Later today we have let our Little Sister Uppalavanna go. She came here as a student wanting to spend three months as a mae chee before graduating and going back to Thailand. She didn’t look the most promising nun material but she’s been marvellous. She’s used her time here properly, practised well and brought a lot of fun and joy to the place. Well done and thank you Little Sister!

Christmas was very quiet at The Forest Hermitage. Mind you it seems ages ago and I can scarcely remember what happened but then I don’t think anything much did happen. But in the week leading up to Christmas I did manage to cram in visits to seven different prisons in four days.

In the week after, in the few days between Christmas and New Year I made only one prison visit. It wasn’t much but I don’t like to miss a week without visiting prisoners somewhere. I always remember the late Lord Longford who took very seriously Christ’s encouragement to visit the prisoners and wouldn’t allow a week to pass without making a visit. I too reflect that people in prison can’t come to me, they can’t visit the Temple, so I must go to them, I must take the Temple to them.

Just before New Year’s Eve I realised that I hadn’t done anything about reminding our followers that there would be a special meditation sitting on the evening before New Year from 8pm and leading up to midnight when we would chant the New Year in. So I quickly deployed all the electronic power at my disposal to spread the word in time. Either I was unsuccessful or by then people had other plans because in the event hardly anyone turned up. But that didn’t matter. We did what we did and it was fine.

Not having organised anything I expected only a few here to offer dana on New Year’s Day but how wrong I was, we were packed. And a great time it was too. I didn’t feel much like giving a desana but then someone started me talking about my past, some of which some people find very interesting, and at least that got me talking. At one time I didn’t much like going on about myself but I appreciate that I’ve led a very unusual and interesting life and I can see that speaking about it can sometimes be useful in leading people on to hear and take an interest in the Dhamma. People also came to make merit on Monday and Tuesday and they included more Sri Lankans than usual.

Since then I’ve been out to different prisons on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and I’ve begun the process of getting ready for my annual pilgrimage to Thailand. I’ve still got a way to go and I am supposed to be on Thai’s evening flight tomorrow so I shall have to end this update soon and concentrate on such mundane matters as getting my washing dry.

I will have one night in Bangkok and then go up to Ubon to Wat Pah Nanachat to attend a Sangha gathering and meetings. On the 15th I expect to be spending time at Wat Pah Pong and then on the 16th I will join in paying our respects to Luangpor Chah on the twentieth anniversary of his passing. I expect it to be a very big occasion. After that, from the 17th onwards, I’m not sure where I’ll be apart from a few days at Phitsanuloke. I come back on the 28th. You’ll be pleased to know that Ajahn Manapo will be meeting me at Wat Pah Nanachat and staying with me while I’m in Thailand. I’ll try and update this blog while I’m away.

Now I must get a move on but before I go I want to tell you how brilliant it was today to have so many come in to see me, especially a small group from Wat Santwongsaram in Birmingham that included two particular ladies who I used to see here often but who I haven’t seen for a long time.

Now I really must go. All the very best for the New Year.

I’ve got so far behind with this blog that either I must simply carry on as if nothing much had happened for four months or I must do one posting with potted summaries of the main events since the last posting. I think I’ll try the latter. And as the latest posting is always at the top I think I’d better start with the most recent and gradually work back in time down the page. I’d better say before I begin that a number of things and events, like our Monday, Wednesday and Friday public evenings, like my visits to Khun Peter’s Thai restaurant near Baker Street where I give a talk on the first Sunday of the month, and like the quarterly workshops that we organise for Buddhist Prison Chaplains, all carry on pretty much regardless and so may not get a special mention.

The Buddha-Dhamma Fellowship AGM

Last Thursday evening we finally got around to holding the AGM of the Buddha-Dhamma Fellowship, the body that supports and administers the affairs of the Forest Hermitage. One reason for the delay had been my decision to recommend that the Constitution be amended to simplify the membership by abandoning the two tiers of Full and Associate membership, so making all members eligible to serve on the Committee as Trustees. That was done at an Extraordinary General Meeting on December 11th along with other amendments that have updated the Constitution to allow for on-line banking, meetings by video-conferencing and communication of meeting notices by email. We’ve also added a clause that requires that in the event of needing to appoint a successor to me the Sangha at Wat Nong Pah Pong should be consulted. Our AGM successfully accepted the properly and independently examined accounts and as a result of the committee elections we have a revitalised committee of nine. David King is now the Chairman, Aung Soe is the new Treasurer and Anne Hurst is the Secretary.
If you are interested in supporting the Forest Hermitage by joining the BDF, please enquire by email.

Meditation at The Treasury

At our recent Angulimala Workshop Katherine Lam who is an economist working in the Treasury asked me if I would teach a lunchtime meditation group there. What could I say? So one Wednesday morning it was an early meal for me and then down I went to London in time to meet Katherine at 11:20. Christmas lunches had rather taken over the Treasury by then so it wasn’t a very large group but worthwhile nevertheless. At the end when I was asked for tips on how to deal with the stress and pressure they’re under I just told them it’s all rubbish really and not to take it too seriously. After all as the Economy is so firmly rooted in greed there’s no hope of it ever coming right anyway. It’ll just go on and on, the same old rubbish!

I’m happy to say that Katherine is turning her back on her nice job and going off to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in January. And then later I hope she’ll be back to help us with prison chaplaincy.

An Evening at Lambeth Palace

I had an invitation to attend a lecture by Crispin Blunt, the Prisons Minister, on Restorative Justice. It was hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace before an odd mix of the great and the good who had something to do with either prisons or religion and sometimes both. The former Bishop to the Prisons replied and then it was briefly opened to the floor.

It was a very interesting and enjoyable evening and courageous I thought of such prominent public figures to stick their necks above the parapet and argue in favour of a better way of tackling the damage that crime does. We haven’t quite still got rotting hulks moored in the Thames estuary crammed with prisoners waiting to be shipped to the other side of the world but the attitudes and policies haven’t changed much since we did. The fuss is still about exacting revenge on the perpetrator with the main idea to deport or exile him to where he can’t do any more damage and then forget about him – or her. It’s really time we grew up and started learning something from what people do and what makes them do it and recognising the mess that even one simple unskilful action can make for so many and then trying to clear it up. Understanding, it’s all about understanding!

You can read the transcripts here: http://bit.ly/vIG8oA

I had a quick chat with Archbishop Rowan and rather off topic I mentioned our concerns about the Points Based Immigration rules and the difficulties they’re causing a number of Buddhist temples because it’s now nearly impossible to bring monks in from places like South-East Asia and replace monks who want to return. ‘Tell me about it!’ was his reply and he went on to say that Christians, especially the smaller foreign churches are having the same difficulties. He said that perhaps it was time for him to speak up about it again.

Ajahn Manapo off to Thailand

At the end of October, I and the Forest Hermitage had to cope with a fairly radical tectonic realignment following Ajahn Manapo’s departure for Thailand. He’s been here with me for eleven years and my right hand for about nine of those years.  Of course, not being entirely unaware of the way things are and how people grow and change I’ve lived for for some time with the thought that sooner or later he would probably want to spread his wings and go off in search of more experience. And now it’s come. Well he’s been marvellous to me and I’m ever so grateful to him and for the time he’s been with me. I’m pretty sure he goes with a good foundation and I just hope that wherever he is he’ll keep learning and growing and be amongst the best of monks.

Kathina at King’s Bromley

I’ve learnt lately that I have a bit of a reputation for not going to events at other monasteries. True, I suppose but if there’s a reason and something to do, well, that’s different. When at a Thai monastery there’s a Royal Kathina, that is where the Kathina Robe is offered by the King of Thailand or a representative on his behalf, there’s supposed to be a monk with the rank and title of Chao Khun present to recite the blessing for His Majesty. It was for this reason that I was invited and went to the Kathina at Wat Buddhavihara at King’s Bromley. It was a bit different from the sort of thing I’m used to but I was delighted to be there, honoured to officiate and pleased to be of use.

The Completion of the Vassa

The Vassa this year ended on Wednesday, October 12th and the following Saturday we had our celebration. Once again we had a good crowd with a couple of coaches coming from Khun Peter’s in London and another with students from Warwick University. And we were honoured by the presence of the Minister from the Royal Thai Embassy, M.R. Adisorndej Sukhasvasti, and his wife. It was a very happy day.

A Visit from Dr Biddulph of the Buddhist Society

I was delighted one Friday afternoon in early October to welcome to the Forest Hermitage Dr Desmond Biddulph, Chairman of the Buddhist Society and Editor of the Middle Way. He was very charming and we had a pleasant and frank discussion. Now I have an invitation to give a public talk next year at the Buddhist Society about Angulimala.

The Springhill Buddha Grove Celebration

I’m really sorry it’s taken me so long this year to write up anything about the Springhill Buddha Grove celebration on September 18th. It’s very remiss of me, especially in view of the time and trouble so many good people went to to make it happen. Once again, as has happened year in year out with only one break since 1993, Thai people gathered at Springhill Prison to cook a marvellous Thai meal for all the inmates there and the Buddhist inmates in nearby Grendon Prison. The Buddha Grove was actually built and opened in 1992 but that first year there was only soup made by the inmates, it wasn’t until the next year that the Thais started to do the cooking. Every year’s the same, first a ceremony with chanting and speeches at the Buddha Grove, then the food for everyone and after the food we process with candles, flowers and incense three times around the Buddha Grove. The whole occasion is a marvellous act of generosity and faith in the decency and goodness that all human beings are capable of and I am so proud and grateful to everyone who takes part and who makes this extraordinary occasion possible. Anumodana!

Please note that next year will be the Springhill Buddha Grove’s twentieth anniversary.

Ajahn Amaro and monks from Amaravati

It’s a tradition, usually at the beginning or near the beginning of the vassa to go and pay respects of elder monks who live nearby. This year, Ajahn Amaro, the new Abbot of Amaravati, came with a group of monks from Amaravati to see me, to pay their respects and to ask forgiveness. This is a very lovely ceremony and I deeply appreciated their going to the trouble to come all the way to see me and do this.

A Meeting of TBSUK

Our August meeting of the Theravada Buddhist Sangha in the UK, our organisation of Theravada monks and nuns, met under my chairmanship at the London Buddhist Vihara. As usual, the meeting was dominated by the trouble being cased us by the Points Based System recently adopted by Immigration. It’s making it virtually impossible for any of us to bring monks from South-east Asia to stay for any length of time. The main stumbling block is the high level of English competence required. If something isn’t done it’s only a matter of time before some of our temples have no monks.

Another week of summer coming and going and back again. The top picture was taken towards the end of July with the corn ripe but still standing. In the centre is Bhavana Dhamma, our retreat house and nun’s accommodation on the other side of Hampton Wood. The trees in the background are Hampton Wood. The second photo is one I took this morning from the other side of those cornfields. Behind me the ground falls away sharply down to the River Avon. And in front, in the centre of the picture, or just right of centre you can see Bhavana Dhamma, or really it’s the trees and hedge of the garden to the rear of Bhavana Dhamma. The harvest around here is pretty much done as you can tell from the second photo. A few days ago it felt quite autumnal already but this morning was beautiful, warm and sunny and a joy to be out and about. With the seasons appearing to come and go, sometimes within a day let alone a week, one is kept well in touch with the changeable nature of things.

As is usually the case, last week began with Sunday, which being the first Sunday of the month meant that I had to go to London for my monthly date with Khun Peter’s restaurant near Baker Street. As he was going to be away in Thailand, Khun Peter made a point of asking Sister to go with me to make sure that everything was properly organised and as we had Ex staying at the time it was a full car that swept down the motorway last Sunday morning. After a very enjoyable time at the restaurant where following the food I had given a talk and answered questions and then met with some Angulimala people, we went over to Leicester Square to visit my old friend, Victor Spinetti. When I rapped on the door of his flat it burst open and there was Victor wearing a Victor Spinetti mask! A bit of a laugh that set the tone of a hugely enjoyable afternoon reminiscing and gossiping about old times and the people we used to know, Olivier and Gielgud and a range of old friends. We talked of the importance of living in the present and of caring for the things that are happening now and caring for those people who are with us now: always, now!

On Monday morning Khun Penn gave dana for her birthday and in the afternoon Sunanda came by with a charming Vietnamese lady who is willing to help us with the growing number of Vietnamese, most of whom don’t speak English, in our prisons. On Tuesday I was at Gartree prison in the afternoon and at Stocken in the evening. Then on Wednesday we had a meeting of TBSUK, the Theravada Buddhist Sangha in the UK, at London Buddhist Vihara. On Thursday I was at Wellingborough prison for the afternoon and on Friday I didn’t go out or have any engagements.

      At Wat Mahadhatu in 1971                 At the Forest Hermitage on Saturday

On Saturday I had a very special guest. In 1971 when I arrived in Thailand a Thai monk who was then living and studying in England returned to Thailand to do a study of a Thai village and having helped me with my ordination as a samanera he took me to Ubon to help him with his work. For me that glimpse of traditional life in a remote little village called Ban Pai Yai was an invaluable experience. Then he took me to a couple of Wat Pah Pong’s branch monasteries and eventually to Wat Pah Pong itself, where he introduced me to Luang Por Chah. Three of four years later Phra Maha Raundej Srimuni, for that was his name, disrobed and I saw no more of him until a few years ago and then again on Saturday when he came here to visit me.

On Saturday afternoon I went to visit another old friend. This was not such a happy occasion. Crane, Khun Yod’s son, kindly drove me the 150 miles to Ipswich, where I went to a hospice to see David who just over seven years ago lived here and drove for me. Sadly, he is dying of cancer and has only a few days left to live. What could I say but aging and death are closing in on all of us, what else is there but to practise the Dhamma.

Last Sunday, July 17th, we held our celebration of Asalha Puja when we remember the Buddha’s First Sermon. It was a lovely occasion and we were particularly fortunate because when it was time to go outside for the pindapaht (almsround) the rain stopped and the sun came out. Later on, after the food and when I’d given a talk we were again blessed with sunshine.

Later when almost everyone had gone we had a surprise visit from the Thai Ambassador and then just as he was leaving who should walk in but my old and very dear friend Victor Spinetti. He’s probably best known for having been in all the Beatle films and it was while working on a play that he and John Lennon compiled of John’s verse and that Victor directed and that I was in that we became friends about 43 or 44 years ago. I was so pleased to see him.

     With H.E. Mr Kitti Wasinondh                               With Victor Spinetti

On Monday, June 13th, in the company of Sister Khema and Dharmachari Sunanda I nipped down the M40 for an evening at Admiralty House in Whitehall. The event we had been invited to was billed as a reception to celebrate the contribution of the Buddhist community to the UK and the invitation had come from the Rt Hon Baroness Warsi PC. What it was all about we couldn’t quite understand and when we got there it seemed we weren’t the only ones.

It was back in April when Lord Avebury emailed me to say that the Baroness’ office had been in touch with him and asked his help with drawing up a guest list for a reception that would be attended by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. Since then there had been various conversations and tweaks to the programme. The PM and Deputy PM had both dropped out and the military presence toned down. I still hadn’t been terribly happy about it and at one stage I thought I wouldn’t go but in the end there I was that Monday evening, the three of us in Whitehall trying to get past the security lady on the gate. She wasn’t of the brightest I’m afraid and seemed to have great difficulty manipulating her glasses and reading her two versions of the guest list. In the end we took the sheets of paper from her, pointed to our names and that was it, but we could have pointed to anyone’s name and in fact Sister Khema’s was already ticked off but it didn’t seem to matter.

By the time we got in such non-alcoholic, liquid refreshment as they could afford at a Government function in these straightened times had practically run out and you could see why, the place was packed! Buddhists of all shapes and sizes, types and schools, robed and not – the dress code by the way had been lounge suit or national dress! – were mingling in animated conversation. Such cocktail party type events have never been my thing so I hung about on the fringes and avoided the main room, which meant I missed Baroness Warsi’s words of welcome and her mangling of some reference to me and Angulimala. Profuse apologies followed later when we were introduced. But before then and perhaps the best part of the evening for me was meeting again Ricky Hyde-Chambers who I hadn’t seen for forty years. I also ran into Dr Biddulph of the Buddhist Society who several times said he would come up and see me as though he could hardly bear to live another day without doing so.

The most grotesque part of the evening had to be the military presence: uniformed and bemedalled, the Armed Forces Buddhist Society if you please. This goes to show how far some of what currently purports to be Buddhist has moved from what the Buddha taught. A few years ago when the then Government decided to appoint a Buddhist chaplain to the Armed Forces I supported the idea, not because I support the Armed Forces or in any way, shape or form condone warfare or support violence, but because I recognise that in the Armed Forces are people, men and women, suffering humanity who might benefit by hearing about and practising Buddhism. The mistake was for the Buddhist chaplain to be directly employed by the Ministry of Defence. I was part of the original committee set up to endorse and monitor the Armed Forces Buddhist Chaplain, a committee that still exists but for the time being has no influence and I remember saying at the MoD one day that if Forces personnel converted to Buddhism they would have to resign. Why? Because what people in the Forces are trained to do and expected to do is incompatible with what the Buddha taught. Sunil, the Armed Forces Buddhist Chaplain, once disagreed with me when I said that being a soldier was wrong livelihood, he insisted that only trading in weapons was wrong livelihood! How he managed to work out that it was not all right to sell them but all right to use them I don’t know. Some of those medals so ostentatiously on display that evening must have been campaign medals, some might have been for extraordinary acts of bravery but I’ll bet that none were for keeping the Five Precepts on the battlefield. However splendid the uniforms and glamorous the marching bands, however stirring and romantic the tales of valour and of past campaigns, the sad and undeniable reality is that the Armed Forces and the men and women in them are there to impose the Government’s will by force and if necessary by killing and maiming fellow human beings and damaging and destroying their property. There’s no getting away from it, when the army goes into action the five precepts go out of action.

I’m glad the Government took the trouble to acknowledge our presence and the contribution we make and I’m sure that were there more in British society observing moral precepts and practising the Noble Eightfold Path it would have a profound effect and make of us a much happier, fairer and more contented nation.

This year, far from being the merrie month of traditional folklore, May was for us a most unusual and demanding month. First there was the transformation of the kitchen, then the arrival of a party of monks led by Luangpor Liam, Abbot of Wat Pah Pong, and thirdly and most spectacular, our Visakha Puja celebration, the largest gathering we have ever had at The Forest Hermitage.

It was on the second Wednesday of May, as I talked to a group of prison chaplains, here to learn something of Buddhism as part of the Prison Service’s World Religions Course, that a series of thumps and bangs from the other side of the wall heralded the destruction of our old kitchen. In the next few days that miserable and barely fit for purpose place was cast into outer darkness and the stage set for a new beginning. In all it was two weeks of disruption, during which we went to eat every day at Bhavana Dhamma, our annexe on the other side of Hampton Wood where Sister Khema and Maureen live and where occasional retreats and women visitors are accommodated, before the curtain rose on our bright, shiny and beautifully appointed new kitchen.

While that work was going on some other repairs and redecoration, a slight modification to the Shrine Room and the installation of a new sound system, were also put in hand. These, together with a great deal of lively discussion were all part of our preparations for a visit by Luangpor Liam and Luangpor Anek with three other monks, Ajahn Kevali,  Tahn Moshe and Tahn Asoko in tow, and the mammoth Visakha Puja celebration at which they would be the guests of honour that we’d been planning for weeks. One of the important questions we had to address was where to put them for the four days they would be with us. As anyone who has spent any time here knows, we are woefully short of accommodation and we were expecting some students to stay and help as well as Ajahn Cittagutto, the first monk to be ordained at The Forest Hermitage who now normally lives in the North of Thailand. Fortunately, Sister and Maureen generously volunteered to absent themselves from Bhavana Dhamma for a few days so that our guests could be comfortably accommodated there. Maureen booked into a local Bed and Breakfast place and one of our Thai supporters gave Sister her spare room to sleep in. Inevitably not all our preparations went entirely without a hitch, one of the marquees we’d ordered didn’t show up in time and the mobile toilet was only with great difficulty and some skill manoeuvred through our gate and into position. But we made it and by the evening of Saturday, May 28th, just in time for their arrival, we were ready.

Now here I must digress for a moment to mention a special occasion earlier on that day. It was the naming ceremony for the great-grandson of an old friend of mine. Way back when I first discovered Buddhism and started attending the Hampstead Vihara there was another actor who used to be seen there. He was twenty years older than me and a much more experienced Buddhist. His name was John Garrie. When I returned to Hampstead with Ajahn Chah in 1977, John reappeared and became quite a favourite with Luangpor Chah. By then John had become a Buddhist and meditation teacher in his own right, he’d established the Sati Society and become known as John Garrie Roshi. When I had a place on the Isle of Wight John came to stay and later visited me here and remained a good friend until his death in 1999. That morning of May 28th John’s daughter, Gail, was here and with her her big son and with him his little son. I am so delighted to retain this contact with John and his children and it was such a pleasure to have them here, to have Gail cook for us and offer the meal and for me to perform that simple but important ceremony.

Now back to the evening and the moment when we got the call that the vehicle carrying our guests was near Junction 15, the motorway junction on the M40 closest to The Forest Hermitage. Dropping everything we dashed through the forest to be ready and in place to receive them. Just in time as I adjusted my robe, from an upstairs window I spotted their blue bus approaching in the lane across the fields and in a few minutes it had turned and wound its way round the bend and into the track that leads down to Bhavana Dhamma. Coolly, we sauntered out to greet them.

We welcomed them inside and paid our respects. Then showed them their rooms and introduced them to the two Thai laymen who would be staying to look after them, Khun Yod who had postponed his holiday by a few days for the privilege and Khun Art who had only just got back in time from Thailand. Then, although some were ready for a rest, a walk was suggested and so with Luangpor Liam we strolled across the field and down the lane and into Wat Pah Santidhamma, The Forest Hermitage.

Next morning it was all systems go. Three coaches were expected from London, another from Warwick Uni and we had no idea how many cars might have to be parked in the lane. Into all this was injected the possibility that a local farmer might be driving his sheep past at any moment! Thankfully the rain was holding off, the marquees that we’d put up the previous afternoon were still up, the mobile toilets were plugged in and all then that was left was to see if our elaborate plans for the food, the rice pindabaht, and the events of the afternoon would work out. Well, I’m very proud and grateful to be able to say that they did. We must have had over three hundred people here and it was marvellous how well organised it was. On the pindabaht, the almsround, the line of people waiting to put rice in our bowls stretched all the way round the Pagoda garden and through and out into and around the rough field garden, past the Ajahn Chah tree and into the car park where the food tent was. One of our visiting monks counted 274 people putting rice in our bowls. This was by far the biggest event we’ve ever had here.

When everyone had eaten we came out to pay our respects at the Buddha-Rupa under the Ajahn Chah Memorial Tree and then with candles, flowers and incense we processed around and into the Pagoda garden, around the Chedi and up to the Walking Buddha Image where we laid our offerings. Then we came inside and before hearing a sermon performed the forgiveness ceremony: the lay congregation asked forgiveness of the Sangha and presented ceremonial offerings to the three senior monks and then Luangpor Liam granted the forgiveness and in turn asked the laity to forgive us and followed their acquiescence with the recitation of a blessing. It was then Luangpor Anek’s turn and he gave a fine sermon in Thai which Ajahn Kevali translated. And the afternoon concluded with more chanting and the sprinkling of the holy water over the heads of the congregation.

Monday, which also happened to be a Bank Holiday and not a day for travel, was fairly relaxed. A crowd came in the morning to offer food but it wasn’t until the early evening that we went anywhere and then it was only to Stratford for a look at the Butterfly Farm. The husband of a couple who come here is manager and part owner and he and his Thai wife opened up specially for us and gave us a fascinating guided tour. Afterwards we crossed the river to the church where Shakespeare is buried and walked slowly back along the river bank past the new theatre and gardens. As you can imagine the photo opportunities were legion and far too good to miss. Later, looking at this shot of us in front of the theatre, I couldn’t help thinking that way back in 1966, when with the National Theatre I’d spent a week at Stratford on tour, I never dreamt that one day I’d be appearing in a scene like this.

Again on Tuesday we had a small crowd bring food in the morning and then in the afternoon we took a short drive to Baddesley Clinton for a look round this famous old moated manor house and gardens. It was something to do although I don’t think they were terribly interested and I missed my chance to point out the priest holes and tell them of England’s turbulent and bloody religious past.

Wednesday was the Uposatha and early in the morning before the meal we heard Patimokkha. Ajahn Manapo was the reciter, the first time he’d done it for some years. Then they went to pack so that as soon as the meal was over and the last photos taken they could be on their way to Leamington Spa Railway Station to catch the train for Newcastle and the North. We’d thought about their visit and planned for weeks and suddenly it was all over.

My gratitude and congratulations to everyone who worked so hard and contributed so generously in so many ways to help us and make a success of this visit and our Visakha Puja celebration. Anumodana!

More photographs can be seen here.

And courtesy of Khun Peter there are some more photos here, and here and a video here.

The wheel turns and once again it’s time to celebrate Visakha Puja, when we remember the Birth, Enlightenment and Passing of the Buddha. Tradition has it that they each occurred on a full moon of the lunar month of Visakha. Note, not the full moon of May but the full moon of Visakha, a lunar month that corresponds roughly with May and sometimes early June.
The story goes that Queen Maya of the Sakyans was on her way to her parental home to prepare for the birth of her first child when, on the full moon of Visakha, she stopped to rest at the Lumbini Garden and there was delivered of a baby boy. This was no ordinary child, not just a prince, but a Bodhisatta, a being dedicated to Enlightenment and engaged in the long process of becoming a Buddha, and it is said that he soon declared that this would be his last birth. When shown the child, the great sage Asita foretold that this boy would be a Buddha and set turning the matchless wheel of Dhamma or Truth, a phenomenon that he, Asita, would sadly not live to see. And there were similar prophecies at the child’s naming ceremony when it was said that he would be either a monarch or a a great religious, although one of the brahmin priests present was confident that he would certainly become a Buddha.
Then when he was thirty-five, on another Visakha full moon, after having woken up to the realities of old age, sickness and death and having consequently gone forth in search of answers and endured all manner of trials and privations, seated under a great tree he realised Full Enlightenment and became the Buddha.
Finally, at the ripe old age of eighty, he set out on his final journey and walking by stages after three months arrived at Kusinara where at the Visakha full moon, lying on his right between twin sal trees the Parinibbana or final passing took place. By traditional reckoning this was two thousand, five hundred and fifty-four  years ago, which since this is how we count the Buddhist Era makes this year BE 2554.
I should think it’s easy to understand why we celebrate the birth and the Enlightenment because after all had the Bodhisatta not been born he couldn’t have grown up and gone forth in search of something higher and better and not subject to old age, sickness and death; and had he not realised Enlightenment there would have been no Buddha and no Buddhism. But why, you might well ask, would we want to celebrate his passing? After all it’s more usual to be sad and mourn the loss of someone special to you, someone you admire and who inspires you. How on earth can you celebrate his death? Well the answer is we don’t celebrate his death, we celebrate his Enlightenment with nothing remaining, usually described as his Parinibbana. We don’t speak of Buddhas and Enlightened Beings dying because we understand death to be followed by rebirth and inevitably, more suffering. But Buddhas and Enlightened Ones have completely and utterly extinguished the craving from which suffering flows and which fuels the round of rebirth. It is that victory over rebirth and suffering that we celebrate and which with his perfect example and  inspirational teachings gives us hope.
The next question has to be how do we celebrate these special occasions? Well, first of all what we shouldn’t do is to simply use a celebration as an excuse to follow our desire for pleasure and allow ourselves to be distracted and lost in fun and games, silly jokes and too much food and drink. It makes no sense to celebrate the Enlightened Mind, an inner attitude entirely free of greed, hatred and delusion, by doing the very things that foster and reinforce in our own minds those very defilements. I’m sure we’re all attracted by entertainment; there’s no doubt it’s enjoyable but does it do us any good? In a famous dialogue with an actor manager called Talaputa that once had a big impact on me, the Buddha pointed out that actors during a performance, while they might give pleasure and entertain also draw their audiences ever deeper into delusion, and in the process cause them to experience even more and more feelings of desire and aversion than usual and so rather than a favourable rebirth an actor’s destiny is likely to be a lower realm. From comments like this we ought to understand that watching and listening to entertainments are not really suitable ways of honouring the Buddha. If we’re to come out of suffering we have to try and understand the impact of what we say and do, both material and psychological, on ourselves and others and do our best to at least avoid what is harmful and incompatible with Buddhist training,
Then what do we do to celebrate these great occasions? Well coming to a Buddhist temple should be something special, it’s a place where you do special things, things that pertain to being a better person and ultimately getting free of your suffering. So the format that our celebrations follow includes the practice of Dana, Sila and Bhavana, that is Giving, Virtue and Cultivation. People usually bring food, vegetarian food, to offer and share, and many other things that they think might be useful and a help to us, they reaffirm and practise precepts and they cultivate their minds by listening to the Dhamma and being in a peaceful and special place. And if the weather is favourable we process three times around the main Buddha Rupa or Chedi. In addition, this year for Visakha Puja we are being honoured by the presence of some important guests and I sincerely hope you will make the most of this rare opportunity and join us on May 29th to remember the Buddha’s Birth, Enlightenment and Passing.
In early 1972, when I first joined Wat Nong Pah Pong, the monastery in NE Thailand of the late, great Ajahn Chah, there were several Thai monks there of roughly my age and we were all relatively young then. We were about the same age but they were nearly all senior to me because generally Thais ordain at around twenty whereas I was almost twenty-eight when I ordained. Two of them, one who is a little older than me and another who is a little younger and both very senior, are visiting England this summer and they with three younger European monks who are accompanying them on their trip, will be with us for our public celebration of Visakha Puja on May 29th. Ven. Chao Khun Rajabhavanavikrom (Luangpor Liam) is now the Abbot of Wat Nong Pah Pong, while Ven. Phrakru Nikrodhammabhorn (Luangpor Anek) has his own monastery about half-an-hour’s drive from Wat Pah Pong. Ajahn Cittagutto, the first monk to be ordained at the Forest Hermitage will also be here, paying his annual visit. It looks like being a very big day and we welcome your interest, your help and your joyful participation.
Our preparations for their visit and our big day have included some redecorating and a few jobs that we’ve meant to do for ages. And our rather grubby and decrepit kitchen has had a total makeover. A few weeks ago a Chinese group that occasionally comes to see us were here and because that day the old gas hob was playing up, mention was made of a gas cooker that they thought might be available for nothing. They were right, it was and it was not long before it was here and our Chinese friends had very generously decided to give us a really good kitchen to accommodate it. So all the old units were ripped out and soon what had been our kitchen looked like a bomb site. And then the transformation began. At the time of writing it’s still being painted, although mostly finished but not yet operational. We are of course enormously grateful to all who have made this possible. Anumodana!
In the midst of all this we’ve just had a brief visit from Ajahn Sopa, another Wat Pah Pong monk whom I’ve known for years. We ordained the same year but again, he’s a few years younger than me.
In the meantime, we carry on with what we always do here. When he’s not staying up all night painting the kitchen Ajahn Manapo looks after the school visits and as I’ve been doing for so many years I continue with my prison visits and my enjoyable weekly date with Warwick University Buddhist Society.

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Sayadaw U Thilawunta supervised the building of our pagoda in 1988 and named it the English Shwe Dagon Pagoda. The main structure was completed on 8/8/88 after 8 days of building. Sayadaw U Thilawunta, also known as Aung Ming Aung Sayadaw, passed away on March 17th and his funeral was earlier today in Rangoon. He would have been 99 in June. We were asked to join in lighting a hundred candles for him at the pagoda, a ceremony to be repeated all over the world at other pagodas he built. So after Evening Chanting and the Sitting this evening that is what we did.

Towards the end of March, on what seemed to be the first brilliantly sunny day of the year I was back on my beloved Isle of Wight. It was only for a few hours and I was there to visit the prisons, technically one now as all three have been grouped under the title of HMP Isle of Wight. That doesn’t really sound too good. Anyone would think the whole island was a prison. We left Warwickshire at a quarter to six in the morning and we were back fifteen hours later. It’d been an easy run and a smooth crossing both ways.

In the morning I visited the Buddhist group in Albany. Then when I came out we had nearly a couple of hours to kill so off we went to look up a few of my old haunts. When he came to see me a few months ago Luang Por Sumedho told me that his great grandfather had been born at Godshill on the Isle of Wight. This came as a bit of a shock because my great grandfather lived at Rookley which is two and a half miles from Godshill and they would have been contemporaries. I verified this as I told Ajahn Sumedho later by a little research on the Internet. He said he’d never been to Godshill so while I was there I made a point of going to Godshill. This photos is of me standing in the High Street, close to the Wesleyan Chapel which has a plaque that announces that it was built in 1838. Both our great grandfathers would have passed it as a relatively new building. Who knows, they might have stopped to pass the time of day at this very spot. In the extreme background is an ancient pub called the Loaves and Fishes and next to it is the Model Village that I remember visiting on a very damp day as a ten year old.

There was just time for a stroll by the sea at Shanklin and then a quick run past the house at Little Duxmore that had once been the first Buddhist Vihara on the Isle of Wight. I’d forgotten how wonderful the island is. Then it was a dash back to Newport in time to spend the afternoon first in Parkhurst and then in Camp Hill. These with Pentonville in London were the first prisons I ever visited back in 1977 and I continued going there until long after I’d moved to Warwickshire and The Forest Hermitage.