leeds buddhist centre

When you were Ordained you were given the name Rijumitra. What does it mean and in what ways has this new name affected and directed your life?

“Riju” means upright or straight, true or to the point, and then “Mitra” means friend. I do think about the name and I’m aware of it’s meaning and in a sense I’m trying to fill out into it, trying to understand what it does mean both in regards to others but also with regards to my own experience - both the inner and outer dimensions of it. It is a challenging name.... I can remember when I was Ordained thinking I wanted something more dramatic. But it is a very good name to have because one is confronted with something that is very clear. So either I’m acting in accordance with my name or I’m not.

What do you see as your role as Chairman and has it changed over the years?

I see my role to make sure that conditions for practice continue within the situation and to try and support those conditions as best I can. And within that, trying to support people becoming more aware of their potential and creative possibilities. In a sense it hasn’t changed that much. When I took over as Chairman I needed to be more out front taking a lead with things. But in recent times I’ve felt that that’s not so important and I’m not sure it suites my temperament anyway. Also it’s important that other people who have been practising for some time take a lead with things and look at what conditions they want to provide to support the overall process and their own practice. That’s quite a big thing to be able to support other people in their own creative endeavours.

How do you reconcile the need for stillness and quite with the busyness associated with running a Buddhist Centre?

With difficulty! It’s difficult as far as one isn’t a fully integrated human being because one has different pulls and different needs. It’s a bit of an ongoing process to work out what one needs to do to fulfil both ones’ inner needs and the outer needs of the situation. In a way that’s OK because although it can be painful it shows up what my limitations are and what I need to work on. It’s difficult because I don’t quite know how to work on those areas - if I did know I’d be able to sort them out! I can get pulled by a situation and forget what I need to be doing and then find that I’ve lost track of myself and have to go back to where I started from. A lot of the spiritual life is about resolving that tension. One actually needs to want stillness and quiet. Quite often one just wants stimulation! We all have an idea that we want stillness and quiet but I think it’s actually a difficult area to move into. But I think if one genuinely wants it one will find it.

It’s well known around the Sangha that you are a fine golfer. What do you like about the game?

I was brought up playing golf so it’s something I know. I quite like the etiquette and the manners of it. I quite like the fact that there are rules and also that one can find oneself against the course or with the course. So as one looks at a shot does one experience all the hindrances in terms of fear and self doubt; being attracted to the bunkers; an idea of a good shot or a bad shot; is one attached to a certain outcome in an inappropriate way? It’s quite interesting in those sorts of ways. I like the physical exercise and hitting a golf ball well. There is a positive connection I think between golf and meditation in the sense of becoming more concentrated and more aware of one’s surroundings and trying to move beyond so much of a separation between oneself and one’s surroundings. Sometimes, for brief moments, I can feel something deeper like that.

Any reflections on the war in Iraq?

When I was looking into the whole question of Iraq and reading around it, looking at some Noam Chomsky stuff, I recognised, and had to acknowledge to myself, that I have a certain scale within myself that some peoples are more important than others, and I don’t think that is a very healthy point of view. And I think that this is quite a strong tendency found in what one might describe as the Western democracies, somehow we regard ourselves as enlightened. I think this then diminishes other peoples and allows violence as a response to what is regarded as wrong being taken much quicker than it should ever be taken.

Would you like to mention any of your current reading?

I’m reading a book about Monster Dogs in New York at the moment, “The History of the Monster Dogs”. It’s a Science Fiction book set in the not too far away future about these dogs that have been made by this mad scientist in a remote community in northern Canada who have rebelled against their makers, killed them and set up home in New York. They can speak and are very intelligent and have got mechanical hands. It’s a tale exploring life after god and the meaning of awareness. Why are the dogs there? What’s their purpose? One of the dogs is an historian and he’s looking back trying to get a clue from their makers journals, trying to get a sense of spirit and purpose. It’s a good read. I like just a good read.

Any Dharma books?

I’ve been listening to Subhuti’s talks “ Rambles Around Reality”. He’s looking at different philosophical perspectives on reality from the Buddhist tradition. It could sound a bit dry but it’s actually very interesting in terms of giving a positive perspective on the nature of reality. Quite a lot of Buddhist doctrine goes against describing what reality might be because in a sense it is indescribable. But that can lead to an idea of Enlightenment being something quite separate to us and something many miles away from our present experience and something that we’re working towards. Taking that perspective too far might diminish the possibilities for the awareness of insight should it arise. Subhuti in the talks is in a sense redressing some of that balance within the movement.

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