Metta Convention Week: Between Everything and Nothing- Cultivating Compassion and Wisdom

Presenters: Ven Dr Juewei (Joining online from Wollongong), Ayya Karunika (In person), Ven Bhikshuni Pema Deki (Emma Slade)(Joining online from the UK), Ven. Tashi Choedup (Joining online from India), and Dr. Pema Düddul (Joining online from QLD) 

Thu 28 Sep | 7.00-9.00pm AEST

Location: In person at Western Sydney University, Bankstown City Campus Room 1.4.34, level 4 Bankstown, NSW 2200, or Online (Zoom link below)

Cost: FREE

Join us for an engaging exploration of how compassion and wisdom are practiced in different Buddhist traditions.

Our evening will begin with a discussion and Q&A with esteemed bhikkhunis from diverse Buddhist traditions. Prepare yourself for a rich tapestry of wisdom, compassion and diverse perspectives as our presenters Ven Dr Juewei, Ayya Karunika, and Ven Bhikshuni Pema Deki (Emma Slade) discuss their profound insights and experiences, each shaped by their unique journeys in various Buddhist traditions.

Following the discussion session, Buddhist monastic and human-rights activist, Ven Tashi Choedup, will introduce the practice of Tonglen, also known as ‘sending and taking’. This is a profoundly healing practice that comes highly recommended by many great teachers across the traditions. Tonglen is a practice to generate Bodhicitta (an enlightened mind) and we will explore what this practice means in a world where self-preservation and avoidance of suffering are the norms of life.

To close the evening, Dr. Pema Düddul will introduce us to the AH practice, a highly effective method for bringing the teachings from the head to the heart. The AH practice is an ancient Buddhist meditation that is the condensed essence of all of the teachings of the Buddha. In the Mahayana tradition, the AH mantra is known as the condensed essence of the Prajnaparamita, or Mother of Wisdom, teachings. In the Tibetan tradition it is known as a direct method for connecting with Buddha Nature (Tathāgathagarbha), our pristine awareness. AH practice is a direct way to relax into the joy and ease of our natural state. 

This special event is part of Metta Convention Week, a week-long program aimed at fostering metta, mindfulness, compassion and inner peace. Metta Convention week offers a unique opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and learn from renowned Buddhist teachers from around the world! Register here.

About the presenters: Venerable Dr Juewei has been an ordained monastic and a Buddhist Studies scholar for over 20 years. Prior to her ordination, Juewei applied research in artificial intelligence and business process re-engineering in the Singapore government for over 10 years. Juewei is now Head of Program for Applied Buddhist Studies and Humanistic Buddhism, as well as Director of the Humanistic Buddhism Centre, at the Nan Tien Institute, Australia. She is co-editor of a Special Issue for the Journal of Global Buddhism and Studies on Humanistic Buddhism series. Juewei has created community projects, webinar series and podcasts, as well as apps and tools. Juewei co-organised the 8th International Symposium on Humanistic Buddhism in November 2021 where she first introduced the idea of the MettāVerses.

Bhikkhuni Ayya Kārunikā is currently the senior resident monastic at Santi Forest Monastery and has been in monastic life for over 12 years. She received her full ordination as a bhikkhunī in 2014 at Dhammasara Nuns monastery in Western Australia where she lived and trained for over a decade with Ajahn Hāsapaññā. She is also a student of Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Brahmali. Ayya Kārunikā is able to articulate the Buddhist teachings in a way that is practical and comprehensible to people of all ages and has experience in conducting day retreats for both adults and youth. While she has a PhD in Microbiology and worked as a scientist, she has also been the building project manager for the construction of Dhammasara main monastery complex and has worked with many volunteers over the years. Ayya Kārunikā was born in Sri Lanka but has been living and working in Australia for over 2 decades. She has a passion to share her experience and knowledge and loves working with people and also doing creative projects.

Ven Bhikshuni Pema Deki (Emma Slade) was born in England and was educated at universities in Cambridge and London. She left a high-powered financial career to explore the traditions of yoga and meditation and this road led her eventually to the Buddhist Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan.

Here, with the help of her Lama, she became the first Western woman to be ordained as a Getsulma in Bhutan in the Drukpa Kagyu lineage in 2014 – after having lived under novice vows for two years.

Under her Lama’s guidance she completed her 440,000 preliminary practices and continues on with both her Buddhist philosophical studies and practices of meditation.  Her main teacher is now His Eminence the Dorji Lopen of Bhutan from whom she receives personal instruction. She was ordained as a Gelongma or Bhikshuni in the historic event which took place in Bhutan in June 2022. She has studied various key shedra texts under instruction from her teachers in Bhutan.

In response to her deep interest in the nature and practices of compassion, in 2015, she founded the registered UK charity ‘Opening Your Heart to Bhutan’ to help children in Bhutan. To date this charity has helped hundreds of children in Bhutan gain access to education and medicine. In 2017 she was given the Point of Light award by the UK Prime Minister in recognition of her exceptional charity work in Bhutan.

Her first book, Set Free, detailing her inspirational personal story was published in April 2017 and has been translated into a number of other languages. Proceeds from the UK book are donated to the charity.

She divides her time between Bhutan and elsewhere!

See www.openingyourhearttobhutan.com, www.emmaslade.com, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Slade, and https://youtu.be/mMXqZt-9TnU    

Ven Tashi Choedup (They/She) is a trans-feminine Buddhist monastic (Nunk) with more than a decade of experience in human rights and community work. They are a member of the Telangana State Government’s Welfare Board for Transgender Persons. They work for Queer-Trans Wellness and Support Center at Yugantar, Hyderabad. They are currently the National Coordinator (India) at the Foundation for Preservation of Mahayana Tradition. They are an executive committee member at the Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies and a core group member of the National Ecumenical Forum For Gender and Sexual Minorities (NEFGSM) at the National Council of Churches of India. They also engage with queer folks as a peer counsellor. They are a fellow at Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum. They are one of the founding members of Telangana Hijra Intersex Transgender Samiti and Queer Swabhimana Yatra. They are a student of Buddhist philosophy and psychology. Their primary areas of interest are community building, faith, religion, mental health, and queer rights.

Pema Düddul is Co-Director of Jalü Centre for Buddhist Practice. Pema has been a Buddhist for forty years, discovering at the age of eleven that his personal worldview and the tenets of Buddhism were in perfect accordance. Pema has decades of experience as a Buddhist practitioner and has taught mindfulness and meditation in Buddhist, educational and other settings since 2007. Pema has a doctorate (PhD) in Creative Writing and is co-author, along with Jamyang Tenphel, of Resting in Stillness, a book about meditation, compassion and the nature of the mind. His book of contemplative poetry Here We Settle was published by Timeless Awareness Publications in 2022 as was his book Luminous Awareness: A Guidebook to Natural Awakening Life and in Death.

Hybrid event: Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive session in person at Western Sydney University or online by clicking on this link to access the session: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83506489824?pwd=cmpNQ1ljSmFVYURLWVN1dWllYUN1dz09 Alternatively, you can dial in from your telephone (call charges apply): +61 2 8015 6011 | Meeting ID: 835 0648 9824| Passcode: 718905