From the Editor Welcome

to the sparkling new Cardiff Centre Newsletter! We hope that it provides a small window into what goes on inside our Centre. What happens when people walk through the door, what they bring with them, what they take back into their lives and what they pass on to others. Enjoy!

Centre Weekend Retreat

16-18 March 2012 by Atapini

dog joining us for practice! But back to the present. Chandramani and Padmasimha led a wonderful retreat focusing on metta. They made an excellent team. The talks had that lovely combination of personal disclosure and sound Dharma knowledge and experience. We lived harmoniously and happily, on a diet of Jennys lovely food, meditation and groups for exploring our experiences. The weather was mostly fine, so those who wanted to could get out and climb the Sugar Loaf Mountain, whilst some of us napped or had the quiet and space to absorb what was going on. Thank you to everyone who contributed. I had a great time and look forward to future Smithy experiences.

Over the 3rd weekend in March, eighteen of us

set off for Smithy's bunkhouse, near Abergavenny, for the first Centre sangha retreat of the year. It was a 'return to the old days,' in the sense that we have been using Hafod Grange for our venue in recent years. When I started coming to the Centre in 1998, it was Smithy's that always hosted our retreats, then with Pramudita and Surana, who founded the Centre. My memory of the place was that it had been a bit uncomfortable and I was glad to move on to more luxurious surroundings. However, it was very interesting going back. The place has had an upgrade, more spacious bedrooms and nicer, wooden bunks. Also, there's more space in the loft shrine room without the pool table!! The downstairs room, with wood-burning stove, has seen the introduction of comfy sofas. It's possible to get quite cosy in there. What was most interesting though, was how the place evoked such strong memories and a physical, felt sense of former retreats and the magic made on them. One by one, figures from the past came to mind. Former sangha members seemed to make their presence felt. James and his skull shrine, Andrew in meditation, looking like the Madonna, with his blanket pulled over his head. Pramudita and I laughing as I came in with the wrong response during a puja; and on one occasion a farm cat and Newsletter Issue No 1:

Return to Smithys Bunkhouse

by Phil Ward

Our weekend retreat was a blissfully happy on for

the eighteen people lucky enough to be there, with an ideal mix of experience and youth. On a diet of frequent meditation, talks on metta and the Brahmaviharas, excellent food and all led in Padmasimhas understated way, we could hardly go wrong. Everything happened on time as all took an active part and the laughter was memorable. The happy atmosphere illustrated to us all just how the world could be with more love and kindness in it and how amazing the Dharma is. This more than made up for camping in occasionally cold, wet weather and I came home feeling that I had a new set of friends.

March 2012

Reflections on Becoming a Mitra

Alice Neidhardt

be bobbing up and down like a crazy Kelly doll? These and lots more anxious thoughts were going through my head until I realised that none of it mattered. If I fell over or couldnt get up unaided, it wouldnt matter. I was amongst friends. Friends, who had come to support me and who had bought cards and gifts to express their good wishes. Wed all have a bit of a laugh and carry on. As it happened, everything went off beautifully. Alice, Chris and I were perfectly calm and poised and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the ceremony.

Chris Joseph

Becoming

a Mitra has been wonderful; it has given me a place/people again to share good things with. I was just cruelly dropped from another religious organisation and I felt like I was just thrown away, but now I feel welcomed and very happy. It is a very good feeling to be a part of something that is trying to do well in the world, even if it is only in a very small way. Doing it, that is all that matters. I find that I am smiling more to myself now and I see that it is because I am a Buddhist. Its a great feeling, I feel like I have come home! Thank you for taking me in!

Barbara Minnion

On the 26th February 2012, as part of Parinirvana day, I had my Mitra ceremony, together with Alice and Barbara. I have many great memories of the ceremony, including the beautiful white shrine, Pramuditas kind words (maybe Ill meet this guy Chris that he talked about someday!), and being showered in confetti to shouts of Sadhu some of which I was still pulling out of my clothes the following day! The memory that still brings a smile to my face, however, is that of the call from my three year old daughter Anwen of Whats Daddy doing? as I was bowing to the shrine whilst making my offerings. Im very grateful to the sangha for the warmth and kindness they extended to both me and my family (Sharon, Aled and Anwen) on the day, and also for the many cards and gifts I received. The generosity was quite overwhelming and it was nice to savour the experience of opening the gifts and reading the messages late on Sunday night when the children were asleep and the house was quiet. My shrine is still adorned with the cards and gifts today! So what has changed post-mitrahood? Not much really Im still the same guy, working with the

A week before my Mitra ceremony I was feeling very anxious. Not because I doubted my decision, but the thought of the actual ceremony made me feel nervous. Little practicalities like will the legs of my stool fold when I get up and when I go to sit down, fall over? or would I be able to get up from my stool reasonably gracefully (sometimes the old knees give out) or how many times do I bow at each offering? Will I get carried away and

same dukkha, trying to etch out some time to meditate in a pretty hectic household. I do feel different, however. The Mitra ceremony was for me, above all else, an opportunity to make a public declaration of my commitment to practice the Dharma and to follow the Buddhist path. My memories and the strong positive emotions which I experienced on that day have already served as a touchstone for enabling me to re-engage with my practice in the face of lifes challenges, and Im sure this will continue to be the case for many years to come.

*** STOP PRESS! ***

Jayasraddha
He Whose Trust/Confidence/Faith (In the Three Jewels) is Victorious" was ordained on
Monday 11th June 2012

Gone, gone beyond. The leaving of Mr Neidhardt

by Atapini

Quote of the Moment Ordinary life is Enlightenment

Enlightenment is ordinary life. Reality is to be experienced in the midst of ordinary life, because there is nowhere else to experience it. If you are to experience Reality anywhere, it can only be here: If you are to experience Reality at any time, it can only be now: Dont let your attention be diverted. It is here that we have to realise; it is now that we have to see. The Ordinary is wonderful as it is WISDOM BEYOND WORDS (SANGHARAKSHITA)

On

Monday 26th March 2012, an impressive number of the sangha gathered to mark the culmination of Frank Neidhardt's Ordination training. Several days later, on the third of April, he left to join his fellow Ordinands at the men's Ordination retreat centre, Guhyaloka, in the mountains of Spain. He will return to Cardiff on 24th July, a new being, with an Order name that reflects his spiritual death and rebirth. His send-off was a joyous occasion, with a number of people rejoicing in their friendship with Frank over many years. His friends spoke of his many good qualities and thanked him for his support, encouragement and willingness to share his depth of practice. Frank received this wave of positive emotion with humour and graciousness. He was clearly delighted with his friends' well-wishing and beamed throughout. Padmasimha, as Frank's private preceptor, will privately ordain Frank in the early part of June, giving him either a Sanskrit or Pali name that will both reflect Frank's qualities and his personal path. We will have to wait until after the 11th of June, when the Public Ordinations take place and Frank formally enters the Order, to discover who it is that he has become. Sadhu Frank Neidhardt! Welcome Dharmachari................?

Buddhism and Impressionism

by Graham Shimell

Possessing a keen interest in impressionism, both

in art and literature, I recently read Maria Elizabeth Kroneggers 1973 book Literary Impressionism. What struck me most about this book was the fact that there seemed to be similarities between the philosophies of Buddhism and the art movement Impressionism. Impressionism emerged in France during the 1860s with artists Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Pissarro and Manet being the main protagonists. The term has been extended to literature, with the fiction of Gustav Flaubert, Andre Gide and Marcel Proust being primary examples. Additionally, music by composers such as Debussy and Ravel, are regarded as impressionistic. Though it is not easy to provide a simple definition of impressionism, since there is such a wide diversity of works of varying themes over a long period of time, its major principles are twofold: Firstly, painters stressed colour for its own sake. Colour was just as or even more important than the objects depicted within the painting. The truth of things lay in the intercession of colour and light. Secondly, the impressionists gave primacy to sensation, the blue of the ocean and the green of the fields. This was a rejection of intellectualism and cerebral thinking. Rather than I think, therefore I am, Andre Gide wrote in Les Nourritures Terrestres, I see, I feel, I hear, I smell; therefore I am. This focus on the initial sensations is echoed in Buddhist thought. The Buddha stressed the importance of body awareness. Sounds, sights, smells, tastes, touches and perceptions, are all based on the sense organs located in the body. Furthermore, each aspect of sense perception - including mental perceptions, taking mind as a sixth sense perceiving mental objects is combined, automatically, with a quality of feeling. The word feeling needs to be defined more carefully in this context. In Pali/Sanskrit feeling translates as vedana. However, vedana is more appropriately defined as the immediate feeling triggered by a sensation; it is not simply an emotion. It is important to understand this difference, because this feeling in response to a sensation is the foundation for our likes and dislikes, out of which emotions emerge.

In the Sutta Pitaka, the Buddha teaches that there are three forms of vedana pleasant, unpleasant and neutral. These responses arent a choice; we have no control over them. However, the next stage where there is an emotional response to a sensation, there can be a choice. Therefore, all of our experience is tempting us to react with an emotion on the back of a pleasant, unpleasant or neutral sensation whether it is hatred, resentment, excitement, irritation, desire etc. Sangharakshita says in Living With Awareness that being able to identify feelings (in the sense of vedana) is what makes it possible for us to follow the Buddhist path. Through being more mindful of vedana one will appreciate its ever-changing qualities, understand it and respond appropriately. When one lacks awareness of the basic experience of the bodily sensations, one can become caught up in emotional responses and hold on to more negative states of mind. The next resemblance in the two philosophies is the fact that impressionists are caught up in the transitoriness of all things. Of course Buddhists wouldnt be caught up in any concept as that is a form of attachment. Nevertheless, this idea of transitoriness can be compared with the Buddhist idea of impermanence. Kronegger summarizes Claude Monets famous painting La Cathedrale de Rouen plein soleil.
A peak in Monets materialization of the ephemeral is arrived at in the Cathedrals, realizing the agonizing effect that nature is changing so rapidly at each moment. Therefore, he hopes to eternalize the instant. The picture is not the representation of the Gothic Rouen Cathedral, but rather of the atmosphere in which it is immersed. This atmosphere suggests a living fluid.

So too, is noticeable the lack of clearly defined outlines. This is suggestive of the notion that everything is in constant flux and that everything that appears stable, coherent and separate is called into question. The final resemblance, which perhaps is the most striking, is that the impressionists faith in the absolute has disappeared; the world has been

relativized and atomised. The Cartesian tendency to divide up the world, to classify and conceptualise it is for the impressionist artist a thing in itself, a reality with no possibility of growth, a dead world. The German critic, Hermann Bahr writes about the philosophy of impressionism and dissolution of the ego:
All distinctions are here eliminated, the physical and the psychological coincide, and sensations are one and the same, the ego dissolves and everything is an eternal flux which in some places seems to stop, and in others to flow swifter, everything is merely a movement of colours, sounds, temperatures, pressures, spaces and times, which on this side of the ego appears as moods, feelings and desires.

A classic from Padmasimha Buddhist goes to the dentist and is offered pain relief. He declines, saying he is going to transcend dental medication.

The dissolution of the self is expressed again and again in the works of Flaubert, Gide and Proust: It is atomized in the same way as light has dissolved the solidity of matter. However, the difference with this intellectual realization between the two philosophies is that in impressionism on occasion there is a sense of hopelessness in the protagonists in the works. They feel a crippling of the willpower and a fruitlessness of all endeavours a sense of nihilism. In Buddhism the notion of emptiness and impermanence display opposite tendencies. Kamalashila, writes in his book on meditation about sunyata (voidness or emptiness), that the word was never intended to suggest the nothingness of negation in fact, the intention was very much the opposite. He emphasises how the term explains that the universe is constantly shifting and isnt dead or static. If there wasnt change, how could there be any development? Realisation of the truth of impermanence and nonselfhood, Kamalashila explains, will mean that we awaken to the full potential and power of life: since nothing is restricted by permanence and selfhood, anything is possible! So, true realisation of impermanence, emptiness and interconnectedness, on a level deeper than mere intellectual understanding, comes laden with great freedom and goes a long way in untying the knots of the three causes of suffering greed, anger and ignorance.

We are looking for an original, imaginative and unique logo to head our Newsletter If you have some creative ideas, wed love to see them Please send all entries to Alice via email on: NeidhardtAJ@cardiff.ac.uk Thank you and good luck!

An Interview with Pramudita

by Jane Hubbard

about fixed view of self and about habitual responses kept coming back, out of nowhere sometimes. I went on retreats and thats what really changed it for me, I started going on retreats. I liked the intensity of practice and communication, it sort of appealed to me. 3) What do you think people come to the Centre for? In a certain way, its the same thing, they want a bit of meaning in life somehow and theres dukkha, you know. You see quite a lot of them on the course; usually some of them are going through something, maybe breaking up with a partner, a death or something. So its always been a response to pain and suffering, and a lot of people have tried other religions or looked at others and thought when I read about Buddhism it seems to be speaking to me and they seem to come for those sorts of things. And I dont think they know (laughs) what theyre letting themselves in for really, because once you commit yourself it asks a lot of questions, pertinent questions, which I find fascinating and thats part of the excitement. I think a lot of people just want a bit, you know. We can offer them something which helps them, mindfulness, positive atmosphere, and thats enough for a lot of people, but also some people want to take it further. 4) How can Buddhism be part of modern society? I think Sangharakshitas idea for a start, the ordination is about commitment, it isnt about monk and lay. So in a lot of traditions youre the real deal in robes and I think hes always tried to work against that and actually, if you commit yourself to it, theres a lot you can do. I think thats the way we can engage. Also, he had this idea of having centres, communities and right livelihood like the three prongs of his new society idea. You have a public centre where you can come and meditate and meet other people, expand your social life through that make friendships; and the idea of living together really is quite radical and almost the hardest one to do. And right livelihood again, thats really in the belly of the beast in a way, being in a commercial situation and trying to run a business on ethical terms. I think those two we are really struggling with, but I think theyve still got merits in society.

Pramudita is one of the founder members

of the Cardiff Buddhist Centre and has been ordained for over 20 years.
1) Whats the difference about your life now and before you were a Buddhist? It was frustrating before, thats what it was. I suppose Id wanted something but I didnt know what it was. I felt that life was mapped out for me, it wasnt what I internally knew I wanted, but I didnt have any idea what I did want so there was a certain sense of frustration. In a lot of ways my life was good, I had a lot of friends and a job, but I knew I was getting more and more unhappy, I was drinking more and more, I knew there was something else but I didnt have a clue what it was, until I met the Dharma and then, right, it all sort of changed, not overnight, internally overnight, but externally it took a few years to come through. 2) Was yours quite a smooth path? What, into the Dharma? I think it was, yeah. Initially it was quite slow and cautious. You see Bhante talking, theres loads of people there and it was all very strange in a certain sort of way, theres this guy giving his talk on quite profound deep things and I hadnt been in that kind of situation before, there was part of me thinking, oh yes, and part of me thinking OK, its a cult, you know! (Laughs). So it took time to unfold after that, but in my mind I kept coming back to what he said. Every so often in a situation, what he said

5) How would you like to see the Centre ideally in 20,30, 40 years time? Id like it about three times the size! Id like it in the classic Triratna/ FWBO idea of having a bigger centre and of communities around and a business that helps support it, all those things. Also, Id like there to be - this is my dream - a Buddhist village in the country, an old farmhouse where you can run retreats, but also where people could build almost a timeshare thing where they could go and live parts of the year if they wanted to and you have this sort of retreat centre where you come and go on retreat and theres a community there. Then an urban centre, maybe like whats happening in Barry, outreach. Birmingham did this, Worcester is a centre now, Shrewsbury is getting bigger. So, that would be for me like a bigger centre in town. Then centres in Barry, Cowbridge, maybe even Newport, maybe in one of the valleys towns. 6) Whats the best thing about being a Buddhist? For me its meaning and purpose in life, you can just get through, cant you?., and do all the things youre supposed to do and have no sort of satisfaction. Thats the main thing, theres a sort of personal satisfaction, and I do believe that the Buddhist philosophy, or practices, are the answer to humanitys ills. If we were more loving and kind and patient and more mindful in its broadest, deepest sense and we werent scared of death and we werent into having power for powers sake, the world would be a whole lot better place. The personal has to have a bigger, wider vision, I think thats it. I think personally, for me, its about being more authentic and more content in my skin, so to speak. When I sit down on my own theres not this terrible anxiety or view that Im not worthy and that sort of thing. So theres that personal thing and then there are the teachings, which I think are universal. Its how to do it, without scaring people off, though. Bhante said Buddhism gets in the way of the Dharma sometimes, because its a religion and an organisation, so its finding a way to do that. 7) Is there anything hard about being a Buddhist? Personally I dont find that. The hard stuff is when you come up against yourself, and also thats the good stuff as well. I suppose because I've got a lot of friends and the difficult stuff is if you go out socially with non-Buddhists and people sort of drift away from you! (Laughs). Alright OK!

Nothing to talk about! But I find that quite amusing now rather than painful, but they do have ideas about what you are and what youre supposed to be. 8) What is the point of life? (Laughs.) Ha ha, cmon. OK! The point of life is to transcend life. The point of life is to have a meaningful life, to try and make stuff better for other people, try to engage with others in a way thats kind and friendly and loving and to develop some inner tranquillity and equanimity on the personal level. But, for me somehow, its giving, thats the point of life, giving to others. 9) What do you hope for this newsletter? Well, I think people dont really know us. I think people in the population would get to know the Buddhist centre and people coming along will get a better idea of what they are coming to; because I think they get a lot of it in dribs and drabs, but with a newsletter youre getting a much more coherent message of what were trying to do, that to me would be the idea of it, and in a way, I assume theres going to be a few idiosyncratic things in there which help people show that were human!

PROFILE
SOME OF OUR ORDER MEMBERS PADMASIMHA

In 1999 and again with Pramudita's encouragement (receiving a rare letter from him while I was travelling in New Zealand!) I decided to take up the offer of setting up the yoga studio, and help teach at the Cardiff centre. And the rest, as they say, is history.

TAMONUDA

came to Buddhism over 22 years ago when a friend of mine, Sahaja (who sculpted the dragon we have at the centre) taught me to meditate. That was back in Manchester, and the experience propelled me through the doors of the Buddhist centre, getting involved with a group of people known as the cosmic club (!) who were incredibly motivated and creative about life, something I was very much drawn towards. It wasn't long before I was going to classes regularly, and at this time Sangharakshita became my teacher, having read his autobiography 'The Thousand Petaled Lotus' and listened to his talks on the Noble Eightfold Path. I was like a sponge, soaking all up, and after becoming a mitra I felt the need to become more fully involved. By slow degrees I reduced my working hours so I could go on retreat more often ( there was a well-worn groove to Padmaloka - journeys that were accompanied by loud avant guard jazz!) and when the opportunity came to live and work at Padmaloka (with Pramudita and Surana's very vocal encouragement- they were living there already) I jumped at the chance. I lived there for over five years, forming a close friendship with my preceptor Padmavajra - one of the main influences on my spiritual life and who ordained me at Guhyaloka in 1994. Living there was one of the best and most intense periods of my life - a full on Buddhist community of over 16 men, who practised, worked, and played hard. For me I was able to fully live out a need to serve, which remains one of the main motivations for my spiritual life.

I have been involved in the Cardiff Buddhist Centre since just after it started. I joined the second Introduction to Buddhism class (approximately ten years ago, I think). I was drawn to the Tibetan tradition in particular, I have a "hippy" background and had a strong memory of various Hindu and Buddhist images that were on various flat walls when I was eighteen, wearing flares and listening to Jimi Hendrix (you can guess the rest!). I suppose in those days I was looking for something and tried various other things over the years - cafe co-operative and resource centre, the women's movement, deejing, transcendental meditation, reiki etc (!) But it is only when I became a Buddhist that I found my spiritual home. I have been ordained for nearly two years, so a lot of people at the Centre have witnessed me changing over the years, I still am, I hope! When I first arrived no one had been Ordained from Cardiff and "those Order Members" were seen as something apart, I know better now! I work as a Probation Officer and honestly think that without my belief in the Dharma and my practice I would have left the job. Having said that, its a great opportunity to work "on the edge" and develop an open heart. Others sufferings can also put your own problems into perspective. I still have a strong interest in things Tibetan and like the imagery. I am up for answering questions about this aspect of Buddhism and if I can't offer an answer I will try to point you in the right direction. I am delighted by the energy in the Centre and to see this newsletter and the ever growing sangha. I don't always get the opportunity to talk to everyone but you are welcome to say hello.

Discovering the Buddha

by Vishvapani

Whats

left to say about the Buddha? Everything, I discovered: the funny, original, surprising Buddha of history is more relevant than ever. Writing the biography of the Buddha which was published last year as Gautama Buddha: the Life and Teachings of the Awakened One, I made a surprising discovery: the Buddha was funny. Buried deep in the huge volumes of the early Buddhist scriptures I found this:
Suppose there was a dung beetle that was gorged with dung and had a huge pile of dung in front of him. He would look down on other beetles and declare, Yippee! Im a dung-eater with a huge pile of dung in front of me! In the same way, a monk goes into a village or town for alms and then goes to the monastery and boasts, Ive eaten as much as I like, Im full of alms-food and Ive been invited again for tomorrow!

Then one day I looked again and saw a slender, seated figure against an ornate backdrop of intertwined branches or creepers. Something about the way the man was sitting struck me. He was poised, focused and beautiful. I now know it was an image of the Buddha seated beneath the bodhi tree on the cusp of Enlightenment, as imagined by a Chinese sculptor. Writing my book meant distinguishing the figure of the Buddha from the elaboration that surrounds him. Popular culture muddles up the figure Buddhists revere with all sorts of other mystical figures, but then Buddhist traditions themselves mix together all sorts of elements. For Mahayana (Great Way) Buddhism, which flourishes in China and Japan, the Buddha is timeless, not historical, and archetypal rather than flesh and blood. Then theres the figure revered in Theravadin countries such as Thailand, Burma, Laos and Sri Lanka, who has a timeless dimension but is also connected to the Discourses. These seem to be the earliest Buddhist scriptures and depict a more-or-less realistic version of reality; but the early Theravada Buddhists werent historians and much of their account turns out to be legend. This version of the Buddhas life makes its way into movies like Bertoluccis Little Buddha, and if you have regard to historical facts youll need to ditch most of it. He wasnt a prince called Siddhartha. (Its true that his family name was Gautama but we have no idea of his personal name). His father wasnt a king; he didnt spend his youth entirely cut off from the world; he didnt have a fairy-tale romance or see four shocking sights that persuaded him to steal away from his wife and son in the middle of the night. These stories are missing from the earliest accounts and we can trace how they developed over time into the elaborate legends of later Buddhism. It even turns out that the dates of the Buddhas life used in Theravadin tradition probably place his life 100 years too early. The best evidence suggests that he was born around 480 BCE and died 80 years later around 400 BCE, making him a contemporary of Socrates, Sophocles and other great figures of the Golden Age of Athens. Why does this matter? For many, the Buddha is important because of his teachings and practices. For Buddhists, he also embodies Enlightenment: a kind of existence that leaves behind the limitations

Hes speaking to monks who had to beg their food and making fun of their tendency to feel pleased with themselves when they found someone who would give it regularly. As well as showing that the Buddha was funny, it also shows he wasnt pompous, he enjoyed teasing people and had a rather mischievous turn of mind. I loved coming across this sort of thing as I waded through those texts and struggled to organise the material. I wanted to present a vivid and readable account of what we can say with some confidence about the Buddha, without covering over the things we dont know. Thats hard because theres a vast amount of information in the early sources, which mostly comes in a jumble, not according to a timeline or chronology. And its hard to know which elements of the early records of the Buddhas life record what actually happened and which have been adapted and rewritten. By the end I understood why no one else had ever tried quite what I was attempting, but I was surer than ever of its value. For me, the Buddha is one of historys truly outstanding individuals and the more clearly we discern who he was the more clearly his radical and profound message will be heard. An image came to my mind as I was writing. On the mantelpiece in the house where I grew up was a small jade statuette. As a child I couldnt make out what it was at all. I just saw a blur of shapes.

and confusion of our own lives. And neither the teachings nor Enlightenment are matters of history. But our approach to the Buddha affects how we see the Buddha and how we understand Enlightenment. If we think the Buddha grew up as a prince in a secluded palace we shall relate to him as a figure from legend and fairy-tales. Such stories can inspire us, but we cant easily identify with them. Consider instead the figure we actually find in the early scriptures. He is born in a provincial town of a new civilisation among aristocrats who have become vassals. They no longer ride to war and are worn down by the drudgery of farming. Bizarre holy men called shramanas are everywhere, but religion is riven by conflict, just like politics. A new brand of priests the Brahmins who claim to be masters of powerful magic plan to supplant the old holy men. Gautama is troubled by his existence and sees that he is the author of his own suffering, like everyone else. This spurs him to follow a spiritual path but he finds that religious teachers are as blind as everyone else. They are free from the distractions of worldly life but they are blinded by their beliefs. He pursues the answer within his own mind, gains unprecedented mastery over it, and then makes a breakthrough he calls Awakening. For forty-five years after his Awakening Gautama travels continually across the Ganges Valley. The dust of its roadways cakes his feet, he gathers food amid the grime and bustle of the cities and he gives talks in the parks just outside them, where religious wanderers stay. He meets merchants and musicians, kings and lepers, priests and prostitutes. He speaks with the curious, the sceptical and the intensely devout and keeps trying to communicate his understanding of existence and its explosive consequences. He stretches the meanings of the words and concepts that people already know, and he invokes venerable, established ideas but turns them on their heads. He is brave, kind and funny. He is a man of his times, which are more different from our own times than we can easily imagine. Legendary and archetypal ways of thinking come naturally to people living in traditional societies. The modern world has learned, for better and for worse, to distinguish the natural from the supernatural, and history from legend. Thats why modern people cant regard the legends of the Buddhas life in the literal way that traditional Buddhists have seen them without losing

something important that makes us who we are: the capacity to think clearly and objectively. Personally, I love legends and myths and I find in the archetypal Buddha a doorway to a realm of imagination and beauty. But I feel closer to the Buddha of history. His struggles mirror my own. The Buddha I discovered through researching and writing my book was a warm and vivid human being with a strong and sometimes quirky personality. He engaged with the reality of his life with amazing directness and profundity, and he spurs me to engage with my own life in the same unflinching way. Over its long history, Buddhism took many forms. Theres an array of art practices and even beliefs, and today these forms of Buddhism have varying degrees of vitality and resonance. What Buddhists share is a common founder and a common inspiration: the Buddha as an ideal and as a human being. Gautama Buddha: the Life and Teachings of the Awakened One by Vishvapani Blomfield was published in hardback by Quercus in January 2011 and in paperback in January 2012. See reviews, articles and interviews about the book at www.GautamaBuddha.info

Oceans of Meditation
by Sagaradana

Lloyd, Will, Ben and Caz that day for spreading the Dharma in Barry. We also have our own website with several pages of information; one page offers helpful advice for meditators, with an option to email me with any questions that may be puzzling you. I will do my best to give advice. I hope now the weather is improving we can hold full-moon Pujas in Porthkerry Park. I look forward to meditation in the forest and a puja under the full moon under a clear starry night sky. Bring extra blankets to keep warm, we will have the fire basket and lanterns to scare away the spirits of the forest, so be brave. http://barrymeditationcentre.blogspot.co.uk/

One year (and a bit) on, Barry Meditation Centre

is one year old (its official!). Atapini, Tamonuda, Mike Leznoff and I have been teaching meditation on a drop-in basis on Wednesday nights at Canonhill Artspace, situated just off the main road to Barry Island. Some evenings we have been full with fifteen people, whilst on quieter evenings, just once or twice, it has been Atapini and myself meditating together. We both made a commitment to stick it out no matter how many people came. We said if it was only the two of us it was still worthwhile. We have had some excellent evenings; I remember one night in particular when Clive, Sue and Ben joined us from Cardiff. Everyone just sat on their cushions with no introduction and we were motoring before we knew it. The atmosphere was so still and quiet, we naturally fell into a sense of sangha, application to the meditation felt warm and natural. All sorts of people have turned up, some inquisitive, some from other groups and some new to meditation, wishing to learn. Insomnia seems to crop up quite often and feedback has been positive. We are getting a nucleus of regulars coming and I hope it wont be too long before we start a Dharma class, teaching the Introduction to Buddhism along the same lines as we do in Cardiff. In order to publicise ourselves, we held a day retreat at Atapinis house on the island when we went out in pairs posting leaflets through letterboxes. Atapini cooked an excellent lunch that revitalised us for the afternoon shift. It was just before Christmas and frosty to say the least. Thankfully the rain held off just long enough for us to get back before we got a soaking. Thanks to

Full Moon Pujas

by Atapini

In

the Autumn of 2011, Miggy Marques and I thought it would be of benefit to the sangha to have a context for sharing in more ritual. We have established a pattern of including a threefold puja in our sangha evenings and we thought that an opportunity for more devotional practice may be welcome. We have set up a programme of monthly full moon pujas on the Friday evening closest to the full moon. The current theme of the pujas is the 5 Buddha mandala. This is a framework for exploring the various aspects and characteristics of the enlightened mind, through what are known as 'the five jinas. These figures are a mandala of

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with various symbolic associations, which help us to understand or get closer to the nature of the enlightened mind. The Buddhas are arranged according to the cardinal points, North, South, East and West. There is also a Buddha situated in the centre of the mandala. Each of the figures has animals, colours, ritual symbols, mantras and spiritual qualities associated with it. Each is also accompanied by a female Buddha. These emblems are very mysterious, but exploring them can help us to feel more of an imaginative connection with what enlightenment might mean. Beginning in January, with the green Buddha of the North, Amoghasiddhi, we have dedicated pujas to Green Tara, Padmasambhava and Locana. Different Order Members and Mitras who have asked for ordination lead the full moon pujas. There is usually a talk to introduce the figure who is the focus of the puja, a period of meditation and then the sevenfold puja itself. Sometimes there is a chance to offer to the shrine things we wish to cultivate (or let go of). Sometimes there is a ritual burning of the offerings, along with chanting, in the courtyard. As the weather improves, it is hoped that pujas can be held outdoors. It has been agreed with Porthkerry Park in Barry that we can hold some ritual there. At present, we are using the Buddhist Centre and doors open at 6.45pm for a 7pm start. Outdoor rituals would be likely to start a bit later, perhaps gathering at 7.30pm, for a 7.45 pm start. We'll let you know via the web-site and email, if an outdoor event is to take place. The four events held to date have been well attended, with around a dozen of us practising together. This practice is very much in line with the original tradition of the Buddha himself. His Sangha of bhikkus and bhikkunis (monks and nuns), were wanderers. To keep cohesion in the Sangha, the Buddha exhorted his followers to gather regularly and in great numbers. One such occasion for this were pujas on full moon nights. As people who lived outside, in forests, woodland groves and sometimes in donated parkland, full moon nights, were ideal for large gatherings to enable the sangha to be with their teacher and fellow practitioners. A full moon night would be light and therefore provide sufficient illumination. These events are open to everyone in the sangha. If you have never participated in a sevenfold puja

before, a book can be provided for you to follow and you need only take part to the degree to which you are comfortable. It's fine to just come and see how it feels without taking part at all, initially. Please also feel free to ask questions of any of the people leading the evening if you are not certain of any of the content. These pujas are a lovely opportunity to develop a greater sense of poetry and beauty in relation to the Dharma.

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Katrins Concert
by Allison Ayers

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

The beauty of sangha is that we can share spiritual

friendship with others we may not come across in our day-to-day lives. This friendship can release us from preconceived ideas, yet can offer limited opportunity to find out more about the people we sit beside in meditation and silent reflection. Whilst on retreat I had the opportunity to listen to Katrin's enthusiasm for singing and was taken with how her whole persona lit up when she spoke of her involvement with the Cardiff Polyphonic Choir. I was intrigued to find the source of this transformation and went along to listen to her in concert. It was my first time in the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the well thought out design of Dora Stoutzker Hall made me want to breathe deeply and open my heart as well as my ears. I had no idea what to expect but as the choir entered the hall with uniform precision. I held my breath.

Once the singing started I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and marvelled at how voices alone could make such a wonderful sound. I did not understand the words but there was a mournful and meditative quality to the performance which made me mindful of Rumi, 'When love first tasted the lips of being human, it started singing.' We were treated to solo performances by a soprano and baritone and I still wonder what they would have sounded like in duet. I marvelled at the agility and skill of the two pianist whose duets made it hard to believe fingers could move so fast whilst my ears tried to absorb each and every note. So many hours of practice and dedication. It was a wonderful experience from start to finish. I went home instilled with a huge sense of privilege. All these people with a love for music who had put in uncountable hours practise so I could listen to such beauty and who certainly achieved a way of 'celebrating life's consoling joys'. Well done, Katrin, well done!

The Buddhas Last Instruction

Be ye lamps unto yourselves, be a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to truth as a lamp; hold fast to the truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone beside yourselves. And those, who shall be a lamp unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast to the truth as their lamp, and holding fast to the truth as their refuge, they shall reach the topmost height.

The Buddha

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
THE USUAL SUSPECTS Challenge for Nepal! Cardiff Buddhist Centre
Chair: Padmasimha Secretary: Tamonuda Treasurer: Pramudita Women's Mitra Convenor: Atapini Men's Mitra Convenor: Pramudita

Please

support Caz in her quest to conquer the Taff Trail. She will be cycling from Cardiff to Brecon (and back!) on 21st July 2012 with the backing of Dave Hann, to raise funds to support her trip to Nepal in order to undertake voluntary occupational therapy work in the Bal Mandir Childrens Orphanage in Naxal, Katmandu. The sponsorship form will be pinned on the notice board. Any donations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Board of Trustees
Padmasimha Pramudita Tamonuda Kamalagita Muditavajra Sagaradana Atapini

Meditation teaching
Angela Brain Miggy Marques Anne Williams Sue Yeo Sharon O' Brien Jayasraddha Jenny Franks Paul Mason Sagaradana Padmasimha Atapini

CHANGING LIVES

Caz

Centre Team
Padmasimha Jenny Franks Sharon O' Brien Lynda Taylor John Cowan Jayasraddha

and Atapini invite you to an event at the Centre called An Evening to Celebrate the Difference We Make. Friday 20th July. Doors open 5.45pm, for Dinner at 6pm. Minimum donation 10. To support Caz's fundraising for her to do this much needed work in Katmandu, e will provide a meal and invite you to bring photos, stories, poems, music or even travel anecdotes, that say something about your own life-changing experiences or the difference someone/something made to your life or you to theirs. It may be short and sweet, just a few words or you might like to revisit an important event or incident more fully. This is a lovely opportunity to get to know others in the sangha in a social way, whilst supporting an inspiring piece of therapeutic work.. We hope you will feel able to come along for what we hope will be a very uplifting and inspiring evening. Please book through the office, putting your full contact details on the booking form provided, so we can make sure there is enough food for everyone! With Metta Atapini & Caz

Sangha Evening Team

Padmasimha Will Elsworthy Jenny Franks Sharon O'Brien Kamalagita Atapini

Introductory Classes
Pramudita - supported by Mitras

Newsletter Team
Katrin Felix-Gregory: Editor Caz Evans: Design and layout Graham Shimell: Articles Alice Joy Neidhardt: Printing and production Jane Hubbard: Photography, Art and contributor

Cardiff Buddhist Centre 12 St Peter's Street Cardiff CF24 3BA Tel: 029-20462492 Email: connect@cardiffbuddhistcentre.com www.cardiffbuddhistcentre.com UK Registered Charity No. 1069536

NOTICES
Would you like a Spiritual first-aid hand book for
lifes emergencies? You would? Help is at hand. We have the very thing. Always up to date; the right size for the pocket, handbag & indispensable in the office. Would you like to be involved in fundraising for much needed audio & video equipment for the Centre to promote evenings of education, entertainment and socialising? If so, please contact Atapini at the Cardiff Buddhist Centre on tel: 029-20462492

Calling all Musicians, Poets or Storytellers!

Sailing the Worldly Winds

by Vajragupta

Room hire available at the Cardiff

Buddhist Centre
For further details, please contact Padmasimha or Atapini at the Centre on tel: 029-20462492 or email: connect@cardiffbuddhistcentre.com

.is the answer

Car Parking !!!

Owing to the severe parking restrictions around the Buddhist Centre, we suggest you park in Croft Street or Aaron Street (just off City Road) Allow a 15 minute walk.

Introducing the Young Peoples Sangha Evening!

Providing a relevant context for the younger members of the sangha to develop deep, spiritual friendships within the Cardiff sangha and Triratna Movement. Time: Date: Place: Time: Fortnightly on Fridays 6th July 2012 Cardiff Buddhist Centre 7.30 til 9.30-10pm

Dont forget..
Our weekly Drop-In Meditations every Wednesday at 7am &, 7pm and Thursday at 12.30pm at the Cardiff Buddhist Centre Suggested donation 5

Open to the under 40s

DATES FOR THE DIARY

2012

JULY
Sunday 1st Tuesday 3rd Friday 6th Sunday 15th Tuesday 31st Dharma Day Festival at the Cardiff Buddhist Centre Elaine Ropkes Mitra Ceremony on Sangha evening Full Moon Puja: (details to be confirmed) Day Retreat for Women who have asked for Ordination: Positive Emotion: led by Tamonuda Kamalamani Book launch on Sangha evening Full Moon Puja: led by Atapini (Amitabha) Full Moon Puja: (details to be confirmed)

AUGUST
Friday 3rd Friday 31st

SEPTEMBER
Friday 7th to Sunday 9th Saturday 22th and Sunday 23rd Friday 28th Centre Weekend Retreat at Smithy's bunkhouse. Open to all who know Mindfulness of Breathing and Metta Bhavana meditation and are familiar with the sevenfold puja Weekend retreat at the Centre led by Saddhanandi. Open to women of all levels of experience Full Moon Puja: (details to be confirmed) Full Moon Puja: (details to be confirmed) Weekend Retreat at the Centre, on Clear Thinking: led by Jnanaketu. Open to all The Urban Retreat at the Cardiff Buddhist Centre: led by Atapini and Sharon Sangha Day Festival at the Cardiff Buddhist Centre Full Moon Puja: led by Atapini (details to be confirmed) Day Retreat for Women who have asked for Ordination: Spiritual Death: led by Atapini at the Cardiff Buddhist Centre Full Moon Puja: (details to be confirmed)

OCTOBER
Friday 26th Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th

NOVEMBER
Saturday 17th to Saturday 24th Sunday 25th Friday 30th

DECEMBER
Saturday 8th Friday 28th

Would you like to contribute to the Newsletter? Is there something you would like to share with the rest of the sangha? It could be anything from a book review, a poem, a photo, a reflection or recommendation of a DVD or CD. Whatever it is, we would love to hear from you. Please contact the Newsletter team at the Centre on Tel: 029-20462492. Thank you very much - Diolch yn fawr. With Metta. The Newsletter Team.