Sr. Modgala

A short biography of Sister Modgala

Rev. Sr. Modgala Duguid was born Louise Reeves in 1950, in London. She had an early interest in religion and the natural sciences. She was going to teach, but because of difficult circumstances worked in various other fields and concentrated on marriage and family life instead. In later years she and her husband, had a small hotel in the mountains of Scotland. Her son and daughter live in Edinburgh and New Zealand. A third child died young.

In 1991 the suffering of people with HIV and AIDS touched her deeply and she made a private vow to do all she could to help. This impelled her to look for more fulfilling work and to return to higher education. She took an Open University psychology degree and worked with young people in the streets as well as becoming part of a support group for people with HIV and AIDS. At the same time she started work in a day centre for people with alcohol addiction. This employer sent her on her first counselling course with the Amida predecessor organisation in 1994 and then funded a certificate in groupwork with what had now become the Amida Trust. She then decided to continue as a student on the Buddhist Psychology programme.

Her interest in spirituality had re-emerged as she became more acutely aware of the suffering in the world. After an investigation of world religions she settled into being a Buddhist, at first practising with a Zen school. Her involvement with Buddhism deepened on encountering the Amida Sangha. She made frequent visits to their bases in Newcastle and France and did volunteer work for Amida Trust. The horror of the war in the Balkans made her think, "how can I help". In 1997 she took refuge and made her first vows with Teacher Dharmavidya and took on a general commission to work on behalf of the Amida Trust. The following year she joined the community, took vows in the Amida Order, and assumed a full time religious life.

In 1998 she completed her Bsc Hons in Psychology and a week later went to Zambia where she was based at the Amida supported Primary Health Care project serving people with HIV and AIDS. Since then she has given many talks and workshops about the work there and about living a fully engaged Buddhist life.

In 2000-01 she was based at the Amida France retreat centre offering a place for private retreat and re-connection with the earth. While there she wrote an as yet unpublished book about her stay in Zambia. Her year and a half retreat in France grounded her Buddhist practice and she emerged with a renewed passion for engaged Buddhism.

The growing plight of asylum seekers locked up in our prisons, the horrors of war, and the plight of animals tortured for our pleasure and consumption all called her to take action. This extension of her path took her to conferences, workshops, and into demonstrations on the streets. On September 11th 2001 she was at a demonstration outside the Arms Trade Fair in London, alongside Dharmavidya. Since then she has been involved in founding Buddhists For Peace in London to try to find alternative ways of campaigning against war and the arms trade. In 2003 she went to Sarajevo offering teachings and retreats to a mixed faith group there and taking part in an East-West psychology conference at Sarajevo University.

Back in England much of her work has centred around activism, teaching fully engaged Buddhism, giving talks, workshops and events, leading introductory retreats, and involvement in multi-faith and chaplaincy work.

Since September 2004 she has been part of the Amida team, training volunteers for work at home and abroad. In November 2004 she went to Delhi to initiate an Amida project there in co-operation with Theravada and Ambedkarite groups to assist ex-untouchables, tribal refugees, and other under privileged groups. This project being now established, in October 2006 she took up responsibility for the Amida Retreat Centre in France