From the Anapanasati Sutta abridged in Buddha-Daily Readings

Mindfulness of inhalation and exhalation, if it is cherished and practised with intensity, is productive of great fruit. It will bring about the four applications of mindfulness and the perfection of the seven links in awakening.

From Venerable Ajahn Khemadhammo

Thirty-one years after the Buddha attained Enlightenment a devout and wealthy woman built and donated what is sometimes called the Eastern Monastery of Savatthi. It stood just to the east of the better known Jetavana and was properly known as Pubbarama Monastery. Tradition usually has it that the Buddha spent twenty-four vassas (rains retreats) at Savatthi in one or the other of these two monasteries. But Venerable Narada in his book 'The Buddha and His Teachings' reckons that the Buddha spent nineteen vassas at Jetavana and six at Pubbarama. During the pilgrimage that took me to Thailand I stayed in the then tiny Sri Lankan vihara opposite the gates of Jetavana and I remember sitting on the verandah in the evening and listening to tales of the Buddha and his disciples, of events that happened just a few yards away in Jetavana or a little further across at Pubbarama. Now these ancient sites are in ruins, but during the Buddha's lifetime Savatthi was a great and prosperous city and these two celebrated monasteries were packed with monks. Then, as now, on the full-moon day that concludes the vassa all bhikkhus in each community would meet for the Pavarana ceremony when every bhikkhu must invite the Sangha to inform him of any faults. On one of these occasions when he had been living at Pubbarama the Buddha announced that he was pleased with the way bhikkhus there were progressing and therefore he would remain until the Komudi full moon of the fourth month - in other words until the following full moon when the komuda, the white water-lily, is said to bloom. Hearing this, bhikkhus living in the countryside roundabout Savatthi moved in to be near the Blessed One and to receive teachings from him and the great elders staying there with him. Then on the night of the Komudi full-moon, the Buddha, seated in the open with a vast congregation of still, silent bhikkhus sitting about him, addressed the Sangha. He praised those bhikkhus for their good conduct, for their accomplishments and for their devotion to the practice of his teachings. And then commenced to discourse in some detail on the development of Anapanasati - Mindfulness of Breathing. This was how he'd practised as a child when left alone during the Ploughing Festival and what he'd used many years later when, abandoned by his disciples and again alone, he made what turned out to be his final bid for Enlightenment.

As I hope most Buddhists already know, Anapanasatii is a popular and convenient method of developing a stable and harmonious Inner Attitude. Unlike some more complicated exercises it requires no special equipment and although a quiet and peaceful place is the ideal, since wherever you go your breathing goes too, it can in fact be practised almost anywhere. Simple and unassuming though it may be, it has the power to take you all the way to Nibbana.

I mention the Anapanasati Sutta and the story of when and where it was given because the anniversary of that occasion this year will be on November 24th, the very day that has been chosen for this wat to receive the Offering to the Sangha that usually takes place in the month following the vassa. Where five or more bhikkhus have spent the vassa together the Kathina may be held, but where there have been less it is common for a formal offering to be organised instead. And whoever or whatever group are the main sponsors and organisers, they always welcome anyone and everyone to join in. These customs don't always translate that well and unfortunately are often regarded by our native English following as a Thai or Burmese or Sri Lankan custom and not necessary to their practise of Buddhism. I live in hope of breaking these barriers and seeing people come here not just as Thais, Burmese or Brits, but as Buddhists. As it's the Komudi full moon I have been tempted to abandon the humdrum title of 'Offering' or 'Almsgiving' in favour of the more enchanting 'Festival of the White Water-Lily'!

The version of the Anapanasati Sutta that I have included here is considerably abridged and comes from an anthology known as 'Buddha - Daily Readings'. This is the book that is now the official Buddhist scripture made available to Buddhist inmates by the Prison Service. It was compiled by Swami Venkatesananda and published in a limited edition by the Chiltern Yoga Trust. As our supply has run out I am, in fits and starts, preparing a new edition.

Unsurprisingly, I suppose, the proposals for a more equal, just and practical reorganisation of religious provision in the prisons that we took to the Home Secretary in March have been comprehensively rejected. There'll be more on this when we've had time to think about it.

At the last meeting of the Prison Service Chaplain General's Consultation with Other Faiths it was requested that we each provide a 'job description' stating what we expect and the hours required. Obviously pastoral care can vary enormously and I'm not sure how you can quantify it, nor whether it's desirable to try. But, I eventually persuaded myself to sit down and ramble on for a whole page and what follows in the next paragraph is a little chunk of what I included.

In Buddhism, traditionally the religious guide or teacher has been described as the kalyanamitta or ‘the good friend’. My hope and expectation is that Buddhist Visiting Ministers will as it were live and practise alongside the Buddhist inmates they serve and be to them, especially in all matters ‘spiritual’, a good friend. Whether in a group or in personal interview, the Buddhist chaplain should be there to offer advice and instruction in the theory and practice of Buddhism, emphasising the development of morality and meditation. The Buddhist chaplain will need to be alive to the needs of the inmates and capable of advising them appropriately. The Buddhist chaplain must therefore be someone who is reasonably experienced in the practice of meditation and conversant with some of the different approaches and exercises. Also, to teach morality the Buddhist chaplain should be a person of virtue - for lay-Buddhists acting as chaplains that means living by at least the Five Precepts and for those who are ordained being true to the precepts of their ordination. Because amongst prisoners there may be those who are interested in or committed to different forms of Buddhism, the Buddhist chaplain must be someone with knowledge of schools of Buddhism other than his or her own and open to being helpful and encouraging of them. This rules out as Buddhist chaplains members of Buddhist groups or sects that are exclusive and unsympathetic to others.

Finally, still on the prison front, the little film that the BBC shot here and in Wandsworth Prison in a series for schools called 'Taking Issue' will be shown on BBC2 on Wednesday, January 8th at 11.40 a.m. It's to be included in programme 1, 'Does God Exist?'.

Not only is this newsletter now on the Internet, but an email version has been requested!

Take care and be happy!

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