I have always been a Buddha. I have been a Buddha since time without beginning. But the day I became awakened to fact that I was a Buddha was interesting one. Since I was a teenager I had a seeking spirit. I knew that there was something out there that would enable me to be the happiest person alive. So I began my journey. I read every self-help book that I could get my hands on, I did affirmations, positive visualisations, yoga, Pilates, mediation and I went on many courses that were supposed to transform my life. The results were less than satisfactory.
At the beginning of 2004 I decided again I would change my life and that I would go to Glastonbury Festival. I always wanted to go Glasto but I couldn’t get tickets. This year was going to be different. I was going to Glastonbury and I really felt myself being at the festival. When tickets went on sale I unfortunately didn’t get tickets. But I didn’t let that put me off. I wrote a letter to Michael Eavis who organises the event and asked, well begged, for tickets. Weeks later festival organisers wrote to me and said if called a number on a specific date and time I would get tickets. I got tickets. I was over the moon.
I was preparing to go to the festival. I was in a newsagents and saw the music magazine Q. Emblazoned on the front was ‘Glastonbury Special’, a free a CD and the band Oasis (I think) on the front. I never bought the magazine before or since. Inside a member of SGI-UK – the lay Buddhist organisation that I am part of – talked about Buddhism. Something he said really resonated in me. But I only took action when I bumped into someone on Oxford Street who blanked me after saying that we should meet up only a couple of weeks before.
I Googled some of the things that this musician had said and realised that the West London Centre was not very far from where I lived at the time. I walked into the centre on 14 June 2004. It was the first time I chanted Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and even though I didn’t realise it at the time I became awakened.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This was my first step to revealing my Buddahood (courage, wisdom, compassion, life force) and becoming a happier person. But I didn’t know it at the time.
joy dunbar 