Celtic LA, Lost Irish Buddhist Monk (ScotsFest)

Pat Macpherson and Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly; ScotsFest.com; UCCIreland

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Why do the Irish have a reputation of telling the best stories? Is it possible we are eager to entertain and delight others to distract them from us? Is there a half-conscious motive to conceal ourselves?
 
Do we stay private as part of the aftermath of near annihilation by the British, whose atrocities and occupation continued for...? Some might say it still continues, and certainly the hegemony persists. So much so that it once drove the first European to ordain as a Buddhist monk in faraway Asia. (See video).

Irish-Americans have returned to the Emerald Isle with Buddhism. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Rhys Davids, I.B. Horner, Woodward, and the Pali Text Society (P.T.S.) with its influential Journal, and even more influential Dictionary of Buddhist-Language Terms, the Dharma arrived on Albion and the Continent more than a century ago.

The Lost Irish Buddhist

Who was the first European Buddhist monk? An adventurer, an Irish rebel, a hobo, an inner-freedom fighter, a world traveler,  and finally a famous Buddhist in Asia. He blazed a trail but died, it seems, is ignored by history. Why?
 
This enigmatic, free-thinking Dubliner used various aliases. As a monastic he was known as Ven. Dhammaloka ("Dharma Realm"), The Irish Buddhist. He converted to his adopted path-to-liberation about 1900. He came to be widely known throughout Asia and in the process managed to fall afoul of the colonial establishment and Christian missionaries.

Danu, wee people, bhumi-devas (amayodruid)

Uncovering Ven. Dhammaloka's unique story has taken inspired detective work on the part of UCC's Professor Brian Bocking and his colleagues. But their efforts have been fruitful.

The lost Irish Buddhist emerges after all these many years as one of the earliest Western Buddhist monks, pre-dating many others who claim the title. Prof. Bocking guides us through his amazing odyssey.

Now, with or without the Perks family, Wisdom Quarterly will represent Celtic Buddhism in Los Angeles at ScotsFest 2013.

This year will feature a Saturday Night Closing in the Nan Daley Highland Dance Pavilion with all three Grade 1 pipe bands: Dowco Triumph Street, Alberta Caledonia, and the LA Scots (and no closing massed band in the main arena).

• Celtic Celebration, Los Angeles
• Memorial Day Weekend
• May 25-26, 2013
• Orange County Fair and Event Center

Scooter/Wheelchair/Stroller Rentals available. More entertainment added. See Highland Dance entry form now available. More

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