Uncovering the Jewel
Each year, Buddhafield has a theme. It offers a sense of cohesion and connection in the year. We create rituals, music, poetry and art around it from our first event, through our team gatherings, over Buddhafield Festival and Green Earth Awakening and off into winter.
Here is a reflection on the 2025 theme from Viryanaya:
In the rubble we grub for rubies, we pan for gold in streams,
Enchanted by our fantasies, we squander lives on dreams.
Deep are the works of the worldlings, high are the hopes that cling,
but richer far are the dharma mines where the gems are living things.
Let us leave delusion and craving, let us follow the trail of flowers
to the realm of the southern Buddhas, where the ‘mine’ becomes the ‘ours’.
Through orchards of abundance and open fertile lands,
we wander among beauty, sown by generous hands.
Fruit that grows in sunlight shapes a ripening art,
yet only deeper rooting can truly feed the heart.
Our mind’s eye facing inwards, the breathing body stills,
but we dread our buried shadows so to courage turn our wills.
Sinking down below the surface to the wisdom at the core,
the dragon will release for us the jewel between his jaws.
We blow away the debris, we breathe to make it bright,
the wish-fulfilling amber, the touchstone of delight.
Each treasure that is glowing makes a lamp that others see;
forming a shining footpath that leads to liberty.