Kulaprabha

At the moment I am over in Cambridge being “Teacher in Residence” for a week at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre.

The train journey over on Sat was very relaxing. Last week I was co-leading an week’s intensive meditation retreat. That finished on Friday morning .. then I went out with the retreat team for coffee .. then met up with a friend Friday afternoon .. then sorted out what seemed like myriads of notes to bring here with me ..then had chips and sausages for supper (very nice, thank you, Sanghajivani!) .. and then went out to the Hanmer Arms with Parami. I eventually got to bed at about 2am but I did have everything packed!

Running an Urban Retreat was the original thing I agreed to do was here. (I say original because it has been added to considerably since…) Sixteen of us mostly women but three guys too. One of whom said I was his first female Buddhist teacher - bit of a responsibility that! We started the retreat going yesterday with a day in the Buddhist Centre.It was a surprisingly easy day to do and seemed to provide an immediately good way for people with very disparate lives to link up and feel supported by each other as they try to practice the Dharma in the midst of their everyday lives …. someone has two job interviews, someone else has an essay to hand in, a few folk work at Windhorse Evolution, there was a nanny, a criminologist, therapists and counsellors amongst us.

Everyone filled in practice diaries for the week … with things like what’s happening and which meditation practice they intended for each day, what would help that, anything they are giving up for the week. e.g., TV, email… and also added the outcome of reflections I led through on what motivates them and gives them resolve; any reminders for the week (someone put post-its around her place saying “one thing at a time”); planting some seeds of faith in their practice for the week; and taking a few risks, moving out of their Dharma ‘comfort zone’ ….. We ended the day with a dedication ceremony and chanted the Tara mantra. Tara because I’d introduced the day by talking about Hakuin’s “life of activity and life of calm” and Tara seems to epitomise the perfection of being always ready to step down and act but doing it from inner stillness.

We carried on this morning meeting at 7am at the Centre to meditate and have breakfast together. Nine people turned up which is more than I’d expected. After breakfast we went our individual ways. At this very moment, I’m at Milton Rd women’s community where I’m staying this week. Just sent out emails to the Urban Retreat Bunch emailing group with some notes about Hakuin and a wee report-in from me. I have a lunch date and then free for rest of today …. free being a relative term which in this instance means free to sort out what I’m doing tomorrow which is very full with some of the additional things I agreed to do.

Next Cambridge Urbanites page is here.