Sangharakshita's Diary, April 2011

The gardens at Madhyamaloka, where Sangharakshita lives

Vidyaruci, Sangharakshita’s secretary, writes with news of Bhante’s activities over the past month., saying - “The search for a property to house the Sangharakshita Library and Study Centre continues, which leaves Bhante not knowing how long he will live at Madhyamaloka, or where he will move to when he goes. But go he will, and perhaps it is therefore natural that his latest literary project is a series of reveries whose starting point is some memories of Madhyamaloka that he will carry with him to his new home. He has not long started the piece, but it will be interesting to see how it develops, and it certainly gives him something to ponder as he takes his daily walk.

“Amid the flow of daily visitors was the indefatigable Subhuti, who again had a number of discussions with Bhante, this time about the social implications of the Dharma. I am sure many people look forward to seeing what results. There has also been a contingent from Nottingham, led by Paraga, who were treated to tea and cake in the Madhyamaloka cafeteria. Bhante's audio book listening has mainly been Martin Amis' memoir Experience, which was quite long, and which Bhante found sometimes interesting and sometimes a bit boring. Much of it was about the author's father, the novelist and poet Kingsley Amis.

“Bhante and I finished Sulak Sivaraksa's autobiography Loyalty Demands Dissent, and Bhante wrote to Sulak expressing appreciation for the book, and noting a few parallels between the lives of the two men. I have also read to Bhante articles by David Loy and Philip Larkin, and an essay by Lama Anagarika Govinda called 'Teilhard de Chardin in the Mirror of Eastern Thought', which Bhante admitted to finding a little disappointing.

“There’s no health news to report, except that Bhante went to the hospital for a vision check, and will go again next month”.

Sangharakshita's memories of Madhyamaloka will appear in due course on his website www.sangharakshita.org, which already contains links to most of his writings including material not published elsewhere.