COURSES NEWS *TARIKI NEWS
DECEMBER 2011
Tariki Trust * Amida Training Programmes* The Buddhist House
Welcome to the latest edition of Courses News. It has been a busy autumn with many changes and developments in the 
Amida teaching programme and the Amida organisation and we are pleased to be able to tell you about some of the practical ways in which these will be unfolding. This news letter comes at a time when a new organisation, Tariki Trust, is being formed, which will oversee the Amida training programmes in the future. It is an exciting venture which opens up new possibilities for wider expansion and a more broad-based approach to applied Buddhist ideas.
It has been a busy autumn. In August, David taught a series of programmes in Korea on Buddhist Psychology. In September we saw the start of a new Foundation Certificate in Other Centred Therapy run in Belgium by Caroline Brazier, and in October the Ten Directions programme in environmental therapy began at the Amida centre in France. Now we are looking forward to 2012 with a new umbrella organisation and a new name. Whilst these changes will not directly affect the running of the existing course programmes, in the longer term, they open the possibility for a wider diversity of activities and I am already in negotiation with various people about creating new courses.
Tariki Trust will be dedicated to Dharma in action, the lived expression of Buddhist principles in different spheres of life. It will grow organically out of the interests of its members but will probably include activities in the following areas:
- A variety of training programmes in applied Buddhism
- Psychotherapy training
- Eco-therapy and environmentally based retreats
- Arts
- Socially engaged work
- Environmental work and work on the land
- Pureland Buddhism
- Spirituality (including inter-Buddhist, interfaith and non-aligned)
- Chaplaincy & chaplaincy training
- Women's groups and retreats
- Ideas and dialogues
PSYCHOTHER APY TRAINING
The Amida Psychotherapy Training Programme, which dates back to the foundation of Amida Trust in 1996 and before that to programmes which originated in 1981. It runs three nine day course blocks per year plus other incidental days and offers a full psychotherapy training and post qualification CDP programmes. The next course block will take place in February and will consist of: February 18-19 Small Worlds: Sand Tray Work and Projective Methods in Therapy; February 20-23 Exploring Myth: Narcissus and Echo; February 24 Day Seminar: Creativity in Other-Centred Methods; February 25-26 Grief Work and Embodied Experience. You can attend all or part of the programme and the course is open to non-registered participants as well as regular students. Full details of all our training programmes can be found at www.buddhistpsychology.info or contact us to discuss your training needs.
TEN DIRECTIONS ENVIRONMENTAL THERAPY
The new Ten Directions training programme in eco-therapy started in October. We had a delightful week in the French countryside, enjoying the fruits (and fungi)of the fields and good company and discussion. The next course block will take place in April when we look forward to seeing spring emerging in the woods and fields of our 30 acre centre. Full details can be found at http://amidatrust.typepad.com/france/-32-ten-directions-training-in-environmental-therapies.html. If you wish to join this programme, or to find out more about it, do get in touch. The programme is led by Caroline Brazier and reflects the model presented in her book Acorns Among the Grass (Earth Books, 2011)
BUDDHIST THERAPISTS FORUM
We will be holding a gathering of Buddhist therapists at The Buddhist House on January 7th 10.00-4.00 and plan to make this a regular meeting http://amidatrust.ning.com/events/buddhist-therapists-forum . The idea is to bring together Buddhist therapists from different backgrounds including Other-Centred Approach, mindfulness traditions and other Buddhist inspired therapies. The forum will provide a space for exchange of ideas, discussion of therapeutic practice and exploration of different Buddhist models of psychotherapy. If you can’t make the first meeting but want to be involved, let us know.
TARIKI TRUST: ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE
The last few months have seen organisational changes in the Amida world. After a period of discussion, at the end of November, the trustees of Amida Trust met and decided that the best way forward was to dissolve the old organisation and create two new organisations reflecting the different areas of work which the old Amida Trust has been engaged in. There will thus be a separation between the activities associated with the Amida Order and other activities which had previously been run under the auspices of the Amida training programmes. After some further discussion it was decided to establish a new charity called Tariki Trust to hold the organisational structure for the course programmes and for the Amida Order to carry forward the name and charitable status of Amida Trust.
Tariki Trust will be based at The Buddhist House and will operate the Amida Psychotherapy Training Programmes and Amida France. The Amida Order will be based at Sukhavati, London and will run its own retreat, workshop and training programmes. If you are interested in being involved in helping to develop Tariki Trust and expand the activities of this new venture please do not be shy. We are very excited by the possibilities which these changes open up but need lots of help to make great things happen.
WEB SITES AND EMAIL
As a result of the organisational changes, we will be undertaking a gradual re-vamping operation on web sites. www.buddhistpsychology.info and www.amidafrance.org will remain URLS for Tariki Trust. Email from courses@amidatrust.com will continue to be forwarded to us for the foreseeable future but we will shortly be going over to using the new email addresses courses@tarikitrust.org. In due course we will be setting up a ning site, so will send you invitations and a site at www.tarikitrust.org. Please do get in touch or join the yahoo group from the Buddhist Psychology web site if you want to make sure you stay in contact.
OTHER EVENTS AT THE BUDDHIST HOUSE
In addition to the courses listed above, there will be a number of Buddhist events at The Buddhist House. December 22nd we have an evening of celebratory chanting, starting at 7.00pm http://amidatrust.ning.com/events/let-s-chant-a-winter-solstice-celebration . January 8th we have a day retreat http://amidatrust.ning.com/events/dawning-light-a-day-of-reflection. We will continue to run services on a Sunday at 5.00pm from the new year and will also have Monday evening study/discussion evenings and Tuesday evening meditation and relaxation sessions (see below).
INTRODUCTORY RETREAT & MEDITATION CLASS
There will be an Introductory Pureland Buddhist Retreat Day led by Aramati and Rachel on 22 January 2012 10.00 am to 4pm followed by Sunday service at 5pm then supper for anyone who wants to stay. This will be a day of chanting and sharing in the Nembutsu way. Take time out of your busy schedule to enjoy time to breathe, relax, call out to the Buddha of Infinite light and life and learn a little about Pureland Buddhism. Please bring vegetarian/ vegan food to share.
Aramati and Rachel also run our meditation class. On Tuesday10 January the Buddhist House is restarting its Meditation and relaxation classes, 7.30 to 8.30pm followed by tea. Each class is self contained, so people are welcome to come along and try one out. An interesting range of different techniques are taught and they are suitable for both beginners and experienced meditators. The class is taught by two experienced mediators and practising Buddhists. There is a suggested donation of £3 to £5, but we would not want anyone to not come due to cost.
