Asalha Puja & Bhavana Dhamma.

On July 29th, the Full Moon of the ancient Indian lunar month of Asalha, the skies over the Heart of England cleared, the torrential rain that had been soaking us for weeks abated, the sun shone forth and we had a wonderful day celebrating the Buddha's very first sermon. It was the usual format that all our festivals follow: Dana, Sila, Bhavana - Giving, Virtue and Cultivation. People brought food to offer and share, and other requisites to help keep us going; they received and renewed their precepts; we all honoured the Triple Gem by circumambulating the temple three times with candles flowers and incense and then they listened while I explained that first important teaching of the Buddha's. In the hope they would remember what they'd heard, to take with them and keep by them, I gave out a little card with on one side a finger pointing the way to happiness and on the other the Noble Eightfold Path which the Buddha had revealed in his first sermon to those five ascetics, his former companions.

While I had been away in Thailand I had decided that we should give Wood Cottage anew name more appropriate to its role as a place for Dhamma practice. I decided to call it Bhavana Dhamma and when I got back and we were planning our Asalha Puja celebration we felt that it would be a good idea to hold our renaming ceremony in the afternoon of Asalha Puja when we'd finished at The Forest Hermitage (Wat Pah Santidhamma). So that's what we did. Some of us walked over and others went by car and when we'd all gathered we blessed the new sign over the door and then gathered inside for some refreshment and a chat.
There are some pictures of both occasions here.
We couldn't linger too long however because we had to get off pretty smartish for Hylands Park near Chelmsford where thousands of scouts were camped and where I had to lead another Asalha Puja ceremony and give a short sermon. That's in another post.