Activities

Celebration of Buddha Jayanthi/Swanyapunhi  (Buddha Day): The society celebrates this in the month of May to mark the birth, enlightenment (nirvana) and parinirvana (passing away) of The Siddhartha Gautama Buddha. Usually an afternoon of devotion, devotional music and songs, and dharma talks from venerable monks and lay devotees of different traditions are organised.

Dharmadesana (Dharma Talk): The society organises regular dharma talk by venerable monks. Some of the talks are given by visiting Nepalese monks of both Theravadian and Mahayana tradition.

Monthly meditation class: This takes place on last Saturday of each month from 8.30 – 10.30 AM. All are welcome. Please contact the society for further details.  ( This is currently not available, we are hoping to resume meditation class as soon as possible).

Publication of the society’s journal Lumbini: The society publishes its journal Lumbini regularly either annually or biannually depending upon availability of funds and written material; and distributes it free of charge to all interested in the UK and overseas as Dharma Dana. It is our hope that the journal will serve as a medium for:

• Communication between the society, the members and other interested groups.

• Publication of news and activities about Buddhism in the United Kingdom, Nepal and other countries.

• Explaining various aspects of Dharma in simple and easily understood language for all age groups.

• Discussion on Dharma through a reader’s column.

Lumbini is run purely on donation. The publication has been possible because of dedicated volunteers of editorial panel members, kindness of lay and Buddhist monks who provide articles, and generosity of members and well-wishers who provide necessary funding, without this support it would not be possible to publish this journal.

Regular meetings of members.

Lumbini Dana Fund was established in May 1998 with the aim of putting Buddha’s teaching of compassion and kindness into practice and extend help to those in need. Up to now the society was able to help following causes:

• Sponsorship of poor students:  The society has been sponsoring six children from Sherpa Day Care Centre and Kindergarten from Bampti Bhandar, a remote hill village of Ramechhap in Western Nepal, since 1998. Most of the children attending the centre come from destitute families or are simply rescued from the street. They walk for miles to reach the school and the mid-day meal provided by the centre may be the only meal these children get.
   

• Sponsorship of poor cancer patients: The society sponsored 5 poor and destitute cancer patients from Nepal in 2003 for treatment at Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital. The Hospital charges equivalent of £ 40.00 per patient for complete treatment. It is a small amount as compare to the cost of treatment in the UK but there are many patients who simply could not afford to pay these charges for their life saving treatment. Hence, Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital-Upchar Dana Committee was set up with the aim of raising funds to help pay for these destitute and poor patients. The society aims to sponsor five such patients each year.

The society also had made one off contributions to other charitable acts as well.
We hope to expand such noble work with help and generosity from our supporters and well wishers. We have opened a separate bank account at Barclays Bank, Sort Code 20-35-90, A/C NO: 70165093 and any one wishing to donate for this noble cause could do so by depositing their donation in this account. All donations, small or large are welcome.

Lumbini Buddha Vihara Fund:  It was increasingly felt the need for establishing our own Vihara. So far, we have been holding various activities and functions at various places like, other Viharas, Town Halls and members’ residences. We realised the difficulties with such an arrangement. We also felt that if we have our own place, it will be a meeting point for like minded people, for people to visit for Dharma discussion, where there will be facilities of library, help and support from resident monks, and facilities for regular meditation classes, various functions and meetings. The benefit of having such a place is many. Hence, the society launched Lumbini Buddha Vihara fund with the aim of establishing such a Vihara in its annual general meeting in 2001 and opened a separate bank account in Barclay’s Bank, Sort Code: 20-35-90, A/C No: 40976660.  Initial donations from members and well-wishers have already been deposited into this account.  We hope with the generosity of members and well-wishers from the UK and abroad, we should be able to establish the Vihara in near future.