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About the Buddha-Dhamma (the Buddhas Teaching) |
Just as a bird needs two wings to fly, in the same way the achievement of Enlightenment needs the practice of Insightmeditation (Vipassana) and the practice of loving kindness (Metta).
In Vipassana we develope insight into the stream of thoughts, emotions and sensual experience and their interrelatedness (Paticca Samuppada).
This development implies knowledge as direct-experience of the impermanence (anicca) of all phenomena, the potential suffering (dukkha) inherent in phenomena and their ultimate nature of voidness or no-self (anatta).
In Vipassana we develop understanding of the nature of our mind. We come to understand the momentary and dependent self that leads to much suffering when not understood.
In meditation on loving kindness (Metta) we develope understanding of the spiritual nature of our interrelatedness to all other living beings.
We do this by developing the emotion of tender love connected with the methodical expansion of the intention that all living beings may be happy, that they all may be free from suffering and attain Enlightenment and Nirvana.
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At this point we invite any one interested in sharing our vision to join our network. We invite you to help us developing constructive ideas and means to realizing them.
Please, send us a mail with whatever information about yourself you may consider relevant for your contribution to such a network. Even if your only contribution may be your moral support, please, join in for the sake of the spreading of the noble Dhamma.
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Our aspiration of the NLVS is twofold. In the short perspective we focus on arranging 2-3 Vipassana retreats on an annual basis in Fredrika. In the long perspective it is our intention to create a permanent Vipassana retreat center in the beautious wilderness of Southern Lappland.
A permanent Vipassana center we envision partly as a center where meditators can stay in retreat for longer periods up to a year or two or even longer, and partly as a center which arranges ongoing courses of meditation with various Buddhist teachers for a length of 5-10 days.
The center is planned to accommodate a hundred persons and to be situated on a 50 ha property. For the last six months we have been in the process of projecting the frame of the center buildings. Also, we have been searching for a suitable and affordable property. This process is still going on.
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Northern Light Vipassana Society (NLVS) was founded following the Asalha-fullmoon retreat at Hembygdsgården Sjönäset in Fredrika in July 2008 (see previous retreats). Actually, this was the third Vipassana retreat arranged by a group of Scandinavian Buddhist that was founded by Ola and Agneta in 2007 at Jägmästargården in Fredrika.
The Society consist today of Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Danish Buddhists who share common visions of a Scandinavian Buddhist meditation center devoted to essential Theravada Buddha-Dhamma.
Also, these visions are inspired by the truly astounding emergence at Fredrika of the Thai Buddharama Temple. This is planned to be the largest Buddhist temple and Buddhist cultural center in Europe (www.buddharam.com). Today a golden 10 meter tall statue of the Buddha and a small Thai temple overlooking the forest by the incredibly beautiful Viska Lake bear witness to this aspiration.
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