Events at the Priory
There will be a day retreat on Saturday 30th April. As usual, there will be a morning session, 10.00am – 1.00pm, then a break for lunch, followed by an afternoon session, 2.00pm – 4.30pm. You are welcome to join for all or part of the day, either in person (please let me know if you’d like to do that) or online. More details and the full schedule can be found on our calendar.
The day retreats will now be every four months, rather than every three months. These will continue to be hybrid events, with some people coming in person to the Priory and others joining online. Perhaps some time in the future, if there is interest in people coming together in person as an extended Sangha, we may return to hiring a hall, but we probably wouldn’t be able to share such a retreat online. So for the foreseeable future, we’ll continue as we have been doing.
On 10th April, a lay ordination ceremony will take place for one of our Sangha. People are welcome to join us for that, either in person (but please contact me first) or online.
Recent events
On Sunday 6th March, we came together as a Sangha for a Compassion Vigil and I made the following dedication at the start of the ceremony:-
We offer this ceremony for all those people who have been killed and whose lives have been affected by war and conflict across the world. Today we think particularly of those beings suffering because of the war in Ukraine. May everyone who is experiencing sorrow, grief and pain also come to know that kindness and compassion can be found in our world of samsara. May the darkness of our delusion and confusion be pierced by the light of wisdom and compassion.
The scriptures that we chanted gave expression to our wish for peace, compassion and benevolence in the world. The readings reminded us that we put that wish into practice through continuing with our training. We have to work on letting go of our own selfishness, by meditating and living by the Precepts. Changing ourselves changes the world, but to do this we have to be willing to face ourselves. Through zazen, we find the source of compassion within us, so that we can act on the basis of what it’s good to do. Sometimes that compassion manifests as Avalokiteshwara, sometimes as Achalanatha.
With best wishes and in gassho,
Reverend Leoma
