Wandering around…

 

I was asked to give a little talk about someone from the Sangha (community) at the Bristol Buddhist Centre who “has influenced you and helped you in your Dharma practice in some way. It could be a Sangha friend, or someone you appreciate in discussions in a study group or class, someone who leads a class you go to…”

So this is what I said:

I’ve always been a story teller and so perhaps I should tell a story here; when I was really young, too young to remember I came across the Buddha and I knew early on that I wanted to follow a path to be closer to him.

I’ve done a lot of wandering around in my life, trying to find the best path to follow, rather like being in a woodland and seeing a splendid mountain through the trees and then trying to pick my way between the saplings and find the path which would best get me to my destination.

I read many books, and I thought many thoughts, and tried to live in an ethical way, but really I seemed still to be wandering, picking a few flowers here and a few blooms there, discarding a few wilted leaves when they were of no use.

I occasionally bumped into other people who were also wandering about, but some of them were rather stiff and formal and unsmiling, some of them spoke in language I did not understand, and some of them didn’t seem very interested in sharing my journey.

Then one day, in the best fairy tale fashion,  I came across a door and I stepped into the Bristol Buddhist Centre. It was rather a miserable end of summer day outside and I stepped into a warm place, full of colour and redolent with the smell of incense and with smiley people looking up as I came in.

One of those smiley people was Khemajoti and I asked her about the introduction to Buddhsim course which was due to start within the next couple of weeks. She explained what the course would be like in a friendly and encouraging way and it sounded just the sort of thing which would help me with my quest. When Khemajoti said she would be teaching I thought that this really seemed a very good place to start, with a friendly guide to lead me.

I didn’t know any of the others who would be joining the course but when I arrived that Wednesday evening in September last year I realised that I wouldn’t be travelling alone and I would be given maps and compasses and most of what I needed to continue my journey. We gathered together and it was as if Khemjoti pointed out a great big signpost which said ‘This way!’.

Khemajoti is a wonderful teacher, and she was able to explain things so clearly and so simply, and yet with such humour, that me and my fellow travellers often had quite a jolly time as well as seriously pursuing our path. There was no question thrown at her which she did not field and answer, and she described things so clearly that the beautiful scenery on either side of the way we were travelling spread out into the distance. An image which was particularly vivid was the lake, the serene pool, the reflection of the mountain shimmering, and the lotus slowly growing and emerging from the pellucid water.

When the course had finished, although I hadn’t got very far, I felt very satisfied with the progress I had made… I was definitely out of the trees now; I definitely was on a path which led towards the mountain in the distance. I still occasionally wandered away and went round in circles a few times, but I’d get back on track and ask Khemajoti another question to which she would say, “We-ell…” and then point out on the map where we were heading.

As we are celebrating all the colours of the Sangha today I have been thinking about which colour I would associate with her… how tricky. As a teacher she has the wisdom of Akshobhya, and I remember her speaking of him and making the earth-touching gesture.

 

Khemajoti has the generosity of spirit of Ratnasmabhava…

…and she certainly fearlessly answered some of the really tricky and sensitive questions which she was asked, in the strong green voice of Amoghasiddhi.

There is a quiet stillness about her too…

…but I keep coming back to the first time I met her when I walked into the centre on that rather grey day and she looked up with a welcoming smile; at that moment I think I saw in her the jewel of Amitabha and a lovely red warming glow of friendship

Journey Home

The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long.

I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my
voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet.

It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself,
and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune.

The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own,
and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.

My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said `Here art thou!’

The question and the cry `Oh, where?’ melt into tears of a thousand
streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance `I am!’

by Rabindranath Tagore