This
There’s
no law against my listening
to
this thrush behind the barn,
the
song so loud it echoes like a bell,
then
it’s further off beyond the lawn.
Whatever
else there is, there’s this as well.
There’s
no law against this singing –
nesting
I suppose – up in the silver birch,
even
though we build a common hell,
have
done, and will make it worse.
Whatever
else there is, there’s this as well.
-
Maitreyabandhu (2011)
“I became a Buddhist because I wanted to
learn more about my potential as a human being,” said Maitreyabandhu, teacher at the London Buddhist Centre in East London’s Bethenal Green.
“I realised this when I was a 25 years-old
fine arts student who wasn’t all that happy. I was lost, complicated, quite
depressed and seeking some sort of meaning,” he added.
Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas – Maitreyabandhu's close
friends who today are both well-known artists– encouraged him to attend a meditation
class at the centre in 1986. By 1987, he had moved into the
residential community above the centre and by 1990, was ordained into the
Triratna Buddhist Order and given the name Maitreyabandhu. Now a teacher of Buddhism and meditation at the
centre, Maitreyabandhu introduces beginners much like his former self to the practice.
“Meditation quite literally opened me up to
a much more fortunate and fulfilled life,” Maitreyabandhu explained.
“ A divine way of just being really."
 |
| Maitreyabandhu |
The centre was once a burnt-out fire station, abandoned and mistreated, when a group of men and women saw the possibility of the space in the 1960s and over three years, converted the derelict building into a haven of peace.
“During this time, Bethenal Green was a
very poor community, living in very hard conditions. There was a need for
something else. A reason to believe that there was more,” shared
Maitreyabandhu.
Now the centre is opened six days a week,
offering meditation, yoga, art and community events as well as retreats.
Always fascinated by words, imagery,
playful puns and clever alliteration, Maitreyabandhu said his love of poetry began when a friend read him the
first five verses of Shelley's Mask of
Anarchy. "It was one of those moments when one discovers a new
ecstasy, even a new calling. After that I read and re-read Shelley and Keats
obsessively and used their poetry to explore ancient Buddhist themes," he
said.
