Newsletter 28.01.2021: 100,000 Verses of Silence
To access the full version with links to events and more, please visit: https://mailchi.mp/westlondonbuddhistcentre.com/100000-verses-of-silence
Dear Friends,
As we may be all too aware, the UK crossed a heartbreaking threshold this week passing 100,000 Covid-related deaths, adding to the more than 2 million lives lost across this health-starved world. There was a desire in the team to mark this “grim milestone” but, rather than let it remain a static landmark that we simply pass by, we perceive it as a collective touchstone that, counterintuitively perhaps, we can come back to again and again as a source of reflection.
We realise that it is late notice but on the first full moon of the year we’ll open our virtual Shrine Room to come together with this intention in mind: to humanise the figures. We will hold a silent space for each other and touch into any emotional response we may be having about these staggering losses from the collective and global scale to the personal. After all, from a Buddhist perspective we are all bound in old age, sickness and in death. And, we are bound in grief, in rage and in love.
Upcoming events:
– THURSDAY: 100,000 Verses of Silence: Silent Recollection
– FRIDAY: Sangha Lights: An Exhibition by WLBC Artists
– RETREAT: Our Bodies Break Light – Programme available
May we meet the moment with fearlessness,
Sophie (Publicity) and WLBC Team
