A friend sent me an email about this and I’m thinking about going.
Buddha Birthday Festival
“3 days of free activities for all the family. Kicking off on Friday 5th May at midday. Heralded as the largest multicultural event in Brisbane over 200,000 people from all walks of life joined in last year to celebrate the birth of the Buddha some 2500 years ago.
This years theme is Harmony in Diversity – promoting a peaceful existence and appreciation of our unique multicultural identity.”
www.buddhabirthdayfestival.com.au
If you would like to volunteer I’ve hosted the form for volunteering BBF06, I couldn’t find it online so I hope thats ok.
Wikipedia info about Buddha.
Appamadavagga “Mindfulness” (verses 21-32)
“Mindful among the unmindful, wide awake among the sleeping, the man of good understanding forges ahead like a swift horse outdistancing a feeble hack.”
http://www.buddhabirthdayfestival.com.au
…
He speaks,
while history flows,
of truths that grow like
a lotus in a stream
The lotus flower is an antient symbol of the enlightened mind. The stream is a symbol of history and constant change. This poem says that while history may move and change in many ways, the enlightened truths of the Buddha’s teaching remain the same. They are in the stream, but they are not carried away with it. They are part of this world, but they are not changed by anything that happens in it. Truth is the same today as when the Buddha first spoke it two thousand five hundered years ago.
from “Lotus in a stream” by Hsing Yun, trnsl. by Tom Graham
wicked, that sounds like an interesting festival. Are you working there Chrismo? I’m currently reading the Art of Happiness in the Workplace by the Daila Lama and the more I read about Buddism the more interesting I find it. It’s awesome how he recognises that the practice must be backed up by scientific evidence if the benefits are to be taken serisouly by western culture. Budha > Jebus !@$
Every thurs 7 -8pm. Meditation practice for a donation at the Rigpa Centre, 91 Windsor Rd, Red Hill, or join An Intro to the Buddhist Path, for more info http://www.rigpabrisbane.org