Circle Dharmaholder Ceremony, Sat 26th Oct

 

On Saturday, Barbara and Roland Wegmuellerfrom Switzerland performed a Circle Dharmaholder ceremony in Chester for Steve Hart and Chris Zang Starbuck.  Circle Dharmaholder is a role of visionholder/junior teacher in the Zen Peacemakers tradition.  The ceremony was held outdoors in the ruins of the Norman Cathedral, during a weekend of Zen practice and conversations.

Swiss Zen Teachers visiting 26th-27th October

Hi Folks,

Just a last reminder that Barbara and Roland Wegmüller will be visiting Chester in the UK from Switzerland next weekend. There'll be a relaxed day of practice together on Sat from 9am-4pm, including indoors in Bishop Lloyd's Palace medieval rooms in the city centre, and some time out on the streets too. And on Sunday we'll have shorter meet up in Sally's Secret Garden at 11am for an hour or so. Barbara and Roland are Zen teachers in the tradition of Bernie Glassman, the Zen Peacemakers and the White Plum Asanga. They work particularly with the Zen of collaborative circles, and with finding tools for practicing Zen fully in householder rather than semi-monastic life. I've held back from advertising this visit as a 'public event', so that it can be a bit more relaxed as a space for conversation together, so anyone is welcome, and there'll be no charge.

Also visiting the same weekend will be Ari Pliskin from the US, who's developing "Food for All" community cafes from the ideas of Bernie Glassman and the actor Jeff Bridges. He'll talk to us about his projects on the Saturday morning, and we're hopefully arranging for him to give a talk too in the Buddhist House in Narborough, Leicestershire on the evening of Tuesday 29th, home of Caroline Brazier and the Tariki Trust.

If anyone would like any more details, message me and I'll help in any way I can.

Chris Zang Starbuck

greatheartchester@gmail.com

 

 

Leicester Great Heart Circle - October 2013

The Dalai Lama having fun with Russell Brand, an image from a video clip of The Dalai Lama talking in Manchester in 2013.  It was lovely to see him laughing and joking.

The theme for the evening was The Dalai Lama's recent book "Beyond Religion - Ethics For A Whole World", the two quotes below set the scene :

In Indian usage, "secular", far from implying antagonism toward religion or toward people of faith, actually implies a profound respect for and tolerance toward all religions. 

“Millions of people have been lifted from poverty and have gained access to modern education and health care. We have a universal declaration of human rights, and awareness of the importance of such rights has grown tremendously. As a result, the ideals of freedom and democracy have spread around the world, and there is increasing recognition of the oneness of humanity.”