From ‘Sam’ – who appears in the photos with Bhante
“……. my plan was still to travel back overland through Afghanistan to return for the next course at Sherborne, but I was also drawn by the idea of staying with Bhante at the Mission. Maybe I could learn just as much by following that path? Bhante was aware of my indecision and said that ‘it could be cured by psychological means’.
Bhante conceived a scheme whereby I could help the Mission, yet still continue with my travel plans. It all sounds highly improbable, looking back, but I certainly believed in it at the time. The idea was to purchase brightly coloured, woven cotton Indian jackets, which I would carry with me overland, through Afghanistan, and sell back in England. I could then either bring or send the proceeds back to support the Mission.
So Bhante and I would go off to various emporiums in New Delhi and buy up these jackets – six here and a dozen there. As the pile grew, so did my indecision. My mind was in turmoil because I realised that I didn’t really want to leave at all, but I was heavily committed to this scheme, with Bhante having invested so much time and resources to acquiring all these jackets. We had about 80 of them and made one last buying trip before my imminent departure. We had met up with some other monks and were reversing into a parking space in a taxi when, inexplicably, Bhante opened the door which was then knocked off by the adjacent taxi as we parked.
After much haggling and gesticulating, the situation was finally resolved, but I began to suspect that Bhante didn’t really want me to leave either. Finally I could stand it no longer and went to tell him that, sorry as I was about all the difficulties in getting the jackets, I wanted to stay and become a monk. His response was to beam in delight.
Over many journeys, Bhante gave away all the coloured jackets to his friends and helpers.”
The International Academy for Continuous Education Sherborne, Gloucestershire, England 
2 Responses to “Bhante”
The J.G. Bennett website http://jgbennett.org has a recording of Bhante – First Lecture at Sherborne House June 18, 1973: http://jgbennett.org/album/148335/bhante-first-lecture-at-sherborne-house?autostart=true
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From ‘Sam’ – who appears in the photos with Bhante
“……. my plan was still to travel back overland through Afghanistan to return for the next course at Sherborne, but I was also drawn by the idea of staying with Bhante at the Mission. Maybe I could learn just as much by following that path? Bhante was aware of my indecision and said that ‘it could be cured by psychological means’.
Bhante conceived a scheme whereby I could help the Mission, yet still continue with my travel plans. It all sounds highly improbable, looking back, but I certainly believed in it at the time. The idea was to purchase brightly coloured, woven cotton Indian jackets, which I would carry with me overland, through Afghanistan, and sell back in England. I could then either bring or send the proceeds back to support the Mission.
So Bhante and I would go off to various emporiums in New Delhi and buy up these jackets – six here and a dozen there. As the pile grew, so did my indecision. My mind was in turmoil because I realised that I didn’t really want to leave at all, but I was heavily committed to this scheme, with Bhante having invested so much time and resources to acquiring all these jackets. We had about 80 of them and made one last buying trip before my imminent departure. We had met up with some other monks and were reversing into a parking space in a taxi when, inexplicably, Bhante opened the door which was then knocked off by the adjacent taxi as we parked.
After much haggling and gesticulating, the situation was finally resolved, but I began to suspect that Bhante didn’t really want me to leave either. Finally I could stand it no longer and went to tell him that, sorry as I was about all the difficulties in getting the jackets, I wanted to stay and become a monk. His response was to beam in delight.
Over many journeys, Bhante gave away all the coloured jackets to his friends and helpers.”
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