Shanthi Vihara And Meditation Centre

Shanthi Vihara and Meditation Centre, based in Nottingham, is a registered charity in England and Wales. We are a proud Buddhist society, providing religious services and aiding the development of other services, to promote the study of - and reflection on - the teachings of the Buddha, and to raise awareness and understanding of the principles of Buddhist philosophy and ethics among both professing Buddhists as well as among other members of the general public who wish to pursue an interest in such matters irrespective of their individual religion and beliefs.

Shanthi Vihara and Meditation Centre facilitates the conduct of regular acts of Buddhist worship and devotional practices and provides a place where mindfulness-meditation may be experienced and practised. As a sacred place of teaching, we focus on the practice of mindfulness through meditation and host a program monthly, designed for children, where they can develop spiritual practices and disciples by understanding cultural and traditional values.

Meditation, a practice originating in India over 3000 years ago, was revolutionised by the Buddha. He introduced a new type of meditation, Vipassana, which is shown to be far superior to other types. Vipassana, Mindfulness Meditation, helps one to live in the moment (not, for the moment), not getting depressed about the past or anxious about the future. Of late, there has been tremendous worldwide interest, more so because of the ever-increasing scientific data showing benefits of Mindfulness Meditation. Though the Buddha showed it as a means to ‘Ultimate Detachment’, it is bringing so much of worldly benefits that some governments have already adopted it as a part of the policy to improve performance of students as well as to improve the behaviour of those in correctional facilities.

Our charity also strides to enhance the level of public acquaintance with Buddhist history, art, sculpture, culture, festivals and tradition whilst striving to promote greater understanding and integration within the local and regional communities of which the Vihara and its members constitute an integral part.

One of our key goals is to harmonise with the Buddhist principles of compassion for all sentient beings, to work both locally and internationally for the alleviation, to the highest practicable extent, of suffering, disadvantage and deprivation arising from social and/or economic circumstances or resulting from natural or man-made disasters.