The Venerable Amaro Bhikkhu (1973 F) There can be few Old Suttonians whose lives have taken quite such an extraordinary path as that followed by Jeremy Charles Julian Horner (1967-73 F). Or, as he’s known today, the Venerable Amaro Bhikkhu, abbot of the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in Hertfordshire. By his own admission, Amaro was “a bit of an anarchist” in his SVS days, although he did well academically, going on to Bedford College, University of London, and on the sports field – he captained junior teams as hooker and later played wing forward for the 1st XV, and was Kent hurdles champion at junior and intermediate levels. “While I loved the camaraderie and friendship of school life,” he recalled, “I wasn’t too keen on rules, and sometimes got on the wrong side of the teachers.” Amaro acknowledges that, in common with most university students in the ‘70s, “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” provided the standard diversions. “I was a Jack-the-Lad, enjoying London parties and Kent pubs. “But I was also taking a psychology degree, and had read about meditation and the Asian way of articulating spirituality. I began to ask myself ‘What’s missing in my life? How can I find real freedom and satisfaction?”’ In 1977 Amaro set off from the family farm in Hawkenbury and made his way to Malaysia, Indonesia and, eventually,
Thailand, where he found himself at Wat Pah Nanachat, the International Forest Monastery. It was the journey that changed his life. Just after his 21st birthday, he became a novice, and in 1979 was admitted as a Buddhist monk of the Theravada tradition – Theravada and Mahayana being the two distinct forms of Buddhism in Asia today, having spread from their source in ancient India. Unsurprisingly, visits back to Kent resulted in his parents and friends being “aghast, bewildered and gobsmacked”, as they contemplated his Buddhist monk’s saffron robes and shaved head. “I’m sure everyone thought it was a phase, and I would get over it”, he said. Amaro stayed in England to help establish a Buddhist monastery in West Sussex, and then another in Northumberland. He chose a uniquely Buddhist way of making his first journey between the two. He walked – all 830 miles. The journey, which he chronicled in his book ‘Tudong: The Long Road North’, took three months, during which time he slept in a tent in the woods or under hedgerows, and survived with the help and hospitality of local people and a handful of Buddhist supporters. In the mid-1990s, Amaro went to Mendocino County, California where, thanks to a donation of 120 acres of land from the abbot of a nearby Chinese/Buddhist monastery, he established a forest retreat, which respected both the Theravada and Mahayana lineages of Buddhism. “It was wonderful, because we have been able to build bridges and create a bond between the two,” he said. “As in other religions, there are often misunderstandings within the same faith, and we have helped to overcome these.”
The Great Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, monastery, where Amaro has been abbot for the past four years, teaches Buddhist ethics and meditation, as well as offering retreats to people of all faiths which, he says, “are particularly therapeutic because of the stress levels in society.” Amaro’s 35 years of devotion to his religion have provided him with a life which is the very antithesis of stress. As he explained: “My entire adult existence has been built around this way of life. It has met all my wishes and what I was looking for – the qualities of complete freedom, contentment and ease.” Asked what advice he would give to today’s Sutton Valence pupils he answered: “Respect the individual, with the quality of a good heart. Be unselfish, honest and compassionate.” “Trust your inclinations towards goodness. Don’t feel you have to fulfil other people’s expectations. And be true to your own life.” For further information about the Amaravati Monastery and Retreat Centre, visit www.amaravati.org Amaro Bhikkhu’s videos can also be viewed on YouTube.
Interview by Richard Harvey (1963 C)
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