Getting to know each other - Oxford's 4th Friends in Faith Walk

On Wednesday, the 'Friends in Faith' walk for peace become further established in Oxford's diary of annual community events. And they did indeed have balloons :-)

Thanks to the sterling efforts of the organisers, this was another success with hundreds of participants joining somewhere along the 2 mile route from the synagogue in Jericho (see above) via the University Church and to the Central Mosque in Manzil Way. With the generous help of the stewards and the police on their bikes, the procession wended its way smoothly, with traffic situation well contained. At each place of worship there were welcomes and readings, from very young to the not so young!

Onlookers expressed curiosity and seemed quite sympathetic. The main representations were from Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths, but people of other faiths (and none) also joined because, I think, of the genuinely friendly spirit. It's reached the point where people are renewing acquaintances or already know each other because friendships have formed and/or they are involved in other activities of mutual interest.

This was my third walk. Initially I was weary from a day at the office, but as we strolled along the route, my head cleared and my conversations seemed to become steadily more interesting! Quite a few people I knew just seemed to come into view without my having to look for them, with connections spanning about 20 years, to the time my mother, Fuengsin Trafford, was active in interfaith (thriving in this kind of environment).

The walk concluded at the Central Mosque, where there was a fine buffet (its reputation has been established now!)

Generally speaking, movements in Oxford are relatively slow - you only have to consider the age of the University to see how it is used to gradual evolution. A member of the City Council was relating how compared with Leicester, Oxford is a long way behind. Further, a former City Councillor described how some churches wouldn't take part believing it would compromise their faith. Even so, I think there is sure progress, as evidenced by the growing support for an Oxford Council of Faiths. As if to confirm this general direction, it was the first public event for the incoming Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd John Pritchard, two days before his formal inauguration.

World Peace Ethics Quiz

Last weekend I joined about 3,000 people in numerous countries taking part in the inaugural World Peace Ethics contest (WorldPEC), an examination based on the Maha Mangala Sutta ([Great] Blessings of Life), one of the teachings expounded by the Buddha Gotama. What is a blessing in this context? Essentially what brings happiness, prosperity and success in material and/or spiritual matters. The sutta is actually very short, consisting of 38 blessings, almost just one per line, as you can see in e.g. a translation by Ven. Thanissaro.

The Dhammakaya Foundation has been the prime mover behind an annual contest in Thailand based on the Mangala Sutta, in which millions have participated across many public sector organisations. Official details are available on the Dhamma for Peace web site. The English-language version is testing the waters, so the first contest is based on material concerning the first 10 blessings, whereas the Thai version is based on all 38 blessings.

As the sutta is short, it may sound like that there's not much to prepare, but in fact the sutta is a very concise précis. Over the years, the Ven. Dattajeevo, Vice-Abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya gave many teachings elaborating on each of the blessings (I think he used to give lot of these on the radio). When written down, these amounted to several hundred pages in Thai. Now there is an English-language manual, A manual of peace: 38 steps towards Enlightened Living, available as a free download This version is also a substantial tome, so if you wish to read a physical copy you can buy one through Amazon or make a visit to a Dhammakaya Centre and they'll very likely have a copy available there.

One of the distinguishing features of the new addition is its orientation towards the West: as explained in the introduction, in Thai society certain notions of respect are natural and taken for granted, but in the West more justification is needed. However, overall, I guess it's very substantially equivalent. Early attempts to present the material started with a literal translation from the Thai and if you're keen with the help of Google and the Wayback machine you can still find copies of materials that were hosted on a Belgian site!

So what was format of the quiz? I travelled down to Wat Phra dhammakaya in Woking, one of several UK test centres. Shortly after 1.30pm, the Thai exam commenced, followed about 2 hours later by the English-language exam. Tables were laid out in rows. You sat down, listened to the instructions, waited whilst papers and response sheets were distributed and at the given time, you were allowed to start. Facing us were 100 multiple choice questions (just 1 correct answere out of 5) plus a short tie-breaker essay. Time available: 80 minutes(!)

For many it felt like going back to school and for quite a few that was a long time ago! However, although the format was quite formal, it's a light-hearted activity because you and your friends are all in the same boat and shortly before the exam it was nice to go through materials and coach eath other. It's a very wholesome activity that makes you reflect on how you conduct yourself and you soon find out some of your faults together with more beneficial patterns of behaviour.

Actually, my preparation was far from ideal. I started looking at the manual on Wednesday and the exam was on Saturday! I read through once, skimping on the last couple of chapters and then revised a few sections on the train. I don't recommend this approach and hope that next year I'll be much better prepared. It didn't really reassure me when friends were said that I should have no problems given my background. However, I am fortunate in that I'm already attuned to this kind of thinking, so for me it was more a question of remembering particular details.

So now you may wonder what the questions were like:-) Here is a sample question:

1. Which of the following shows the most intimate degree of association?

a. Someone who starts lending, chatting on the same subject and sharing the same pastimes as someone they meet.
b. Someone who meets up with someone and has a feeling they like them.
c. Someone who gives someone else respect and moral support.
d. Someone who joins in with someone else and allows that other person to influence their behaviour.
e. Someone who does all of the above.

This is based on the first blessing, not associating with fools, and is about watching your interaction with others. There are quite a number of different levels, ranked in order of closeness. All of the above represent some degree of association, so I expect the net effect of doing them all represents the greatest degree, so I think the answer is e).

A lot of these should be answerable by common sense, but some depend upon a particular context. Results will be released later this month.

Fancy having a go? :-)

Official opening of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, London

Today was a very special day for the Thai temple I support in Brookwood, Woking. The Vice-Abbot Phrabhavanaviriyakhun (Ven. Dattajeevo Bhikkhu or simply 'Luang Phor') came all the way from Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Thailand to officiate at the ceremony, culminating in the unveiling of a new name plate at the front (facing the roundabout!) at around 11a.m. Our temple is now called Wat Phra Dhammakaya (London). In the morning session there was also meditation, chanting and the offering of robes, providing many opportunities for people to cultivate bright states of mind.

In the afternoon Luang Phor Dattajeevo gave Dhamma instruction. He's very popular in Thailand and has given many teachings, including broadcasts over the radio. He seems very interested in education, especially knowledgeable - he's been up to Oxford and spent hours in various bookshops looking for books that can help him improve the way he communicates (when he came to Oxford he was mainly interested in the way the content was expressed and was particularly looking for 3D representations).

Indeed Luang Phor has previously given Dhamma instruction in English using quite a lot of visuals on OHP to describe the functionings of the mind. However, this afternoon he was more conventional, using mainly words to treat the subject of Kamma. The basis of his discussion today was the Cuulakammavibhangasutta in Majjhima Nikaaya, which translates as a shorter classification of actions. In the Pali Text Society edition it's MN 135 Book III, but the Thai numbering systems appears to be completely different. Thai and English translations were distributed, the English one coming from Vipassana.info

Thanks to Phibul Choompolpaisal, a group of us received very useful translations from Thai. We thus heard how the Ven. Dattajeevo's explanations of kamma were rich and varied, with many illustrations, yet all contained within a coherent whole. I'll only quickly paraphrase here. Every volitional act creates kamma; to know which is skilful and which is unskilful requires a neutral mind, but this in turn requires cultivation. It doesn't happen by itself; it's important to develop sila (precepts), and practice chanting and meditation every day. This helps to refine the mind, so that gradually it can assess things in an unbiased way, with an intuition for knowing what's right and what isn't even though the results may not be immediate, rather like planting seeds, that may take a long time to bear fruit (of course, planting seeds is not sufficient by itself - they need nurturing through sun, water etc). And you can apply this to many spheres, including employment.

Practising good deeds generates punya, which is roughly translated as 'merit', which is like a pure form of energy that can fill and empty, in the same way as fuel. Every time you breathe in, you're using up some merit, because life (at least in human form) is meritorious. Thais seem intuitively to know the value of merit very well and hence the Sangha has been well sustained (and, it's claimed, why Thai food is so tasty!) If you do not cultivate merits across a broad front it may mean that even if you try to practice intensively, you may not have the right supporting conditions. (In a similar way at my mother's cremation service the late Ven. Dr Rewata Dhamma also emphasised the need to make and transfer merits to the deceased - like providing good soil for a seed to flourish.)

I had also been invited to join another special ceremony today at the Oxford Buddha Vihara, the Kathina robe offering ceremony and 3rd anniversary. Fortunately, my cousin Jo, was able to come to the rescue and be my representative. We both enjoyed our respective occasions :-)

P.S. I'll see if I can obtain some photos - I didn't have a camera with me.

Oxford's 3rd Friendship walk for peace

Thursday, 8 June,evening: Part two of a day of Interfaith connections

I was fortunate with my transport connections when I returned from the Interfaith Marriage & Families Consultation at Birkbeck. I managed to get back to a warm and sunny Oxford around 6pm, which gave me time enough to grab an iced fruit crush at 'Coffee Republic' and then join the peace walk gathering at the Oxford Synagogue, which was the starting point.

It was not difficult to spot with hundreds of white balloons floating above the crowd. The format of the evening's event was simple: it consisted of prayers, refreshments and walking. At it was focused on the Middle East, it had naturally an emphasis on the 'Abrahamic Faiths' of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. However, among the generally greater numbers this year, I could discern quite a few more Buddhists, including a monk from Thrangu House, and a monk and nun chanting and striking a peace drum from the Nippon Myohoji temple in Milton Keynes plus several members of Rissho Kosei-Kai.

The organisation, mainly through St.Mary's Church, was marvellous, especially considering that the original date was around the 24th May (which actually turned out to be rain soaked) so everything had to be rescheduled from scratch.

It's a light-hearted walk, a much needed contrast to the dark heavy clouds that hang gloomily, seldom alleviated by any of the mass media. As we went along, we even got waves from the University's Central Admin offices. It would be nice if somehow you could keep hold of the good will and develop projects then and there. Although this doesn't happen (yet), there are many conncetions and people make new friends.

For myself, I bumped into Chris, new intern for the International Interfaith Centre, with whom I hope to share some ideas about developing the IIC Web site - it's time to overhaul it's ancient design of more than 8 years old, whilst keeping it informative and maintainable. At about the same time I met Martin, who it turned out had written a letter in the Oxford Magazine, to which I had wanted to respond. Now I could do so in person! We chatted a little about where there are special places in churches for meditation etc.

On a more domestic note, I connected with one of artists in Art Weeks, who has Austrian ancestry and she was sharing important information about Sacher Torte (chocolate patisserie) in Vienna - there is apparently the officially designated coffee shop, but that's not where you can find the best! As we came along Broad Street, an elderly Lancastrian lady came along to join us - she couldn't walk very far "unless the weather's cold" so just accompanied us to Radcliffe Square, in front of St. Mary's. I think this was typical for the day.

We proceeded down the High [caused a few traffic jams], and finished at the Central Mosque, where there were further prayers and plenty of refreshments. Gradually the crowd dispersed, the white balloons to be seen scattered across the city as people wended their way home.

Interfaith Marriages network meeting

A few months ago, I listened to a presentation by Heather al-Yousuf and Rosalind Birtwistle on interfaith marriages, particularly about the Inter faith Marriages Network. The work is sponsored by Churches Together, which indicates that this is not a fringe activity, but has become a core concern, reflecting the fact that many marriages are with partners from another faith background.

I had shared a little of my own interest in interfaith and mixed faith background and was subsequently invited to join this consultative meeting on Thursday, down at Birkbeck College, London. [I managed somehow to get there on time, even though I got my local bus times wrong, changed my mind about catching the Oxford Tube (it's taking a long diversion to avoid roadworks in Headington), missed a fast train to Paddington; and when I came out of Euston Square tube station I headed off in the wrong direction until I looked up to see where the sun was! Anyway I arrived safely.]

It was quite a contrast to the PLE meeting I attended in Manchester on Tuesday, a quite technical meeting concerning e-learning (I work in IT to earn a living). First thing I noticed was the composition of people: in Manchester, there were about 16-17 people, all male expect for one of the organisers; and all based in (and ethnically from) Europe or North America apart from myself being half Oriental. On the other hand at this meeting in London, there were 30-40 people, a far more even balance of male/female; ethnicities covered Europe, Middle East, South Asia, and Far East. Next thing I noticed was that in contrast to Tuesday's array of laptops, there was not a single computer in sight - even I had managed to leave all my computers at home :-) However, both meetings were conducted in constructive and friendly atmospheres.

As people introduced themselves, it was also noticeable the range of backgrounds among the people, all with some angle on this issue: rabbis, imams and priests, all had experiences of members of their congregations coming up and seeking advice; a marriage guidance professional; a psychotherapist; people involved in such relationships (the youngest person to 'share' was just 3 months old!); interfaith advisors; and also academic researchers, interested in the sociological, cultural and anthropological issues.

There is enormous scope for discussion, but basically there are two broad areas: the scriptural/theological side and the pastoral/practical side. In the presentations, discussions and sharings, there was amply conveyed the tension between keeping a tradition pure and undiluted, whilst not being unduly rigid in interpretation; it's the common theme of what is really at the heart of a spiritual and religious tradition.

If sticking rigidly to rules, then some situations seem on paper irresolvable. For instance, if a Jewish girl [not of a liberal tradition] wishes to marry a Muslim boy, then rules state that their children have to be on the one hand brought up in their mother's tradition AND on the other in their father's tradition. In practice, it seems that something can work out if the relationship is not completely symmetric, but has a complementary nature (sounds ying-yang to me).

We were given a quick introduction to the work of the Inter faith Marriages Network Web site, particulalry some of the responses. It was asked how many had come from priests et al, the ones responsible for guidance. More generally, who are the ones giving advice and guidance? They too need to be well informed.

In the afternoon discussion focused on four areas:

• Supporting interfaith couples and families
• What about the children?
• Civil & Religious Law
• Spiritual life of the couple and family

I took part in the one about the children. This is where the implications of interfaith marriages really sharpen into focus, where couples need to consider very carefully. There was some attempt at trying to produce 'successful templates' but I expressed considerable doubts about this; each case is unique, but from my own experience complementary [asymmetric] relations are probably more likely to work. In practice, there's normally one person more firmly committed to their faith and that can naturally mean they take the lead in certain aspects of the child's religious instruction - the distinctuion was usefully made between the formal identification with one particular tradition and the education in both.

I sense this meeting was a solid platform for a lot more co-ordinated work in this area. Three main ways of taking things forward in the short term were:

1. Support for couples, using the vehicle of the Internet, particularly Web, but also perhaps mailling lists
2. Raising the profile of such networks
3. Taking the work into communities, building links etc.

I expect there'll be published some official reports from the meeting.

After the meeting, there was a quick dash back to Oxford for the second half of the interfaith connections day...

The Ice is Melting

Five years ago I found myself peering over the railings in the Press Gallery of the UN General Assembly Hall in New York to witness the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. It was a gathering of about 1000 leaders and entourage plus a few observers (such as myself) that took place over 4 days to strive for ways forward to solving problems of a bruised world. The colours, sounds and general atmosphere was highly vivid, and extraordinary encounters took place amid complex organisational issues and political manoeuvres.

I took it on myself to jot down as much as I had time, energy and inclination, leading to what was probably my first blog which I called Glimpses of the Presentations at the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. There were many impressive speeches, but one was particularly resonating and urgent, sufficient for me to take as the title for that day's session, "The Ice is melting: A message from the indigenous peoples." It was delivered late in the evening, under the direction of Chief Oren Lyons Indigenous, Faithkeeper of the Onondaga Nation. Comments from indigenous peoples' perspective were recorded following the summit by Marie-Danielle Samuel, Yachay Wasi, in a People's Voice article, on the People's Paths site.

I recorded Chief Oren Lyons' plea thus:

The second day extended late into the evening, so that by about 8pm only a small proportion remained to listen to the final presentations. Those who remained were witness of an extraordinary message, which I felt was delivered in one voice.

A group of about 20 or 30 indigenous peoples, mainly from North and South America (Incas, Mayans, Eskimos and others) plus Northern Europe (Suomi), gathered on the stage. ... The spokesman proclaimed an urgent message from a runner in Greenland. Fifteeen years ago [1985] the runner had noticed trickles of water from the fascia of mountains. Now it was pouring, pouring. This glacier mountain had apparently lost 4,000 feet of ice, and the rate of melting was increasing...

There were strong words of warning: "We see the acceleration of the winds, the fires in North America, and the suns rays are causing cancer. We are already helpless... We will now see the spiritual powers that govern the world..."'

This message has had serious echoes this month. First, as reported by BBC Radio 4, there has been further confirmation of the seriousness of the melting snow in the Arctic as Alaskan people tell of climate change, especially how the ice is thinning dramatically. Then, we see that very large quantities of methane are set to be released over the coming few years from the Siberian peat blogs in a Guardian article, Warming hits 'tipping point'. Further, a BBC News Video report from Greenland (Real Media) shows the watery scene that confronted Ministers, which evidently gave a sense of urgency as the BBC reported Talks renew vigour to tackle warming.

The situation may be far more serious than conveyed - I feel it is rather like a big ship that has been steering the wrong course at high speed for many miles: even if we apply the brakes now to change course, the momentum that has built up will carry the Earth forward in the same perilous direction for a long time (decades, I expect) before the situation can start to improve.

What can we do? I most often hear the main approaches are as follows and they're broadly in two camps: reducing consumption, replenishing the Earth; on the other, there are hopes of a 'holy grail' with the investigation of new pollution free renewable energy resources. I play my part to some extent: for instance, I haven't driven since I passed my driving test, I've donated for replanting trees, but I feel these are physical manifestation of a deeper rooted problem, so rather than deal with the symptoms, we should treat the root causes. If, for example, a scientific conference in Condensed Matter Nuclear Science were to irrefutably demonstrate experiments resulting in a safe means to produce practically limitless fuel, I don't think it would necessarily be a good sign for the planet.

Some while ago I read a saying,

When a single flower blooms, it is Spring everywhere

It is actually a chapter title in a book by Fr Kakichi Kadowaki on his experiences of Zen, its English title, 'Zen and the Bible'.

It points to a simple solution. There is only one focus needed to realise a global impact - ourself. As it is said, "world peace through inner peace." When one is still within, there is peace everywhere.