Alison Squires's Page

About Me:

I first had contact with Amida when Dharmavidya came to give a talk at The Oxford University Buddhist Society, which I was president of at the time. About a year later I got talking with Modgala at Buddhafield, and one of the things we discussed was volunteering (I was about to go to Scotland volunteering with CSV). A couple of years later I was at a bit of a dead end what to do with myself after having done my MA and got in contact with Prasada about the possibility of volunteering overseas with Amida. Well, the rest is history. My then-partner and I spent six months in India, most of it in Delhi. Since then I've just kept coming back. Since I broke off from my old meditation group a little over a year ago my heart has been more with Amida, but it's difficult to get over to The Buddhist House for service very often because the train people keep putting on rail replacement bus services that take most of the day. Boo.

Amida Membership

Would like to be a member

Faith Background & Affiliation

Buddhist

Occupation or Primary Activity

Ha. Ha. Um. Yes. Er. Transitional.

Involvement in Spirituality/Religion

Hmm. Do I put my history here? I was brought up vaguely Christian but neither of my parents are particularly religious. Aged 12 I had a bit of an existential crisis, turned atheist and tried to kill myself before doubt crept in and I (thankfully) went temporarily agnostic instead. Aged 14 I started reading about Buddhism and it instantly clicked - I remember quite vividly the first thing I thought when I read the four noble truths was 'why did no-one tell me this before?' Hung out on internet groups and read books till I got to uni, whereupon I joined the Buddhist Society and a samatha (calm) meditation class. I became treasurer and then president of Budsoc, which was awesome as I got to have dinner with some very cool people. I was also studying Philosophy and Theology as my BA, and when I did my MA afterwards it was in Buddhist Studies. My MA dissertation was on Engaged Buddhism in the early sources. I stuck with the organisation that ran the meditation class (The Samatha Trust) at uni till fairly recently, when frustrations (mostly to do with aloofness and over-intellectualising) finally built up sufficiently for me to make a clean break of it. I dabbled briefly in FWBO but the main practise I do now is a mindfulness of breathing practise taught to me by a Burmese monk I used to know, with a mixture of Theravada and Amida Trust chanting, and the odd metta practise or something lifted from Buddhaghosa' Path of Purification. As well as Engaged Buddhism, I also have interests in inter-religious dialogue (I used to work for the Quakers and learnt quite a lot from them), the nature of religion, and creative expression of spirituality. Religion is my Thing :-)

What is your interest in Amida Trust

Spiritual, political, and creative.

What country are you living in?

England

What is the nearest town to where you live? If in UK, please give first half of your postcode. Thank you.

Birmingham

Are you a member of an Amida group/Congregation

Leicester

Have you visited

The Buddhist House, Amida London, Amida Delhi

What can you offer to other members of this network?

Guide, Expertise

What other interests do you have, eg Arts, Gardening and so on.

I read, I write, I sing. I love most stuff creative, although not all of it likes me ;-) (my drawing is really..... er..... special). I actually spend a lot of my time on Harry Potter role-play. I like to swim and walk and dance but as for most other kinds of exercise, well, I would run a mile if that did not involve so much energy. I like to listen to music and watch films and tv and go out with my friends and the usual things, really.

Website:

http://herringprincess.livejournal.com/

Skype/Aim/Msn details

AIM imphandsosmywife; skype, msn, yahoo and gtalk herringprincess