Dharmavidya

A short biography.

Buddhist teacher Dharmavidya, head of the Amida Order, whom we affectionately call Dharma-jee, was born into his current life as David John Brazier on 2 January 1947 in Northampton in the centre of England, part of the “generation of hope’ conceived in the aftermath of the second world war. “I have always had a sense that this world could never afford to have such total war again. This is a pivotal age in which humankind reaches its maximum in relation to this planet. This is the time when we must learn a new way of being together. My physical body was drawn into existence by the aftermath of the worst war. What meaning can life have if not that of creating the possibility of sustainable peace?”.

Spirit: Dharma-jee was a natural mystic from an early age. “I have always been spiritual. Maybe it is a blessing, maybe a burden, but the spiritual realm breaks through upon me quite frequently and occasionally in major ways. I have always felt guided. Even if I do not always heed or well conform to that guidance, it continues to burn like a guiding light and so I have acquired faith in its indestructibility.” As a child he had visions of origins in a world of light and of this material world transfigured into perfection and radiance. These experiences enabled him later to relate easily to Buddhist and other ancestral wisdom concerning past and future lives and spiritual realms. Years later, in his thirties, while training with the Soto Zen Mission Society he experienced a major access of spirit in which he had further insights into the radiant realms, into past existences, and into the deep meaning of the ethical precepts of all religions. These experiences were recognised by Roshi Houn Jiyu as constituting the kensho experience of the Soto Zen church. “The Spirit has frequently spoken in my life. This does not mean that I have necessarily always been good or wise, but it has imparted a direction and compelling energy to my work and a sense of purpose. We are all, I think, fallible, limited and prone to succomb to the conditions that we have inherited from ages past. We are, after all, only karma. But although we are so, still, in some mysterious way, we are also vehicles for something else – something that is mysterious and wonderful that we can only very inadequately express or comprhend.”

His father, Kenneth Brazier, was a civil engineer who had previously been a bomber pilot and war hero. The father's work involved the family in travel and Dharma-jee spent half of his childhood on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus which was then in the midst of an independence struggle. This brought him into contact with the problems of war, terrorism and political conflict at an early age, both in terms of what was happening in the world around and in terms of his own identity as the son of such a warrior. “When I later discovered the story of Honen Shonin, founder of the Pureland School in Japan, whose father was a warrior and whose life was dedicated to the non-continuance of the collective karma of war, interrupting it with the intervention of faith, I felt a strong affinity. Those of us who are chosen or touched by the spiritual life should never lose awareness of the real trouble and suffering that is around us and of the compelling way that the karma of cruelty passes down through the generations causing the Buddhas to weep.”

His mother, Irene Brazier, was always attentive and loving to him. As a young woman she had been beautiful and sociable and as young people his parents were a glamorous couple. Irene Brazier had played her part in the war as a radar operator. Radar was at that time the cutting edge of new technology and was one of the decisive factors in turning the war, especially the Battle of Britain. She loved poetry and gardening. In her later years, through closeness with her only son, she became more attuned to the spiritual life and ended her days as a resident of The Buddhist House and member of the Amida core community. “She was my best friend and confidante and one of my most important teachers.” Since her death a trust fund has been established administered by Amida Trust dedicated to promoting Buddhism and gardens.

Teachers Dharma-jee discovered Buddhism through books during his adolescence and first met Buddhsit teachers when we was in his early twenties. He became chair of the Cambridge Buddhist Society at that time and thus met many leading teachers when they visited England as well most of the leading figures then resident in Britain. He heard lectures by Christmas Humphreys, studied shamatha meditation with Nai Boonman (Burmese Theravada), and regularly sat at the feet of Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche (Tibetan Kargyupa). Soon he entered more systematic Buddhist training under the guidance of Reverend Master Houn Jiyu (Japanese Soto / Malaysian Pureland) who ordained him in 1977 and many years later he also studied for periods of several years each with Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (Tibetan New Kadampa) and with Thay Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese Zen). The latter made him a member of the Tiep Hien Order. He has also had close Dharma friendships with a number of leading figures including Achaan Viradhammo Bhikkhu (Thai Forest Theravada), Reverend Professor Kemmyo Sato (Japanese Jodoshin-shu), and the philosopher Mary Midgley. In 2004 he was recognised by Reverend Gisho Saiko (Japanese Jodoshin-shu) as a teacher who would bring the Amidist faith to the contemporary western world and also had a significant formative meeting in Ho Chi Minh City with the Venerable Minh Chao (Vietnamese Pureland). “I feel very blessed to have had such wonderful teachers. It has been an unconventional education, but has shown me that at the core of all the different doctrines and presentations of Dharma there lies a single faith. It has shown me that what the Buddhas demonstrate is the heart truth of all religion. Each religion has its own culture and these cultures and their languages and methods vary, but at the core of all is faith in the transformative power of exposure to the sacred realm. It is good to have different styles of spirituality available since there are many kinds and temperaments of people, but the intolerant are surely mistaken.”

Work and Secular Qualifications: Dharma-jee has been active in the anti-war movement and the camapign against the arms trade, in work to assist refugees, in protecting children, in assisting those with social problems, those who come before the courts, and those with mental health problems, in campaigns to improve the lot of animals and to protect the environment. He has worked with professional groups to improve their skills, their organisation and their ability to grow in compassion and resist burn-out. He has done much work in the fields of social work, community work, psychotherapy, management and organisation development. He has always promoted community and internationalism and fosters them in many ways. In order to support these various works he acquired professional qualifications in personnel management, social work and psychotherapy. He has a doctoral degree from Keele University for a thesis on Buddhist psychology. “When one's life is illuminated by the spiritual realm one sees one's own short-comings acutely and this gives a sense of one's karmic nature and all the disadvantages that flow from that. Seeing all this in oneself brings a compellng sense of fellow-feeling for one's neighbour.” Dharma-jee has written several books and a great many articles, papers and chapters on subjects connected with Buddhism, spirituality, psychology, inter-faith dialogue, and social action. These usually appear under his lay name.

Mission: Dharma-jee's special mission is to restore spirituality at the core of our being as individuals in relationships and as communities within society: “I feel at home in Buddhism since it gives descriptions and explanations of things that are inprinted on my heart. At the same time, I have never felt entirely at ease in the secularised forms of Buddhism that are popular in the West. I have tried to work in that idiom and spent some years immersed in the field of humanistic psychology. That was very valuable, but I keep gravitating back to my own experience of a world with more than material and psychological dimensions. To work only on those planes is to lose sight of the true refuge - the relief of the spiritual terrain. I appreciate how and why many modern Western people want a religion that is not really a religion, but my route into it has been different and as I have acquired confidence through the inspiration and encouragement of my teachers I have increasingly taught in a more uncompromisedly faith-centred way, waking people up to the true meaning of their existence. Others sometimes look at me askance as a result and do not understand what I am doing and to them I must apologise, but my way has to be true to my experience. For me the Pure Land of the Buddhas is most real and Buddha is not just a physical person who died long ago but an ever available and active friend always at work. We are here to get caught up by the Buddhas into hat work.”

Dharma Teacher: In 1996, the year that Reverend Master Jiyu died, Dharma-jee helped to found the Amida Trust. He was made Dharma teacher to the Trust and subsequently to the Order of Amida Buddha. As Dharma Teacher he has nurtured the training community. His disciples go forth for the good of the many into many kinds of helping work, spreading the Buddhadharma by deed and example. He is well known for his commitment to socially engaged Buddhism, but his first priority is to the depth and quality of Dharma faith and practice. His Pureland approach is grounded in the fundamental teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. He has worked hard to foster good relations between different Buddhist traditions and with members of other faiths and has travelled widely, giving teachings in many countries.

“My deepest realisation is that however many realisations you have, blind passion is fathomless. Therefore there is no value in striving for enlightenment through one's own efforts alone. It is by faith and devotion that one can find a true refuge even in the midst of one's own foolishness and vulnerability. This very foolishness of one's own ego then becomes the compost with which the Buddhas do their gardening. Since we are all weighed with karmic burdens there is no point in disputing who is most enlightened or which tradition is superior. In relation to the Tathagatas we are all spiritual children, all equal in their eyes. The basis for peace in this world can only be fellow feeling between the great diversity of peoples springing from gratitude for the many blessings in which we collectively share.”

Comments

[Josh]

This was an enlightening post. I have always been interested in teachings such as this. In fact, my most recent post was related to Buddhist teachings on karma.

http://britishmafian.blogspot.com/2006/10/law-of-cause-and-effect.html

[Andrey Terentyev]

I am writing from Russia. Some 10 years ago we had a letter exchange with Mr. Brazier, but all addresses perished... Now I am trying this link to ask him a question: if it is a wrong way, pls, let me know to what email address may I write.
The question concerns quotation from 'The Feeling Buddha' which my student presented me today. It says "Enlightenment means to experience ... that dukkha - is part and parcel of human dignity..."
May I ask: is Mr. Brazier talking here precisely about bodhi, the Buddha's awakening here (then, I am a bit surprised by this definition), or he speaks in some broader context?

Woul be grateful to receive an answer,

Andrey