New Faces, New Centre (?) & Dragons at the door - News from the Director

Christmas is a time for celebrating family and friendships, for reviewing the past year and for making plans for the coming year. It is no different for Buddha House. The year has seen an increase in people attending Buddha House classes, workshops and courses and many new faces among those students. The year has been jam-packed with opportunities to learn and practice the dharma.

Geshe-la’s teachings finished in early November so that he could go to special events in India and we look forward to his return in January. Jampa and Ven Jamyang have continued with their busy programs, ending the year with the “Begin Again’ Retreat days at Buddha House in the days immediately following Christmas Day. Our Buddha House teachers, meditation leaders, centre staff and volunteers have selflessly dedicated themselves to being at Buddha House to support our spiritual development. For that we are immensely grateful.

This time last year I wrote about us putting in a pre-Christmas bid for a new Buddha House. A year has past and we are again bidding, before Christmas, for a church and associated halls in Prospect. If our bid is successful, we will shift within months. If not, we will keep searching. We can only make this purchase with financial support from members, to allow us to bid with confidence, so please do whatever you can to help us secure a long-term home for Buddha House. Donations to the building fund are tax-deductible.

We have a new enlarged Board to take us into the new-year and we hopefully will have a new Buddha House. We have visits from Choden Rinpoche (in early January) and Ven Robina Courtin (in late February). They will launch the year with a roaring start. These will be followed in March by Womad (our major fund raiser and community event), and shortly after our Kangaroo Island Easter Retreat with Geshe-la and Jampa Gendun must not be missed. Only 20 people can be accommodated so, to ensure your place, please book before Christmas.

And it looks as if 2009 may be Buddha House’s ‘year of the dragon’. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has told us that our new dragon logo is undergoing its final refinements to make it “leap off the page.” On top of that, Rinpoche has asked all FPMT centres to place dragon images each side of their front doors. Watch that space in the coming year!

Finally, let me thank every individual person who has worked, volunteered or contributed to Buddha House in 2008. Buddha House exists only because of the efforts of our members and students and the responsibility that they take for the Centre.

Have a happy and refreshing Christmas. I look forward to working with you in 2009.
Lindsay Holmes - Centre Director