Alice Hunter, one of the many Jamyang students who made it to Nottingham to attend His Holiness teachings, shares a little of this wonderful experience. Photos by Mark Gatterand Michel Henry .

HHDL Over 5,000 visitors each day and an estimated number of some 12,000 people overall packed Nottingham Arena during the Spring Bank Holiday weekend, to listen to one of our greatest living Buddhist teachers, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

This was His Holiness' first visit to the UK since 2004 and involved over two years of planning and preparation by Dharma Network. The event provided a wonderful opportunity for Jamyang's students to meet and learn from this most profound spiritual leader.

The talks began with a series of sessions based on the theme 'Bringing Meaning to Our Lives', along with an additional Sunday afternoon discussion entitled, 'Caring for our World' which was hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby.

The following day, His Holiness moved onto three days of talks on the topic 'Investigating the Nature of Reality', where he analysed Je Tsongkhapa's text 'Praise to the Buddha for His Discourses on Dependent Origination.'

During the questions and answers which concluded each afternoon lecture, and when asked about the difficult concepts under discussion, His Holiness joked, "I was asked to teach a difficult text and so the explanation itself would, of course, also be difficult - but please blame Nagarjuna or the Buddha and not me!"

Although the wind and rain delayed the opening of the Big Top on Bank Holiday Monday, the weather did not dampen the spirits, and once up and running, the marquee provided a great community area to chat over lunch and of course, indulge in a little retail therapy, courtesy of the many Tibetan stallholders, displaying a plethora of authentic goods and handicrafts. Jamyang also had a stall where the programme and different courses were advertised.

Three evening sessions were provided which offered practical insight into living Buddhism. The first of these was 'Introduction to Buddhism', where Geshe Tashi and 3 other Buddhist teachers from different traditions shared their experiences in panel format. The second evening was guided by Sogyal Rinpoche and focused on The Heart Essence of the Teaching of the Buddha. The lighthearted nature and wonderful sense of humour of this great teacher rejuvenated those of us, who by our own admission, were beginning to feel just a little tired by 6pm! The third evening session was led by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche and provided a preparation for the Vajrasattva initiation the following morning. The heartfelt compassion of both speakers was an excellent grounding after the more conceptual topics discussed during the day and enabled us to better link together the practical aspects of Buddhism with the conceptual and theistic.

A beautifully dressed stage, rich in red and saffron colours provided a visually striking setting for the initiation, which represented the culmination of His Holiness' teachings and was a profoundly moving experience.
HHDL

At the close of the event, which was hailed as a huge success, Dharma Network reported that ticket prices this year were even lower than they were four years ago, which is surely an achievement in itself! As the network is a not for profit organisation, the estimated proceeds of £35,000 will go towards helping those affected by the earthquake in China, cyclone relief work in Burma and the Tibet House Trust in the UK.

After five days of teachings, the community atmosphere in the arena was so powerful, that one had the sense of being with one's own family. Just before leaving the stage to great applause, His Holiness made one request. Which was simply that we practise in our daily lives as much as possible.

Such is the warmth, humility and compassion of His Holiness, who describes himself as a 'simple Buddhist monk', that it is difficult to find words to express just how much he shall be missed. We are already looking forward to his return.

__________________________________

A big THANK YOU for everyone who helped at His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teachings in Nottingham

We would like to sincerely thank all those Jamyang people who volunteered at HHDL's teachings in Nottingham, giving their time and companionship. You were an unbelievably big help, especially from the point of view of the organisers. Bodhisattvas emanated! Tony (the electrician from the Pure Lands) and John and Cynthia (who brought up the Buddha statue and ritual implements for the initiation). Thank you so much. They were just a fab five days, weren't they? Also huge thanks to those who designed and staffed the Jamyang London stall, especially John Adrian.

Mike Murray
JBC London delegate to Dharma Network.

__________________________________

Offering of the Guhyasamaja Thangka to His Holiness

In 2006 Geshe Namgyal Wangchen (the previous teacher at JBC London) very kindly helped HHDL

the members of JBC London Guhyasamaja Practice Group to commission a large thangka (painted area 5ft by 4ft) to remove obstacles to the visit of HHDL in 2008. Geshe Wangchen placed the commission with an artist in Dharamsala, trained at Norbulingkha. In 2007 the thangka arrived in the UK and has since been housed in JBC London. The thangka shows the main deity Akshobyavajra of the Guhyasamaja tantric practice with Tsongkhapa, Marpa and Go Lotsawa above (the guru lineage) and below, Palden Lhamo, Vighnantakrt and Dorje Drakden (the protectors). In Nottingham it was given to HHDL and it will accompany him back to Dharamsala. Thank you to all the practice group members who made this possible. The teachings went very well. His Holiness also commented that he was very pleased with the way Jamyang London approaches Tantric practice, not just requesting initiations but also commentary on the practice and then organising regular practice groups for people to deepen their understanding.

JBC London Guhyasamaja Practice Group
Roger Wright (current group facilitator) and Mike Murray (past facilitator)

P.S. If you have the initiation, and are thinking of starting to work with tantric style practice, why not come along to the practice group? It usually takes place one Sunday a month.

__________________________________

Close encounter with HHDL

Anil Sharma, our hard working office manager, and Esther Garibay, our spiritual programme coordinator, represented Jamyang at the audience His Holiness gave to representatives from the Signatory Groups and members of Dharma Network. Anil Sharma shares, "This comment from HHDL is not to be taken as verbatim, but what I remember him saying is that the survival of the Tibetan Culture and the survival of the Buddha Dharma are closely connected".

Esther Garibay remembers, "His Holiness spoke about the importance of caring for our world. He was very happy to know some dharma centres are actively involved in ecological projects, for example recycling, saving energy, etc. He mentioned that although the Buddha never spoke about ecology, he was born near a tree and achieved paranirvana under a tree, so he was very close to nature."

At the end of the teachings, Kayode Ajayi, nurse and energetic and fun volunteer, offered a white ceremonial scarf to HHDL on behalf of the students of Jamyang Buddhist Centre. "I was in awe, that's all I can say. And the next day I felt very renounced", shares Kayode. Personally, I have never seen him looking so smart (or so blissed out).

Mike Murray,
JBC London delegate to the Dharma Network Group.