Padmaloka Welcomes New Buddha

Lokeshvara writes from Padmaloka, Triratna’s long-established men’s retreat centre in Norfolk UK, with news of - the arrival of their Buddha!  This is part of their long-running project to populate every part of the shrineroom with images of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, mostly if not entirely painted and sculpted by Aloka.  He says -

“If you haven’t been here since New Year, we have to tell you that we have a new Buddha made by Aloka in the shrine room, and we have painted the room. It’s quite a change!  All this is part of a long term collective project - within Padmaloka and across Triratna - of creating a visual language for Buddhism as it takes root into western culture”.

Online photographs of the new images are hard to come by, as they want people to visit and experience them first-hand in the atmosphere of the shrineroom itself.  However he goes on to say “If you are one of the people who have already donated to this project – a really big thank you we couldn’t do it without your help. If you want to help with the next phase - two paintings this year - you can donate through our new fundraising page, where there is a photo of the new Buddha”. 

We reproduce it here, and invite Triratna News readers to go visit as soon as they can!

Art Exhibition in Helsinki: The Forest Speaks

Any readers of Triratna News who happen to be in Helsinki in April are warmly invited to visit a exhibition entitled ‘The Forest Speaks’ (‘Metsä puhuu’ in Finnish), created by two Order Members Akasaka and Nagashila.  Akasaka writes, saying - “The Forest Speaks exhibition is the current result of a collaboration between myself, an Englishwoman and graphic artist, newly arrived in Finland, and Nagashila, a Finnish painter. Our collaboration started in the Koli Ryynänen artist residence in 2008. 

Both of us are interested in Kalevala, its poems and myths. The Karelian landscape with its hills stretching around Koli and Pielinen has been a perpetual circle of mythic dimension for us. It is also a place where we have walked silently during the nights and made various forest rituals. Another thing connecting us is of course practising Buddhist meditation.

My works displayed in the exhibition are from the period of 2008-2012.  Created of ink, birch bark and photographs, they do not describe the heroes of Kalevala but the changes in one’s mind, creating the new, integration, memory and wisdom which is hidden in the poems of Kalevala. My latest works focus on the 47 verses where Ilmatar is lulling in a golden cradle the spark of fire of the new sun created by Ukko. 

From Nagashila the exhibition displays ‘contemplation paintings’ and four ‘forest icons’. The first are works created with different techniques (water colour, tempera, oil, a discovered plank, iron nail). Their titles often have a literal reference - Nagashila says that the roots of his art are found in the shamanic Kalevala tradition, in the Orthodox Christian prayer tradition and in practicing Buddhist meditation.

During three Sundays while the exhibition is open Nagashila will create sand paintings as part of a ‘Forest Icon Event’ - using materials found in the nature they are an offering of gratitude to the forest.

The exhibition is a co-chanting of two artists, a woman and a man, and of the feminine and masculine energies of the forest. The voices of us both are mingled with each other and thus bring about yet a new soundscape, a new colour, like yellow and blue together become green.

For more information and pictures see  www.helsingintaiteilijaseura.fi.  Details of Triratna’s Helsinki Buddhist Centre are at www.triratna.fi.