Appicha

Although I grew up in England, it was the 10 years I spent working as a musician in Los Angeles that led me to meditation; it was the constant exposure to raging egos and rampant craving, (mine included!) which forced me to acknowledge the truth of suffering.

Early inspiration from Alan Watts and Krishnamurti encouraged my ‘do-it-yourself’ spirit of solitary retreats and learning by trial and error. I was determined to learn from experience but after 10 years I finally realised how much I needed guidance and support or ‘sangha’ as I’d now call it.

On returning to England in 1990 I set about looking for a context in which I could deepen my meditation practice. I was surprised at how much the Buddhist world had grown in the UK, but it wasn’t until my 1st Vajraloka retreat that I found myself at home. I loved Vajraloka from the start; it’s fresh, vital approach to meditation teaching and the concern of the team to help us on the path to depth and insight.

After 10 years as a regular guest I was ordained into the Western Buddhist Order and given the name ‘Appicha’, it means ‘content’ which is a quality born of meditation practice and suggesting an attitude to life so unlike the raging ego and craving of my earlier life.

I now hope to bring my experience of the world “warts and all!” into service as a teaching member of the team and look forward to welcoming people from within and without the Buddhist world. When I started meditating I knew nothing of Buddhism but somehow found a deep conviction about the non-conceptual power of meditation practice and it changed my life.