Sangharakshita and his Teachers

For the last eighteen months or so I have been researching for and writing a book about Bhante Sangharakshita and his eight main teachers. The book is still not even half written yet it has already been quite a journey for me; intense, inspiring, challenging and rewarding.

Nobody asked me to write it. The idea arose two years ago, sparked off by my reflections about Bhante after his death in 2018. He had ordained me in 1986 but we had not had much time together. For me, he was my teacher and Preceptor, kindly yet a little aloof and mysterious, but always a force of spiritual energy. After his death, I was around at Adhisthana and partook of the remarkable atmosphere there at that time. It felt as if Bhante’s energies had been freed up.

There was an intangible yet distinct sense of the qualities of his being radiating out, perfuming the whole place. Some of this experience was so strong that I found myself thinking – who had this person been? Had I underestimated him? I found myself wanting to get to know him anew. What had made him who he was?

I regretted that when I had been with Bhante, I hadn’t asked more questions! Re-reading his memoirs I became deeply appreciative of the complex mystery of who he was and what he gave to us and the world. I wanted to get to know him more as a person; find out what his spiritual practice might have been like. What or who had influenced his thinking and made him as he was.

I decided at first that I’d write a talk about the meditation practices, known as visualisation sadhanas, that he had received from his Tibetan teachers. I delved into his writings to research more about them and the effects they had on him. Eventually I had a chronological account of this, something that wasn’t easily available from his writings and gave that as a talk.

It was very well received. About two years after that the idea suddenly arose to make it into a book! I’d add a bit more to the writing and have lots of images of Bhante and his teachers – Bhante in his mid-twenties to early thirties – Bhante as a student, a disciple, and meditator.

It seemed a simple enough idea, and I made an immediate start on the writing in May 2024. But as I did more research I found I was gathering a lot of very interesting information and stories, the project was getting bigger – and I’d not planned in any time to actually do the writing! I realised I needed to get away to find a quiet place to focus my thoughts. I thought of Adhisthana, Bhante’s old home and a retreat centre, and arranged to spend four months in or around Adhisthana early this year.

For big chunks of time I was fortunate to be able to stay in the Urgyen annexe, above Bhante’s old rooms which are now a sort of museum. It was wonderful to be there, it had a powerful inspirational atmosphere, and I spent many happy weeks absorbing myself in the archives, books, and images that had belonged to Bhante. I interviewed several people who had been close to Bhante or had met his teachers, which was a great privilege. One of the most inspiring things about my time there was that I could meditate in Bhante’s rooms and I felt I drew deeply from that atmosphere and energy. I would call on the teachers and Bhante to clarify my mind and inspire my writing. I wrote them a puja and some rejoicings which I often spoke.

The Bodhisattvas seemed to be easily present for me, with Bhante, helping the process along. It had its very challenging times. I experienced self-doubt – could I really do these teachers justice? I was trying to keep the writing succinct and pithy, to get to the heart of each person, but was I succeeding? I often came away from a meditation with a way forward. One time, I felt I was getting too heady, I wasn’t feeling deeply enough and didn’t know how to shift that. I took this to my meditation and the words came – “Let your heart wander. There’s no need to rush”! Perfect! If a phrase like that came to me I would follow it without question – as I felt intuitively it was right. So the writing process has been and continues to be an intense one for me. I am only about halfway through and have quite a lot of other work on but am hoping to get away for another four or even five months from May next year.