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Paul's Background in Buddhism

Looking back over my life, I realise that the Buddha's teachings were transmitted to me through my Thai mother, the late Fuengsin Trafford. Until I was in my 20's 'Dhamma instruction' was just a series of chats because Mum had allowed me to be brought up by my English father as a Roman Catholic. Although I became familiar with the notions (and experience) of dukkha and karma, I had no formal knowledge of the Buddha's teachings - I could not even have specified the Four Noble Truths. Yet even without these I wrote a kind of spiritual autobiography that many identifed as "very Buddhist"!

Mum was a Theravadin Buddhist since birth. Her adventurous and truth-seeking spirit led her to systematically explore Bangkok's temples for a Buddhist teacher. After much searching, she found exactly what she sought in Dhammakaya practice. Henceforth she practised meditation within this lineage, for over 30 years, right through her passing in 1995. Yet she never applied any pressure on me to learn dhammakaya, so in fact I learnt my initial practice - in samatha - from the Samatha Trust whilst I was studying at Kingston University.

I wish you a warm welcome to my corner of the Buddhist internet and am happy that you are interested in what Buddha Gotama taught. I consider myself a novice and have no certificates to wave before your eyes (except for Maths and Computer Science that is :-) If you would like to suggest some topic or make some other contribution, then please feel free. Perhaps we can build a friendly ecumenical community of True Individuals!

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- Paul Trafford

Page last modified: 23 August 1998