A note on this site and it's content

This site is  following my interests and intuition. It is profoundly influenced by the Forest Sangha Tradition. (You may have noticed!) I think that the Theravada tradition is not fully appreciated in the west and deserves much more credit and exposure than it currently gets. In it's Forest Sangha incarnation it is a wonderfully open, humorous, and effective tradition that is true to the earliest Buddhist teachings. A number of Monasteries following this tradition have opened in western countries. Monasteries do not and should not exist in isolation. The Buddhist approach has been to very deliberately build an interdependence between monasteries and  lay-communities so that each benefits the other. If either part of this symbiotic partnership is not working too well then the whole thing suffers. In western countries where there is not a long Buddhist tradition we are finding our way towards this mutual support. Part of my motivation comes from a wish to strengthen the lay part of the equation - to provide information and guidance which will help lay men and women to practice in the worldly conditions we find ourselves in.

I am also interested in building some useful material to help older children to appreciate Buddhism. Much of what passes for religious education does not seem to inspire our children. Some of it seems to be either thinly veiled indoctrination, or a conditioning into the superficial aspects of religions (more like learning religious vocabulary). These approaches are a big turn-off to children who then tend to regard all religions as being  irrelevant and boring.   I would like all children to have a religious education which teaches them to question the status quo and to open their minds; to cultivate intuition and a sense of wonder; to understand the value of virtue and wisdom, and to realise that they have an opportunity to move towards more enlightened ways of living or towards bondage and suffering. I hope this site can play a small part in this.

Finally, I want to include articles on aspects of practice. Some of this may be controversial, but we have to be open about the issues which face us. Only then can we make wise choices which will lead to everyone's benefit. The Community Newsletter is growing in content and confidence and is starting to provide a voice for these issues.

The educational information provided on this site is  currently based upon orthodox Theravadin teachings from the Pali Canon - the Tipitaka - the discourses originally passed down verbally and then written down over 2000 years ago.  These ancient and highly regarded scriptures form the basis of all Buddhist schools. In the educational resource material they have been interpreted from the perspective of the Theravadin Forest Sangha tradition.

If you want to comment on the site please email to upasika