Buddhism and Me - a Memoir

 

I have been meaning to write this piece for many years now but for some reason never got around to doing it. But in recent times, and maybe it’s to do with my age, I have finally taken up the challenge.

To get into this true story, I have to go all the way back to 1971. Back then I was serving a Mechanical Engineering apprenticeship in an iron foundry in the small village of Larbert, Stirlingshire, in central Scotland. I was also a drummer in a rock band where we played great songs of the day from the likes of the Rolling Stones, The Who, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, etc. And of course, with the crazy world of rock music that I found myself in, came the drugs scene. Yes, we were all smoking dope and popping pills – hey, it was 1971 after all :-)!!

But it was this same year that one of our roadies approached me with a particular book. He just sort of turned up and asked if I’d ever heard of one, Paramahansa Yogananda. Then he handed me the book: Autobiography of a Yogi. He said it was one of the most inspirational books he had ever read. I flicked through the pages and was immediately drawn to this Indian yogi. I borrowed the book that day and started to read it that night. I couldn’t put it down. I ended up going through to Edinburgh and bought my own copy. And as I write these words, I have just brought my copy next to me at the computer and I see my copy is the second impression dated 1969. And another lasting memory of discovering this great man is that he died on the 7^th March 1952 exactly nine days after I was born (February 26).

That day in Edinburgh, when in the bookshop, I came across another book that grabbed my attention. Don’t ask me why but I picked up the small paperback and bought it. It was The Light of Asia by the late British poet and journalist, Sir Edwin Arnold. The book is in the form of a narrative poem, which endeavours to describe the life and time of Prince Gautama Siddhartha, who, after attaining enlightenment, became the Buddha, the Awakened One. Looking back all those years I now know that it was this book that introduced me to Buddhism, 51 years ago!

For the next couple of years I began to buy and read all sorts of books on Buddhism: the Theravada traditions of S.E. Asia, the Mahayana tradition encompassing Chinese and Japanese Zen and, of course, Tibetan Buddhism. I began to discover small Buddhist groups throughout the UK and came upon the Buddhist Society founded in 1924 by the late Christmas Humphreys. Little did I know then but I would meet this great Buddhist pioneer about four years later. So I wanted to know more about how Buddhism arrived in Britain and where it was flourishing. Well, apart from the Buddhist Society we had Samye Ling Tibetan Centre located in the beautiful landscape of Eskdalemuir in southern Scotland, the first Tibetan centre in Europe, Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in Hertfordshire, Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London, Wat Buddhapadipa also in London and then Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in Northumberland founded by the late Jiyu-Kennett Roshi. It was here that I formally became a Buddhist from Jiyu after taking the Five Precepts.

And so my journey continued. Throughout all these years I bought something in the region of 220 books covering all schools of Buddhism, biographies, teachings - you name it! And of course, I travelled overseas to visit places of interest. These included Thailand which has more Buddhist temples than any other country on the planet, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and my favourite places of all, Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj in Himachal Pradesh in the foothills of the Himalayas in India. My two visits there in 2003 and 2004 I shall never forget. To be in the presence of thousands of exiled Tibetans, caused by the earlier invasion and occupation of Chairman Mao’s China, changed my mind about that country. The Tibetans were/are some of the nicest, most compassionate people I have ever met.

I’ll finish this memoir by describing briefly what is for me the Buddha’s most poignant teaching. It is that of the Three Poisons: greed (raga, also translated as lust), hatred (dvesha, or anger), and delusion (moha, or ignorance). Anyone who grasps these three mental conditions will no doubt look back on their lives and see how these three poisons have played a huge part in their thinking, their mental maturity, and their lifestyles. I could write a book about how three poisons have enlightened my thinking and how I have dealt with them by following the Buddha’s teachings. To finish I would just state that when it comes to greed, combat this with giving; with hatred, defeat this with love and compassion and with delusion, create and develop wisdom. You will become a better person not just in yourself but to all those around you!