Transforming Self and World
The New Society — 40 years on
Thursday, 1 April (6pm) to Wednesday, 7 April (after lunch) — including Easter
With Subhuti, Dhammarati, Parami, Ratnaghosha, Vajragupta, Maitrisara, Subhadramati, Keturaja, and others
Open to all.
The FWBO today wouldn’t exist in its richness, diversity and unity without the many men and women who — from its very early days until now — have given themselves to the realization of Sangharakshita’s vision of a New Society. This vision of a society radically focused on spiritual growth and compassionate activity lies at the heart of the FWBO. It is an incredibly challenging and inspiring project, working out in practice one of Bhante’s central teachings. In relation to it, people have found themselves full of hope and close to despair. We have much reason to celebrate our achievements and we must humbly acknowledge that all these are no more than a beginning.
How will the story unfold? What is the vision — what were the lessons learnt — what are the challenges today? We invite you to find out with us.
In a series of talks at the Birmingham Buddhist Centre, Subhuti, Dhammarati, Parami, Vajragupta, Ratnaghosha, Keturaja, Subhadramati, and Maitrisara will explore the vision and the challenges of transforming self and world in the 21st century. Topics will include:
the vision: from power to love and compassion
the practice: friendship beyond cultures and prejudice
the nucleus: freedom, hierarchy, consensus in the community
the gift: messengers of the dharma
the work: encounters with the tantric guru
the mandala: thinking globally, acting locally
the challenge: learning the lessons and moving on
Each speaker will be available for a separate question-and-answer session with participants of the seminar that is being offered in conjunction with the talks. There will be study and discussion groups to further explore the themes. The talks will be open to the public. The seminar, including the question and answer sessions will be for participants of the full event only.
We hope to have Bhante with us for a morning or afternoon session.
All our seminars are offered in the spirit of dana. We suggest a donation of £210 for this seminar — but if that is too much for you, please don’t hesitate to book. For accommodation at our annexe, we must separately charge £15/10 per night.
Please book early. Our teachers put a lot of preparation into the seminars — sometimes several weeks of work. We would find it irresponsible to let them do all that and then cancel the even at short notice due to lack of participants.
If you consider attending, but aren’t as yet certain, please let us know. By booking early, you can help us prevent disappointment on all sides.
To ask for further information or to book for this event, please contact us here.
To go back to our 2010 schedule, please click here.