Special events

Parinirvana day ritual

The final release and a poignant reminder of impermanence

You can join us in person at the centre, or online. (Please email us by midday Friday if you plan to join us at the centre for this ritual (numbers are limited in a red traffic light). Info on attendance under the Covid traffic lights here.)

Alternatively, you can join us online using this link: https://zoom.us/j/8179125195.

Parinirvana Day marks the death of the Buddha, his final release from this cyclical world of rebirth into suffering. It's a significant event in the Buddhist calendar.

Tonight will include:

• a short talk on the meaning of Parinirvana Day and the theme of impermanence
• a simple ritual to mark the death of those close to us in the past year. It can be a poignant reminder of impermanence, and also a chance to recollect those we have lost. There will be space for those joining online to participate fully in this, too.
• a traditional 7-fold puja

Led by Malcolm, Sue, Amanda, Emma and Suvarnadhi.

"When the Blessed One was totally Unbound, simultaneously with the total Unbinding, there was a great earthquake, awesome & hair-raising, and the drums of the devas sounded...

"When the Blessed One was totally Unbound, simultaneously with the total Unbinding, Sakka, ruler of the gods, uttered this verse:

"'How inconstant are compounded things!
Their nature: to arise & pass away.
They disband as they are arising.
Their total stilling is bliss.'"

- From the Maha-Parinibbana Sutta: The Great Discourse on the Total Unbinding

When

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