the 06 agm of the european buddhist union was held at sakya tashi ling, near barcelona.

(you might want to have a look at sakya tashi ling's platinum selling music video on YouTube)

my first experience of the ebu was the agm in 2000. the meeting that year was scheduled to be held at rivendell in the uk, but the organisation was so confused that none of the members knew the place and the date of the meeting: the only people who turned up were the three crestfallen organisers trying to figure out what had happened. and me.

the meeting has come a long way from that low point. this year, 35 people  met, monastic and non-monastic, from buddhist communities from croatia, hungary + poland, germany, france, spain, italy, austria, and the uk.

there is a core to the ebu now that has been meeting for some years, and building communication and trust. it's a pleasure to bump into some of these people i now know well, with whom it's easy to feel a common spirit and a common spiritual purpose, though the details of how we go about things can differ.

the meetings share something with some of the mahayana sutras; quite often the meeting is about the meeting itself: what are our goals? how do we make decisions? who ought, or ought not, to be members?…

this bothers some members more than others. actually, it suits me fine. the thing that i've found most valuable about the ebu meetings is the encounter with people from different traditions with different approaches to teaching the dharma and building sangha. for me, that sharing of experience has been by far the most interesting and practically useful part of the meetings. the retreat based training of dhagpo kundreul ling and sangha rimay; the approach to meditation teaching by shenpen hookham and the students of sheng yen; the impressive activism of amida trust; the rigour of the plum village monastics...

these are the things i've found of most interest and most relevance to us, while some of the more practical 'projects' have seemed sometimes contrived. more to justify the meetings existence than of real value in themselves.

dharmavidya in one of the state rooms

however, this meeting suggested some practical initiatives that may well be of value. in part, this is a result of the relations that have built over the years. sometimes projects have been the suggestion of one or two people in the meeting, who then worked to persuade a skeptical membership. now, i think, we're learning how to harness the energy that's in the meeting, and to build on the issues of real interest and concern.

the most practical outcome of this meeting was an exploration of a cross tradition 'buddhist university' of sorts. the discussion was initiated by tamas agocs, from the buddhist college in budapest, but it got strong support from a number of traditions who are running, or developing, courses in buddhist studies. the idea of a cross tradition course in buddhist history and philosophy is something the ebu is very well placed to facilitate. for example, a university with a number of co-operating campuses in a different countries; where the theravada elements were taught by theravadin practitioners, the mahayana and vajrayana by people from those traditions. the convergence of academic standards in the european union means that the state recognised degree courses that the buddhist college offers, could be offered in this wider co-operative venture, and would be recognised europe wide.

another discussion that could be of practical importance was on the EU constitution, practical at least to eastern european countries like poland and croatia where the influence of the catholic church is still strong, and buddhists can find themselves discriminated against. some state like poland are agitating still for a recognition of a unique place for christianity in the stalled EU constitution. kanzen, from the polish buddhist mission, is researching the matter and it will be discussed in more depth at next year's agm.

one of the perks of ebu membership is that it is held in rotation in different european countries. it was delight to visit barcelona and sakya tashi ling.

first impressions of the monastery are strong ones. it is situated in the midst of a national park, in hills above the coast south of barcelona. it is housed in a spanish stately home, i think 18th – early 19th century. the money for the original building came from the sugar trade with cuba, and it is a glorious baroque monument.

sakya tashi ling, as the name suggests, is a centre of the sakya tradition. their website says:

Sakya Tashi Ling comes under the spiritual protection of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the spiritual authority of His Holiness Sakya Trizin and the spiritual leadership of the Venerable Lama Jamyang Sashi Dorje.

the community was outstandingly hospitable; you didn't have to ask for anything twice; you wanted new bed linen? there it was. you wanted a fresh americano for breakfast? there it was.

one example of their efficiency and panache was the day-trip to barcelona. at a day's notice, they organised an outing for all thirty-something particiapants. by bus, by boat, and by a team of car drivers, we were shown the main sites of barcelona: the cathedral, the fin-de-siecle apartment buildings, the barrio gothico, the gaudi and the mies van der roe. after the boat trip, dinner, then a late evening trip to the gaudi's sagrada familia. then finally,near midnight, the awe-insipring ljght show at the fountains below the museu nacional d'art de catalunya.

the monastery have a very savvy engagement with spanish and catalan society. i mentioned above that their cd monaci buddisti is in the charts in spain and italy, a deliberately hip, popular recording, to spread the benefits of mantra widely. their museum attracts a stream of vistors, who tour the building with a state of the art audio-guide system in different languages. i'll mention the conference they organised on our last day in my next entry, on the buddhist teahcers meeitng.

at the end of the agm each of the participants was given a gift, presented movingly by lama sashi dorje himself: the monaci buddisti cd; an amulet of protection, highly recommended for its capacity to turn away harm; and a pill to be taken at the moment of death, to ensure our liberation. (lama dondrup, our host, recommended not to mix up the gifts; try to swallow the quite substantial amulet, he said, and the moment of death would come sooner than we expected).