LATEST NEWS

6/10/2007
Talk on 11th has been Cancelled. Sorry about that!

29/9/2007
Please note that we have moved the location of the talks and of the meditation class from last years venues. See the relevant sections of our website for details on the new locations.

27/9/2007
Meditation venue is now Schwenk room, first floor, in Burlington Rooms. Burlington Rooms are in Burlington street. If you face the entrance to John Rylands Library (the main library of the University), the entrance to Burlington Rooms will be on your right, above the Vegetarian Cafe'.

16/9/2007

Talks programme for 2007/08 now online!

The current talks programme is now available to view under the talks section of the website.

11/5/2007
New Edition of Bodhi!

Please check out our home page to download the new edition of Bodhi Magazine, the annual magazine of our society. I should have some paper copies produced by next week so if you would like to read it the old fashioned (and best) way please get in touch.

02/4/2007
After easter break
All our regular activities (talks programme, meditation classes and sutta study classes by Ven Piyatissa) will resume shortly after easter break 2007 (from the week starting 16 April). There are, however, no talks scheduled in the near future. As for the meditation classes, they are every Monday from 6 pm in room MR3 (or MR2 or MR4) in the Manchester University Student union. The Pali sutta study with Ven Piyatissa is every Wednesday from 2:30 pm in St Peters Chaplaincy. Du Shu Hui Mahayana sutra study and discussion group will be every other Sunday in Fo Guang Shan temple from 1:30 pm, and the next one will be on 15 April 2007.
We will also be co-organising the Manchester Buddhist Conference 2007 on 16 June 2007, and publishing the society magazine for 2006-07 session. We will also be conducting a day meditation retreat in April or May, led by Ven Piyatissa.

16/9/2006
Meet us in Freshers fair!!
The Buddhist Society has a stall in Freshers fair in Renold Building on Monday 18 September and Manchester Academy on Tuesday 19, Wed 20, Thursday 21 Sep 2006, from 10:30 am till 5 pm.
Please visit our stall to sign up for the new year, ask any questions you have about Buddhism or our activities or just to say hello!
All our regular activities (talks programme, meditation classes and sutta study classes by Ven Piyatissa) will resume shortly from last week of September. The venue and timing of the talks programme shall remain unchanged (please see our talks page). As for the meditation classes, we still need to book the rooms before we can confirm the venue. But they will probably will still be held in MR3 in Manchester University Student union. The time will definitely remain unchanged on Mondays 7 pm.

8/6/2006
We have concluded our primary activities (talks programme, meditation classes and sutta study classes) for the academic term 2005-06.
The society magazine for this year, Bodhi 2006 will be out shortly and available for download.
We have elected our committee for the next year: James Conole is our new chair, Sandika the secretary and Jayawan the treasurer.
We are having the society social on 10 June, we will meet outside student union at 5 pm and then go for food and a film or bowling game etc.
We are organising the Manchester Buddhist Conference 2006 on 5 August. The conference website is http://joyboseroy.googlepages.com/manchesterbuddhistconference2006 . Our normal activities will resume in September when the university reopens after the summer break. We need help in manning the society stall at freshers fair, please contact us (using the contact link on your left) if you available in mid-September and willing to help out.

20/4/2006
We concluded our thursday talks programme before the easter break. Now after the break there will only be meditation classes every Monday, in the Student Union from 7 pm as usual, conducted by Chris in the Samatha tradition. Venerable piyatissa will be visiting the chaplaincy as usual, on Fridays every week of term time (after easter break) from 2 till 4, for the sutta study. Before the easter break, we succesfully conducted a day meditation retreat (9-5) in the Renshaw House methodist church (thanks also to the kind chaplains of the St Peters chaplaincy who helped us to book the place), led by Ven Piyatissa, on Friday 31 March. We also organised a tour to Kagyu Ling Tibetan centre in Didsbury on Saturday 1 April (hopefully more retreats will follow after the break). We are also soliciting contributions (articles, poems, photos etc) to the annual society magazine Bodhi, 2005-06 edition. We will be holding our AGM (annual general meeting) after easter break to elect new society committee members. The Buddhist society forum on our website has been recently updated and re-installed. Please feel free to register and post your comments.

3/2/2006
Meditation classes and the talks programme in the new term are going well. Meditation is usually held in room MR3, although this sometimes changes due to booking constraints. Venerable Piyatissa's sutta study classes are continuing on thursdays, to be shifted to fridays from 17 Feb 2006. Rest of our events (including Du Shu way) are as usual. We will hopefully be conducting a meditation retreat in Samatha Centre in Wales and also a day retreat with Ven Piyatissa, on a weekend in March 2006.

17/11/2005
Our new meditation teacher is Chris Westrup, and our new committee (Enrique, James, Tom, Joe, and Lydia) has taken over from September 2005. Meditation classes are every Monday at 7 pm in Student Union, and the talks are 7:30 pm in Grove House. Venerable Piyatissa's visits (and Pali sutta study classes at St Peters chaplaincy on Thursday afternoons) will resume in 2006 after the Christmas break. "Du Shu Hway" Mahayana sutra study (in English) shall be held every Saturday at Fo Guan Shan temple on Stretford Road from 2-3 pm.

Other regular Buddhist events in Manchester suitable for complete beginners, include: Ketumati temple day meditation retreat and Dhamma talk: first saturday and sunday of every month, Rigpa (Sogyal Rinpoche's tradition) meeting: every other tuesday in Fallowfield Union chapel Baptist Church, meditation in Samatha centre in Chorlton with Roger (every Saturday 11 am), meditation at Kagyu Ling Tibetan Centre (every wednesday at 8 pm), meditation class in Salford Thai temple or wat chareonpavana (every tuesday 7:30 pm), Zen meditation at Rochdale Zen retreat (every Sunday at 10 am)

Find us at freshers week!

We will be having a stall at freshers week in both Manchester Academy as well as Renold Building (former UMIST), as per following schedule:

Monday 19, Tuesday 20 Sept 2005: 10:30 am to 4 pm, Renold Bldg

Tuesday 20, Weds 21, Thursday 22 Sept 2005 : 10:30 am to 4 pm, Manchester Academy

Please contact us if you are interested in helping out, or simply visit our stalls.

We have a new meditation teacher in the new year, Dr. Chris Westrup. The meditation classes will be from 7 pm on Mondays, in the student union room MR2 or MR3. The talks will be held as usual on Thursdays from 7:30 pm.

Contact our secretary James Conole ( Email: james.conole@student.manchester.ac.uk for any comments/ questions)

2005 Events calendar (NEW)
The updated comprehensive list of our events for 2005 is here.

Multi-Faith Reference Group Meeting
We had a number of participants from Buddhist, Christian (Anglican), Muslim and Hindu communities on the meeting held at St. Peter’s House on 28/09. We have, so far, managed to make a list of all sacred places along Oxford Road and distribute it to virtually all in-coming students. Now, St. Peter’s House has a library of books about various religions including Buddhism. (30/09)

One-Day Meditation Retreat and Dhamma Discussion
03/10 (Sun), Ketumati Vihara (free of charge)

Dhamma Sermon
When: 7:30 PM, 02/10 (Sat).
Where: Ketumati Buddhist Vihara, 3 Pretoria Rd. Hollins, Oldham, OL8 4NH

Multi-Faith Reference Group Meeting
People from several faith communities met at St. Peter’s House on 19/05 and discussed the issues surrounding the understandings between them. We had attendees from Anglican, Baha’I, Buddhist and Hindu communities. From our society, Y. Katakura and J. Bose attended the meeting. The head monk from Oldham Vihara also kindly took part the group meeting. We are planning to be able to advise students regarding their religious issues as well as the University about its policies regarding the religious communities on the campus. The effort continues….

Interfaith Conference

Interfaith conference at St Peters Chaplaincy: see here.

Voluntary Buddhist Chaplain to be available shortly

The chief priest of Kethumati Vihara (Oldham) has told one of us that he could be present at St. Peter’s House Chaplaincy on a regular basis. The detail is to be announced shortly. The Vihara also offers monthly free Dhamma talks and Buddhist meditation retreats (17/05/04)

Friendly People of St. Peter’s House

St. Peter’s House has kindly offered us a regular access to their facilities. As a result, some of our activities will be taking place there. (17/05/04)

Study Programme

The Fo Guan Shan Temple has organised a study programme for those wishing to know more about Buddhism. It includes discussions, films and videos, meditation, book or sutra reading and tea. For more details, including address and schedule, click here.

Humanistic Buddhism

We are starting a new project called "Humanistic Buddhism" in association with Community action. Their latest project is visiting old age homes each Wednesday. For more details, please see here.

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For our latest events and other news updates, please see: the "Buddhist Society" section in Bodhi: Buddhism discussion forum