Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey is under the spiritual direction of the Abbot, Rev. Master Daishin Morgan, a senior disciple of the late Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett.
The senior priests at the Abbey are experienced in teaching people how to meditate and how to establish a spiritual practice. Anyone who wishes to practice Buddhism can benefit greatly by sharing in the contemplative life of the monastery for a while; during their stay they will learn how to establish and deepen their own practice in daily life. One of the joys of Buddhist training is that all activities are an expression of our true nature if approached with the compassionate awareness of meditation.
The programme of retreats aims to help people establish a practice of meditation and then to support them in their subsequent training in the Buddhist way. The contemplative life of the monastery forms a valuable background for these activities; the resident community, most of whom have been living and working together for many years, provide the teaching and a sense of stability. The Abbey is one of the main centres for a congregation spread throughout the UK and beyond.
The founder of the Abbey, Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett, was an English woman who was ordained in Malaysia in the Chinese Buddhist tradition and then went on to study in Japan where she eventually became a roshi, or master, and was authorised to teach and to ordain men and women as monastics. Those of us in the West who follow Soto Zen as passed on by Rev. Master Jiyu describe ourselves as the Serene Reflection Meditation tradition and our monastic Sangha and lay ministers together comprise the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives.The style of teaching used at Throssel has its roots firmly in the tradition and yet has a form that over the last thirty years and more has been adapted to the needs of Western people.
In the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives men and women train together and have equal status and recognition. All ranks and both sexes are addressed as ‘Reverend’ and are referred to as monks and priests. The monastic order is celibate.
Phone: +44 (0)1434 345204
Fax: +44 (0)1434 345216
Website: http://www.throssel.org.uk
