Buddhists in Woking

It was early May with light blossom beginning to adorn the fruit trees as I was walking along Brushfield Way in the all too familiar surroundings of ëplanet Wokingí, where there is usually very little to disturb the flawless blue-chip sylvan setting. Thus you can imagine my surprise to meet with not one, but three smiling and youthful but bald Asian gentlemen dressed from head to foot in coordinated orange drapery. My first response was to think of a toga party ñ but such things rarely happen in broad daylight ñ or was it a revival of the Hare Krishna movement? But these gentlemen were not dancing in the street nor procuring donations from passers by. On the contrary, they were determinedly working to do the finishing touches which will consecrate the former Brookwood Church into Surreyís latest Buddhist temple.

Well, there have been a lot of rumours about Brookwood Church in our local community. The chapel had stood empty for decades attracting birdís nests, vandalism and undergrowth ñ becoming something of a local eyesore. There was talk for a while of making the old church into a branch of the ëbalanceí health franchise, but this eventually fell through. Now the old church was being lovingly restored into a Buddhist temple!

At first the word ëBuddhistí made me think of the Dalai Lama and there was even a rumour put about by erudite neighbours that Richard Gere had bought up the old church himself, but on closer examination, the appearance of monks at Brookwood Church is not as surprising as it might immediately appear. In fact the monks heir from the Thai tradition of Buddhism, rather than the Tibetan one. There is presently a population of over 30,000 Thais living and working in Britain and there are presently more than fifteen Thai Buddhist temples in the British Isles. Some of the temples have been around for almost a hundred years, in places as prominent as Wimbledon Common and in this era of equal opportunities have been taking an active role in representing Buddhism for both the Asian and indigenous Brit communities in a social and educational arena.

On first sight, having Thai people on hand might be an advantage for the neighbourhood. I remember from brief encounters with the culture on my Thai package tours -- the culinary delights of ëTom yang koongí and the graceful sight of monks out on almsround by the first light of the dawn. But is first appearances enough? Where do monks without the money even to buy a proper set of clothes get the finance to buy up a church Christians canít afford? Is there anything suspect about the sudden appearance of this Buddhist group in our midst? Well, I did some homework into the background and it turns out that the church has been bought up by a registered charity called DISUK for which the majority of committee members are actually Brits rather than Thai. The charity has been based in London (Wimbledon and Norbury) for the last ten or more years and by saving their pennies from donations mostly from Thai people in London over the course of a decade, they have got together the downpayment they needed for this church. In fact, Norbury was sorry to see them go, because unlike some Thai temples, the DISUK branch emphasized peaceful meditation and consideration amongst its congregation members to minimize the common problems of noise and traffic congestion found with some Asian get-togethers.

In fact, the DISUK Buddhists were anything but secretive about their plans for the church. ìWe are not a closed community,î explained one of the monks in clear English with a hint of Thai grammar. ìWhere we come from a temple is a part of the community and is meant to serve the spiritual needs of all families in its surrounding.î Hardly a clandestine sect ñ I thought to myself. The monks invited me into the church to see how the conversion was going. ìNo need to remove your shoes at the door,î said the monk helpfully. ìThereís still a lot of dust on the ground.î In fact I had forgotten completely about the tradition of removing oneís shoes before entering sacred places of the East. ìBut, youíll have to take off your shoes when itís all finished,î he apologized in advance. Not many changes were apparent. Mostly a disappearance of Christian iconography and replacement with a large but simple Buddha image sitting in deep meditation at one end of the central aisle where the pews had been removed to leave only meditation mats. ìOur first priority is to fix up the toilet facilities,î said the monk, ìif possible before we have our open day.î Open day ñ I thought ñ these guys certainly understand the feelings of the local people. ìHowever, if we canít get the contractors in time,î the monk continued, ìmaybe weíll have to go ahead with something more simple like a ëtea-partyí in the meantime, so that the neighbours get a first hand look at what weíre doing here ñ otherwise they will spread more Richard Gere rumours!î Apparently, the pioneers working on the temple comprised several monks, three resident laymen and even a resident laywomen who explained that she was a modern Buddhist nun who didnít have to shave her hair off. The monks, although outgoing and involved in society, still had to observe strict celibacy and had rented quarters in an apartment separate from the accommodation used by the ënunsí. There were also a large number of volunteers from the following of Thai and British Buddhists DISUK must have built up in London helping with cleaning and restoration chores.

Well, I felt relief that they didnít seem to be trying to thrust Buddhism on me. I suspected they wouldnít need to. The fascinating prospect of meditation classes in these majestic ancient surroundings together with the earnest smiles of the monks was already striking a note of sympathy somewhere deeper in my soul. Looking at the example of even this small community, it didnít surprise me that Buddhism was the only religion in the world with no track record of armed conflict. No wonder more and more of the spiritual younger generation, disgruntled with organized religion, were tuning in more and more to the teachings of Buddhism.

My visit was brief. Laughing monks accompanied me the final few yards back into the world of conventional reality which awaited me on the pavement of Brushfield Way. ìDonít forget the open day!î reminded the monk. ìBring a cake if you like.î And our meditation classes for beginners will be every Wednesday evening starting at the beginning of August.î I didnít want to appear too easily convinced, so I just nodded. In fact, Iíd be there for both and would probably bring along my family too ñ given that they believed my story of what Iíd seen here today in Knaphill!



Further details available from:

Phibul Choompolpaisarn, Charoen Bhavana Temple, 1 Brushfield Way, Knaphill, Woking GU21 2TG. Tel. 07901-750915 phibulart@yahoo.com

Open Day: with free demonstration of meditation: 30 July 2005 (4.30 ñ 6.00 p.m.)

Meditation for Beginners: (course of ten lessons) every Wednesday starting 3 August 2005 (7.30 ñ 9.00 p.m)