Dear Order Members and friends,

I’m writing from Mexico, where preparations are underway for the Day of the Dead celebrations, and on the fifth anniversary of Sangharakshita’s death. I’m here for the fourth Pan American Convention, which is taking place in a Benedictine monastery on the outskirts of Cuernavaca as Chintamani retreat centre is unfortunately too small for the nearly 100 or so attendees. There are Order members from Canada, in the north, to Argentina, in the south of the continent, as well as extra visitors from the UK, Ireland and Europe. There are Flame trees in bloom, Vermilion Flycatchers and continual fireworks, and the theme is ‘An Explosion of the Heart’.

After a rather convoluted journey from the UK (a delayed initial flight meant a missed connection) I was glad to arrive at the Airbnb that Aryajaya and Vajrapriya (International Order convenors), Candradasa (Dharmachakra director) and I had booked in Mexico City… just in time for a planned day out with Virasiddhi at the Teotihuacan pyramids. What a way to arrive in Mexico. Three enormous stone pyramids set along a broad 1.5 mile avenue lined with other monuments within what would have been a large city dating from the first century CE and covering 8 square miles.

The next day Satara kindly drove me to Toluca, where Bodhikamala and Ruchiramati showed me the successful Centre they’ve initiated there, with its beautiful Buddha rupa. We also visited the Cosmovitral Botanical Gardens, where the old market building has been embellished with stained glass murals representing ‘Man and his relationship with the universe’ and laid out with gardens and ponds, and admired the traditional coloured marzipan figures made in preparation for the Day of the Dead.

Arriving back at the Airbnb, I began to feel shivery, discovered I had a temperature, and tested positive for Covid for the first time… which was frustrating as I’d had a booster inoculation two weeks before travelling. Then Vajrapriya tested positive as well. Candradasa insisted we were now a popup community, and as he and Aryajaya were willing to look after the two of us coming down with the bug, we reconfigured the flat in order to isolate two of us. A couple of days later Jnanadhara (International Movement Convenor) – who had arrived in the country a couple of days after the rest of us – also tested positive; so the three of us moved into another flat where the two of us who were recovering could look after him. Fortunately we had a balcony with a view…

After isolating for five days Vajrapriya and I were able to travel to Cuernavaca for the start of the Convention, with Jnanadhara joining us all a day later. We took care to continue to wear masks in enclosed spaces, and fortunately it appears no-one else arrived with or caught Covid.

The first evening of the Convention was special, as it included an ordination ceremony. Three women from the US had been attending an ordination retreat at Chintamani, joined by other new Order members for whom it represented a post-ordination retreat. The retreat relocated to the monastery for the public ordinations conducted by Karunadevi (probably her last) and Amala (her first), as Prajnakavi, Akashanatha and Dayapradipa entered the Order. The following evening an impressive number of Order members, who had entered the Order since the previous Pan American Convention in 2019, introduced themselves, and later in the Convention there was rejoicing in Karunadevi, as she retires as a Public Preceptor, and in Amala (US), and Dayachandra and Jnanadakini (Mexico) as they take on that responsibility.

The Convention has been well organised by the team of Order Convenors from Mexico and the US, and based on Vasubandhu’s Four Factors leading to the arising of bodhicitta (recollecting the Buddha; seeing the faults of conditioned existence; observing the suffering of beings; and contemplating the virtues of the Tathagathas). There have been talks exploring the theme from different perspectives, with the opportunity to discuss the material in small groups, all expertly translated by one of the many bilingual Order members present. Following an introductory talk from Virasiddhi, Saddhajoti spoke on ‘Dharma Practice’, Ashokashri on ‘Dharma Life’, and Nagapriya on ‘Dharma Service’. 

The Order Convenors also shared their personal reflections on the theme, and Jnanadhara gave a talk on ‘The Four Factors as lived expression of Dharma practice’. The sub theme – regarding the tension between withdrawal and engagement – formed part of a presentation from each of the College / Order / Movement as part of their presentations of the state of their strand, with Arthavadin addressing ‘The Path of Responsibility’ from the perspective of the International Council. Halfway through the Convention a day was devoted to the topic of harmony, with material from Aryadrishti, Subhadassi and Viveka.

Evenings have mainly consisted of puja – including a Confession Puja that coincided with a dramatic display of thunder and lightning – and a rich cultural evening hosted by Jnanadhara. Sravaniya had brought his violin and treated us to an impromptu concert, and some of us are planning to check out the Gregorian chant in the Chapel at 4am…

This was my first visit to Mexico, and the Convention has been a good opportunity to reconnect with some of the Order members I met in the US a year ago, as well as getting to know more Mexican Order members – and occasionally practicing a bit of Spanish. I’ve also been able to share my understanding of the College in a relatively informal setting. I’m hoping to get to visit Chintamani Retreat Centre on the way back into Mexico City, and then the house of Emilio Fernandez, hopefully the Buddhist Centre, and maybe even the Anthropological Museum, before I leave.

If all goes according to plan I’ll arrive back just in time to finalise preparations for the International College meeting starting on 6th November at Adhisthana, during which we will be appointing the next Chair who will then take over from me in a year’s time.

While in Mexico I’ve been painfully aware of the devastating events taking place in the Middle East, as well as the continuing fighting in Ukraine. Human life is already an experience of both pleasure and pain, and it seems starkly obvious that the additional dukkha we create in our lives, and the collective effect of that, is something for each and all of us to address at the deepest / highest level possible; may we succeed.

with Metta,
Ratnadharini