9655 Buddhism in the UK – Remembering Pannavaddho Bhikkhu

0:01 It's a common question. Can people hear? Report an error in the passage at 0:01 Highlight the passage at 0:01

0:09 Ask me, because I'm American by birth, why I chose to come to England rather than the United States. And I never actually ever thought I'd be living in England. It was not one of my expectations. But the reason was very much because in 1976 I... Report an error in the passage at 0:09 Highlight the passage at 0:09

0:37 My parents lived in Southern California. My mother is very ill, and they had this swine flu epidemic at the time. And so my father wanted me to come home. They thought my mother was quite critically ill, so I went back to the United States for the first time. I left in 1963 and returned in 1976. 1976, and I I was in contact with my parents, of course, through the post. But other than that, I had determined to stay as a Buddhist monk. Report an error in the passage at 0:37 Highlight the passage at 0:37

1:17 And so in order to get back to Thailand, I had to fly to London and connect to a Thai Airways flight at that time in 1976, the Thai International. Airways didn't reach America. They hadn't expanded that far, but they did go to London. Report an error in the passage at 1:17 Highlight the passage at 1:17

1:46 So my mother, her health recovered well enough. I went to the East Coast. I determined to kind of... Thailand at that time was in a critical state. Laos, Cambodia had become communist, Vietnam. Report an error in the passage at 1:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46

2:07 The Americans had fled Vietnam and they thought Thailand might go next. There was a domino theory. And so that was, I remember living in Ubon, which is northeast Thailand, borders on both Cambodia and Laos. A kind of terrible panic throughout the whole country. There was a strong communist movement in Thailand at the time. Report an error in the passage at 2:07 Highlight the passage at 2:07

2:35 And so I thought, first inklings, first thoughts of returning to the West occurred in 1976. And then, of course, my mother, necessity to go back to the States, see my parents, I had in mind that I would keep open to possibilities of establishing some monastery. I thought it would be in the United States. And so I was... Report an error in the passage at 2:35 Highlight the passage at 2:35

3:06 Thinking of, we had that time at Nannachat, we had about 22 bhikkhus, western bhikkhus living there. I remember sitting there looking at them and thinking, what's going to happen to all of these monks if Thailand goes communist? And also I thought, if I establish a monastery of Ajahn Chahs in the United States, then I could even rescue Lungpho Chah if necessary. Report an error in the passage at 3:06 Highlight the passage at 3:06

3:37 So I had this kind of idea in my mind, but during my time in the States, people showed no interest other than they wanted me to be a meditation teacher or give retreats, things like that, but nothing about monasticism. They didn't seem to have the slightest bit of interest in those days. And so I went from Southern California, went to New York and Boston, and then I flew to London. Report an error in the passage at 3:37 Highlight the passage at 3:37

4:07 To get the Thai flight back to Thailand. And I had to wait about three or four days. And some of you might remember in 1976 they had this very hot summer. And London weather was very warm. I stayed at the Hampstead Bihara and walk up on Hampstead Heath and London looks really beautiful in the sunlight. Report an error in the passage at 4:07 Highlight the passage at 4:07

4:35 And then before I left Thailand, I was Ajahn Panyawado, a British monk who was very well known in Britain. I think he, at one time, but I think he left in 1961, wasn't it? And went to Thailand. And he found his teacher, Ajahn Mahabua. in Udon Thani, in the northwest, northeast. And so never really wanted to come back. Report an error in the passage at 4:35 Highlight the passage at 4:35

5:15 And so many of... Ajahn Paniwado's disciples here in England were waiting for his return. And so when I went to, when those three brief days in London, I met George Sharp due to Ajahn Paniwado. He gave me George Sharp's telephone number and said, if you need a place to stay, phone George. So I did, I phoned George, and I stayed at the Hampstead Vihara. Report an error in the passage at 5:15 Highlight the passage at 5:15

5:47 And during that time, George would come every evening and talk to me about practice, about establishing a monastery in England. And suddenly I realized that the English Saṅgha Trust was set up for the support of Theravadan bhikkhus without any strings attached. They made it very clear that it was to support so that Theravadan monks could come and live in the UK. Report an error in the passage at 5:47 Highlight the passage at 5:47

6:19 Of course, they called it the English Saṅgha Trust. I suppose it's just England. But in those days, people didn't have these European ideas or expansive views. views, but the Report an error in the passage at 6:19 Highlight the passage at 6:19

6:40 Then I found out that Ajahn Paniwado and Ajahn Mabua had been to this Hampstead Mihara two years before I arrived, and George had definitely taken his training from them, from Ajahn Paniwado and Ajahn Mabua, because at that time the English Saṅgha Trust I had 20 years of failures. Nothing seemed to work. And by 1976, it was closed. Report an error in the passage at 6:40 Highlight the passage at 6:40

7:16 They had the place, the house in Hampstead, but other than that, there was nobody really in it. So George had taken his advice and Ajahn Punyawada had encouraged him to just... I was very impressed because I never met in the States or any other place such a, you know, something so ready to and so eager to support Theravadan monks in the Western world. Report an error in the passage at 7:16 Highlight the passage at 7:16

8:01 Ajahn Paniyawada had spent most of his monastic life with Ajahn Mabua. And he died actually, when was that, about seven years ago. And he's very highly regarded in Thailand. They had a very magnificent funeral for him. Report an error in the passage at 8:01 Highlight the passage at 8:01

8:31 He also influenced many Western monks who have trained with him and Lungthapua. And I became aware that here in England, the people, the generation of Ajahn Paniwata was very old or no longer living. And then George, of course, remembered, and so Jane Brown from... Report an error in the passage at 8:31 Highlight the passage at 8:31

8:59 Devon and these people had been very devoted to and respected Ajahn Punyawadu. And so I thought it's important to remember him, bring back the memory of this fine bhikkhu back into his native soil. So we had a portrait painted in Chiang Mai by an artist that George met there a few years ago. And that portrait is now hanging over there next to the shrine of Lumpuman. Report an error in the passage at 8:59 Highlight the passage at 8:59

9:38 And this is to honor this monk, Thanajan Paniwaddo, and then one of his students, one of his disciples, an American monk called Ajahn Dick. Report an error in the passage at 9:38 Highlight the passage at 9:38

9:57 He also was trained and lived with Ajahn Paniwado for many years, so he wrote a biography, which many of you received this morning, the biography of Ajahn Paniwado. I never really lived with him, so I didn't know him that well, but Tanajandik was very well acquainted with him and trained with him. During his early years. Now he's living in the States. He's establishing a monastery in, I think, Virginia. Report an error in the passage at 9:57 Highlight the passage at 9:57

10:36 So today I thought it would be a good day to unveil a portrait of Ajahn Paniwana, to honor him as a British monk, one of the early pioneers, and one of the... At that time, when he became ordained, there were hardly any Western men in robes. It was a very odd thing to be doing, very courageous, and then putting himself in a society that he had to go through the adjustments to culture and climate and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 10:36 Highlight the passage at 10:36

11:15 But he's still highly regarded and held up. Within the Thai tradition at this time. So this effort of mine to make his memory more available to people living here in Britain because actually this monastery probably wouldn't have existed if he'd not, if Ajahn Panyavada had not been around and had not encouraged me to come here. Report an error in the passage at 11:15 Highlight the passage at 11:15

11:46 Now Report an error in the passage at 11:46 Highlight the passage at 11:46

11:51 the unveiling. Report an error in the passage at 11:51 Highlight the passage at 11:51

12:14 There's five volumes of my teachings. Report an error in the passage at 12:14 Highlight the passage at 12:14

12:22 I don't look at this as... I don't like to consider Ajahn Sumedho's teaching as just reflections on dharma. It's a Buddhist teaching. Just to get it right. It's not original and personal. I have used... ha, Report an error in the passage at 12:22 Highlight the passage at 12:22

12:46 You know, I oftentimes refer to how I dealt with emotional problems like anger or fear. And so that's just an encouragement. Somebody that you know, some person that's alive now, how they deal with anxiety, worry, and fears and neurotic tendencies. Because sometimes when we read scripture, we... It gets too idealistic, you know, you don't, you think, you don't get the, sometimes you don't feel that it may not apply that much to your own particular personal problems at the time, at this time. Report an error in the passage at 12:46 Highlight the passage at 12:46

13:31 And so I've always found it very helpful, like when Lumpo Chah would talk about how he dealt with a very Strong emotional blocks or problems. I found that very encouraging. When I first met Luang Por Chah, I idealized him. I thought, well, he's an enlightened master. He probably never had problems like I do. He was born and walked on seven lotus flowers and was pure. Report an error in the passage at 13:31 Highlight the passage at 13:31

14:06 He never had to deal with anger or fear or anything of that nature. So we can idolize, project onto teachers as if they were perfect from the beginning and then we look at ourselves and we see we suffer a lot from self-consciousness and so much of modern neuroses are just the kind of anxieties we create around our lives. Report an error in the passage at 14:06 Highlight the passage at 14:06

14:36 And even though in... Modern affluent societies such as this one, which does everything to try to create security, the illusion of it anyway, increases the anxiety because this is a common human problem. And then the Buddha put that in the first sermon, the structure, the noble truth based on dukkha or suffering. Report an error in the passage at 14:36 Highlight the passage at 14:36

15:03 You can translate dukkha as anxiety, fear, whatever way you want, but it's a... Report an error in the passage at 15:03 Highlight the passage at 15:03

15:25 very, tried to be very faithful to the Four Noble Truths as many of you are aware because I found that you such a profound ...and useful teaching. It always impressed me that his first sermon after enlightenment, and yet within that teaching itself, it's a perfect teaching. If all the rest, if all the other scriptures, all the rest of the Tripitaka and so forth suddenly vanished out of sight and all we had left was the... Report an error in the passage at 15:25 Highlight the passage at 15:25

16:06 Four Noble Truths, that would be enough. I mean, it's the way to non-suffering. So it's a tool that I encourage to use. You have to make it work, though. Just to worship it and to praise it and to read it and to analyze it is one thing. There's nothing wrong with that. But the main point, Report an error in the passage at 16:06 Highlight the passage at 16:06

16:37 Buddha's teaching is the Bhatti Bhatta sign. Put it into practice. Make it work for you. Like I can only encourage. I can't make it work for you. If I had a magic wand, I could create this perfect understanding of the Four Noble Truths by waving it around. I'd do it. I don't like to see any of you suffer. Report an error in the passage at 16:37 Highlight the passage at 16:37

17:07 But I can't do it. And of course the Buddha couldn't either. In the scriptures, the history of the Buddha, he gave a teaching in which we had to take that teaching and apply it to the reality of our own lives. Report an error in the passage at 17:07 Highlight the passage at 17:07

17:25 It's a simple teaching and it's based on a common factor of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 17:25 Highlight the passage at 17:25

17:42 birth, old age, sickness, death we have fears we have desires we have jealousy we have greed and mental confusion and so forth there's no mystery or particular emphasis that this applies more to one group or another it's the common factor whether there. No matter what religion, race, nationality you're aligned with, this teaching of the noble truth is about our human condition and how to understand it. Report an error in the passage at 17:42 Highlight the passage at 17:42

18:21 And I've had the good fortune to have this opportunity to put it into practice and to learn from it and be able to resolve. My own personal problems, fears, emotional habits that I've had to live with or experience in life, both in the monastic life, even though it's not a magic formula, but it is a helpful reflection. Report an error in the passage at 18:21 Highlight the passage at 18:21

18:55 It's a form that keeps reminding us to wake up and pay attention and not to get lost in all the... problems that the world creates or that you create about yourself and the world. Report an error in the passage at 18:55 Highlight the passage at 18:55

19:14 After all these years of using this teaching, my trust and faith in it, I think it's an absolutely perfect formula that can be applied to anyone, because it takes this common factor of suffering. And just by changing your attitude to suffering you begin to understand what it is to be a human being, what it is to be a sensitive form, what it is to be afraid of death and wanting pleasure and not wanting pain and success, fear of failure and loss, fear of loss and wanting... Report an error in the passage at 19:14 Highlight the passage at 19:14

20:05 Something to be, something it can't be. You know, trying to create an illusory world, a utopian dream that can never really happen because it's not based on dharma, on reality. It's based on maybe high-minded ideas. And at this time, I think this particular teaching has a great, important message. It's very valuable at a time. Report an error in the passage at 20:05 Highlight the passage at 20:05

20:35 Where there are so many problems, the world is now a very confused place. You don't have the problems that arise, anything about destruction and war and injustice and power struggling and racial prejudices and so forth. And these are created out of the human mind, out of ignorance, not understanding the noble truths. Report an error in the passage at 20:35 Highlight the passage at 20:35

21:04 So here at Amaravati, the monastery here in Thailand, there is this opportunity to learn, to study, to practice. And it's not something that, you know, is not about ancient history or some exotic country in Asia. It's about the reality of here and now. So on my 80th birthday, my birthday present is to this encouragement. Report an error in the passage at 21:04 Highlight the passage at 21:04

21:36 See, the power and the practicality and the usefulness of this particular teaching that the Buddha gave to us 2,557 years ago. And the proof of its validity is that it's still pure teaching. It's not been corrupted. You know, the Four Noble Truths, when you chant them, Report an error in the passage at 21:36 Highlight the passage at 21:36

22:02 which is the Pāli version of his first sermon. I mean, nobody's corrupted that. It's the pure teaching. And then to put that into practice, the batibhata. Ajahn Chah, the word he used constantly, even before when I was learning the Thai language, I had to sit through hours of listening to Lungpho Chah. Report an error in the passage at 22:02 Highlight the passage at 22:02

22:31 I give dharma talks and one word I kept hearing was batibat. In Thai they say batibat. He said this is a monastery for batibat. And I kept hearing this word batibat. It's taken from the Pāli word batibata which is practice or making it work. It's not about belief or... It tells you how to do it. It's not just a kind of confused teaching that you hope you understand. Report an error in the passage at 22:31 Highlight the passage at 22:31

23:08 It's a way of taking the most common experience we have and using it for investigation of the present. The suffering, the fear, the anxiety, the worry, whatever it might be in the present, is like this. And through this simple practice, then you have the insight, you have understanding, you have wisdom that guides you in your life rather than just struggling with ideas or personal, or just trying to improve your personality or try to... Report an error in the passage at 23:08 Highlight the passage at 23:08

23:48 suppress your feelings or fears and emotions. It's about understanding this realm that we're experiencing through wisdom. So I offer this as my present to you on my birthday. Report an error in the passage at 23:48 Highlight the passage at 23:48