Programme for the Day
10.30 DOORS OPEN
11.00 INTRODUCTION.
READINGS.
METTA BHAVANA.
** REFLECTIONS ON LOVED ONES
WHO HAVE DIED RECENTLY.
LED MEDITATION ON
IMPERMANENCE.
12.30 LUNCH [Please bring vegetarian snack
to share].
2.00 DISCUSSION ON IMPERMANENCE.
3 00 VAJRASATTVA PUJA.
3.45 TIDY UP / FINISH.
** Please feel free to bring a photo for the
shrine.
Outline
Parinirvana falls on the same date each year - 15th February. It marks the occasion when the psycho-physical organism of the historical Buddha passed from life. It was a momentous event - tradition has it that the earth quaked. Yet it was not a sad time. Some are said to have wept, those who had not yet deeply understood the teaching of impermanence and so felt sorrow. But those who were fully realized beings were calm and mindful in their response to the occasion, recalling what tradition holds to be the last words of the Buddha: “All compounded things are impermanent, with mindfulness strive on”. For us in the present time it is an opportunity to remember and rejoice in the lives of anyone close to us who may have died recently or indeed in the past. On the festival day there is usually an opportunity for anyone who chooses to do so to place a photo or some other token of remembrance on the shrine. Whatever the feelings - sorrow, joy, or calm acceptance - they can be brought into the peaceful atmosphere of the shrine room.
.
Course Leader
Amitashubha and Danasara
Booking
There is no need to book all are welcome but it is good if you can let the centre know so that we have an idea of numbers. The Festival days are offered on a Dana basis.