Chairman’s Message – March
Recently we celebrated Parinirvana day at the Centre. It is one of our main festivals and many people attended filling the Centre with life and energy.
It seems strange to celebrate the death of the founder of your religion but, as we learned over the course of the day, we can simultaneously rejoice in a life well lived and feel a human loss of someone’s passing.
This is especially felt in the case of the Buddha where we are, even now, still bathing in the karmic ripples that he created by his Enlightenment.
In the Tuesday foundation year study group we are just beginning to find out more about the Buddha, Enlightenment and the effects that Buddhism can have on us and those around us, especially those that are or were close to us.
This month we will also have further opportunities to be ‘Meeting Buddha’ on our Ipswich Sangha retreat at Vajrasana. The retreat is for all, whether you have just started coming along or have been coming to the Centre for many years. Getting to know the Buddha, his life, his death, his ideas and his vision for humanity is a big part of being a Buddhist.
Bodhivamsa, Chair of Ipswich Buddhist Centre
