A Personal Perspective on the Regional Sangha Meeting Held in Leeds, July 2023

When plotting the route of their explorer spacecraft like the Voyager mission, NASA takes advantage of a close pass of one or more planets to use their gravitational pull to build momentum of the craft. I was reminded of this at the end of the recent Regional Sangha meeting in Leeds, UK when more than 30 people gathered together. The feeling of support, of shared practice and insight gave a wonderful boost.

There is undoubtedly a simple joy in meeting like-minded folks. And as our practice is more of an individual pursuit than a team one, sharing perspectives and practice with ‘fellow travellers’ is important. Sometimes we can feel lonely on our spiritual journey like running a marathon, but we overcome the loneliness of the long distance runner by coming together as a sangha – which is of course one of our three Treasures.

This meeting was particularly poignant as Rev. Saidō, who died earlier this year, had given a Dharma talk on our ceremonial practice at last year’s event. His teaching, dedication and joyfulness flowed through much of the content of our meeting and the memories of him raised by those present brought meaningfulness and positivity throughout our time together.

Monks from Throssel Hole, Cromford, Telford and Leicester joined the day, together with Rev Master Haryo. After a period of meditation, we held a ceremony of offering and gratitude when offerings brought by members of the congregation were passed around the gathering; bows were made before receiving and after giving each item; and the offerings ultimately took their place on the altar. We then circumambulated while singing The Scripture of Great Wisdom and Sandōkai. The offerings were later shared between the visiting monks.

Sitting behind a red box, Rev Mugō shared her experiences and insights into the life and ways of Rev Saidō. The red box contained personal treasures that Rev Mugō had collected together during the task of sorting through Rev Saidō’s belongings, drawing from each item a facet of the man. A picture of resourcefulness, curiosity, inventiveness and dedication became clear. Rev Mugō emphasised that we should not seek to discard these items rather, recalling a saying by Rev Master Jiyu, “they should not go lonely” and each of us was invited to take items that ‘spoke to us’ which had been brought to the meeting by members of the Telford Priory to remember Rev Saidō.

The Dharma talk given by Rev Master Haryo (photo below) is available via this link and is a recommended listen. The stand-out points I recall are the image he gave us of the ocean with waves and foam on the surface and still waters in the deep. He drew an analogy with our feelings being the waves and foam, subject to constant change and unpredictability and to the deeper, still waters as our ‘real’ life. If we are not mindful we do get dragged around by the slippery and changeable nature of our feelings; we need to recognise them but not get swept away. He also referred to how meditation is portrayed inaccurately by the media as a way to calm your mind in order to feel a certain way, when in fact, as we know, it offers deeper insight into our being. In time we can come to know that our everyday mind is the mind of a Buddha and that there is perfection in the mind that we are born with.

Lunchtime provided more opportunity to connect and reconnect with Sangha friends and the afternoon events split between a walk in the local park to a discussion on how the teaching is passed on. A short meditation followed by tea and questions rounded off the day with grateful thanks to the Leeds Sangha for organising the meeting. Thanks were also passed on to the Jamyang Buddhist Centre where the event was held.

In this closing period, I sensed renewal with people leaving with more fuel in the tank and an eagerness for the next ‘close pass’.