Updated 25 March 2022
Venerable Apparakke Jinaratana
The late Venerable Apparakke Jinaratana, a Theravada Buddhist Bhikkhu [monk], who lived in a cave in Sri Lanka, near a very poor village, used very old newspapers (supplied by villagers) as tablecloths. The BEP decided to embroider tablecloths, wall hangings and sitting cloths for his use. Although items are given to one monk, they actually belong to the whole of the Bhikkhu Sangha [Order of Buddhist Monks] according to the Vinaya [Buddhist Monastic Discipline]. In Asian villages, washing is done in streams and waterfalls, and hung to dry in the hot sun, so items do not last as long as they do in the west.
The BEP Buddhist Embroidery Project was started by attendees of the London Buddhist Vihara [Monastery] in 1994. The BEP decided to teach embroidery to people who had not learnt it in childhood.
Anne Wynn-Wilson the late founder of the Quaker Tapestry made the wonderful suggestion that a Buddhist Embroidery project would be beneficial. The BEP Buddhist Embroidery Project was started by attendees of the London Buddhist Vihara [Monastery] in 1994. Anne Wynn-Wilson commented, “Sharing the making of such a gift enriches both the giver and receiver” in 1994. Materials were donated by Buddhists and Quakers after requests for donations were made in The Friend: The Quaker Weekly, The Devon Vihara Newsletter, and The Middle Way: Journal of The Buddhist Society [London]. A photograph of the monk receiving the embroideries appeared in The Friend: The Quaker Weekly on 28 June 1996, and the August 1996 issue of The Middle Way: Journal of The Buddhist Society [London].
Bibliography
Articles
“An embroidery project”, The Friend: The Quaker Weekly, (5 August 1994).
https://thefriend.org/
“An Unusual Request”, The Devon Vihara Newsletter, 42 (February 1995).
http://hartridge.weebly.com/last-newsletter.html
“BEP Buddhist Embroidery Project”, Sakyadhita [International Association of Buddhist Women] UK Newsletter, March News from SUK (17 March 2022).
https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?u=83a4031257a79579b64d19418&id=bf9a6d4946
“BEP Buddhist Embroidery Project”, Jacquetta Gomes, The Fellowship Kendal Unitarian Chapel, (September 2011).
https://kendalunitarians.com/activities/fellowship/
“BEP Buddhist Embroidery Project and Venerable Apparakke Jinaratana of Sri Lanka”, News Lanka, Issue 1305, (8 December 2016).
http://www.newslanka.net/
“Buddhist Embroidery Project”, The Friend: The Quaker Weekly, (28 October 1994) page 1386.
https://thefriend.org/
“Embroidery Project”, The Middle Way: Journal of The Buddhist Society [London], 69(2) (August 1994) page 126.
https://www.thebuddhistsociety.org/page/the-middle-way-2.
“Embroidery Project”, The Middle Way: Journal of The Buddhist Society [London], 69(4) (February 1995) page 278.
https://www.thebuddhistsociety.org/page/the-middle-way-2
“Embroidery Project”, The Middle Way: Journal of The Buddhist Society [London], 71(2) (August 1996) page 138.
https://www.thebuddhistsociety.org/page/the-middle-way-2
“Message of thanks”, The Friend: The Quaker Weekly, (28 June 1996) page 18.
https://thefriend.org/
Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
“BEP Buddhist Embroidery Project”
http://www.tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=BEP_Buddhist_Embroidery_Project
Websites
“BEP Buddhist Embroidery Project”, Manchester Buddhist Convention Website
https://manchesterbuddhistconvention.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/bep-buddhist-embroidery-project/