[Buddha-l] Jinapanjaram

[JKirkpatrick]

Joy, 
Great way to save money and make for wider sharing of
communication and inclusiveness.

Now Richard has dropped a new bomblet into the list, on labels
and affiliations--do we need them? Looking forward to reading
what denizens have to say about that idea, also to pondering it
as well.

Joanna
 

-----Original Message-----
From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com
[mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Joy
Vriens
Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2010 8:20 AM
To: Buddhist discussion forum
Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Jinapanjaram

Hi Joanna,

Last Thursday I spent with some Buddhist friends, among which an
old friend who founded the Marseille Tibetan Buddhist Center in
the seventies. Since then she got involved in the Forest
tradition of Ajahn Chah. I said I didn't think we had the right
mentality any more in Europe to have mendicant monks begging for
food in the street, but she said that one of Amaravati's monks
(may have been ajahn Sucitto) travelled through Britain this ways
and that his experience wasn't that negative. Perhaps I am too
pessimistic about the modern Western human nature.

The way the most important Buddhist centres have developed in
France was mainly through buying property, building a temple,
stupas, housing etc. Many of those centres seem to have financial
problems. I believe in small scale projects, where it's easier to
feel concerned. That being said, at the same time I see that we
have approximately twenty different Buddhist groups in Marseille,
One Laotian/Cambodgian community, two Vietnamese communities.
Many of the groups have their own place, with rent, plumbing and
heating as you write, and their own circle of Buddhists. Among
friends we made a plan to try and have one place for all
Buddhists. A place where ceremonies could be held, teachings be
given, where classes could be given in pali, sanskrit, tibetan,
chinese, where sutta and sutra studies could be organised that
would allow us to have access to different views on the same
sutras. Meditation classes with access to different (?) forms of
meditation. And for exchanges. If the project goes through it
will only be possible because of the particularly open position
of the monks leading the Laotian/Cambodgian and Vietnamese
communities. Both have given their initial agreement for a
confederation to start with.
We have all the same teacher, the Buddha they say. What I see as
one of the greatest advantages is that this bigger identity,
simply "Buddhist" could help us/some of us to overcome a smaller
Buddhist identity/atta that only causes kilesa.

Joy
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