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Cambridge University Buddhist Society

Cambridge University Buddhist Society—giving students simple wisdom for complex lives.

Cambridge University Buddhist Society, the second oldest Buddhist society in Britain and the first run by students, has provided Cambridge's diverse community with an opportunity to meet Buddhist teaching and practice since its founding in 1955. The society has evolved according to the changing interests of its members and anyone interested in Buddhism is encouraged to join and influence the socie

ty's activities. At present, the CUBS main activities are the weekly discussion circles, monthly Dhamma Evenings and various talks by members of the Buddhist community: scholars, meditation teachers, writers, and Buddhist monks and nuns. The society also provides information on local activities such as meditation classes and groups, talks and retreats.

07/03/2026

Join us next Wednesday evening for a new practical workshop that leads from painting to wisdom.
In this event, while we make paintings, Ajahn Kovido will guide us to gain valuable insights from our own experience.

Such insights are unforgettable because they come directly through experience. Therefore, don't miss this rare chance to directly experience dhamma!

See you on Wednesday!

[11 Mar. (Wed), 8 - 9.30 pm,
Barbara Dyer Room, Lucy Cavendish College]

The room is inside the library of Lucy Cavendish College. Please arrive by 7:50 pm at the library entrance. We will meet you there and take you to the room.

24/02/2026

Monastery Visit to Wat Sri Intra Atula
[28 Febryary Saturday]
(Sign up by 26 Feb, Thursday, 23:59)

You are welcome to join us this Saturday for our visit to Wat Sri Intra Atula - a monastery in the Thai Forest Tradition.

CUBS regularly visits this monastery, and everyone enjoyed our past visits.

During this visit, we will be guided by the senior monk Ajahn Taat. He is a very insightful and inspiring teacher, and this will be a great chance for you to ask any questions, practice meditation and spend the day in a calm environment.

If you would like to join, please sign up using the following link by 26 Feb (Thu) 23:59. Travel plan is also available on the form.
https://forms.gle/uHMFp6SsPDnPSu8E6
If the cost is a concern, you can request a travel subsidy.

Details of the monastery is available here.
https://watsriintraatula.org.uk/

Don't miss this chance to get a first hand experience of the life in a forest monastery, and get inspiration and wisdom from the venerable monks who have dedicated their lives to the path of the Buddha. This visit will be an opportunity for all of us to stop and reflect on our own path 😊

23/02/2026

Join us this Wednesday for the next part of the course on "Meditation and Innate Dhamma" by Ajahn Kovido.

This is the opportunity to learn meditation and the way of cultivating practical Buddhist wisdom in our lives.

You will also have the opportunity to ask any questions directly from Ajahn and clarify any doubts about how to lead our lives skillfully and reduce suffering.

The room is inside the library of Lucy Cavendish College. Please arrive by 7:50 pm at the library entrance. We will meet you there and take you to the room.

18/02/2026

*Correction to the schedule: Meditation & knowing innate dhamma series*

Hi Everyone, we are sorry there were two mistakes in the schedule of events we shared earlier. Here is our updated schedule.

The changes are:
* Part 2 of "Meditation & Knowing Innate Dhamma" is on the 25th of February (not 18th)
* The workshop on "The art of Visual Awareness" is on the 12th of March (not on 5 March)

You are welcome to join us on the 25th of February for the next part 😊

***** More Details ****

This term, CUBS is offering you a great opportunity to learn meditation and practical Buddhism wisdom step by step. From this Wednesday, Ajahn Kovido is starting a course on "Meditation and Knowing innate dhamma".

The course includes not only meditation practice and talks, but also practical workshops for us to train on how to apply the wisdom to our own lives to solve real problems we have, and gradually reduce suffering.

About the course:

"Dhamma" means phenomena in English and its meaning is: "a fact that is observed to exist or happen". Our first encounter with Dhamma are descriptions of what they are, their definitions, characteristics and other attributes. We accumulate these knowledge of Dhamma through their definitions and understand them through these descriptions.

"Knowing Innate Dhamma" introduces you to Dhamma in a way that is direct and different.

The course also teaches a simple meditation technique that gradually develops mindfulness and concentration. When these qualities are developed, we can clearly see what is arising in the mind, avoid getting caught up in emotions and behaving in harmful ways. And a by product of this is calmness, joy and happiness within the meditation. Also with strong mindfulness and concentration, we can apply the mind to what needs doing and stay with that. This strong mindfulness and concentration gives us better ability of looking after our mind. This is the way we can stop our mind from causing harm and suffering.

Ajahn will be joining us live through Zoom. Don't miss this valuable opportunity to learn directly from Ajahn!

About the teacher:

Ajahn Kovido is a very experienced meditation teacher in the Thai Forest tradition. He was born in Malaysia and lived in the UK where he obtained a PhD in Physics and worked as a scientist before ordaining as a Theravada Buddhist monk. He lived in Thailand for several years, learning Thai Forest traditions from different masters. He is currently setting up a monastery in Malaysia and living in Karak, Pahang, Malaysia.

10/02/2026

Join us this Wednesday for the practical workshop on "Reducing Suffering with Dhamma Toolkits" by Ajahn Kovido.

Ajahn Kovido with start with meditation teaching, and then introduce the "Dhamma toolkits" to our develop wisdom. And finally we will learn how to apply these Dhamma Toolkits in practice to solve problems as they arise in our lives.

The "Dhamma Toolkits" are practical tools that we can use whenever suffering arises in our lives. They are methods for finding the specific cause of the suffering we have, and solving the problem.

When we continue to practice this way, we can live more skillfully in the world. And problems we face gradually become opportunities for us to correct our views and develop our wisdom.

Don't miss this chance to learn both meditation and the way of cultivating wisdom. It's also a valuable opportunity to ask any questions form Ajahn and clarify any doubts about the practice!

See you on Wednesday!

06/02/2026

This was one of the lessons we learnt from Ajahn Kovido last Wednesday in the talk on "How to balance spiritual path with academic & career goals"
It was a very insightful talk full of valuable lessons. And we are very grateful to Ajahn Kovido for teaching us 🙏

Ajahn Kovido's series on "Knowing Innate Dhamma" is continuing on Wednesdays. Join us next Wednesday to learn more, ask your questions directly from Ajahn, and learn how to practically develop wisdom and reduce suffering 😊

01/02/2026

** CORRECTION **

Hi Everyone, we are sorry there were two mistakes in this schedule of events we shared earlier.

Here are the corrections:
* Part 2 of "Meditation & Knowing Innate Dhamma" is on the 25th of February (not on the 18th)
* The workshop on "The art of Visual Awareness" is on the 12th of March (not on 5 March)

You are welcome to join us on the 25th of February for the next part 😊

*** Details ***

Meditation and Knowing Innate Dhamma
Course by Ajahn Kovido

This term, CUBS is offering you a great opportunity to learn meditation and practical Buddhism wisdom step by step. From this Wednesday, Ajahn Kovido is starting a course on "Meditation and Knowing innate dhamma".

The course includes not only meditation practice and talks, but also practical workshops for us to train on how to apply the wisdom to our own lives to solve real problems we have, and gradually reduce suffering.

About the course:

"Dhamma" means phenomena in English and its meaning is: "a fact that is observed to exist or happen". Our first encounter with Dhamma are descriptions of what they are, their definitions, characteristics and other attributes. We accumulate these knowledge of Dhamma through their definitions and understand them through these descriptions.

"Knowing Innate Dhamma" introduces you to Dhamma in a way that is direct and different.

The course also teaches a simple meditation technique that gradually develops mindfulness and concentration. When these qualities are developed, we can clearly see what is arising in the mind, avoid getting caught up in emotions and behaving in harmful ways. And a by product of this is calmness, joy and happiness within the meditation. Also with strong mindfulness and concentration, we can apply the mind to what needs doing and stay with that. This strong mindfulness and concentration gives us better ability of looking after our mind. This is the way we can stop our mind from causing harm and suffering.

Ajahn will be joining us live through Zoom. Don't miss this valuable opportunity to learn directly from Ajahn!

About the teacher:

Ajahn Kovido is a very experienced meditation teacher in the Thai Forest tradition. He was born in Malaysia and lived in the UK where he obtained a PhD in Physics and worked as a scientist before ordaining as a Theravada Buddhist monk. He lived in Thailand for several years, learning Thai Forest traditions from different masters. He is currently setting up a monastery in Malaysia and living in Karak, Pahang, Malaysia.

01/02/2026

CUBS Lent Term Plan

Hi everyone, here is our termcard for this Term. Join us in the shared path of developing happiness and wisdom - guided by wise teachers 😊🙏

"Just as a sweet-smelling and beautiful lotus
can grow from a pile of discarded waste,
the radiance of a true disciple of the Buddha
outshines dark shadows cast by ignorance."

- Dhammapada verses 58-59

20/01/2026

We are excited to announce that the Supreme Head of Buddhist Monks in Mongolia has kindly accepted our invitation to visit Cambridge and give teachings.

His Eminence Geshe Lharampa Javzandorj Dulamragchaa is the Abbot of Gandantegchenling Monastery, which is the main centre of Buddhism in Mongolia.

The venerable will give a talk on Compassion in Buddhism on the 23rd of January at 7 pm. It's a chance to get inspiration, purify our hearts and learn to how to cultivate the beautiful quality of compassion in our lives.

This visit is a rare chance for all of us, and it was made possible due to the dedicated work our society has been doing over the past few years to build connections with authentic Buddhist traditions across Asia.

Therefore we encourage all of you to make use of this opportunity to come and learn about both the Buddhist Practice and also about the Mongolian Buddhist culture from the Supreme abbot 🙏

To sign up and reserve your place, please follow the link:
https://forms.gle/2uZEr8mFoo6dK7737

We are very grateful to Mongolian Buddha Centre, London for giving us opportunity to host His Eminence Geshe Lharampa Javzandorj Dulamragchaa in Cambridge.

01/01/2026

We wish all of you happiness, success and wisdom in the new year.
But to achieve these, each of us have to follow the path of developing mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. No one can do it for us - not even the Buddha himself.

Today some of us may be thinking about the past year - and we may feel happiness about some memories and sadness about some other memories.
One thing we want to know is that all these are just memories. It's okay to learn lessons from them. But there is no need to hold onto them and suffer - because there is no real substance in them.

When we train to not hold onto memories, we develop wisdom for the spiritual life, and also we develop energy for a fresh start in the worldly life too.

That was one of the lessons we learnt in the last term's series on Knowing Innate Dhamma.

This happiness and suffering are part of the ways of the world. And our path or training is to go beyond it by continuing to developing wisdom.

And in the images we share a teaching of the Buddha for us to contemplate as we are starting this new year:

23/11/2025

The final part of the Ajahn Kovido's series on "Knowing Innate Dhamma" is on this Wednesday at 8 pm.

It consists of two practical workshops. In the first part, Ajahn will train us on how to solve real-life problems and reduce suffering whenever it arises in us. This involves finding the cause of this suffering and correcting our views.

The next part is a clay modelling workshop, in which we will directly experience insightful Dhamma lessons through the process of building clay models. But what does clay modelling have to do with Dhamma 🤔? You need to come and find out!

This event is highly recommended. Ajahn also did these two workshops earlier this year, and it was one of the best CBUS events. We gained many valuable insights from it.

For you to to actively participate in the clay modelling part and get the full experience, in-person participation is recommended. But if you cannot come in person, you are still welcome to join on Zoom and observe.

For the best learning experience, you are encouraged to review the teachings Ajahn Kovido gave in the previous sessions of the series. The recordings are available here;
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcSTcu3ojuCFiJUHuY_01Twy5ROqXKant

See you on Wednesday!!

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