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Chapter 2:The Life and Works of Ven. Sangharakshita 2.1: From Chapter 2:The Life and works of Ven. Sangharakshita 2.1: From Childhood to Ordination Childhood of the Venerable Sangharakshita The Venerable Sangharakshita was born on 26th August 1925 as Dennis Lingwood at Tooting, London to Philip Edward Lingwood and Catherine Florence Margaret Ketskemety. Speaking about his parent‟s disposition, Sangharakshita stated that his father "was of a generous and forgiving nature and unselfishness was second nature to him" (Sangharakshita,1997a: 3). And that his mother "was naturally of a gentle, patient disposition" (Sangharakshita,1997a: 67). Sangharakshita also had a younger sister. Sangharakshita‟s parents belonged to the working-class family. His parents nature influenced the young Sangharakshita and hence he was "exceptionally intelligent, independent and self-willed nature from childhood" (Subhuti, 1995: 17). At the age of eight years Sangharakshita was diagnosed with a serious heart ailment and as a result he was kept at home and bedridden for a span of two years. During this time, young Sangharakshita kept himself busy reading books, magazines, news papers and Children‟s Encyclopedia which was given to him by his parents. An intelligent and independent Sangharakshita was soon introduced to philosophy, religion and art by reading books and magazines mainly the classics of English Literature and all the sixty-one parts of Harmsworth‟s Children‟s Encyclopedia. During this period, young Sangharakshita developed a habit of reading and studied the lives of the great philosophers, as well as those of the Buddha, Prophet Muhammad, Zoroaster, Confucius, and Lao Tzu. This habit of being a voracious reader never left him and this informal study during his ailment, gave rise to his interest in further study on those topics. As fate would have it, it soon turned out that in reality, the young Sangharakshita had been misdiagnosed by his doctor with a serious heart disease. After the span of two years, young Sangharakshita was no longer kept confined to his bed. He finally returned to a normal life and joined school again. However, by a twist of fate, his school education was later on again interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. However, he continued his study through self-education, spending many hours reading books on all topics in public libraries and buying books from second-hand bookshops. Speaking about his informal study, Sangharakshita (1997a: 3) had stated that, "this odd collection of books, every one of which I read and re-read, laid the foundations of my education, for neither before nor after my illness was I able to learn at school anything that could be considered either useful or interesting". Since childhood, Sangharakshita had a great passion for poetry and stared writing some verses and this habit of writing stuck with him his whole life. Realization of not being a Christian After leaving school young Sangharakshita soon found employment in a coal merchant‟s office. During this period, on a trip to the library, young Sangharakshita came across an important work of the Theosophical Movement titled 'Isis Unveiled', written by the noted author Madame Blavatsky. The work shook Sangharakshita to his core and he read it twice; this piece of writing had a powerful impact on him and his life. 'Isis Unveiled' impressed the impressionable Sangharakshita with its well laid out information on the various aspects of philosophy, comparative religion, occultism, mysticism and science. The seminal impact of this book was that Sangharakshita or Dennis, as he was back then, realized that he "was not a Christian and never had been and never would be" (Sangharakshita,1997a: 59). The very structure of Christian doctrine struck him as being repulsive and he became affirmative about what he did not believe in. This knowledge though negative, gave him such freedom as though all obstacles were removed, and all limitations were transcended. As Sangharakshita (1997a: 59) later explained in his own words: "that the whole structure of Christian doctrine was from beginning to end thoroughly repugnant to me. This realization gave me a sense of relief, of liberation as from some oppressive burden, which was so great that I wanted to dance and sing for joy. What I was, what I believed, I knew not, but what I was not and what I did not believe, that I knew with utter certainty, and this knowledge, merely negative though it was as yet, gave me a foretaste of that freedom which comes when all obstacles are removed, all barriers broken down, all limitations transcended." This experience is reflective of his non-attachment attitude and made him out to be an open-minded personality ready to accept that which he felt was genuine and true. Realization of being a Buddhist In the year 1942, in his sixteenth year, young Sangharakshita had occasion to read two important Sutras of Mahāyāna Buddhism: namely (a) the Vajracchedikāprajnāpāramitā Sutra or Diamond Sutra and (b) the Sutra of Wei-lang also known as the Sutra of Hui-neng or the Platform Sutra. Sangharakshita was deeply influenced after reading these two Sutras and while reading these two Sutras, he had psychic experiences. Sangharakshita realized that he was a Buddhist and that he had always been the same. About the Diamond Sutra, Sangharakshita (1997a: p.80) was quoted as saying, "to me the Diamond Sutra was not new. I had known it and believed it and realized it ages before and the reading of the Sutra as it were awoke me to the existence of something I had forgotten. Once I realized that I was a Buddhist it seemed that I had always been one, that it was the most natural thing in the world to be, and that I had never been anything else." While speaking about his experience of the Platform Sutra or the Sutra of Wei-lang also known as the Sutra of Hui-neng, Sangharakshita stated that whenever he read this text he would be thrown into periods of ecstasy. In this way, these two Sutra changed his life and he started serious study of Buddhism and received name and fame as the Venerable Sangharakshita. After devoting time to the development of his interest in religions and philosophies of the East, Sangharakshita began a profound and deep study of Buddhism. Apart from the same he also read some books related to Taoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Sufism and Christian mysticism. He also took the membership of the London Buddhist Society and became a subscriber of the journal „The Middle Way‟ published by this Society. In the London Buddhist Society, he met Christmas Humphreys and other famous figures in English Buddhism of that time. During this period, he authored two articles on Buddhism, entitled „The Unity of Buddhism‟ and „Three Signata‟ or the Three Characteristics of Buddhism, which were published in „The Middle Way‟ journal of the London Buddhist Society. In the article „The Unity of Buddhism‟ he (Sangharakshita, 1997a: 82) laid emphasis on the notion that "our basic allegiance should be not to this or that school, but to the whole Buddhist tradition". Clare Cameron, the editor of „The Middle Way‟, expressed appreciation to the young Sangharakshita for both his articles. These two articles are reflective of Sangharakshita‟s deep understanding of Buddhism at an early age. The journey to the land of the Buddha Subsequently young Sangharakshita or Dennis Lingwood, as he was known back then, was drafted into the British army. In August 1944, he was transferred to Delhi in India. Young Sangharakshita was overjoyed on getting a transfer to India because he reckoned that it would further fan his interest in the study of Buddhism. However, during his trip in India Sangharakshita found limited information about Buddhism and was disappointed to see the deteriorated condition of Buddhism in India. In fact, he was so vexed & disappointed that very soon, he himself requested his higher-ups for a transfer from India to Colombo in present day Sri Lanka, where he reckoned that he would get more information about Buddhism. His higher-ups acceded to his request and he was soon transferred to Sri Lanka. Though Sri Lanka was a Buddhist country, he did not get influenced by the Buddhism which he saw there. In Srilanka, he met with some Swamis or Hermits of the Ramkrishna Mission and he developed an intense urge to renounce the material world. Thereafter, he was transferred to Calcutta (presently known as Kolkata), where he had a continued contact with the Swamis of the Ramkrishna Mission. He then decided to dedicate himself to a sparse spiritual life which was useful for him to understand the Indian spiritual traditions. His last transfer was to the island City State of Singapore in the year 1946. There, he made contact with Buddhists and started the practice of meditation. Finally, towards the fag end of the Second World War, his unit in the British Army was demobilized in United Kingdom, and hearing this news he left the Army camp and deserted from the army. He came back to stay at Calcutta where he worked for a short duration of time with the Ramakrishna Mission and then with the Maha Bodhi Society. During his experience with these organizations, he came to know first-hand of the corruption of religious organizations and gradually decided to renounce the world. He proceeded further with his wish to become a wanderer or samaṇ a. The Path of Samaṇ a Tradition In the footsteps of the Buddha, the young Sangharakshita, at the impressionable age of twenty two years began to follow the Samaṇ a tradition, which turned out to be a watershed moment in his life. On 18th August 1947 i.e.
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