This June saw another successful Buddhist Action Month (BAM) unfold. We take a look at what it was all about and how the Triratna Buddhist Community around the world took part.
So what is BAM?
Mokshini writes
"At the heart of Triratna is the Bodhisattva Ideal – the aspiration and heartfelt wish to benefit others and the commitment to act in ways that help all beings to thrive. Buddhist Action Month is an opportunity to reach out and engage with friends or local communities in ways that we may not be able to do for the most part during the year. ‘BAM’ is an invitation for one month to take part and get involved in actions that express our care and concern for our planet and our environment – for all living beings that exist on it – in a practical way."
Buddhist Action Month is a project initiated by the Network of Buddhist Organisations UK in 2012.
Over on the dedicated BAM 2017 space for the Triratna Buddhist Community we saw an abundance of posts from across the globe.
Here are just a few examples of what groups and Centres got up to:
- climate change workshop (Dublin, Ireland)
- jumble sale to raise money for a local charity supporting the city’s refugees and asylum seekers (Bristol, UK)
- writing letters for Amnesty International (Taraloka, UK)
- participating in National Gun Violence Awareness Days (Aryaloka, New Hampshire, USA)
- geurilla gardening (North London Buddhist Centre, UK)
- helping at an animal rescue centre (Cuernavaca, Mexico)
- art project called ‘Turning Hatred into Compassion’ (Manchester, UK)
- beach clean-up and phasing out individually wrapped tea bags (Wellington, Australia)
- litter picking and flash meditation (Cardiff, UK)
- recycling Tetra Paks (Adhisthana, UK)
Sarah Thorne from Bristol, UK, wrote: "It’s been an inspiring and heart opening time filled with the energy of reaching out into the vast jewelled web of interconnection and feeling the power and potential of our practice and aspirations for a better world."
Triratna Buddhists also contributed to the Facebook page created for the broader initiative, where it was wonderful to see posts from other Sanghas such as Soka Gakkai International-UK, Amida Trust and the Dharma Action Network for Climate Engagement (DANCE), initiated by Gaia House.
For example, Carl Hodson and Loretta Lee, from Leicestershire, UK are part of Soka Gakkai International (SGI-UK). They wrote :
"With the help of the Local Area Co-ordinator we identified a lady with extra needs. The lady is in her 80s and is partially blind. Her garden, front and back, was very over grown with weeds, to about four to five feet or more. Due to her disability, she is not able to maintain it. So five of us went to help tidy up the garden. We were joined by two other ladies who are regulars at the local community centre in Barwell. It was hard work, but fun. We built fellowship among us, members, and friendship with our newfound friends."
Visit the BAM 2017 space on The Buddhist Centre Online for more inspiration, but not before you have taken a look through our slideshow of photos - capturing just a tiny amount of the amazing events that happened.