Countdown to Ecstasy

Prajnakara and I are now counting the days down to Monday 23rd 11am at the Shrewsbury Buddhist Centre. We will be waved off by the Sangha, and many of you around the world will be following this blog. Thank you! 

It matters to us that we have your support - especially your good wishes and interest. What we are attempting is not at all easy, and if last year's ride is anything to go by, some bits will be physically TOUGH. Having said that, there are bound to be many days of joy and moments of Ecstasy.

I feel grateful that we are healthy enough to do it at our advanced ages..... It could well be one of the highlights of our lives.

Right now, the focus is on training. Personally, I'm cycling 20-25 miles of Cambridgeshire countryside most days of the week. I need to get my legs used to some serious endurance work.

Tomorrow I will do squats at the gym to build power and strength. I'm going to need it!

The Great Gig in the Sky

It really isn't very long before we set of now - only 10 days. Prajnakara and I spoke on Zoom this evening and happily nailed down every last little detail of our Big Ride. We can't wait.

No matter how exciting this ride is, we aim to always bear in mind our brothers and sisters in Kolkata and the kind of demanding lives they must live in that city. It is a privelege to have the health, money and opportunity to do this fund-raising ride.

The Long and Winding Road....

So many folk have been asking me what our exact route and itinerary will be from Shrewsbury Buddhist Centre to John O'Groats. So here it is. 650 miles of long and (sometimes) winding roads.

May: Sunday 22nd drive (with bikes) to Cheltenham (my son's house). Monday 23rd My son Barney drives us to Shrewsbury Buddhist Centre for 11am start of ride. Shrewsbury to Nantwich. Tuesday 24th Nantwich to Wigan. Wednesday 25th Wigan to Morecambe. Thursday 26th Morecambe to Rydal. Friday 27th Rydal to Carlisle. Saturday 28th Carlisle to Moffat. Sunday 29th Moffat to Livingston. Monday 30th Livingston to Perth. Tuesday 31st Perth to Pitlochry. 

June: Wednesday 1st Pitlochry to Newtonmore. Thursday 2nd Newtonmore to Inverness. Friday 3rd Inverness to Tain. Saturday 4th Tain to Altnaharra. Sunday 5th Altnaharra to Melvich. Monday 6th Melvich to John O'Groats. Tuesday 7th Take bikes to John O'Groats Bike Transport (to have them couriered home). Take taxi to Wick. Take local train to Inverness. Catch 20.00 overnight sleeper train Caledonia Express to London Euston. Wednesday 8th Arrive in London Euston at 07.50. Take train back to Stowmarket (for Prajnakara) and Cambridge (for Saddharaja).

Let's hope all goes to plan. I expect we will want a long rest after all that!

Point North and pedal

 

650 miles is a long way! But I have already done the hardest part last year of the 420 miles from Lands End to near Shrewsbury. Youtube is full of inspiring rides by Lejogers of all ages. LEJOG = Lands End to John O'Groats.

Almost all riders say that the unrelenting steep hills and tiny roads of Cornwall and Devon are a unique challenge. But that was completed last summer, so hopefully..... this year's ride from Shrewsbury Buddhist Centre to John O'Groats should be a little easier and more enjoyable. Especially as I have the excellent Prajnakara with me all the way. 

But just look at the size of Scotland. It's such a big land mass!

How Triratna Buddhism could help Kolkata people

Lake near Kalyani, North Kolkata.

 

Local sangha members in North Kolkata.

Saddharaja and Adityabodhi teaching in a hutment area in Pune, Maharashtra.

Meditation classes in Kolkata.  At the railway station: Nityasri is third from the left, and Nagamitra is fifth from the left.

Nagamitra leading walking meditation on a retreat in Kolkata.

Howrah Railway Sation, Kolkata

Kolkata is one of the poorer cities of the world, and very densely populated. There are 15 million people living there - all madly packed in. Deep poverty is all around and the pollution within the city is challenging. Why start a Triratna Buddhist Centre here? Why not go somewhere a bit easier? 

The reason we want to develop Triratna activities here is as follows:

1) Many Bengali people are deeply interested in the Dharma here. They want to immerse themselves in it, and they will value meditation, the Refuges and Precepts, and a way of developing themselves within what can be a tough life. I have met so many Bengali people who want to Go for Refuge - if the facilities and sangha are there.

2) Bhante Sangharakshita had a deep connection with Kolkata from his early days and was keen that a Triratna centre was established here. 

3) Actually, Kolkata is a deeply cultural city, with many beautiful and uplifting aspects: architecture, theatre, poetry, art, dance, cinema and literature. It is the home of Rabindranath Tagore and 'The Bengal Renaissance'. There are many cultural facilities to augment a Buddhist life here.

4) It might sound corny, but I did actually have an unexpected 'spiritual vision' whilst visiting an old grave yard in South Park Street, Kolkata in 2014. A vision of a Triratna Centre here in Kolkata. I hadn't expected it. I was just temporarily visiting Kolkata on my way to a pilgrimage, when this Big Idea flashed into my consciousness, and has remeained and grown there ever since. I really didn't expect that.

Since that time, so many Order Member friends have shared that vision too, and augmented it. Nagamitra and Nityasri (who current live in Nagpur and are intending to move to Kolkata), Adityabodhi in Pune and Maitridasa at Padmaloka - and many others, too numerous to mention. 

We all feel a Triratna Centre in North Kolkata is where we should establish things, and go from there. That work has started. It won't be easy, but it will be incredibly valuable to perhaps tens of thousands of women and men in the future.

That is why Prajnakara and I are about to undertake this fundraising ride. Watch this space.

Cycling in Kolkata and Cambridge

 

Kolkata is unbelievably busy and densely-populated. I have actually ridden a cycle in Kolkata, believe it or not. in 2019, a cycle rickshaw driver that I made friends with in Chowringhee (central Kolkata) allowed me to cycle his rickshaw like the ones above, providing that he could take a photo of me doing so on his mobile phone.

Rajiv was so happy with the photo he took of this British visitor madly trying to pilot his machine through a street in Kolkata, that he said he would show it to all his family and friends. Thankfully, it was a quiet side-street (a main street would have been crazily irresponsible). Even so, stall-holders and chai-wallahs came out to grin at me and some even clapped. 

I gave Rajiv 500 rupees for the privilege, and he looked very happy. "Do you know Michael Palin?" he asked me, as I gratefully drew to a halt. I had to admit that I didn't. "He is a most funny man!" he concluded. I agreed with him. 

This was yet another example of the wonderful interractions with strangers that one can have in India - and especially Kolkata, where people love to talk. In the hot evenings, one sees ordinary men and women just sitting and talking for sometimes hours on end in streets, gardens, cafes and by the Hoogly river. This form of conversation is called adda in West Bengal.

Though I am undertaking a serious fundraising challenge with cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats, it is actually an honour for me to do it. I want to help develop Buddhist activities in the city that are substantial and premanent, and that is a team effort. Our Kolkata team is making good progress with that. Nagamitra, Nityasri, Maitridasa and Adityabodhi are great Dharma teachers. I will also be teaching the Dharma in Kolkata over the coming years (with a translator). The money we raise, will make all that possible.

Though that is of great value in itself, I'm pleased to say that I also love Kolkata and it's people. I have been there five times now and have visited India twelve times. I feel very at home in the streets of Kolkata. However, when it comes to cycling, I think I am better off doing that in Cambridge - and the rest of the UK.

The Way of the Men in Yellow

 

Spring is bursting upon us in a stop/start sort of way, and Prajnakara and I are getting ready. Getting ready for the send off from the Shrewsbury Buddhist Centre on May 23rd. Getting kit ready. Getting our bodies and legs (especially) ready. Getting bikes ready and getting the money ready (this trip will cost 3 grand with food, rail travel, bike transport back from John O'Groats and of course, no less than 16 B&Bs between Nantwich and John O'Groats). Getting the route ready. Getting our minds and hearts ready. 650 miles is a long way on any bike and by any rider.

Like Muddy Waters, we are 'Ready As A Man Can Be'.  

I was set back from my training recently with a bout of Covid, which I have recovered from, thankfully. Prajnakara had his bout a few months ago. Hopefully it will make us immune until well after the ride is over.

We plan to make the ride a kind of retreat. Meditation in the morning. Some serious riding through the day with some periods of silence, and then some puja and relaxation in the evening before much-needed sleep in the various B&Bs. I really am looking forward to seeing Scotland, in particular.

I'm taking my regular touring bike and Prajnakara is taking his trusty Brompton. He has a regular road bike, but being such a serious and experienced long-distance cyclist, he wants to give himself a different experience. I may have difficulty keeping up with him! Though course, being a considerate guy, he'll kindly go at my pace....

Fundraising is still going on and Shubhanaga will kindly takes us over to my son's house in Cheltenham on May 22nd. On the morning of the 23rd, my son Barney drives us in his big blue van to the starting line in Shrewsbury. I am already excited.