Dear friends,

Having now stepped into October, it's not only ever-richer autumn colours we can keenly anticipate, but also Ajahn Brahm's, "Real Dhamma" UK tour which gets underway in just one week! Taking place between 10th and 18th October, Ajahn will start with a talk in London, then pop over to Manchester and Birmingham before coming back to London where the tour will conclude with two short retreats.

We're very happy to now be able to give details of the one remaining event on the tour programme that we haven't previously announced. On 15th October at 7pm Ajahn will give the talk "What Have I Signed Up For?" at the Buddhist Society in Victoria, London. You can reserve your space, by either sending the librarian an email or calling 020 7834 5858.

For a second year running, it's been incredibly humbling to see the enthusiasm and support many of you have shown not only for Ajahn's visit, but also for our ambition of building a bhikkhuni monastery in the UK. We've had many participants from last year returning again this time and several of our events are now waiting list only.

We do still have some spaces available for a few of our talks and the weekend retreat in London and with now such a short amount of time until the start of Ajahn's schedule we'd like to offer lowered rates to these events so as to avoid any places going to waste. Please see our events page for the reduction updates.

We joyfully look forward to welcoming those of you who'll be able to join us at one point or other this October and the chance to share Ajahn's profound (and, of course, sometimes a little bit silly) teachings.

Free Ticket Offered

The Anukampa Elves

Last year we reported on some of the marvellous acts of generosity, kindness and care the Anukampa elves performed ahead of Ajahn Brahm's visit ensuring that our first major programme was a wonderful success and that we had the best possible start on our road towards establishing the Bhikkhuni Sangha in the UK.

This year the elves have been just as busy in their preparations, and we've been thoroughly astonished by the waves of love that continue to flow Anukampa's way, by donations large and small, by toil and commitment, and by warm-spirited team work.

To mention just a few of the extraordinary gifts we have received, the Brentwood Buddhist Society (pictured above) have had 500 Anukampa canvas bags made for us; a donation of 200 copies of the book "A Flower Called Mettā" by mettā master, Ajahn Mahā Chatchai was sent to us from Thailand; and over 300 copies of a selection of Ajahn Brahm titles were donated to us by our friends at the Buddhist Fellowship in Singapore and all of these donated items will be distributed during Ajahn Brahm's tour.

Likewise, an inestimable collective effort has been put in by a hardy group of volunteers to see that, not only all the various logistical issues involved in managing the mentioned donations have been taken care of, but that everything that will allow the tour to run smoothly is in place.

We'd like to extend our endless gratitude to all involved, as well as the wish that they find much happiness in their service to the Dhamma.

London Buddhist Vihara Talk Live-streamed

We are delighted to announce that thanks to the great generosity of two volunteers, Ajahn Brahm's Dhamma talk "Cultivating Ethics in a Cybernetic Age" at the London Buddhist Vihara on 10th October, 7:30pm BST will be live-streamed (you'll able to watch through this link). We are especially pleased to be able to offer this as a little way for our friends from further afield and overseas and others unable to make the occasions in person to be involved in this special tour.

Two Other Upcoming Events

Ven. Candā will lead the day retreat "Training in Beauty" in Brighton on 18 November, 10am-5pm. See here for more details and to register.

Also, if you're already getting a little sad about the end of Ajahn Brahm's UK visit, don't worry, he'll be back again next month! Ajahn will take part in a Cambridge Union Society debate on 9th November entitled "This House Has Lost Faith in Faith". His fellow panellists will be Ken Follett, Kelvin Hopkin, Radhanath Swami and Russell Brand.

A few words on purpose

Having whirled through all these activities and planned happenings, we wanted to close by spending a few words on what might motivate us to give so much energy to all this work. The answer is fairly simple: because the wish to find perfect, unshakeable peace has been calling to the human heart throughout the ages, and the real question is who wouldn't want to devote themselves to creating supportive conditions to see that wish fulfilled?

Oh, when will I stay happily in the forest,
A sage wearing a torn robe, dressed in ochre,
Unselfish, without desire,
With greed, hatred, and delusion destroyed?

With warm regards,
The Anukampa team