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A few weeks ago we had too much rubbish for our wheely bins and had to put out some in an old fashioned dustbin. When the bloke who collects the rubbish arrived to empty them Maureen just happened to be there and hear the polite refusal to even touch our dustbin. Apparently it was more than the chap’s job was worth because if an agent in an unmarked car snapped him laying a finger on our old dustbin he would be sacked. So when he’d emptied the wheely bins this strapping fellow stood there and watched while seventy-nine year old Maureen emptied the dustbin into a wheely bin which he could then empty into his dustcart or whatever you call it now!

All conditioned things are impermanent, including pretty little Jack Russells. Last Wednesday in the middle of a busy week – I was in and out of six prisons in five days and attended a Burmese memorial in London on Saturday – my little Tommy Trouble died. It was just six and a half weeks since he had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and eleven years and four months since he had come into my life on March 17th, 1998. He was a frightened little chap then and not at all used to people. The slightest thing would alarm him. I couldn’t even raise my voice to call him, if I did he would run away. I’d got him because Oscar, my big Doberman was so upset at the loss of Toby, the first dog I had here, and I couldn’t bear to see Oscar so depressed. But Tommy was clearly in Oscar’s eyes no replacement for the friend he’d worshipped. Poor Tommy, he was such a pretty little fellow but clearly had had not the best of beginnings. He soon got the measure of me and later had no fear of me whatsoever and whether it suited me or not would do as he pleased. He so much wanted to be accepted and loved and yet he could be so difficult. He had various nicknames, Tommy Trouble was one and another was Ajahn Tommy because he could be such a teacher of patience. As Oscar aged and shortly before he died I acquired Ben and then Ben and Tommy would play together. It often seemed that Tommy would egg Ben on to pull something down that was well out of his reach and then the pair of them could rip it up. I would come back to find all kinds of mayhem but the worst was when Ben had taken the discarded and full hoover bag out of the flip-top bin and they had had a whale of a time trashing it! He gave me some frights too. Once, late at night, I was walking him and Oscar in the long grass by the river and Tommy was having to keep up by sort of bunny-hopping through the grass. The trouble was he couldn’t see where he was going and all of a sudden with a loud plop he landed in the river at the bottom of a steep bank. Fortunately I was just able to reach him with my stick and hook him up the bank to where I could grab him. I’ve often wondered how I would have felt if he’d been swept away and I’d had to come back without him. He was a very independent little chap and life without him is already quite different. In the lead up to his passing he obviously wasn’t well but for the most part he didn’t seem too uncomfortable and I’m glad to say he didn’t appear to suffer overmuch.

So thanks Tommy and have a good rebirth.

This was the last picture I took of him, lying in the sun the morning of the day he died.

Made it! Sixty-five today.

The other day I said to some schoolgirls who asked me if we celebrated birthdays that there was a time when I didn’t bother much with my own and used to feel rather self-conscious about it. I only changed as my birthdays began to be something of an achievement. But after this one I think I’ll go back to trying to ignore them. The contemplation of aging is healthy and useful up to a point but if you think too much about getting old, you get old and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.

Forty years ago when I was in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead at the National Theatre, I remember Guildenstern used to ask the Player King, “Whatever happens to old actors?” “Nothing,” shot back the reply, “they just go on acting.” Now when people ask me what happens to old monks I borrow and adapt that quotation a little. “Nothing,” I say, ” they just go on monking.”

I must say, I’ve had a very nice birthday. I had a few cards and many birthday wishes, especially on Facebook, and a couple of nice presents. So thank you all very much.

Asalha Puja, the anniversary of the Buddha’s first sermon when he set rolling the Wheel of the Dhamma, fell this year on July 7th. And on the following day we entered the Vassa for this year. The Buddha’s first sermon is important not just because it was the first time he attempted to offer others the fruits of his Enlightenment and guide them towards a similar experience but also because it contains the Buddha’s essential messsage, the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.  The Vassa or Punsah is the three month long Rains Retreat that the Buddha ordered all bhikkhus to observe every year. It was originally his response to complaints that the growing number of bhikkhus were damaging the crops as they wandered from place to place but as the years have passed it’s grown into a time of stability for Buddhist monasteries when more formal instruction and practice can be observed. As usual our publice celebration had to take place on a Sunday and we chose the Sunday after, July 12th. Perhaps because the weather seemed not to be able to make up its mind, the turnout was not the largest we’ve known but the sun did finally agree to shine and we had a very lovely time of it.

As well as the customary supplies, £375 was collected towards the day to day expenses of the monastery and there as a useful discussion about what it costs to keep the place going. Anumodana!

Last Saturday about forty supporters of The Forest Hermitage led by Ven. Manapo toiled up Snowdon in atrocious weather on a sponsored walk to raise funds and help see off what is still owed over the purchase of Bhavana Dhamma (Wood Cottage). Not wishing to show any of these young people up by beating them to the top and in any case, not having been invited, I stayed behind to mind the monastery.  Here, apart from the threat of a shower or two, the weather was lovely, warm and sunny, but on Snowdon, apparently, it was another story.  They all got very wet and the cafe at the top was so packed that when he got to it poor Tahn Manapo couldn’t get inside, so he had to do the return trip back down the mountain without the benefit of the hot drink that others had enjoyed.  Fortunately no one came to any harm and most I think had a pretty good time facing the elements and watching their minds I hope.  Certainly it was a great achievement and a tremendous help to us to keep the Buddha’s precious Dhamma available here.  I am aware of course that a number of those walkers had also been on retreats at Bhavana Dhamma and know what a precious place it is.  We don’t know yet how much was raised as money and cheques are still coming in but I’ll keep updating the total in the page under the Latest News tab.

Well done everybody and Anumodana!

Just over a week ago at the Angulimala Workshop I told the story of an afternoon several years ago when I was sitting in the chaplaincy office at one of our major prisons looking up the list of Buddhists. While I was doing that, at the same time most of the Christian chaplains of various denominations were also in that rather large office and for a few minutes I was distracted by a conversation that had sprung up amongst them. It concerned the Ten Commandments. Now, as a schoolboy trying to be a devout Christian I could have recited all ten of those commandments and so I couldn’t help being pretty surprised that afternoon to hear that collection of diverse Christian chaplains that might have numbered as many as ten unable between them to remember all ten of the Ten Commandments. I remember thinking how unlike Buddhists who then I would have expected to have had similarly important lists of Buddhist precepts and teachings at the tips of their fingers, so to speak.

But times have been changing and with the New Age influence and perhaps a change in the way people are educated I notice now that many who attend Buddhist classes are not so inclined to commit things to memory and probably regard the lists of teachings that they might hear or come across in Buddhist texts as dry, unattractive and somehow apart from the feelings of love and peace that they’ve somehow come to associate with Buddhism. But Buddhism is not about feelings, or at least feelings however nice are not what we are trying to promote and certainly not what I want to draw attention to at this moment.

No one needs to learn everything that can be found in the manuals of Buddhism but to get anywhere you need to have some idea of how to get there and the better you know the way the quicker you will arrive, that’s obvious. So let me encourage you to learn and memorise at least some of the essential teachings and not to be afraid of the lists, they are invaluable mnemonic devices and useful too to contemplate and flesh out with your understanding and imagination.

URGENT NEED for a Live-In Helper

Rob, who will have been with us for just over a year cooking and driving, is to leave at the end of July to visit and care for his father in Zimbabwe.

By then we are anxious to have someone to take over cooking and general housekeeping. If that someone can drive that would be an advantage but Tom is set to return for the driving.

We offer accommodation and food, a beautiful place to stay and a great opportunity for some worthwhile practice.

If you think this might suit you, please get in touch as soon as possible.

Up late and up early again preparing for the day.

Around 7:45 took Ben for a quick and rather wet walk in the fields out of our back gate.

At 8:30 had my meal, not too much, didn’t want to be heavy and sleepy.

By 10 o’clock it was time to call everyone to gather in the Shrine Room for chanting and meditation. A pretty good attendance with 23 Buddhist prison chaplains here for the day, or most of it. We ended with a few minutes of metta-bhavana.

Then at 11:00 it was into the adjacent room, sometimes called the small shrine room, for the first of our meetings. This was mostly fairly mundane business, updating everyone with the latest news of things that might affect them. I also had a few words to say about why we do what we do and it shouldn’t be for money, although I appreciate that people have bills to pay. Then I said that while I don’t want to interfere too much I nevertheless do have to endorse everyone who becomes a Buddhist prison chaplain and I do need to ensure that they all know enough about what they have to do. I told them that I was thinking of adding a Buddhist quiz as a regular feature of these workshops and I was pleased to see how well that was received.

While we were talking the hands of the clock travelled round well past 12:30 and by the time of the break for lunch Juliet Lyon, our guest speaker for the afternoon, was already here. Lunch was the usual buffet and gave everyone ample time to chat. I managed a quick coffee and also did the rounds.

We resumed just before 2pm when we welcomed Juliet Lyon, Director of the Prison Reform Trust, to the hot seat. She talked for about an hour about PRT and a number of prison concerns that we share. And then she took questions that really could have gone on and on but somewhere just before 4 o’clock I called for a tea break. Then, when we eventually got everyone back, we concluded the afternoon with the report-in, when we go round the room and each chaplain speaks for a few minutes about what they’ve been doing and how things are for them and the Buddhist inmates in the prison they visit. I think that went on until around 6 o’clock. Juliet stayed for that and when it was over Rob drove her over to her mother’s in Henley in Arden where she was going to spend the night.

Next was the committee meeting but before we began I asked another Rob who is Buddhist chaplain to some of the Kent prisons and a retired vet to have a look at Tommy, my little old Jack Russell. Tommy hadn’t been right for a day or so and was by then breathing heavily. Rob diagnosed heart failure and so I asked Tahn Manapo to ring the emergency vet. We had to wait for our Rob to come back with the car before we could take Tommy in to see the vet. The committee meeting got under way and we’d almost finished it when Rob returned and Tahn Manapo and I then set off with Tommy for the vet’s surgery in Warwick, leaving the rest of the committee to discuss the last item.

We got Tommy into the vet’s at a quarter-to-eight and it was Mrs White who was on duty. I hadn’t seen her since she came to treat one of our goats in 1988. She weighed and examined Tommy and confirmed that it was heart failure, congestive heart failure I’ve learnt since. So he had to have an injection and a course of pills.

When I got back to the Hermitage the committee meeting was long over but Natasha who I had asked if she might be interested in taking on Buddhist chaplaincy at Lewes Prison was waiting to see me. So then I sat and talked to her until nearly 10 o’clock. Then it was back to my kuti and back to my unfinished newsletter and a determined attempt to have it ready for a big mailing planned for the following afternoon that would include details of the Snowdon sponsored walk in aid of the Bhavana Dhamma (Wood Cottage) debt. It was several hours before I briefly hit the horizontal, but I made it and all went out as planned.

Tan Manapo, or perhaps really we ought to be calling him Ajahn Manapo since he does so much excellent teaching now, was away for a week on retreat at some remote and beautiful place in Scotland (I did get a postcard) and so I was left here cared for first by Ex and then by Guy.
Fortunately it proved to be a relatively quiet week and at last the yobs left us alone. This might have been because of the letters some of them will have received from the police, or maybe because the police have stepped up their presence in our lane or perhaps because Ann, Tan Manapo’s mum, has been driving up and down outside as well as periodically sitting in her car in the wood gateway opposite ready to have a word with anyone making any trouble for us. Quite which of these did the trick I don’t know or it could have been their combined forces but whatever the reason we’ve had no trouble for a week now.
Still our additional fortifications have slowly taken shape and sometime next week the fencing that supplements the new gate will be complete.
Tan Manapo and Rob got back from Scotland yesterday and almost immediately a short weekend retreat at Bhavana Dhamma began.
Now, after my busy week without A. Manapo, I’m enjoying a pleasant and sunny afternoon.
By the way a young man from a Thai restaurant in London came here today with a bag of coins – 175 quid’s worth of tips that he’d saved to offer. Anumodana!

The Forest Hermitage has a new gate.

Actually it’s the old one made so that you can’t see through and inside. This gate started life as quite a modest barrier but because of trouble had soon to be made bigger. Now again, after recent weeks of disturbances almost nightly and sometimes several times a night, from young yobs we’ve had no alternative but to go to the expense and trouble of increasing it again. Fortunately it’s only at night and when the farmer drives his sheep past that it has to be shut and perhaps many of you won’t notice it. But there it is, these days we have to live with a culture of disrespect.

Celebrating Visakha Puja in various places towards the end of last week I several times described how the Birth, Enlightenment and Passing of the Buddha had each not only occurred on a Full Moon of the ancient lunar month of Visakha but also they had all taken place out in the open, shaded by great trees. Then last Sunday, for our Visakha Puja Celebration here at The Forest Hermitage, so glorious was the weather that after we had circumambulated the Image of the Buddha beneath the tree three times, we felt compelled to stay seated in the open, not all of us too well shaded, but just as it had been for the events we were celebrating, in the open, for the remainder of our celebration, the Dhamma talks and the blessing.

Today we had our meal early and then set off for London and Leicester Square where we were to join the Bathing of the Baby Buddha Celebration organised by the London Fo Guang Temple. This is an annual event and as I said in my short speech, it’s one of the highlights of my year. This time I took the opportunity to reveal one of my latest ideas, one that has become a dream that I would love to see come true. In this great and marvellous city, in London, which isn’t just the capital of the United Kingdom but a major city of the world, we as yet have no major building that honours the Buddha. We have a few that dishonour him, the Buddha Bar etc, but no place of national importance where Buddhists can gather, where celebrations like this one in Leicester Square could be held and where the great festivals of Buddhism could be given the national significance and respect they so richly deserve. I said that I had thought to call for the building of a Buddhist cathedral but then I had come round to thinking that cathedrals can be pretty deadly places and that what is really wanted is a Buddhist powerhouse. Which led me to think of the place that once supplied London with electricity. Wouldn’t it be marvellous if Battersea Power Station could be transformed into a Buddhist powerhouse!

Lord Avebury also attended and my old friend from far off theatre days, Victor Spinetti, perched himself outside and listened before signalling that he was off home and would see us later. Victor lives nearby in a little flat overlooking China Town and that’s where we repaired to afterwards for jasmine tea and to be marvellously entertained with anecdotes and tales from Victor’s rich and varied past.

We got back to the Forest Hermitage just in time to see that all was ready for our celebration tomorrow.

This was the scene at the end of our meeting on Monday of the Armed Forces Buddhist Chaplaincy Endorsing Authority. From the left, Lama Jampa Thaye, Rev. Saido Kennaway, myself, Dh. Sunanda and Colin Ash. We met as we so often do in the London Fo Guang Temple near Oxford Circus. They’re very kind to us there and look after us very well with tea and refreshments.

The purpose of this group as it was originally conceived is to endorse and support the Buddhist chaplain to the Armed Forces. It was properly constituted as an independent body and successfully lobbied for the original part time appointment of the Armed Forces’ Buddhist chaplain to be upgraded and become full time. Unfortunately there was a totally unconstitutional attempt to get rid of four of us and reconvene a new committee with a different membership. That was of course unacceptable to us but apparently not unacceptable to the Ministery of Defence despite the two successive ministers concerned repeatedly saying that the provision of a Religious Endorsing Authority for the Buddhist Civilian Chaplain to the Armed Forces is a matter for the Buddhist communities to agree on. Although by now it should be plain that we do not agree with the MoD’s appointment of Ron Maddox as the Buddhist Religious Adviser to the Armed Forces they stubbornly insist on retaining him. More importantly this whole business brings up the vital question of how the Government and its agencies contact and consult with the Buddhist communities. It is plainly ridiculous to hang on to the Buddhist Society, a lay organisation of limited membership, run by a small inner circle in SW London, as the recognised primary point of contact. I think I only know three people who belong to it and probably most of the Thais, Burmese and Sri Lankans who come here have never heard of it.

Most of our time on Monday afternoon then was occupied with how we might resolve the current impasse and move things forward.

You can find more details under the tab Forces Chaplaincy.

At last I’ve begun to get back up to speed. For the first two weeks after we got back from Thailand I couldn’t do very much because of the weather, then I got some sort of virus that I seemed to shake off pretty quickly, but that was followed by trouble with a tooth and when I went to the dentist I came away minus two old friends that must have been with me for well over fifty years. The next day I felt dreadful and so then I had more than a week of coping with an infected cavity. But that’s all over now and the last ten days have been pretty active.

A week ago Saturday we had an Angulimala Workshop that was very well attended and which appeared to go extraordinarily well, especially as there was no guest speaker and they had to put up with quite a lot from me. One of the things we discussed was the creeping appropriation of Mindfulness practice and techniques by psychologists, psychotherapists and the like. I was at pains to point out that what Buddhism teaches is Right Mindfulness which is mindfulness skilfully directed and invested with Wisdom and Virtue.

On Monday I visited a Regional Secure Unit for a meeting about a patient who I know there.

On Tuesday I had an early meal then set off for Send Prison in Surrey where at 11:15 there was to be the opening of the new Multifaith building. Fortunately we managed to avoid a traffic problem on the M40 and arrive in good time. The guest of honour who was to cut the tape was Penelope Keith. When I got to have a chat with her I asked her if she had seen Felicity Kendal lately. They had both starred together in a well-known series years ago and even further back I had known and worked with Felicity. Well that led on to a discovery that we’d had one or two other mutual friends. I got away from there around one o’clock and soon after getting back I took my wonderful old cockerel to the vet who it seemed was able to sort him out. Larry the cockerel had been poorly for a few days and had had an earlier trip to the vet the week before. Then in the evening I went to Grendon and Springhill prisons.

On Wednesday afternoon I had a meeting of TBSUK (Theravada Buddhist Sangha in the UK) at the Birmingham Peace Pagoda Temple in Birmingham. That went quite well and was well attended. The main subject of discussion was the new Immigration Points Based System (PBS) which means that temples wishing to invite monks and nuns from overseas or renew visas for those already here must register as a sponsor with the UK Borders Agency. There have been mixed experiences with this. Afterwards I chased down to Heathrow to meet Ant who has been working in France and who that evening was off to Thailand for a computer science conference on Phuket. I had some things for him to take for Sister Khema who is now in the NE of Thailand.

On Thursday it was off to Holloway where our Prison Service Chaplaincy Council was to meet in the afternoon. Holloway was one of the first prisons I went to back in the summer of 1977. It’s changed a bit since then. The meeting was not a happy one and not particularly productive. Afterwards Rob and I drove through Hampstead past some of my old haunts of many years ago.

On Friday I didn’t have to go anywhere which was nice and I did little apart from some tidying in my kuti.

On Saturday morning I let my dogs out as usual and opened Larry’s hutch. He was sitting there looking very comfortable and looked at me. He had been gradually recovering and the previous day had been out walking about and eating. I came back in and a few minutes later I was disturbed by a noise that I took to be a squirrel trying to pinch his food. I went out and discovered that it had been Larry’s last struggle. My poor wonderful cockerel was dead.

On Sunday after the meal I was presented with an electric toothbrush. Then I wrote an update for the section of this site that you’ll find under the Forces Chaplaincy tab. It is a brief summary of the ongoing problem with the MoD and includes a copy of a recent letter from Kevan Jones, the Minister. Do take a look.

And later today I have to go to Holme House Prison near Durham.

We came out in time to be at Wat Pah Pong for the Ajahn ChahMemorial Day on the 16th. After that we stayed on at Wat Pah Nanachat for a few days and visited a few friends and favourite places. Then we moved down to Wat Ratanavan near Kow Yai for a couple of days, then it was back to Bangkok. On Sunday we went out to Ajahn Jundee’s wat at Chonburi for Patimokkha and on Monday most of the day I spent at a very smart hospital for a check-up. Then Tuesday we came to Sri Panwa on Phuket. I’ve posted some pictures here.

We’re off tomorrow and should be arriving in Bangkok in the afternoon of the 14th, then going to Ubon to Wat Pah Nanachat the following day for the Ajahn Chah Memorial Day at Wat Pah Pong on the 16th. After that we’re not too sure what we’ll be doing but we’re booked to return on the 1st of February. If I can I will blog some news of our trip as it unfolds.

This was the scene at The Forest Hermitage on Saturday last when Ven. William Noblett, the Chaplain General to the Prison Service, commenced his presentation before taking questions and participating in a challenging dialogue with those present at a very well attended Angulimala Workshop.

And this was the moment when William very firmly told me that a Spirituality programme drawing on various faith disciplines and practices that Prison Service Chaplaincy HQ is developing had been discussed at meetings of the Chaplaincy Council that I had attended after I had claimed that prior to an announcement at a meeting in November I had known nothing about it. Afterwards I checked the minutes of Chaplaincy Council meetings and not finding it mentioned I was relieved to form the conclusion that perhaps I’m not quite gah gah after all.

It was late, pretty dark and very icy along our lane by the time people got on their way home and poor Samacitta and passengers didn’t get very far before almost ending up down in the Fulbrook of Lower Fulbrook. Fortunately no one was hurt but the car had to be towed away.

I invite you to read the debate in the House of Lords on November 25th, the night before the new Points Based System (PBS) went live for tiers 2 and 5 of the new Immigration Rules. Lord Avebury opened the debate and you will read there how he set out the problems that we are going to face now when attempting to bring monks and nuns in from overseas or when enabling some of those already here to stay. This is a very serious matter that threatens the future of some of the smaller temples and in terms of cost alone will be a significant burden on several.

If you start investigating the new rules and requirements you will find on the Internet pages of densely packed information that even I as a native English speaker recoil from. Put simply, from now on a Thai, Burmese or Sri Lankan Buddhist monk or nun coming to stay at any of our temples as anything more than a very temporary visitor will have to enter under Tier 2 as a Minister of Religion , a Missionary or as a Member of a Religious Order, in each case with a demandingly high level of competence in English required or just possibly under Tier 5 as a Religious Worker in a Non-pastoral Role. Temples will have to register as a Sponsor, a complex process that will cost three or four hundred pounds, and then for everyone coming in a Sponsorship Certificate will have to be issued at a further cost of £170, followed by the visa fee. And although Buddhist monks are not supposed to have money they will have to have a bank account with at least £800 in it as well as guarentees of sufficient maintenance by the sponsoring temple or body. The real problem however is the high level of English competence that will have to be complied with.

Unfortunately no one thought to talk to us before this became law. A couple of lay contacts were apparently informed but not the Sangha and we only found out too late.

Yesterday, well it’s past midnight so I suppose I’d better call it yesterday, I had to go to a Prison Service Chaplaincy meeting at a Christian conference centre in what used to be a very dodgy part of London down the end of Cable Street. The place was called St Katherine’s and not far from the dock of the same name. Just across the river is Jamaica Road where my Granddad lived before he ran away to sea. For years I’ve meant to find where Granddad was born and brought up and go there but never done it. Just before I left yesterday I suddenly thought of it again and quickly looked up the address, grabbed an old photo of him as a little boy with his mum and dad in about 1890 and after the meeting I found Keeton’s Road but not no. 74 where he was born. It’s all been knocked down and rebuilt, including the old Peek Freans biscuit factory. Never mind, but here’s the photo if you’re interested. By the way, although Granddad might be a bit surprised to know what I’m doing he must have seen Buddhist monks about a hundred years ago. I have ageing postcards he brought back from Burma.

Last night, with Rob driving, I motored down to London to attend a reception in celebration of Lord Avebury’s eightieth birthday a few weeks ago. It followed a concert by the London Bach Society – which I did not attend – and was held in a pretty swish joint between Regents Street and Grosvenor Square. Judging by the expression on the receptionist’s face as I strolled through the door of the Savile Club they are not terribly used to seeing a Buddhist monk there. Once the poor chap had recovered and satisfied himself that I hadn’t just flown in from another planet and that I really was on the guest list, Rob and I were allowed to make our way through and up the stairs to a wonderful room that quickly filled with a lot of very interesting and lively people. It was a stand-up, chat and circulate sort of affair with only three speeches that were all funny and inspiring. Funny because they really were funny and inspiring because they told of Lord Avebury’s incredible dedication and commitment to making things better. The first speech was by Jeremy – the first two pictures – who was the only journalist to forecast the Orpington by-election win for the young Eric Lubbock, as Lord Avebury then was. He had us in stitches telling us all about that and other of Eric’s achievements and interests and it was he who as a member of the Savile kindly hosted the evening. Then the next speech was by Eric’s daughter, Victoria, who told us about his arrest when he once stopped to talk to someone he knew who was demonstrating about something and the tee shirts she had printed for the trial that should have said ‘Lord Avebury is innocent’ but which instead came back from the printers bearing the legend ‘Lord Avebury is indecent’! Then there’s a picture of Lord Avebury himself who in his speech vowed never to retire but to keep on going for as long as he could and to keep on saying what is unpopular. And the other photos are some of the guests. Two and a half hours passed just like that. It was a wonderful evening with a very great man. Thank you very much Eric and long may you continue to be such an inspiration and example.

Many years ago, before I went to Thailand and while I was still an actor, I set up the Lay Buddhist Association for Wat Buddhapadipa which was then located at East Sheen on the outskirts of London. While I was drafting the constitution I sought some advice from a Buddhist solicitor who was recommended to me. His name was George Goulstone and he had a rather eccentrically arranged office in Lincolns Inn, at least I think that’s where it was, at any rate somewhere around there. He received me affably enough and gave me some helpful advice. Later when I returned from Thailand with Ajahn Chah and set to trying to revive the Hampstead Vihara I discovered that George had been a Director of the English Sangha Trust. He still lived up the road from the Vihara and I or someone made contact to see if he was interested in helping again but he wasn’t. In any case by the time I had met him all those years earlier he had already moved towards Tibetan Buddhism and was quite close to Chime Rimpoche who I knew well. The next time I heard of George was about ten or more years ago when Stanley de Freitas told me of this elderly Buddhist lawyer who had retired to a nearby village and who was not in the best of shape. George had retired to Goring on Thames with his partner Christine Kemp and I believe he had had to have both legs amputated. When he died a year or two later, one of his prize possessions, an old and very fine image of Amitabha standing, was sent over to us by Christine who I’d never met. I subsequently corresponded with her briefly and put her on our mailing list. Then in August this year I had a letter from a solicitor to say that Christine Kemp had been killed in an accident and in her will had left The Forest Hermitage a three foot high Buddha Rupa and some framed Bodhi leaves. She had been killed very tragically as she was walking just down the road from where she lived when the doors of a passing van flew open and hit her. She was killed instantly.  I was able to call and collect the framed Bodhi leaves earlier this month on my way back from Broadmoor but the Burmese Buddha Rupa had to wait to be removed professionally and brought here. It finally arrived last Monday and we’ve installed it in the room in which we eat.

Khun Nui who has been a year with us left today and so we are once again in need of help. We need a Retreats Manager, help with housekeeping at Bhavana Dhamma and help with cooking generally. We offer accommodation and food, a beautiful place to stay and a great opportunity for some worthwhile practice. If you think this might suit you, please get in touch as soon as possible.

Last Sunday, October 23rd, we had a very big occasion here when Dr. Khanungnit Garnett (Khun Tugktaa) of Banbury kindly organised a Tort Pah Bah for us to help repay the debt still outstanding on the purchase of Bhavana Dhamma (Wood Cottage). I’m delighted to say that it was a huge success with one of our biggest turnouts for many years and the largest sum ever raised for us at an event like it. 

To begin with the weather didn’t make a very good start to the day but we were better prepared than usual with a second marquee obtained from eBay and a rather good heater so when our guests arrived they had a modicum of comfort in which to enjoy a welcome cup of tea or coffee. The proceedings kicked off in our usual style with respects being offered to the Triple Gem, then those who wanted to took the Refuges and Precepts and the almsround followed. By then the rain had stopped. After the food we all reassembled in the Shrine Room for the offering of the cloth, the proceeds of the money tree and the array of supplies surrounding it. Then as a response to this impressive show of kindness and generosity I gave a talk in which I touched on the hundreth anniversary that’s just passed of the return to Burma of an English monk who led the first ever Buddhist mission to this country in 1908. That led me on to speak of the importance of establishing a home-grown branch of the bhikkhu sangha and the debt that we all owe to the monks from Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka who aided by their supporters have done so much to help us establish Buddhism on this island. When the money was counted it didn’t quite reach £5,000 so the lady with the mike made a determined plea for a little more and in minutes it was over £5,000, which then in another burst of enthusiasm led to a rounding up to what was considered an acceptable figure of £5,099.99. That was when we noticed that the clouds had dispersed and the sun was shining.

We have benefitted lately by a windfall from my late mother’s estate and a generous contribution from the estate of Rosemary Alcockand these accompanied by other contributions when added to the £5,099.99 have this week brought the total debt on Bhavana Dhamma down to £52,250. Anumodana!