The moment she opened the door and I saw the Buddha… I felt fine.

Listen to the whole conversation with Danayutta—and subscribe to the Buddhist Voices podcast for more full-length recordings from Fifty Years, Fifty Voices.

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Danayutta's Annals
In 1968... not alive.

In 1978... not alive.

In 1988... I was 6 years old, just about to start primary school in a convent in Malaysia. I lived in a big house that my grandfather built, with my father's extended family (there were his 7 siblings, plus grandmother and great grandmother, my two older brothers). There was a big mango tree in the garden with a fishpond underneath it that had a little stone bridge across the middle.

In 1998... I was 16, still at school where I was studying science subjects. I was doing lots of extracurricular activities like piano and ballet lessons, gymnastics, Chinese and English literature lessons... I didn't know it at the time but I probably led quite a sheltered existence. For a while my father had a driver and there was always someone waiting for me to take me from school to activity to home. 

In 2008... I had just encountered Triratna, then the FWBO on an LBC winter retreat. I had been living in London for 7 years by 2008. I was working as an investment banker and in 2008 was the in the midst of the financial crisis. I was working very hard and the environment was tough - many people losing their jobs, and others having to make difficult decisions. I was glad to have something of meditation in my life and tried to be at the London Buddhist Centre most weekends. It took me over a year to feel that I could ask to be a Mitra. 

In 2018... in June 2018 I will have been ordained for 2 years. I'm married to someone in the order, Manjusiha, and have become a British citizen. I'm now working at the London Buddhist Centre and living in a women's community that's attached to it. I hope to be doing this for many years to come - being part of a large urban Buddhist centre, making the Dharma available to the world. 

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