The Sangha is the Buddhist term for the community of people wishing to learn from the Buddha's teachings. Lalitaraja, Santva, Manjumitra, Khemananda and guest Order Members take turns to lead these evenings, practising and communicating Buddhism. A Sangha evening might include a talk, meditation, discussion, workshop, devotional practice. Open to all (though it is helpful if you have had an introduction to the Mindfulness of Breathing and Metta Bhavana meditation practices).
Monday 18th October - Celebration of Ambedkar Day, led by Abhilasa, Kusala & Sanghanath
Any weekday morning from 1921 to 1923 you might have seen a serious young man walking briskly from his lodgings in Chalk Farm through Camden Town towards central London. Some days he stopped to work in the Reading Room of the British Museum, other days he carried on walking to the the London School of Economics where he was studying for a doctorate. You would have seen him walking home along the same route every evening. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar did not look particularly athletic but he walked in order to save the fares. He already had degrees from Bombay University and Columbia University in New York but he was determined to study and learn as much as he could. His extraordinary motivation came from a childhood spent in deep poverty and the harshest caste oppression. Bhimrao was an ‘untouchable’ - the lowest rank in the Hindu caste system. He was born a Hindu but determined not to die one. When he returned to India he became a leader of the struggle for independence and the main author of India’s democratic constitution.
In 1956 he led hundreds of thousands of his fellow untouchables in a mass conversion to Buddhism. Hundreds of thousands more converted soon after. The result was to transform the lives of the new Buddhists. Many of them are part of our Triratna Order and Community and play an active role in freeing their fellows from poverty and caste oppression. On the anniversary of the first mass conversion in 1956 we celebrate Dr Ambedkar’s life and work and hear from our Indian brothers and sisters how the Dharma has transformed and continues to transform lives in India today.
Supported by the Sangha Night Team.
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