History on Separate Clouds

Proposal — An eightfold path of engagement v1

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

An exploratory programme, reapproaching the teaching of the Eightfold path in a way that complements our common engagement in the human predicament with our plural engagements in current socio-economic-historical predicaments.

A pattern

A quite powerful yet simple pattern would be to take one element of the path per session, and ask ourselves, each of us, what kind of difficulty we have with this piece of the path:
a) In our relationships with our objects of engaged concern (quite probably, different objects for each of us), and b) In our relationships with other Buddhists (eg within the college Sangha, or more broadly, in the sources that we draw upon, aiming to inform our evolution)?

Elephant Group — Prospectus v2.1

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is a working document aiming to become an invitation to members of Bodhi College to join a new Community Group of Bodhi College. Here is a summary. Elephant summary

Comment

EK: Do we actually need a summary as well?

Comment

LT: Probably not

The Elephant Group has been meeting informally since January 2026 within the Bodhi College sangha. Its name comes from John Peacock’s article *The Elephant in the Dhamma Hall: What is the place of politics in Buddhism? (March 2024).

Elephant Group — Prospectus v2.2

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is a working document, aiming to become an invitation to members of Bodhi College to join a new Community Group of Bodhi College.

Comment

EK: Do we actually need a summary as well? [!Comment] LT: Probably not [!Comment] mh: I removed the reference to a summary. It didn’t exist!

The Elephant Group has been meeting informally since January 2026 within the Bodhi College sangha. The name comes from John Peacock’s article The Elephant in the Dhamma Hall: What is the place of politics in Buddhism? (March 2024). This initiative was prompted by the gathering of the Bodhi College sangha in December 2024.

Risks and Protocols v1.1

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Comment

EK: It’s good to recognise the different types of risk but I’d be inclined to provide less detail; maybe just cover them in one or two sentences.

In the protocols section, it would be good to have more discussion before circulating this. For (3), I’d be inclined to either use (a very abbreviated version of) Bohmian dialogue, as suggested in places on the BC forum, or preferably the approach of Insight Dialoge (see bottom of page — snappier than Bohm and arising in a Buddhist framework).

Risks and Protocols v1.2 — Luke's comments

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Concerning “Risks and Protocols”

I agree with Ewan that we should discuss this more and clarify parts of it before circulating. Also with his remarks on tools, and the need for a document-sharing platform. And with the idea of suggesting/agreeing on tools for decision-making.

As far as I know, the way new CG groups have been set up since the death of Gary, at least in theory, is that experienced CG members have agreed to “shepherd” an emerging group as facilitator until they are ready to run themselves. I don’t know how far autonomisation has worked in practice.
(In my group I have proposed, on several occassions, that we take turns to facilitate, but this suggestion has not been taken up. The group seems happy to continue with two “regulars” taking turns to facilitate - which is no hard task since we have a very habitual functioning. I would imagine an Elephant group would probably wish to function differently.)

Elephant Group — Prospectus v2

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is a working document aiming to become an invitation to members of Bodhi College to join a new Community Group of Bodhi College. Here is a summary. Elephant summary

Comment

EK: Do we actually need a summary as well?

Dhamma, Engagement and Sangha

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Elephant Group has been meeting since January 2026 as an informal group within the Bodhi College sangha. Its name comes from John Peacock’s article The Elephant in the Dhamma Hall: What is the place of politics in Buddhism? (March 2024).

We are a small group of Dhamma practitioners who are also deeply concerned about events locally and globally — war, genocide, climate change, the depletion of natural resources, inequality, the rise of the far right, and more. These issues evoke difficult feelings, but they also prompt genuine inquiry: what counts as right action, right speech and right livelihood in the world we find ourselves in?

Three Original Elephant Texts

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Text 1

Purpose

The group sprang from a sense that within the wider Bodhi College community, we lack a forum where we can explore the practice of “engaged Buddhism”. Engagement starts with being able to acknowledge and open our hearts to the current state of the planet: war, genocide, pollution, depletion of natural resources, inequality, racism, climate change, economic slumps and so on. These issues of course evoke difficult feelings in us, but beyond emotions they also prompt inquiry into what counts as right action and right speech in modern society. What should be the source and foundation for social engagement with the world we find ourselves in?