over every now and then I find to be a very useful as a reminder of what I am working towards. It even renders me breathless at times to think of the impact of the words and the effect they have. 

I thought to have it at the end of this post is the best way to draw to a close, something for you to ponder on.




The Heart Sutra

The Bodhisattva of compassion
When he meditated deeply,
Saw the emptiness of all five skandhas
And sundered the bonds that caused him suffering.

Here then,
Form is no other than emptiness,
Emptiness no other then form.
Form is only emptiness,
Emptiness only form.

Feeling, thought, and choice,
Consciousness itself,
Are the same as this.

All things are the primal void,
Which is not born or destroyed;
Nor is it stained or pure,
Nor do they wax or wane.

So, in emptiness, no form,
No feeling, thought, or choice,
Nor is there consciousness.

No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind;
No colour, sound, smell, taste, or touch,
Or what the mind takes hold of,
Nor even act of sensing.

No ignorance or end of it,
Nor all that comes of ignorance;
No withering, no death,
No end of them.

Nor is there pain, or cause of pain
Or cease in pain, or noble path
to lead from pain;
Not even wisdom to attain!
Attainment too is emptiness.

So know that the Bodhisattva
Holding to nothing whatever,
But dwelling in Prajna wisdom,
Is freed of delusive hindrance,
Rid of the fear bred by it,
And reaches clearest nirvana.

All Buddhas of past and present,
Buddhas of future time,
Using this Prajna wisdom,
Come to full and perfect vision.

Here then the great dharani,
The radiant peerless mantra,
The Prajnaparamita
Whose words allay all pain;
Hear and believe its truth!