{"id":1838,"date":"2023-02-05T18:48:18","date_gmt":"2023-02-05T18:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/?post_type=project&#038;p=1838"},"modified":"2023-02-05T19:11:58","modified_gmt":"2023-02-05T19:11:58","slug":"abhaya-first-encounters-with-liberation-and-the-dharma","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/project\/abhaya-first-encounters-with-liberation-and-the-dharma\/","title":{"rendered":"Abhaya: First encounters with liberation and the Dharma"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; disabled_on=&#8221;on||&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;1_2,1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_post_title author=&#8221;off&#8221; date=&#8221;off&#8221; comments=&#8221;off&#8221; featured_image=&#8221;off&#8221; admin_label=&#8221;Quote Title (Desktop)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.0&#8243; title_text_color=&#8221;#ee7600&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Order Name (Desktop)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#annals\">Read speaker annals<\/a><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Talk Description (Desktop)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview recorded in 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_code admin_label=&#8221;Audio (Desktop)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"300\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/1354808644&#038;color=%23ff5500&#038;auto_play=false&#038;hide_related=false&#038;show_comments=true&#038;show_user=true&#038;show_reposts=false&#038;show_teaser=true&#038;visual=true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/thebuddhistcentre\" title=\"The Buddhist Centre\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">The Buddhist Centre<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/thebuddhistcentre\/01-first-encounters-with-liberation-and-the-dharma\" title=\"01 Abhaya - First Encounters with Liberation and The Dharma\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">01 Abhaya &#8211; First Encounters with Liberation and The Dharma<\/a><\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_divider color=&#8221;#f4a732&#8243; admin_label=&#8221;Divider (Desktop)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; height=&#8221;0px&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;2_3,1_3&#8243; module_id=&#8221;annals&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Annals Title (Desktop)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; text_font=&#8221;|||on|||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>ABHAYA&#8217;S ANNALS:<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;OM Annals (Desktop)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In 1968 I was living in Cornwall with my family, sharing in a kind of family community experiment. I had met Bhante and the seedling movement a year before at his first summer retreat at Haslemere,\u00a0Surrey.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>In 1978 I was working as a carpenter at Sukhavati in Bethnal Green, which soon came to be called the London Buddhist Centre, with Atula as the overall foreman of the building project. Most of us were employed as part of a government sponsored programme called the Manpower Services\u00a0Commission.\n<\/li>\n<li>In 1988 I was in Norwich, sharing a house with Vajrananda, having spent 5 years as chairman of the Norwich Buddhist Centre. I was then engaged in another government scheme which allowed me to work as part time teacher, part time writer. I was writing short stories as well as my life story and I was teaching part time at a local language school. It was at this time that I experienced a strong spiritual crisis which led me to opt out of all responsibilities to do with the\u00a0<span class=\"caps\">FWBO<\/span>\u00a0and to going to teach\u00a0<span class=\"caps\">EFL<\/span>\u00a0in Japan for four\u00a0years.\n<\/li>\n<li>In 1998 I had re-engaged with movement activities and was working at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre office as well as acting as a part time official Kalyana Mitra for the men at Windhorse Trading. In 1999 I went to teach at the men\u2019s study centre, Vajrakuta, in\u00a0Wales.\n<\/li>\n<li>In 2008 I was living in Birmingham, in one of the men\u2019s communities in Moseley and contributed a little to the Dharmadhuta course which Subhuti had organised. A very important and transforming spiritual experience during this period was a three month solitary retreat at Sudarshanaloka in New Zealand. It was also during the late \u201990s and early 2000s that I became a private preceptor to 3 men and subsequently a public preceptor. I ordained 2 men\u00a0publicly.\n<\/li>\n<li>In 2018 I am living in Brighton in a sheltered housing flat. I have little to do with the Brighton Buddhist Centre apart from attending sangha events and giving occasional talks. My small chapter here has dwindled to two. I have a small circle of friends here in the Order and we get together either regularly or periodically. I spend a lot of time doing art\u00a0work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_image align_tablet=&#8221;center&#8221; align_phone=&#8221;center&#8221; align_last_edited=&#8221;on|desktop&#8221; admin_label=&#8221;Supplementary Photos (Desktop)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; disabled_on=&#8221;|on|on&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_margin=&#8221;-40px|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;1_2,1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_post_title author=&#8221;off&#8221; date=&#8221;off&#8221; comments=&#8221;off&#8221; featured_image=&#8221;off&#8221; admin_label=&#8221;Quote Title (Mobile)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; title_text_color=&#8221;#ee7600&#8243; title_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;||-10px|&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_code admin_label=&#8221;Audio (Mobile)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"300\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/1354808644&#038;color=%23ff5500&#038;auto_play=false&#038;hide_related=false&#038;show_comments=true&#038;show_user=true&#038;show_reposts=false&#038;show_teaser=true&#038;visual=true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/thebuddhistcentre\" title=\"The Buddhist Centre\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">The Buddhist Centre<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/thebuddhistcentre\/01-first-encounters-with-liberation-and-the-dharma\" title=\"01 Abhaya - First Encounters with Liberation and The Dharma\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">01 Abhaya &#8211; First Encounters with Liberation and The Dharma<\/a><\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_code][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Talk Description (Mobile)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview recorded in 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_margin=&#8221;-40px||-40px|&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_divider color=&#8221;#f4a732&#8243; admin_label=&#8221;Divider (Mobile)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; height=&#8221;0px&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;2_3,1_3&#8243; module_id=&#8221;annals&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Annals Title (Mobile)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.0&#8243; text_font=&#8221;|||on|||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>SAMASURI&#8217;S ANNALS:<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;OM Annals (Mobile)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In 1968 I was living in Cornwall with my family, sharing in a kind of family community experiment. I had met Bhante and the seedling movement a year before at his first summer retreat at Haslemere,\u00a0Surrey.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>In 1978 I was working as a carpenter at Sukhavati in Bethnal Green, which soon came to be called the London Buddhist Centre, with Atula as the overall foreman of the building project. Most of us were employed as part of a government sponsored programme called the Manpower Services\u00a0Commission.\n<\/li>\n<li>In 1988 I was in Norwich, sharing a house with Vajrananda, having spent 5 years as chairman of the Norwich Buddhist Centre. I was then engaged in another government scheme which allowed me to work as part time teacher, part time writer. I was writing short stories as well as my life story and I was teaching part time at a local language school. It was at this time that I experienced a strong spiritual crisis which led me to opt out of all responsibilities to do with the\u00a0<span class=\"caps\">FWBO<\/span>\u00a0and to going to teach\u00a0<span class=\"caps\">EFL<\/span>\u00a0in Japan for four\u00a0years.\n<\/li>\n<li>In 1998 I had re-engaged with movement activities and was working at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre office as well as acting as a part time official Kalyana Mitra for the men at Windhorse Trading. In 1999 I went to teach at the men\u2019s study centre, Vajrakuta, in\u00a0Wales.\n<\/li>\n<li>In 2008 I was living in Birmingham, in one of the men\u2019s communities in Moseley and contributed a little to the Dharmadhuta course which Subhuti had organised. A very important and transforming spiritual experience during this period was a three month solitary retreat at Sudarshanaloka in New Zealand. It was also during the late \u201990s and early 2000s that I became a private preceptor to 3 men and subsequently a public preceptor. I ordained 2 men\u00a0publicly.\n<\/li>\n<li>In 2018 I am living in Brighton in a sheltered housing flat. I have little to do with the Brighton Buddhist Centre apart from attending sangha events and giving occasional talks. My small chapter here has dwindled to two. I have a small circle of friends here in the Order and we get together either regularly or periodically. I spend a lot of time doing art\u00a0work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_image align_tablet=&#8221;center&#8221; align_phone=&#8221;center&#8221; align_last_edited=&#8221;on|desktop&#8221; admin_label=&#8221;Supplementary Photos (Mobile)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read speaker annalsInterview recorded in 2018.ABHAYA&#8217;S ANNALS: In 1968 I was living in Cornwall with my family, sharing in a kind of family community experiment. I had met Bhante and the seedling movement a year before at his first summer retreat at Haslemere,\u00a0Surrey. In 1978 I was working as a carpenter at Sukhavati in Bethnal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"project_category":[183,147],"project_tag":[],"class_list":["post-1838","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-education","project_category-liberation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/1838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1838"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/1838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1881,"href":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/1838\/revisions\/1881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_category?post=1838"},{"taxonomy":"project_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuddhistcentre.com\/stories\/50voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tag?post=1838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}