Forthcoming events
We’ll be celebrating Wesak, the Festival of the Buddha’s Birth, on Sunday 12th May. The festival ceremony will begin at 10.30 and it will be preceded by a short rehearsal. Before that, there will be meditation at 9.45. After the ceremony, we’ll have a Dharma talk and discussion (with coffee and cake/biscuits). You’re welcome to come along to any part of the morning.
We are intending to hold two five-day sesshins each year, running from Wednesday to Sunday. The next sesshin will be 26th – 30th June. Details of the schedule and other arrangements will be given nearer the time. The plan is to take at least breakfast and lunch formally in the meditation room. Please contact the Priory if you would like to attend in person, whether for all or some of the days, so that we can get an idea of numbers. The meditation sessions will be shared online and there can be flexibility about joining for some of the time in person and some online.
The garden group has started meeting again on Tuesday afternoons. Anybody who is interested in joining should contact the Priory. We also have a ‘Mindful Gardening Morning’ scheduled for Saturday 20th April. We’ll start at 10am with a period of silent mindful gardening, but then there will also be time to chat and get to know each other and to have a cup of tea. We aim to finish around midday. You don’t need to have any experience or be particularly fit. You can just do as much or as little as you feel able to do. We hope to hold these Saturday events monthly.
Recent events
It was a pleasure to welcome Rev. Olwen to the Priory for a short stay in February. Rev. Olwen is usually resident at Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey. She was helping Rev. Gareth to transport some large items, in a camper van, from the Reading Priory to a house in Norwich, so she took the opportunity to visit the Norwich Priory. This was her first time at the Priory since it moved to its current location, so it was lovely to show her around and to have a good chat. Rev. Gareth came along to the Priory later, which was also his first visit to our new property, and the two monks then travelled back to Reading together.
Thanks
Many thanks to everyone who enabled me to have a wonderful week of retreat and renewal time in a cottage in Wells-next-the-Sea. My gratitude goes to the people who offered the accommodation and to those who transported me there and back, as well as to the Sangha members who ensured that events, both in person and online, continued in my absence.
With best wishes and in gassho,
Reverend Leoma
