Benelux

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Comment by Kaspalita on August 31, 2009 at 1:23pm

Thank you for sharing some of your experience, that sounds like a lovely weekend. It was wonderful to meet and practice with you at Easter, and it's great to hear how you are sharing your practice :) Namo Amida Bu

Comment by Katrien Sercu on August 31, 2009 at 8:48am

8 of the 16 members of the belgian Amida group came together last weekend for 2,5 days in the Ardennes, in a gasthouse of a couple of the group, Martine and Nico. We all live our own life and we meet every 6 weeks, with the people who are able to come. The little group gave much intensity, intimacy and contact with all: a real circle, inspired by Amida.We practice together like we 'learned' in Amida France at Eastern; we share about our dailey life, we eat in silence, walk to the stream, discuss and share about 'the right action' in theory and in dailey practice, prepare a good and heathy meal under the direction of Martine. Sunday morning after meditation and before breakfast, spontaniously we begin to dance on a song of Don Mc Clean, just from the intense, enthousiastic energy that was there. There are a lot of differences in the group: in character, engagement, connection with Amida and Amida Trust, dailey practice.. but this differences were a richness instead of a threath, like all colours who are part of a little rainbow. It was regerettable that 8 members were not there and it was good in the little group: different sides of the medal. We went home in a loving and inspired mood and we use this in our dailey life.
So we meet again om 11 octobre on sundayafternoon and we want to organise a bigger retreat with Dharmavidya and... about 'Love and its dissappointment' and 'individualism and community' in the beginning of 2010...when this is possible.
After 9 years, this group remains a source of inspiration on an intense and modest way. Namo Amida Bu

Comment by Dharmavidya on July 25, 2009 at 6:46pm

Thank you Ksaf - it is very nice to have a report on what the sangha in Belgium is doing. The subject of right speech is always challenging. Several members of the UK sangha are in France at the moment and we were joined also by Leo and Annetta from Netherlands. We also had some good discussions here. Some of the talks are now on this ning site. Again, many thanks.

Comment by ksaf vandeputte on July 14, 2009 at 12:40pm

Hello, this is a report of our las sangha meeting on sunday 5 july 2009 at Lut's house in Gent:

With
Roger, Anne, Diederik, Marjan, Fred, Lut, en Ksaf

Master of ceremony
Marjan

Secretary
Ksaf

Summary

We started with a meditation and a round up.

Today's subject was 'the right speech'. As a starting point we used a very concise and clear passage from the book of Hartzema, 'Boeddhistische psychologie'. He states that we usually speak out of our own frame of references, within our own judgments and interpretations. Our ego wants something and reacts to others out of a contraction. The right speech is to 'act by doing nothing'; to wait for the right moment to say something.

We then discussed the subject from our own experiences.
In fact 'the right speech' is often rather a try out of 'the right shutting up'...
If we say something it should be what is favorable to the whole, by being attentive to the collective undercurrent, the process of what's going on;
Then we can question: do I speak out of my ego or out of an essence? When I'm in touch with the last I can purify what I want to say. I can become conscious of the impact I could have on the other, and eventually I can fall silent...
Anyway, when we speak out of an essence it is only by an 'I - message' that I give a reference to the other: he can define his perspective as different from mine - and just for this reason at the same time in relationship to mine;
This requires empathy; listen to the other as open as possible and then speak from our lives and needs personally, by which the other will feel himself recognized;
To be empathic and collaborative at first we have to invest energy, which then begins to flow between us and other, and becomes being generated 'out of nothing'.

(By arranging the previous contributions I feel immensely grateful for what we put together! It is as if we rediscovered this part of the eightfold path and went into the depth of the wisdom of what Buddha offered us by his 'first move'...)

Comment by Dankwart Kleinjans on June 8, 2009 at 5:56pm

Hello everybody,

Not everybody of the Belgian Amida sangha is a member of the ning network already. During our meeting yesterday, we agreed that I will invite all members of our sangha to the Amida network on ning, so that will be a lot more people, and all the good things of this network...

Namo Amida bu! Greetings!

Dankwart

Comment by Sumaya on June 8, 2009 at 5:36pm

Hello to all Benelux group, nice to read Katrien words about your new meeting. It brought me back nice memories from the april's meeting. Very much looking forward to seeing you again. Namo Amida Bu Sumaya

Comment by Dharmavidya on June 8, 2009 at 9:43am

Thank you Katrien. It is very nice to be able to have a report on what the sangha is doing. I know that the group in Belgium is a great support to you all and an inspiration to the rest of us. Namo Amida Bu. Warm wishes - Dharmavidya.

Comment by Katrien Sercu on June 7, 2009 at 9:04pm

We had a short discussion about the 3 hollands Amida-friends. The balance between the safety, cosiness, intimacy in chairing in our 'old' group and the new input from Holland, with another culture (a little bit!) and with 2 people of them (Leo and Gerald) with more intense connection with the Buddhist house. We choose to ask to join us, until there is a group in Holland. So we see that our sangha group grows on a slow but deep way and that the connection with the bigger Amida-Trust-world and with the Buddhist house becomes stronger, step by step. So we follow our way, in and with the international Amida-Trust.

Comment by Katrien Sercu on June 7, 2009 at 8:54pm

I want to apology for the previous sloppy comment of our sangha of today..the storm was more quick and heavy than I taught. Sorry. The sangha needs better than that.
We had a short discussion about the 3 holl

Comment by Katrien Sercu on June 7, 2009 at 8:41pm

Today we had our sangha, after 6 week each living our own life in the 'normal' Belgian/flamish life. We were with 14 and it was good: glad to see eachother again, chairing, meditating, chattering, laughing...It's so warm for the heart and for the inspiration in daily life: to hear and to chair each struggle, seeking...
There is a hard storm now...so I stop!
Only: maybe we come with 6 people for the chanting weekend in december. Namo Amida Bu
And: we ask the 3 hollands Amida friends to join our sangha No stop because of hard lightning.

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