Introducing myself
In 1998 a Buddhist friend of mine suggested I set up a Web site. Being keen to communicate, I thought this was a good idea and immediately set to work producing a few amateurish pages. These I excitedly uploaded, hoping for an enthusiastic response from my potential readership of millions. Since then, experience has tempered my initial burst of naïve enthusiasm without having completely undermined it. I now know that my pages are read by at least a few people and that they sometimes respond with appreciation or with criticism. So do let me know what you think about these pages - especially if what you have to say is constructive.
Ashvajit and Chandrasuriyapradipa - my most recent preceptee
Who I am
For the first ten years or so after Ordination I worked at deepening my practise and study of Buddhism. My second ten years as an Order Member were spent in India and Sri Lanka, where I made my first attempts to teach and spread the practice of Buddhism amongst the 'Dalits', the members of the economically and culturally oppressed castes of India, and in Sri Lanka where the teaching of meditation was something not usually undertaken regularly either by Bhikkhus or by lay-people. For the third decade of my ordination - up until the end of November 2003 - I lived and worked in a men's community called Padmaloka in the village of Surlingham, which is situated near Norwich, a city in the flat, fertile, wheat-growing landscape of East Anglia in the UK.
At Padmaloka my main duty was to help men who had asked for Ordination into the Western Buddhist Order (or Trailokya Bauddha Mashasangha, as it is called in India) to understand what ordination really meant and discover how they might progress towards it. My task at Padmaloka, in brief, was similar to what I am trying to do now - to communicate something of my experience of living and practising Buddhism in such a way as to inspire others.
So naturally, having benefited as I have from spiritual practice and training and become a much happier and I think I can say better-tempered and even perhaps somewhat wiser individual than I was, I would like to share some of that inspiration with you in these pages. I would also like to encourage you to go and have a taste of meditation practice at your nearest Centre of the FWBO. Everyone can benefit in some way or other, even if you don't want to actually commit yourself to Buddhism. That might come later, but it's definitely not a requirement for beginners! You can regard the Buddhist meditation practises you will learn, for instance, simply as a species of healing psychological excercises. They definitely can work in that sort of way.
Buddhism is not just something to have good feelings about. It's something you DO
Whatever your attitude to Buddhism may be, it is something that you DO - no one else can do it for you. So why not try it for yourself? In addition to the Buddhist practices that you may learn, you will probably find that there are quite a few people with whom you have something in common and with whom you will quickly become friends. If you would like to follow up your interest in Buddhism, why not explore the link to the FWBO Homepage?
You are welcome to contact me by email
This page was updated on Monday 14 March 2005